sportsmanship

drex · September 5, 2006

Is it just me. or has sportsmanship died at UT? Why would the host team use water cooled jackets? I know that they want every advantage, but it seems to me to be very unsporting to use these without offering them to the visitors. I realize that the DeLoss Dodds-Craig Helwig crowd at UT could care less, but I really think that this is something that the NCAA should review. While we were not as good as Texas, the differential in body temperatures of the two teams surely added to the lopsided score.

stebo · September 5, 2006

They also have the players swallow a freaking "pill thermometer" before the game so that their super computer can measure their temps from the inside out. Meanwhile, we have our players asking each other "Does my forehead feel hot to you?" as our means... They did look pretty ridiculous out there in their "space suits" - looked like at any moment, the players would be placed into a space shuttle and whizzed off to the moon! They don't even have those space suits in the pros; only at tU.

Cr1028 · September 5, 2006

It just isn't right when college team has better equipment than the pros. They apparently have more money than they know what to do with, thus the $8 million big screen, temp pills, and cool jackets. These things are an advantage and make playing for Texas almost like playing for Mark Cuban. I think the NCAA should at least try to make some sort of "expenditure cap" if you will.

Got5onIt · September 6, 2006

It just isn't right when college team has better equipment than the pros. They apparently have more money than they know what to do with, thus the $8 million big screen, temp pills, and cool jackets. These things are an advantage and make playing for Texas almost like playing for Mark Cuban. I think the NCAA should at least try to make some sort of "expenditure cap" if you will.
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Wouldn't the bboard members of the NCAA risk losing their hefty salaries?

UNTflyer · September 6, 2006

It just isn't right when college team has better equipment than the pros. They apparently have more money than they know what to do with, thus the $8 million big screen, temp pills, and cool jackets. These things are an advantage and make playing for Texas almost like playing for Mark Cuban. I think the NCAA should at least try to make some sort of "expenditure cap" if you will.
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And students are having to go 50 thousand into debt to go to school there.

Talon90 · September 6, 2006

Is it just me. or has sportsmanship died at UT? Why would the host team use water cooled jackets? I know that they want every advantage, but it seems to me to be very unsporting to use these without offering them to the visitors. I realize that the DeLoss Dodds-Craig Helwig crowd at UT could care less, but I really think that this is something that the NCAA should review. While we were not as good as Texas, the differential in body temperatures of the two teams surely added to the lopsided score.
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IT'S JUST YOU! This might be the most ridiculous thread in the history of GMG.COM.

MeanMag · September 6, 2006

IT'S JUST YOU! This might be the most ridiculous thread in the history of GMG.COM.
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Doubtful

football fan · September 6, 2006

Don't mean to poo poo on anybody here but A&M definitely has the best facilities I have seen. UT close but not as new as A&M. I would venture to say that A&M has better facilities than all of the NFL teams. The cult popularity is alive and well in Collie Station! Mailbox money rolls in daily.

Varsity · September 6, 2006

A&M definitely has the best facilities I have seen. UT close but not as new as A&M.

I've seen both and Texas is far and away better.

meangreendork · September 6, 2006

Sportmanship? I don't think that's a problem as it pertains to their equipment...I mean, if we had that, I'd be all for using it in a game against any opponent.

UNT_playmaker · September 6, 2006

Ive been to a&m they are nice and big, but I think Texas is little ahead

buff64 · September 6, 2006

It just isn't right when college team has better equipment than the pros. They apparently have more money than they know what to do with, thus the $8 million big screen, temp pills, and cool jackets. These things are an advantage and make playing for Texas almost like playing for Mark Cuban. I think the NCAA should at least try to make some sort of "expenditure cap" if you will.
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Don't know how many local high schools are using the air-conditioned pads , but there was a piece on the news the other night about Midlothian High having the pads. So it may not be uncommon to have this equipment.

SilverEagle · September 6, 2006

Is it just me. or has sportsmanship died at UT? Why would the host team use water cooled jackets? I know that they want every advantage, but it seems to me to be very unsporting to use these without offering them to the visitors. I realize that the DeLoss Dodds-Craig Helwig crowd at UT could care less, but I really think that this is something that the NCAA should review. While we were not as good as Texas, the differential in body temperatures of the two teams surely added to the lopsided score.
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I think that sportsmanship has little to do with it. They just have resources that they're going to use, and if they are not required by the NCAA to offer it to opponents, then they're not.

