"the blame game"
by now, most sports fans are aware of the tragedy that occurred at notre dame. declan sullivan, a film student working for the notre dame football team, lost his life after the 50-foot-tall hydraulic lift he was filming on collapsed due to a 60+ mile per hour gust of wind. just minutes before dying, declan wrote two separate tweets on his twitter account:
"gusts of wind up to 60 mph. well today will be fun at work. i guess i've lived long enough."
"holy s***. holy s***. this is terrifying."
clearly, sullivan should not have been filming practice in such weather conditions.
since the accident, many columnists, news reporters, and sports anchors have called for the firing of both the notre dame athletic director and head coach brian kelly.
i, however, could not disagree more.
sure, it can be argued that there is some burden of blame to be placed on the AD and head coach. no life should ever be in jeopardy during a football practice. it's one thing to have a team practice in the elements, but it's something altogether different to have it be filmed from a 50 foot tower in the same conditions.
in fact, ohio state head coach jim tressel intentionally moved his practice indoors when the exact same storm system moved into columbus. his reasoning had nothing to do with the football team. tressel admitted that he only moved practice inside to protect his cameramen. tressel wanted the practice to be videotaped, but realized that the weather conditions couldn't permit taping.
many writers have suggested that tressel's logic be used to fire kelly; if tressel can see the danger, then surely kelly should have seen it as well.
i realize that i may be the only one on earth to defend brian kelly, but let's just call this what it is: a freak accident.
brian kelly is a good football coach and an even better guy. it is undeniable that he has always looked out for the best interests of his players, assistants, and interns. i absolutely guarantee that kelly never intimidated, pressured, or forced sullivan to climb up and film in those conditions. ultimately, sullivan had a choice: film or don't film.
from every article, report, and story i have heard, nowhere has there been any indication that kelly asked or required sullivan to film on that day. sullivan willingly climbed up the hydraulic lift, began recording, tweeted his fears, and tragically passed away.
the reality is that this was a horrific event. a tragedy. a freak accident. sullivan's family will undoubtedly receive a settlement. notre dame will have a tarnished reputation. new security measures will be added for those filming practices. but please don't place the burden--or the responsibility of taking away a life--on brian kelly. the man just doesn't deserve it.
it is a shame that kelly will forever be inextricably linked to the day that declan sullivan died. i just hope that he isn't also linked to unfairly losing his head coaching position.
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