Sports action heating up — literally

The beginning of football season is something we all yearn for, but only if the safety of those involved is the top priority, not wins and losses.



Published: The Gaffney Ledger, July 23, 2010

By Joe L. Hughes II

As if we needed a reminder.
For nearly four months, sports fans are delivered a treat in the form of March Madness and the NBA playoffs, being given wall-to-wall coverage of teams’ quest for college and professional basketball’s top prizes.
But following the coronation of a NBA champion, we enter a proverbial desert of sorts, annually arriving at a location on the calendar commonly referred to as the “Dog Days of Summer.”
At most points during the year, two sports are in season — one of which is getting cranked up, while another is preparing for another campaign to end. For example, each winter the Super Bowl marks the competitive conclusion of the NFL season, while NBA teams are making the push for the allstar break.
However, the summer is different. Baseball rules the tube.
Not that anything is wrong with baseball; after all, it is “America’s Pastime” for a reason.
The problem often during this time of year is that it is the only thing on the television, daily reminding people the season is a 162-game marathon — the only sport to begin and end its campaign during the same calendar year.
The FIFA World Cup offered those in need of competition their fix, the month-long tournament concluding July 11 with Spain being crowned champions of the world’s most popular sport. Seemingly gone as soon as it arrived, the World Cup served as a respite for those wanting something beyond the baseball diamond.
Despite all of baseball’s greatness and soccer’s worldwide appeal, I’d be mistaken not to believe a great many sports fans’ eyes were already intently focused on the final days in July and the weeks during the month of August.
Football season is right around the corner. What were you expecting me to say — I’m excited about the second season of Jersey Shore?
Trust me, I’ll be doing enough fist pumping to make “The Situation” and “Snooki” jealous. This time of year will do that to you.
The Cleveland Browns report to practice today in Berea, Ohio, with my team, the Dallas Cowboys, blowing the whistle to begin the first practice of the 2010 campaign Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.
In Birmingham, Ala., Southeastern Conference (SEC) football coaches are unofficially opening the college football season as you read with the annual circus that has become “SEC Media Days.” A three-day event allowing the media access to coaches prior to each school’s first practice, the session has been dominated with reports of NCAA rules violations involving agents and an alleged party on Miami’s (Fla.) South Beach, potentially putting the eligibility of athletes from several teams in jeopardy.
On a more positive note, fall sports in South Carolina — a pool including football, cross country, soccer and field hockey — begin practice July 30. I can expect the usual suspects to be at the top of the hill this year at Gaffney High School, watching practice in an effort to see what their Indians have in store for them.
The squads will begin practice during one of the most vicious heat waves in recent memory, with temperatures seemingly nearing the 100-degree mark on a daily basis in various portions of the country. Such high temperatures put athletes of all ages at risk of “running hot”, increasing their chances of some heat-related illness, particularly heat stroke.
Heat stroke is the third-leading cause of death among athletes in the U.S. According to data compiled by the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the University of North Carolina, 39 football players — 29 of which were in high school — have succumbed to heat stroke since 1995.
The South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) has made it clear such instances are not acceptable, outlining a plan to prevent it from happening here, or anywhere else.
“The main problem associated with exercising in the hot weather is water loss through sweating,” the SCHSL said in a document regarding how to keep athletes safe during summer practices. “Water loss is best replaced by allowing the athlete unrestricted access to water. Water breaks two to three times every hour are better than one break per hour.”
In addition, the state high school sports commission asks coaches never to restrict the amount of water an athlete drinks and be sure the athlete is drinking water.
While the SCHSL places the onus on coaches to make sure their teams are properly hydrated, athletes must take care of themselves.
Each year about this time, I’m in the ear of my brother making sure he is drinking enough fluids in anticipation of training camp. A redshirt sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP), the speeches coming from my direction have lessened in recent years as he makes sure to get in the nutrients and fluids — particularly water — needed to excel on the gridiron, and most importantly in the game of life.
In the end, sports is nothing more than mere entertainment. Though bringing out the best in competition, exhibiting the talent welled up in athletes, the games mean nothing if you are not able to play — much less live.
I encourage coaches to keep a close eye on players as practice begins, staying alert for the warning signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. That winning feeling can last anywhere from a few hours to several months, but the painful loss of a teammate or friend lasts forever.
Let’s make sure not to lose another athlete due to something that could have been prevented. I think we would all rather there be more fist-pumps going around.