I remember when video taping machines were first available to the public. Texas Tech used it on their sidelines to help their players see how to make corrections in their technique. Shortly after that, the NCAA banned the use of it for everyone as it gave the rich schools an unfair advantage.

Unless I'm wrong about this, I think that their use (video taping) is still banned. So I have to wonder how "water cooled jackets" fit in to this situation.

bigrobdsp · September 6, 2006

Is it just me. or has sportsmanship died at UT? Why would the host team use water cooled jackets? I know that they want every advantage, but it seems to me to be very unsporting to use these without offering them to the visitors. I realize that the DeLoss Dodds-Craig Helwig crowd at UT could care less, but I really think that this is something that the NCAA should review. While we were not as good as Texas, the differential in body temperatures of the two teams surely added to the lopsided score.
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they are the guinea pig school trying this new shirt out. (yes I realize other schools have somthing similar) they are a brand new Nike product still under development that UT is helping them test. I imagine that in the next couple of years all the D-1 schools will have them, but right now there arent even that many in existence.

SilverEagle · September 6, 2006

A local (D/FW) High School uses this ( or a similar) system.

Keeping It Cool on the Football Field

Special air-conditioned shoulder pads may protect players from heat stroke

SATURDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDayNews) -- Football shoulder pads that can be hooked up to a portable air-conditioning unit when players are standing on the sidelines may protect gridiron athletes from dangerous heat-related illnesses.

The shoulder pads, created by researchers at the University of Florida's (UF) College of Medicine, have a port in the back. A hose plugs into the port and circulates cool air through a series of ventilation channels in the shoulder pads. The cool air is pumped from a portable air compressor and a cooler/dryer unit that can provide air that's as cool as 60 degrees F.

Jacksonville University players tested the shoulder pads during preliminary research and said they were refreshed by the rush of cool air around the chest, back and shoulders.

"I can't tell you exactly how much heat the system eliminates, but I think every bit helps," system co-developer Dr. Nikolaus Gravenstein, a UF professor and chairman of anesthesiology, says in a prepared statement.

"This is a supplement to drinking adequate fluids and getting proper athletic conditioning," Gravenstein says.

Heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses are a threat to football players, who play in conditions where field temperatures sometimes reach 120 degrees F.

"It's very difficult to cool (football players) externally. Blowing on them with cold air or fans from the outside is made largely ineffective," Gravenstein says.

Field tests to determine how much the shoulder pads help reduce core body temperature will continue this spring.

Eagle1855 · September 6, 2006

implying this has anything to do with sportsmanship is absurd. there is no such thing as a level playing field in college football or in life. By your logic, it is unfair for UT to have faster players as well, since that gives them an advantage. Maybe they should offer us a few of the second string players, so we can enjoy the depth that obviously gave them the edge last saturday. Or maybe NT could get hip to this technology and work on getting some for our players.

There have got to be better reasons to start a UT hate thread than this...

Stan R · September 6, 2006

They also have the players swallow a freaking "pill thermometer" before the game so that their super computer can measure their temps from the inside out. Meanwhile, we have our players asking each other "Does my forehead feel hot to you?" as our means... They did look pretty ridiculous out there in their "space suits" - looked like at any moment, the players would be placed into a space shuttle and whizzed off to the moon! They don't even have those space suits in the pros; only at tU.
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I kept screaming "they're really steroid pills! I want a piss test!!" at my UT fan aunt who was at my watching party.

It was the best I could do to keep from crying at the score.

Edited September 6, 2006 by Stan R

September 6, 2006

I'm not so sure that 'sportsmanship' is off the mark. One of the key words in the definition is fairness. It's not okay for one team to have something that the other doesn't (within reason).

We were furnished blower fans for our sidelines but what if we were not? I know that if only UT had equipment to keep cool and we did not, I'd be hacked. So, if they want to fair, whether it's an experiment or not, why not exercise good sportsmanship and at least offer their opponent the same relief that they are getting. Don't tell me that they can't afford it.

Eagle91Gator95 · September 7, 2006

Geez guys (and gals, if any have contributed), just let it go!!

Systems like this are the big buzz in sports health right now, and many teams are testing several different systems. If all the experiments show positive results, you can plan on seeing something similar on the NT sidelines in the near future.

Other items like the 'misting' or 'fogging' fans have been around a while and are an accepted piece of equipment. Once it reaches that point, the home team doesn't have to provide for the visitors because the visitors bring their own!

If these experiments lead to readily accepted technology that reduces the number of heat related deaths in football every year, wouldn't that be a good thing?

To quote Stripes: "Lighten up, Frances!!"