Leading off today: The Kentucky high school football coach charged last week with reckless homicide in the death of a player who collapsed at practice says he is heartbroken by the tragedy.
"The one thing people can't forget in this whole situation is that I lost one of my boys that day. A boy that I loved and a boy that I cared for and a boy that meant the world to me," coach David Jason Stinson told supporters last night. "That's the thing that people forget and don't ever forget that. That's a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
Stinson was charged Thursday in the death of Max Gilpin, 15, a sophomore offensive lineman at Pleasure Ridge Park High who died three days after collapsing during practice Aug. 20. Although there have been civil suits following other deaths, Stinson is believed to be the first coach to face criminal charges in a heat-related death. Gilpin's family has filed a civil suit as well.
Stinson was indicted Thursday by a Jefferson County grand jury and is expected to be arraigned Monday. At least one report suggests he withhold water from the team during a workout in 90-degree heat; it is not known whether Gilpin, whose body temperature reached 107 degrees, had any underlying conditions that might have contributed to his death, but a second player fell ill during the same practice and was hospitalized for two days.
If convicted, Stinson could be sentenced to five years in prison. That's a reality that has sent shock waves through the coaching profession.
"My first instinct: What is the next thing? If a kid has a serious head injury, we didn't teach tackling right?" New Paltz coach Tom Tegeler told The Times Herald-Record. "That would be my initial reaction. My secondary reaction is: I need to know more information."
Section 11 has a "10 and 5" rule requiring that practices end at 10 a.m. and/or begin after 5 p.m. Suffolk and Nassau counties require frequent water breaks during practices.
"We don't go in the heat of the day, and that cuts down on the problem," William Floyd coach Paul Longo told Newsday. "We also have heat alerts that would cancel practice if Section XI decides it's too hot or too humid."
Dr. Fred Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at University of North Carolina, said the indictment will be "an eye opener" for coaches.
Games of note: I missed a couple of games worth mentioning in today's earlier blog, so here they are . . .
No. 15 Prattsburgh earned a season split with No. 6 Batavia Notre Dame by beating the Fighting Irish in non-league basketball, 70-64. The Vikings went on a 22-6 run in the second quarter with ND's Kevin Francis on the bench with foul trouble. Ryan Caron had seven points in the second quarter and 29 for the game.
Vaughn Labor's scored 25 points for Class A No. 20 Norwich in a 70-62 victory in OT against Oneonta. David Carson and Tim Clark combined for nine points in overtime for Norwich, which gave back a 45-35 lead after three quarters.
In hockey action, Hamburg earned a 3-2 win over Kenmore East, which is ranked 10th in the state in Division 2. The Bulldogs, which got 30 saves from Ryan Tilley, have two wins over Kenmore East this season.
Injury report: The Indian River boys basketball team (11-2) appears to have lost senior guard and floor leader Alex Sullivan for the rest of the season to a knee injury after a collision with two Ogdensburg Free Academy players late in Friday's victory, The Watertown Daily News reported.
Long Island Lutheran hoops star Tobias Harris, a 6-foot-8 junior, continues his recovery from torn ligaments in his right ankle five weeks ago. Newsday says he may be ready to take the court in the Tom Crotty Memorial Classic.
