A recent transfer student at Arizona State University is in serious medical peril after collapsing at an outdoor practice at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe on August 20th.
■ The National Weather Service had been warning day after day after day about the need to remain hydrated and take regular cooling breaks from the heat. But that’s not what happened in the hockey workout, according to attorneys for the family, who say the workout lasted more than an hour and “not everyone” got water breaks.
■ The story is unsettlingly familiar on two levels. First is the level of the basic facts of the situation. Workouts that claim a basis in military training (the ASU incident was purportedly led by a Green Beret veteran) are faddishly popular, and they often involve drills meant to mimic the relationship between an overbearing drill instructor and a bunch of ill-prepared recruits. Deprivation of things like rest, shade, and water are sometimes used to bolster the “tough” image.
■ But that points to the second level of familiarity: Where superficial demonstrations of “toughness” are revered regardless of their hollowness. Physical strength doesn’t always look like a muscle-bound tough guy ripping through a sleeveless shirt; sometimes, it looks like the 4’8” frame of Simone Biles. Power can sometimes be best expressed through self-control. Discipline can be demonstrated by knowing when to pause rather than pressing on. Real athletic dominance sometimes emerges by mastering the brain rather than any particular muscle.
■ No 21-year-old should end up in a coma because of a workout. Whatever the specifics of the case may be, the familiarity of the environment apparently created by coaches and coaching adjuncts is tragically unnecessary -- and it reflects a misguided mentality about toughness that ought to be quashed.