Didn't want to put this in the AF thread

[GIGAFAN99]

Though it's kind of related.

Can we officially call BS on the "other players seem to have caught it too" quote from Monday during WVU?

If you recall, the rumor was the whole team was sick, likely with the same thing Austin had. Now this is a close-knit team but I'm fairly certain they don't share a pancreas.

It's not too big a deal but it bothers me a little that the excuse was pretty well-exposed as a pre-emptive strike against our impending loss.

Yes, yes everyone could be sick too and blah, blah, blah and we don't know and we're not there in practice. I get it. It's not necessarily false but it's pretty suspicious.

[superan]

The rumor started because Jay Bilas said that the whole team was sick on TV when he was announcing the starters for the game. It wasn't made up by someone on this board.

[GIGAFAN99]

Mar 4, 2010 9:07:52 GMT -5 superan said:

The rumor started because Jay Bilas said that the whole team was sick on TV when he was announcing the starters for the game. It wasn't made up by someone on this board.

Uh, I know dude. I didn't want to come out and say specifically but I guess this needs explaining. Jay Bilas said that JTIII told him other guys had come down with the same thing.

That's the only bothersome part. Who cares if this board started a rumor? I much more mind we went into WVU with a built-in excuse.

[prhoya]

This team is so close that it's not only chemistry, but biology.

Kidding aside, and not making excuses, Austin's WPost article mentioned how what started as a cold turned worse or didn't get better. Chris had been sick for a previous game, but not our last game. Whatever the team's health situation is or was, they will have five days to get better (obviously excluding AF).

[Filo]

C'mon, I haven't seen anyone making excuses like the Marquette Flu stuff from last year. Haven't seen it from the coach, from the players or from the fans. There is so much to complaint about with the recent slide, do you really need to create faux complaints?

And, of course, the other really excellent point here is the assumption that no one else on the team was, in fact, under the weather. Yeah, Freeman has diabetes, so that means rest of the team has automatic immunity from any and all illnesses. Brilliant.

[superan]

Mar 4, 2010 9:14:04 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Mar 4, 2010 9:07:52 GMT -5 superan said:

The rumor started because Jay Bilas said that the whole team was sick on TV when he was announcing the starters for the game. It wasn't made up by someone on this board.

Uh, I know dude. I didn't want to come out and say specifically but I guess this needs explaining. Jay Bilas said that JTIII told him other guys had come down with the same thing.

That's the only bothersome part. Who cares if this board started a rumor? I much more mind we went into WVU with a built-in excuse.

Fair enough. But the existence of diabetes doesn't preclude the existence of an actual stomach flu circulating among the team. In fact, with a stomach flu, it's actually somewhat easier to spot diabetes because blood sugar rises very sharply (especially if the patient is vomiting) and fluids are lost much more rapidly. I'm obviously shocked that AF got diagnosed but not surprised at how they were able to discover it. AF didn't get sick because of diabetes, he got sick because of a stomach flu that could have easily spread throughout the team.

[thejerseytornado]

smh. diabetes is often first diagnosed when someone has an infection (the AF thread has a good account of why somewhere in there). Things like a cold or a flu or this nasty bug that's spreading around the east coast right now fit that perfectly. It actually helps lend credence to the idea that a lot of the players were sick.

you don't cancel shoot-around because one guy is ill. cmon. and the team didn't present these pleas, they played came out playing slowly and eventually started to turn it around before fading again (sounds like how i'd play if i had an illness...hmm...)

[DanMcQ]

Giga: quite possible that multiple players on the team had viral infections - there has been something going around campus (my daughter had it as well). From reading the Post article, it sounds like Freeman had something similar and it is likely that the initial viral infection both triggered the manifestations of diabetes and muddied the waters in terms of making that diagnosis quicker.

The thing this calls into question is making statements based on rumor and further carrying those statements on as fact. Since Bilas had actually met with the team earlier that day I'd give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of veracity over someone who simply watched the game on TV.

Finally, I didn't hear anyone on the team making any illness-related excuses. I think that is what you are essentially accusing them of doing and I'd call that accusation unfounded. Who cares if the media do it. Find me a JTIII quote blaming the WVU game on illness - otherwise I call BS.

[Madgesdiq]

Wasn't it also reported that JT3 cancelled a pre-game shootaround?

This is quite a conspiracy theory to imagine that JT3 needed to create any more of a built in excuse than they needed than Freeman's absence.

Inspector Clouseau has done better detective work.

[Eurostar]

usually these first episodes of diabetes are precipitated by an illness. its likely that everyone was sick last weekend but free just didnt get any better which led him to the hospital and the ultimate timely diagnosis.

[Grandpa]

Based on the title, I thought that this thread was actually going to be a comment about the discovery in the WaPo article that Austin's dad is Austin Freeman III ! Not only is that cool in the symmetry with JTIII, but that would presumably mean #15 (and #1 in our hearts) is actually Austin Freeman IV, which opens a whole host of new potential nicknames for Austin...

[CAHoya07]

Yeah, I was wondering a little too about how Austin's diabetes could make the rest of the team sick, but a viral infection that triggered the manifestation of diabetes makes sense now.

[KHoyaNYC]

I'm not quite sure I follow - are you concerned that JTIII deliberately misled the media by claiming the team had a flu bug when, in fact, it didn't? And the basis for that hypothesis is that when Freeman was hospitalized with a viral infection the hospital discovered he also had diabetes? Is that right? Or is there something more to it?

