Iowa Hawkeyes Football: Hospitals, Drugs and Dark Days in the Corn Belt
Iowa fans aren’t used to this. They have had disappointing seasons. Sometimes they have a bad attitude or two. But they have never (in my memory) faced anything like this.
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In just one season, Iowa fans have seen their hopes go from incredibly high to devastatingly low. In just one season, they have seen a usually “squeaky clean” program become a national sensation for all the wrong reasons.
DJK, Adam Robinson and the Drug Culture
If you look at almost any Iowa chart or column, you’ll know all about how the Hawkeyes enter the season as conference contenders potential champions and perhaps even dark horses in the title race. national title. You will discover how those dreams were shattered after so many heartbreaking losses.
As the dust settles after a respectable (but disappointing) 7-5 regular season, news breaks that Iowa’s all-time leading rusher, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, has been arrested in connection to a “drug house”.
As journalist Kevin Trahan points out, this whole affair has grown out of proportion, thanks in large part to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. In the end, the courts (you know, the ones who decide actual guilt and innocence) decided that his involvement was not as it was made out to be.
just as Iowa was preparing to play Missouri in the Insight Bowl, regular starting running back Adam Robinson was arrested in Des Moines for marijuana possession. At the time, Robinson was serving a non-drug-related suspension and was not with the team in Tempe, Arizona.
Johnson-Koulianos and Robinson were released from the team after being arrested. The University of Iowa immediately made it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated.
That hasn’t stopped rumors from spreading that the University of Iowa has a drug problem.
Kirk Ferentz has made it clear that he is not naive about the presence of drugs at the University of Iowa and on campuses across the country. They are there. They have been there for a long time and there is almost no way to get rid of them. They are part of our society, and that society pervades universities across the country, for better and for worse.
“Unlucky 13”
After putting those two issues behind them, Iowa went out and beat Missouri 27-24 to finish the season at 8-5. It’s a relief, not just because Iowa is getting some good news but also because they’ve put their late-game demons behind them and pulled off a close victory for once.
However, before the victory celebration had subsided, more bad news hit the Iowa campus. After rigorous winter training, 13 soccer players were hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis.
Before anyone jumps to conclusions and tries to connect DJK and Adam Robinson to this development, the test results show that no illegal drugs were responsible for this incident.
The most likely cause of the 13’s hospitalization appears to have been the extremely intense training they endured following a three-week break from bowling. Their bodies are basically unprepared for what is thrown at them.
I blame that on the staff for not knowing the signs of an athlete in trouble. I also blame them for expecting a little too much a little too soon. But, that’s just me. I also wasn’t there and we have to remember that while 13 were hospitalized, many more were not. It’s not really known (to us at any rate) why these 13 reacted the way they did while the others are apparently fine.
Wegher and Hampton Want Out
Long before all of the darkness settled on Iowa City, one of Iowa’s three talented running backs, Brandon Wegher, left the team for “personal reasons.” What those personal reasons are belong solely to Mr. Wegher and are not the business of us fans.
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