Had a Stacey Nuveman injury last weekend at UTEP

[jonriv]

There was a time that football coaches at all levels who thought limiting water at practices made players tough- we now know they were wrong.

I agree with Donnie. It was a dumb statement that was made without fully understanding the consequences

[AlwaysImprove]

If you want to avoid that mentality you will have to avoid a lot more than Nuveman. 5 years ago it was rare to hear college coaches speak of masks in approving fashion. Coaches that approach this subject in the fashion you are demanding remain rare.

Wild pitches do not seem to hurt players in the fashion you describe. Are they a risk, maybe, just I do not hear of kids taking wild pitches in this fashion. Top of the helmet, causing the player to drop to the ground, those happen, but I have yet to hear of an actual hit of the type that a mask would make a difference.

Foul tips occur enough, it would be my preference my kid wore a mask while hitting.

I guess the big difference between you and me is realizing that Nuveman is not saying anything that loads of college coaches are saying all the time. She is likely in the middle of the pack in competitive approach to the game.

Are you saying fp did not call her a beaatch. It's ok, next you guys will be threatening my kids and grandkids with violence because I may venture to disagree. Saying this accident is Nuveman's fault is just silly. The girl took known acceptable and generally reasonable risks. Unfortunately, it was the one time an accident happened. Projecting that she would have worn a helmet had Stacy never said anything, is as hyperbolic as it sounds. If you are chest thumping for masks, you are going to see it how you like.

What you are saying is equivalent saying every injury caused by auto is because we put less than 10 million dollars in safety gear in every car.

I have heard many coaches express the same sentiments, personally. You see it reflected when you walk around the Mary Nutter and watch a lot of college ball.

[AlwaysImprove]

There was a time that football coaches at all levels who thought limiting water at practices made players tough- we now know they were wrong.

I agree with Donnie. It was a dumb statement that was made without fully understanding the consequences

Really? That's all you got? Man, I am sometime very happy me and you are not on the same side of these discussions.

[ontheblack]

92701's comment is my new #1 favorite HB comment of all time.

I call BS on the others defending Nuveman. Do your freaking homework.

The Weeklys have no issues with face masks since Sarah Fekete broke her jaw after being hit by a rise ball. Several of last year's 2013 SEC All Tourney team wore masks:

Paige Wilson - Georgia
Taylor Shwarz - Georgia
Lauren Gibson - Tennessee
Raven Chavanne - Tennessee
Stephanie Tofft - Florida
Kelsey Stewart - Florida
Kirsti Merritt - Florida

And for good measure, lets add the player most likely to break Nuveman's record, Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain to the list, as well as her former OU teammate and 2012 Collegiate Player of the Year, Keilani Ricketts

Yeah, that is the biggest group of candy ass players in the game playing for a bunch of no-name coaches who can only dream of one day reaching the recruiting and coaching greatness of Ms Nuveman.

Nuveman needs to apologize to some of the best players in the game, and then she needs to STFU.

[jtat32]

Also, the incidence is so rare it almost isn't worth addressing. Of course if it happens to your kid or one you know it carries more weight with you but that doesn't call for blanket changes to the game.
Flame on.....

I have no idea how frequently this happens, but I've seen it in person a couple of times in college games and I don't get to too many. Both times it happened to players we knew and it was not pleasant to watch.

It's unethical for any coach to pressure a player to not wear approved and reasonable safety equipment, but this only applies to the players that this coach has direct power over. If she's not your coach, then why would you give a rat's ass what her opinion is?

[AlwaysImprove]

Ohhh please. Keep it going. You guys are awesome. Calling out Nuveman. Handing out the moniker. It's all her fault now. We gonna make her apologize.

You guys got me channeling Ralph Nader.

[jonriv]

AI- sorry for the weak response Just had two bourbons and was limited on my iphone

Do I think Nuveman should take the blame- no, but what she said certainly is a catalyst. Also, since as you said her statement probably represents the thoughts of a lot of coaches.

I do not think masks should be made mandatory, but players should not be discouraged wearing them either. I guess what puzzles me is why players would not have the maskes on? They have worn them their whole playing careers until college-why change?

As for the frequency of being hit in the face- I see the foul tip to the face variety quite often(thankfully with a mask in place)

[Dugout Dad]

I was just talking to a college coach last week and I was inquiring how a certain player was doing after having a pretty good freshman year and she told me she was on the DL recovering from a broken nose after taking a foul ball to the face while wearing an unmasked batting helmet. Personally, I think losing half a season to a preventable injury is not worth the freedom of not having a mask.

[AlwaysImprove]

AI- sorry for the weak response Just had two bourbons and was limited on my iphone

Do I think Nuveman should take the blame- no, but what she said certainly is a catalyst. Also, since as you said her statement probably represents the thoughts of a lot of coaches.

I do not think masks should be made mandatory, but players should not be discouraged wearing them either. I guess what puzzles me is why players would not have the maskes on? They have worn them their whole playing careers until college-why change?

As for the frequency of being hit in the face- I see the foul tip to the face variety quite often(thankfully with a mask in place)

Four bourbons might explain it. A catalyst that's just as rich. Very official tone, like putting a moniker on someone. Sorry if I find the pitchforking entertaining. Someone tried to catalyst moniker me one time, and it still cracks me thinking of it.

To answer your question, why players might now choose to not have masks. I suspect they do a fairly level headed analysis of the risk reward math.

Despite claims here, mostly discounted as they are full of hyperbolic claims of mass destruction. I have watched the thousands of games and never seen a foul ball to a player not wearing a mask.

Someone made the claim that foul balls to players with masks happen all the time. I suspect this is like gear in football. Once you have the gear on you are way more likely to take the additional risk the gear affords you. Most studies currently show the better they make the gear, the harder the impacts become. The overall injury rate remains consistent. According to archaeology, they remain fairly consistent going back a very long time. I suspect that girls with masks on are not as concerned about the ball hitting the part of the bat that will come up and in on them.

It is for that very reason that I would encourage the use of a mask. It let's hitters stay after a pitch that is a bit inside and has gottten a bit above the hands. Staying with it longer may allow them to do something with that pitch.

Yes, I have heard of these accidents, but you have to be realistic. The UTEP incident, a Huskies player 8 years ago. But it is not like it is 10 a year, or even 1 a year. It happens once every few years. I am not talking about the light knock on the nose, which produces a very bloody scene, but does no real damage. I am talking about 6 months off types of injuries.

On most college teams, ankles, knees, colar bones, fingers, you see about two of those a year. So it is going to take a lot more than a bloody nose, a broken nose or knot on the head to register.

I can tell you without out a hint of doubt, at the upper college levels. If you step up to the plate with that Lewis Nix looking mask I showed on the earlier post, you are going to get your first pitch low and inside. Inside cause they think you are afraid of the ball, low cause they think you cannot see it. At this level, they are likely right on both counts.

I can also 100% confirm for you that despite the catalyst moniker you have cast, the next kid hit the face in this fashion is not in any way shape or form have anything to do with Nuveman. No more than Ozzy's Suicide Solution song was causing youth's to commit suicide. If people are just not taking your catalyst moniker all that seriously, dont' be gettin too butt hurt.

[jonriv]

I think you mistake my catalyst moniker-- I meant the remark was a catalyst to the conversation and the interpretation(perhaps I was unclear) BTW my 2 bourbons are the size of most people's four

I am certainly not crying about some impending catastrophe-- just not sure I like the "tough old coach stance" and the flip remark.

Again- I certainly don't balme every facial accident on a non-mask wearing player on her, but the attitude(shared by other coaches) that led to the comment I do find problematic.

I am glad that my DD chose to keep her mask(as does the thousands of dollars of orthadontia she has)!