[GIGAFAN99]

Mar 4, 2010 9:43:16 GMT -5 KHoyaNYC said:

I don't understand - are you concerned that JTIII deliberately misled the media by claiming the team had a flu bug when, in fact, it didn't? And the basis for that hypothesis is that when Freeman was hospitalized with a viral infection the hospital disocvered he also had diabetes? Is that right?

I don't think he misled or lied or anything like that. Why is everything a giant conspiracy theory?

Here's what I think happened. AF being in the hospital presented an opportunity to say "That's how sick this team is, one's in the hospital" and we took that opportunity to tell Bilas that we were in such bad shape. There's no conspiracy theory and I'm sure we might have had the sniffles (or yes, even a virus and I'm sure it's bad, we've all had them, and we've even lived our older, weaker lives through them quite normally). But we didn't have the black plague like it sounded on TV because Free was in the hospital for multiple days. He was in the hospital because he was sick AND had diabetes. In short, we might have been sick but it wasn't going to send the whole team to the ER, only those who are also diabetic.

Now without Free we lose anyway but a week after we find out Chris was "sick" for Rutgers we had this episode. I just think we should keep our stomach trouble out of the media because we've looked tired and weak for a month and it starts to sound like Marquette's flu.

[guru]

- 1000

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Type I diabetes can start with a viral infection then the immune response begins to attack the pancreas. So it's perfectly plausible that Austin could've gotten sick, the rest of the team got sick and then Austin's Diabetes emerged. So it's not necessarily BS.

[tashoya]

This is insane.

[DanMcQ]

Mar 4, 2010 9:54:45 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

I don't think he misled or lied or anything like that. Why is everything a giant conspiracy theory?

Here's what I think happened. AF being in the hospital presented an opportunity to say "That's how sick this team is, one's in the hospital" and we took that opportunity to tell Bilas that we were in such bad shape. There's no conspiracy theory and I'm sure we might have had the sniffles (or yes, even a virus and I'm sure it's bad, we've all had them, and we've even lived our older, weaker lives through them quite normally). But we didn't have the black plague like it sounded on TV because Free was in the hospital for multiple days. He was in the hospital because he was sick AND had diabetes. In short, we might have been sick but it wasn't going to send the whole team to the ER, only those who are also diabetic.

Now without Free we lose anyway but a week after we find out Chris was "sick" for Rutgers we had this episode. I just think we should keep our stomach trouble out of the media because we've looked tired and weak for a month and it starts to sound like Marquette's flu.

To quote that famous American, John McEnroe, "You cannot be serious."

SMH

[KHoyaNYC]

Mar 4, 2010 9:54:45 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Mar 4, 2010 9:43:16 GMT -5 KHoyaNYC said:

I don't understand - are you concerned that JTIII deliberately misled the media by claiming the team had a flu bug when, in fact, it didn't? And the basis for that hypothesis is that when Freeman was hospitalized with a viral infection the hospital disocvered he also had diabetes? Is that right?

I don't think he misled or lied or anything like that. Why is everything a giant conspiracy theory?

Here's what I think happened. AF being in the hospital presented an opportunity to say "That's how sick this team is, one's in the hospital" and we took that opportunity to tell Bilas that we were in such bad shape. There's no conspiracy theory and I'm sure we might have had the sniffles (or yes, even a virus and I'm sure it's bad, we've all had them, and we've even lived our older, weaker lives through them quite normally). But we didn't have the black plague like it sounded on TV because Free was in the hospital for multiple days. He was in the hospital because he was sick AND had diabetes. In short, we might have been sick but it wasn't going to send the whole team to the ER, only those who are also diabetic.

Now without Free we lose anyway but a week after we find out Chris was "sick" for Rutgers we had this episode. I just think we should keep our stomach trouble out of the media because we've looked tired and weak for a month and it starts to sound like Marquette's flu.

Ok got it. I just don't see it as JTIII "taking an opportunity" to do anything. Bilas asked how's the team's health and JTIII responded, truthfully, that it wasn't good. But that was the end of it. No excuses.

[HometownHoya]

Well Chris is one of the few people that it was reported was NOT sick for WVU. So how do we know that the team doesn't have the same bug that Chris had? If Austin was on IVs by Saturday, I am guessing that it did not just appear over night Friday night. Also, it is the FLU! The symptoms for the flu show up for EVERYTHING. You could have the flu and be just coughing or very easy to be sent to the hospital because of the flu, you don't have to be an old invalid to be sent to the hospital because of a "minor" sickness. Remember the report we got that they were monitering him with no idea what was going on? Thats because his flu had subsided but he had not gotten better thus they took some blood, did some tests, found his high sugar levels.

Everything that I just said could have easily and possibly have been what happened but it is just SPECULATION. Just like your initial "theory" that JTIII (known as one of the most honorable coaches in Div I) lied and purposefully mislead the media.

ON Edit: The_Way is right, move on, game is over, Freeman is out of the hospital and getting healthier, no one else is going into the hospital, and have time to rest relax and get ready.

PS: I hope that Coach lets Austin rest all week and have him only participate in shooting drills. Not only will it give Austin a break, he knows the offense, but it will also allow us to get a chance to let some of the non-starting lineups more practice time together.