I think the "win at any cost" culture at many of the "big money" schools contributes to the terrible stories we are hearing and the tragic death of a player at Maryland. We have such a different philosophy of college athletics and student-athletes here that I find it very unlikely that we'd ever have a scandal due to out-of-control coaches and trainers.

ESPN broke the story about the death of football player, Jordan McNair, at Maryland and it is a scathing indictment of an environment of excess, fear and intimidation. Horrible, and, in my opinion, those responsible for the young man's death should be arrested and tried for manslaughter.

Here are just a few excerpts:

- There is a coaching environment based on fear and intimidation. In one example, a player holding a meal while in a meeting had the meal slapped out of his hands in front of the team. At other times, small weights and other objects were thrown in the direction of players when Court was angry.

- The belittling, humiliation and embarrassment of players is common. In one example, a player whom coaches wanted to lose weight was forced to eat candy bars as he was made to watch teammates working out.

- Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.

- Coaches have endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used food punitively; for example, a player said he was forced to overeat or eat to the point of vomiting.

- "If a kid would stop or go on the ground, him and the medical staff would try to drag players up and get them to run after they'd already reached their limit. They definitely bullied us to make sure we kept on going."

- Multiple sources said that after McNair finished his 10th sprint while two other players held him up, Robinson yelled, "Drag his ass across the field!"

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24342005/maryland-terrapins-football-culture-toxic-coach-dj-durkin

BlueGold i want to believe you 100%. We are very different as you say. But, we thought were that before the “pepper spray incident.” Yes, bad things can still happen in happy valley. I want to know who supervises athletic medical treatment /training for our Aggie athletes. It’s a simple, important question. If no one knows i will just ask the administration.

A simple google search for “UC Davis athletics medical support” or “UC Davis athletics team doctors” reveals no information. I do believe we now have an orthopedic specialist on the sidelines for football, but I don’t know about the other contact sports. I doubt they have a doctor present for games. I don’t know how we conduct on site medical examinations or medical treatment for our men and woman athletes, i.e., the types of which got Dr. Nasser and the Ohio State guy in so much trouble. For you Aggies history buffs, I was there when Ken O’Brian went down in the playoffs in 1983(?). Can’t remember the other team (South Dakota State?) and we had no orthopedist or doctor available. His own father, Dr. Kenneth O’Brian, (an orthopedist and a friend of mine) had to go down from the stands to the field to attend to own his son who had broken his leg. Anyway, its a topic i am interested in pursuing and an I will report my findings.
I will add, tongue in cheek, that if the vet school will support the new equestrian team horses for free, why can’t our med school support our human athletes for free?
Just an old guy with time on his hands, , , , ,

(FWIW: 1982, North Dakota State)

Thank you 72. 36 years ago! Your memory is very good indeed. But i have solved the question.The answer is actually on the football site, not the athletic site, so a little hard to find but there. In 2017 we did adopt the usual appproach to athletic medical support for all of our teams with a “team physician” for all 23 ICA sports. He is Dr. Jeremiah Ray. His CV is very impressive and he is a very impressive guy just reading about his life. BUT, this is the same model that got MIchigan state, Ohio State and Maryland in trouble: the issue of conflicts of interest between the program’s interest and that of the injured athlete. It’s clear that Dr. Ray is employed by the ICA. Who does Dr. Ray report to? Another physician or the AD? Who does his performance reviews? Who oversees his work? Does he treat injured players or refer them out? If the interests of the athlete conflict with the interests of the ICA department, how are these conflicts resolved? Within ICA? With the medical school (or other) specialists? I do agree with BlueGold that it may be unlikely with our program history that we have a Michigan St. Type problem, but it could happen. We need more transparency on this subject from the ICA department. Further, why not just hire the Medical School to do this? Aren’t our human athletes just as important as the horses our Vet School treats for the equestrian program for free?

Ms. Tina Tubbs, Assistant Athletics Director, Sports Medicine: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/staff.aspx?staff=508
Dr. Jeremiah Ray, Head Team Physician: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/staff.aspx?staff=384

Athletics staff directory lists the full-time athletic trainers: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/staff.aspx

I went with memory, but checked with google. In this day and age no question goes unanswered, but we must be ever vigilant of the dreaded 'fake news.'

Now to test my memory, I recall stories that there was a physician who worked with the athletic teams who also had a pilot's license. From time to time he was pressed into aviation service as he flew Rolf Benirschke from afternoon soccer games to evening football games. Somehow it was added to stories of the Miracle Game...that the doctor/pilot was flying Rolf to Hayward as the final minutes of the game played out. Then I think Rolf got out of the plane, chopped down a cherry tree, and threw a silver dollar across the Bay. I may be wrong.....

Not sure if this is treason, or charity work, but former Aggie lineman Ron Sockolov, who used to spend his summers pushing a VW around Davis, is a team physician at that other school in the Greater Sacramento Metropolitan Area.
http://www.hornetsports.com/information/sportsmedicine/staff

Most definitely high treason! :scream: