Cowboys' practice facility collapses in storm; 7 injured

[Badgerinmaine]

I am no Cowboys fan--honestly, I dislike them more than even the Bears. But I certainly would never have wished something as frightening as this on them:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/05/02/cowboys.practice.field.collapse/
I hope and pray that all of the injured will be all right--looks to be fortunate that nobody was killed. NBC showed footage of the aftermath during its pre-Kentucky Derby coverage, and it sure looked nasty.

[Gunakor]

That's what you get for practicing in a bubble.

[boiga]

you guys have to check out the video of this thing:

http://www.bostonscore.tv/other-sports/cowboys-moving-and-shaking/10022767.html

One of the rookie players calls it the "craziest fucking thing I've ever seen" in the video. It's certainly up there.

[Badgerinmaine]

you guys have to check out the video of this thing:

http://www.bostonscore.tv/other-sports/cowboys-moving-and-shaking/10022767.html

One of the rookie players calls it the "craziest fucking thing I've ever seen" in the video. It's certainly up there.
It's a few seconds longer, but basically that's the same footage as in the CNN story I posted above--so if you watched that one, the NECN video is basically the same thing.

[Gunakor]

Sorry. I mean, I obviously feel for those who were injured. But they practiced in a bubble. An oversized tent. Build a facility for crying out loud. Those aluminum sheds are sturdy enough, and cheap as hell to build. I know you just blew your wad on a new stadium that would hold the Statue of Liberty standing upright, but come on now man...

[boiga]

They had been renting a similar bubble from a local high school for off season practice before they built this one. Apparently bubbles are common practice down there. It was only a rare storm that knocked this one down.

Got to feel for the special teams coach. He broke his back but looks to avoid paralysis thankfully.

Apologies badgerinmaine for the alternate link. When I first checked your link I only saw the photos, not the vid.

[Rastak]

Oh man, NFL radio just said one of the scouts at age 33 had his spinal cord severed. Shit, that's horrible.

[MJZiggy]

I read that earlier today. The story I read said he had a broken back but no paralysis.

DeCamillis, hired a few months ago, is likely to need surgery to fix "a couple of broken vertebrae" in his lower back but is expected to recover, said his father-in-law, Dan Reeves, the longtime NFL coach.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050201735.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

[Rastak]

Actually it was Rich Behm that had this happen to him. Very sad event.

[MJZiggy]

Then my story desperately needs updating. It says nothing about him!!

[Administrator]

Oh man, NFL radio just said one of the scouts at age 33 had his spinal cord severed. Shit, that's horrible.

No way. Gosh, that's awful. I had heard like MJZiggy that Dan Reeves son in law, the decamilis guy was the worst hurt.

this is much worse.

[Sparkey]

Cowboys Moving and Shaking

Posted by Adam Hart Yesterday at 7:20 pm

Well, their practice facility was, at least. And then collapsing. At which point at least four people were injured.

UPDATE: Cowboys scouting assistant Rich Behm, 33, is paralyzed from waist down after the collapse, the AP reported on Sunday night.

[Badgerinmaine]

Apologies badgerinmaine for the alternate link. When I first checked your link I only saw the photos, not the vid.
No problem--I just wanted people who'd seen the one to know they didn't need to see the other too.

[packers11]

Why the fk does this team not have a good practice facility... With all the money JJ has you think this team would have something nice they could practice in...

[Badgerinmaine]

Here's one of the stories on Mr. Behm's paralysis; I picked this one because it includes his picture:
http://www.examiner.com/x-219-Denver-Weather-Examiner~y2009m5d3-Dallas-Cowboys-scout-paralyzed-after-storm-downs-facility
What a horrible thing this all is. Wow.

[MadScientist]

Why the fk does this team not have a good practice facility... With all the money JJ has you think this team would have something nice they could practice in...
I have a feeling we'll be seeing this on Engineering Disasters in the not too distant future. Hopefully what is learned from analyzing the failure will be put to good use preventing this from happening again.

It's possible that the combination of wind speed and direction (possibly swirling upwards) might make prevention of this type of disaster unfeasible.

I hope the Cowboys figure out a way to give Behm a job for life that will let him use his scouting talents while accommodating his paralysis (no or limited travel). I'd also like to see the Cowboys put up some serious bucks to fun research into spinal injuries.

[Partial]

Very, very sad :(