Mike Leach and his attorney are doubling down. And the attorney, Ted Liggett is talking to everybody and saying just about everything.
According to the James’ family, here are the details of the actions that the medical team took:
The following is an account of how Adam James was injured and diagnosed by Tech’s medical staff, according to Rebecca Shaw, a spokeswoman for James and his family:
James was injured during a scrimmage on the evening of Dec. 16 when he suffered a blow to the head. He reported symptoms including dizziness, blurred vision and a headache to Tech trainer Buzz Chisum, who advised James to see team physician Dr. Michael Phy the next day. On the night of the injury, James experienced nausea and vomiting.
Phy performed diagnostic tests Dec. 17 and confirmed James had suffered a concussion. Phy said James would need to be withheld from practice, avoid any type of physical activity for five to seven days, and undergo further evaluation after that point.
Phy’s diagnosis was communicated to head trainer Steve Pincock, who relayed the information to Mike Leach.
This was proper and typical. What’s not known are what the Tech protocols are regarding concussions. Many teams require injured players to be at practice, but coaches get themselves into trouble if they attempt zero tolerance on this policy. For example, if a player had the flu, you certainly wouldn’t want them around other players at practice. A player who presented symptoms as did James would have been best served by being excused from practice.
Where Tech appears to have gone wrong is that it should have been the medical staff’s call – and not Leach’s – of the way an injured player is managed.
An ESPN report this morning quoted an assistant coach as saying the younger James had become a discipline problem and practiced with a lack of effort. The coach indicated he was disciplined after practice and James was openly disrespctful of the staff.
I believe this report to be true and it does not reflect well on both James and his father.
But it is no excuse for the manner that James injury was managed, especially so if he was mistreated or treated differently than already established protocols dictated.
Posted under Uncategorized
This post was written by bobsikes on December 30, 2009
