bitz

[a.c. slater]

is bitz hurt? i thought i saw him on crutches...anyone know what the deal is?

[Jordan 04]

A) If he was on crutches, then I would go out on a limb and say that yes, he is hurt.

B) If you are posting a rumor of something you think you might have possibly seen, then I'm not so sure this is the best approach.

[calgARI '07]

He broke his ankle walking like 3 weeks ago.  The original time frame was 4-6 weeks.  Expect him back mid-November.

[A-19]

ac slater,

bitz isn't really hurt. he just wants to scare you into thinking kelly is crazy so he can take her to the dance instead.

[Jerseygirl]

Nice, Mike.

[JasonN95]

Ugh, player injuries not made public by the team should not be discussed here by those with some sort of "insider" access to the team.  Putting aside whether it's appropriate to talk publicly about a student's health, you are doing a disservice to the team. If I'm mistaken and this has been disclosed by the team/player/coach in some public fashion, forgive me, otherwise we all need to zip it.

[Facetimer]

[Q]JasonN95 Wrote:

 Ugh, player injuries not made public by the team should not be discussed here by those with some sort of "insider" access to the team.  Putting aside whether it's appropriate to talk publicly about a student's health, you are doing a disservice to the team. If I'm mistaken and this has been disclosed by the team/player/coach in some public fashion, forgive me, otherwise we all need to zip it.[/q]

You need to zip it.

[KeithK]

Considering that it's the pre-season and we'll know long before the actual games whether he's hurt (for instance, if he doesn't play in the R&W) you're probably a little over concerned.

[billhoward]

If the guy's limping around campus on crutches, it's not exactly an insider secret. Most likely the rest of the ECAC knows already and the only people in the dark if there's an eLynah blackoiut would be the Cornell fans. Students certainly merit privacy in their health matters but this is a question of why a student athlete on the hockey team is on crutches a couple weeks before the season opens, not the results of a VD test.

Harvard's going to play us with or without Bitz.

In the more major and pro sports, the team has to report player injuries to avoid gamblers with inside information hedging their bets.

[JasonN95]

I believe there’s a difference between fans speculating that a player is hurt and is going to miss some games because he’s a no-show for the R&W game and reporting that he’s been seen on campus on crutches, but I can see the other side: you can’t hide crutches and other teams by hook or crook will probably learn of it (how probable? who knows). But reporting the nature of the injury and the recovery time is going too far when the team or player has not come out and stated it. Plus, Ari’s post sure sounds as though he was privy to a direct conversation (he says he knows how the injury occurred). You’ll have a hard time convincing me that whoever told him this did it with the expectation or desire that it would find its way onto the web.  Ari, if I’m wrong, pardon me, but I’m doubtful that anyone involved with the team would want to see such information posted to an online forum.

[calgARI '07]

The guy is on crutches so he can't walk or skate.  It's not like he's gonna play when he can't walk without crutches.  It isn't going to be a big mystery to people when he isn't playing when games actually start.  The box score isn't going to happen to falsely include Bitz when he didn't play.  
I understand that players PLAYING through injuries should not be disclosed, but there is no way Bitz can play with through this injury when he can't even walk.  I just don't see what the problem is, especially considering they don't play a real game for more than 3 weeks.

[Will]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

I understand that players PLAYING through injuries should not be disclosed, but there is no way Bitz can play with through this injury when he can't even walk.  I just don't see what the problem is, especially considering they don't play a real game for more than 3 weeks.[/q]

Well, hypothetically, if said injury takes more than three weeks to heal, then I would say this whole ordeal of the public discussion of a player's injury is definitely a problem.  I've never had a broken ankle before, so I don't know how long such an injury takes to heal.  Additionally, even if the injury is supposedly healed by the time the puck drops, dirtier opposing players might try to 'reopen old wounds', so to speak.  I suppose all of this revolves around the exact nature of the injury in any given situation.

[jeh25]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:
 I just don't see what the problem is, especially considering they don't play a real game for more than 3 weeks.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 10/07/04 11:59PM by calgARI '07.[/q]

The issue has nothing to do with scouting or strategic advantage.

It is fundamentally a matter of privacy.

Despite the informality, the 'net is not like chatting over beer or three with your crew. You wanna talk about having seen a player on crutches while having lunch in Trillium, fine. But out here in cyberspace, the things you say are somewhat permanent and are available for world wide consumption.

This isn't about hurting the team. It is about respecting an college athlete's right to not have his medical condition discussed by random internet fanboys.

[DeltaOne81]

Its also a little bit about hurting the team (but yes, more about privacy). Because even when he's ready to play, chances are they won't be entirely 100% and more prone to reinjury if an opposing player knows where to check/slash/poke. So if you insist on looking it it from team-interest perspective, then there you are.

Yeah, this isn't exactly like a more discreet injury, but its probably not a good idea. No need to get defensive Ari, its an easy thing not to think of beforehand.

[calgARI '07]

Defensive?  No.  But I'm having trouble understanding the issue at hand.  Again, I can totally understand why non-obvious injuries like Vesce's all of last year should not be disclosed because he tried to play through it.  An injury as obvious as Bitz's when not in season is harmless.