FanHouse Death

As baseball continues to evolve as a sport, one thing many of the game's fans have often argued over was how to rate a player defensively. If some Yankees fan starts talking about what a great shortstop Derek Jeter is, somebody else will bring up his defensive zone rating and say that he's actually pretty damn horrible. Really, there just isn't a stat that anybody has created yet we can use to definitively decide who is a good defender, and who isn't.

Of course, there was a time in baseball where nobody even recognized players for being good in the field. There were awards given to the game's best hitters and pitchers, but nothing for that shortstop who saved his team about 50 runs a season making diving plays up the middle. This was something that didn't sit right with Elmer Blasco, and that's why while he was working with Rawlings back in 1956 he came up with the idea of the Gold Glove awards. Now, over 50 years later we're still handing them out after every season, and they sometimes play a role (whether deserved or not) in helping decide a player is a Hall of Famer or not.

Sadly, Blasco isn't going to be around to see who wins this season's awards, as he passed away at his home over the weekend at the age of 87.

So while we all still argue over whether or not Derek Jeter is a good defensive player, we should also take a little time out of our days to thank and remember the man who first gave us something to argue over on defense.

To say that there haven't been a lot of great moments in the history of Indiana University football is more than an understatement. In 108 seasons of football the Hoosiers have won exactly two conference titles. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the University of Chicago has seven Big Ten football titles, and they quit playing big-time football in 1939.

Terry Hoeppner looked to be the one who could turn it around. He was that rarest of breeds, a proven college coach who didn't consider a stint in Bloomington to be an act of violence against his professional reputation. Hoeppner arrived from Miami University in 2005 and quickly installed self-confidence in his Hoosiers. He wasn't able to get them to a bowl game in his first two seasons, but anybody who followed the Big Ten had to figure it was just a matter of time.

Time, unfortunately, was running out. Hoeppner had a brain tumor and, following a rigorous course of treatment, the university announced that he would not coach in 2007. A few days after IU's announcement, Hoeppner died.

There are times you just wish the clock could stand still for a few days or weeks. But it doesn't, ever. The Hoosiers had only a little time to grieve for their coach. Most of us quietly wrote off Indiana's upcoming season, figuring the Hoosiers couldn't recover from the tragedy. We were wrong, of course.

It didn't get a lot of attention last month. After all, it wasn't at a major school and it wasn't some star player. Still, a college football player for the Central Florida Knights collapsed during spring practices and died. And there are a lot of questions swirling around his passing.

Ereck Plancher was 19 and was finishing his freshman year at UCF. During spring practices on March 18, the receiver collapsed at the end of a conditioning drill called the "mat drill." About an hour later, Plancher was pronounced dead. Preliminary reports have proven inconclusive as to the cause of death. The full autopsy results are not yet ready.

According to UCF Coach George O'Leary, the conditioning drill was not particularly strenuous and he did not recall seeing Plancher struggling. Other coaches said similar things. Players, however, are quietly saying different things.

They said those drills, conducted in the Knights' indoor fieldhouse, came after players lifted weights for an hour, also a supervised activity.

"Everybody was struggling at times," one player said. ". . . But he [Ereck] was running, and I could tell something wasn't right. His eyes got real dark, and he was squinting like he was blinded by the sun. He was making this moaning noise, trying to breathe real hard."

The four players said Plancher fell during the final sprint and members of the UCF coaching staff yelled at him to finish the drill.

Plancher did pass 2 physicals that met the NCAA minimum requirements.

Jose Lopez may have been playing second base for the Mariners Wednesday night when they lost to the Cubs, but I doubt his thoughts were on the game too often. That's because a few hours before the game started, Jose found out he'd lost his brother.

Jose's older brother Gabriel Lopez was killed in a motorcycle accident back home in Venezuela.

"I talked to my daddy, and he said if I couldn't get home in time for the funeral, I should stay here and play baseball," Lopez said after the Mariners dropped a 3-2 decision at Wrigley Field. "We checked on flights, and I couldn't have made it home in time."

The funeral is scheduled today, but Lopez will not be able to attend. He's not even sure when he'll be able to get back home to Venezuela to be with his family.

It's a tough position to be in, and I don't envy Lopez at all. I'm 100% sure I wouldn't be able to go to work the night I lost a family member, let alone possibly go a few months without seeing the rest of my family.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jose and his family.