Sometimes it’s not only the players who are forced to miss a few practices due to injury. Northwestern head coach Randy Walker checked himself into a hospital yesterday after feeling ill prior to a press conference. He has been diagnosed with myocarditis, which is a viral infection of the heart muscle.
“Everyone is just kind of assuming their roles,” Northwestern offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar said. “We have been in contact with Coach Walker and have visited with him about all the arrangements and the procedures.”
Walker expects to be released from the hospital today and is optimistic about his chances of being on the sidelines for Saturday’s game against Purdue.
Ron Zook fired: Florida head coach Ron Zook was fired today after two seasons of adversity on and off the field. Zook’s firing has been partially attributed to the new age of technology and communication, which has led to a lower level of tolerance for coaches unable to perform in their first few years.
“So many people have a voice now,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. “That really has changed our game. It has put a tremendous amount of pressure on our coaches and our players.”
Alvarez is not alone in his belief that there is growing pressure for the coaches to perform due, in part, to advances in technology.
“I don’t think there’s any question that the e-mail and the Internet and [the media] has effected this because there’s a whole competition over everyone who wants to read or listen,” Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said. “I think talk shows, too. They influence fans, but it’s hard to believe that [Zook] should get fired in the middle of the season.”
Florida is expected to look at legendary Gator coach Steve Spurrier as a possible replacement for Zook.
Enforcing the rule book: Purdue head coach Joe Tiller has come out adamantly against what he calls “part of the rules that’s not being enforced.” Tiller believes that wide receivers on his team and on other Big Ten teams are being illegally contacted by defensive backs downfield.
“I’m of the opinion that we should start instructing our [defensive backs] to go out and hold receivers,” Tiller said. “We’re not the only team that’s being held. There are certainly other teams in the league that are guilty of it more often than others.”
Questions also have been raised that Big Ten officials call fewer penalties than officials in other conferences. Statistically, six Big Ten schools are among the top 10 least penalized teams in the NCAA.
The SBC Michigan-Ohio State Classic: Apparently the classic rivalry between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines is not necessarily “priceless.”
SBC Communications has agreed to pay $1.06 million for the naming rights to this annual game.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr pointed out a trend in the upper echelons of intercollegiate athletics toward an increase in fiscal ambition.
“The truth is that we’ve gone in a direction in intercollegiate athletics where money drives everything,” Carr said. “Coaches make too much money, the tickets cost too much money.”
Carr went on to call on the presidents of the universities to “have the courage to make some decisions for the best interests of the kids and the students.”
Alvarez, who is also the athletic director at Wisconsin, commented that “everyone’s looking for new revenue sources, so good for them.”
