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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5176992

LA GRANDE, Ore. -- A football player from Missoula, Mont., has died of a head injury suffered during Eastern Oregon's spring football game, school officials said.

Went to high school with him in Missoula, very sad

Never good news to hear. Condolences to his family.

A better article on Oregon Live, including commentary from the head physician specializing in sports medicine from OHSU.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eastern Oregon University has been operating on a shoestring for awhile. Not only does the school have to contend with what is offered at other Oregon schools but both Boise State and Washington State offer in state tuition to kids who live in eastern Oregon. The impending lawsuit from this accident may be the final straw for the institution. A tragedy for all involved.

JALMOND wrote:A better article on Oregon Live, including commentary from the head physician specializing in sports medicine from OHSU.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eastern Oregon University has been operating on a shoestring for awhile. Not only does the school have to contend with what is offered at other Oregon schools but both Boise State and Washington State offer in state tuition to kids who live in eastern Oregon. The impending lawsuit from this accident may be the final straw for the institution. A tragedy for all involved.

I had read earlier that the state was thinking of closing EOU - think it really could happen?

dbackjon wrote:

JALMOND wrote:A better article on Oregon Live, including commentary from the head physician specializing in sports medicine from OHSU.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eastern Oregon University has been operating on a shoestring for awhile. Not only does the school have to contend with what is offered at other Oregon schools but both Boise State and Washington State offer in state tuition to kids who live in eastern Oregon. The impending lawsuit from this accident may be the final straw for the institution. A tragedy for all involved.

I had read earlier that the state was thinking of closing EOU - think it really could happen?

I'm thinking it will happen. The family will file a lawsuit in light of this (and they should) and the state will close it. I'd be surprised if the school is still operating within three or four years (let alone have a football team).

Why would they sue and on what grounds? Sounds like the trainers recognized a possible concussion and summoned an ambulance and it went from there. From the article there appeared to be no negligence on the schools part unless there was subpar equipment being used.

Why should the family sue, jalmond? Did I miss something in the articles that said the team/school/trainers acted negligently? Did they force him to keep playing after showing signs of issues? Did they refuse him care until he wad "too far gone"? Or should they sue because that is the society we live in? Nevermind the known risks involved in contact sports. That all should be dammed here. Someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. He'll, why nit charge the other player(s) involved in that hit with involuntary manslaughter while we are at it too.

clenz wrote:Why should the family sue, jalmond? Did I miss something in the articles that said the team/school/trainers acted negligently? Did they force him to keep playing after showing signs of issues? Did they refuse him care until he wad "too far gone"? Or should they sue because that is the society we live in? Nevermind the known risks involved in contact sports. That all should be dammed here. Someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. He'll, why nit charge the other player(s) involved in that hit with involuntary manslaughter while we are at it too.

You hit the nail on the head, someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. Easier to go after a state run school than the individuals involved. Leave it up to the courts to decide if there was some negligence on the part of the school and if there was, hit them for all they've got (and in the case of EOU, there really is not that much). In this day and age, one would have to be crazy not to sue, whether they think they can win or not. Leave it up to the courts to decide the other questions you ponder. Did they act negligently? Did they force him to play? Did they refuse him care? Is the procedures that were followed flawed and should EOU have known this? With a serious football injury, is it reasonable to first take the player to the hospital in LaGrande before sending him on to Boise or is it better to send the player straight to Boise right away, and should EOU have known this? How often did the EOU trainers and LaGrande EMT's practice this type of response to this type of injury? This is the society we live in, I'm hurt and someone must pay.

putter wrote:Why would they sue and on what grounds? Sounds like the trainers recognized a possible concussion and summoned an ambulance and it went from there. From the article there appeared to be no negligence on the schools part unless there was subpar equipment being used.

The family will sue on the grounds of how can a relatively healthy 21 year old die from a concussion received in a football game at the NAIA level, and leave it to the courts to decide. What has the family got to lose?

I've been to football games at LaGrande (my alma mater, Rocky Mountain College, plays in the same conference as EOU), and the hospital is just off campus, but it is a typical small town hospital. EOU and LaGrande are similar to Montana-Western and Dillon and the facilities, however adequate for the town they are in, are not like the facilities in Butte, Helena or Billings. I guess a question for the courts could begin with, in the event of a serious football injury is it appropriate to first take the player to the local hospital before arranging transport somewhere else or should EOU have had a plan in place to transport the player somewhere else right away? Is the level of care a player would receive in LaGrande adequate and should EOU have known this? Is it customary for EOU to wait until a player is vomiting before making arrangements for medical care, especially if they may have to be transported outside of LaGrande? I'm sure the equipment issue will be taken under consideration as well, especially in regard to EOU's history of financial problems.

It will be interesting to see how this all ends up. A severe tragedy for all involved.

JALMOND wrote:

clenz wrote:Why should the family sue, jalmond? Did I miss something in the articles that said the team/school/trainers acted negligently? Did they force him to keep playing after showing signs of issues? Did they refuse him care until he wad "too far gone"? Or should they sue because that is the society we live in? Nevermind the known risks involved in contact sports. That all should be dammed here. Someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. He'll, why nit charge the other player(s) involved in that hit with involuntary manslaughter while we are at it too.

You hit the nail on the head, someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. Easier to go after a state run school than the individuals involved. Leave it up to the courts to decide if there was some negligence on the part of the school and if there was, hit them for all they've got (and in the case of EOU, there really is not that much). In this day and age, one would have to be crazy not to sue, whether they think they can win or not. Leave it up to the courts to decide the other questions you ponder. Did they act negligently? Did they force him to play? Did they refuse him care? Is the procedures that were followed flawed and should EOU have known this? With a serious football injury, is it reasonable to first take the player to the hospital in LaGrande before sending him on to Boise or is it better to send the player straight to Boise right away, and should EOU have known this? How often did the EOU trainers and LaGrande EMT's practice this type of response to this type of injury? This is the society we live in, I'm hurt and someone must pay.

That is all complete horse shit and you know it.

However, this is what is hurting America's society. It was a FUCKING ACCIDENT. Shit fucking happens, but that isn't good enough anymore. Someone MUST be at fault for a complete accident. Nevermind the risks that come with playing football.

It sounds like the followed exactly what should have been done. He was pulled off to the side, the trainer saw something past his scope and called an ambulance. Once the ambulance takes him away and he is in the care of the hospital the schools role is over.


Seriously, charge the other player with murder. Why not? Someone has to be charged. Right?

clenz wrote:

JALMOND wrote:
You hit the nail on the head, someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. Easier to go after a state run school than the individuals involved. Leave it up to the courts to decide if there was some negligence on the part of the school and if there was, hit them for all they've got (and in the case of EOU, there really is not that much). In this day and age, one would have to be crazy not to sue, whether they think they can win or not. Leave it up to the courts to decide the other questions you ponder. Did they act negligently? Did they force him to play? Did they refuse him care? Is the procedures that were followed flawed and should EOU have known this? With a serious football injury, is it reasonable to first take the player to the hospital in LaGrande before sending him on to Boise or is it better to send the player straight to Boise right away, and should EOU have known this? How often did the EOU trainers and LaGrande EMT's practice this type of response to this type of injury? This is the society we live in, I'm hurt and someone must pay.

That is all complete horse **** and you know it.

However, this is what is hurting America's society. It was a **** ACCIDENT. **** **** happens, but that isn't good enough anymore. Someone MUST be at fault for a complete accident. Nevermind the risks that come with playing football.

It sounds like the followed exactly what should have been done. He was pulled off to the side, the trainer saw something past his scope and called an ambulance. Once the ambulance takes him away and he is in the care of the hospital the schools role is over.


Seriously, charge the other player with murder. Why not? Someone has to be charged. Right?

Yes I know it is a bunch of crap. However, the family of the player has nothing to lose so why not file a lawsuit and let the courts decide. If it is tossed out, its tossed out, big deal. But if it is decided in their favor...

clenz wrote:

JALMOND wrote:
You hit the nail on the head, someone died in an accident, someone must be sued. Easier to go after a state run school than the individuals involved. Leave it up to the courts to decide if there was some negligence on the part of the school and if there was, hit them for all they've got (and in the case of EOU, there really is not that much). In this day and age, one would have to be crazy not to sue, whether they think they can win or not. Leave it up to the courts to decide the other questions you ponder. Did they act negligently? Did they force him to play? Did they refuse him care? Is the procedures that were followed flawed and should EOU have known this? With a serious football injury, is it reasonable to first take the player to the hospital in LaGrande before sending him on to Boise or is it better to send the player straight to Boise right away, and should EOU have known this? How often did the EOU trainers and LaGrande EMT's practice this type of response to this type of injury? This is the society we live in, I'm hurt and someone must pay.

That is all complete horse shit and you know it.

However, this is what is hurting America's society. It was a FUCKING ACCIDENT. Shit fucking happens, but that isn't good enough anymore. Someone MUST be at fault for a complete accident. Nevermind the risks that come with playing football.

It sounds like the followed exactly what should have been done. He was pulled off to the side, the trainer saw something past his scope and called an ambulance. Once the ambulance takes him away and he is in the care of the hospital the schools role is over.


Seriously, charge the other player with murder. Why not? Someone has to be charged. Right?

Jesus fucking christ Clenz, he's not saying that he advocates suing or that it's the morally right thing to do, only that it's a sad reality in today's society. Just like in that thread a while back you were saying that racism and "white advantage" or whatever is a reality in today's America. Doesn't make it right, but it happens.

Also the issue of the player being a 21 year old freshman transfer from Montana. Did the Griz trainers and medical staff uncover something that caused them to decide against taking a risk on him playing football for the Griz? Did EOU thoroughly research this before clearing him to play? Was EOU the only school in the last three years to take a chance on the player?

And finally, what does the family have to lose to give the courts the opportunity to address these concerns?

He didn't play for the Griz

Silenoz wrote:He didn't play for the Griz

He had transferred to Eastern Oregon this spring from the University of Montana and was listed as a 5-foot-10, 180-pound wide receiver on the roster. But Steigers had played some defense at Missoula Sentinel High School -- he graduated in 2006 -- and was playing linebacker for the Mountaineers as he got back into shape for the fall.

They way they phrased it, sounds like he did. He was enrolled at UM at the very least, although if he was passionate enough about playing the game to transfer to another school to play, I'd assume he was on the Griz team or at least tried out.

And back to the original point, EOU won't close because of a football accident. If they're successfully sued, the Oregon University System will pay, not EOU. Yes, EOU has been scratching to stay alive, but that's been going on for years. Eastern Oregon politics will keep it alive, probably forever. If any school is dumped it will be WOU. That too won't happen.