Sullivan's ominous forecast tweets

LizardState · 10-29-2010, 02:03 PM

This is the scariest college fb-related Halloween wk. story I've ever heard. This tragedy is on a level with the Texas A&M bonfire deaths & the Army-Navy Game Veterans Stadium section collapse a few yrs ago.

My sympathies & prayers are with Sullivan's family for their loss.

ESPN Outside the Lines is reporting this as I post.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n7003223.shtml

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/artic...5190098573.txt

Notre Dame student Declan Sullivan who was killed in high winds in South Bend sent tweets before FB practice & during practice (it's unclear if they were from the hydraulic lift) just moments before his fall & death.

Per the AP article, before practice he tweeted:
"Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I've lived long enough."

During practice 44 mins. after the 1st tweet:
"Holy (expletive deleted). Holy (expletive deleted). This is terrifying."

The AP article reports the ND administration was evasive during the press conference after they had issued an earlier statement that weather conditions were "unremarkable," saying they sidestepped questions about the twitter feed answering instead about the safety of the lift itself which is being re-inspected now.

ND AD Jack Swarbrick said later "There is a lot to learn here.... we will learn it all." A strong wind advisory had been issued before the practice. Sullivan's lift collapsed after high wind gusts sent all kinds of "equipment swirling around the practice field" said Swarbrick. A strong gust of at least 51 MPH toppled the lift.

It was also revealed that he was a ND employee hired to videotape the practices. IDK about Indiana state law but the liability here would seem to be wholly with NDU.

Their forthcoming game vs. Tulsa was not canceled after previous indications were that it would be postponed or canceled.

killxswitch · 10-29-2010, 02:33 PM

That is sad. I agree ND should be liable. I think though if I'd been this kid I would've told the coaches or whoever he reported to that I wasn't going up in that thing that day.

CashmoneyDrew · 10-29-2010, 02:41 PM

It's unlawful for those towers to be in operation at winds of 25 mph let alone 50+. Notre Dame is about to lose a lot of money.

R.I.P. to the manager.

no bare feet · 10-29-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooMonkey

It's unlawful for those towers to be in operation at winds of 25 mph let alone 50+. Notre Dame is about to lose a lot of money.

R.I.P. to the manager.

Those things come with disclaimers left and right and different waivers about the conditions they are used in. ND may be screwed here.

CashmoneyDrew · 10-29-2010, 05:08 PM

There's no may about it.

What are the chances Brian Kelly's job could be on the line after this if more comes out? Especially if there was some kind of pressure put on the kid by the coaches to do this. You can tell by the tweets the kid really didn't want to be up there.

I've read that they kept practicing after the thing fell.

Silver & Blue · 10-29-2010, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooMonkey

There's no may about it.

What are the chances Brian Kelly's job could be on the line after this if more comes out? Especially if there was some kind of pressure put on the kid by the coaches to do this. You can tell by the tweets the kid really didn't want to be up there.

I've read that they kept practicing after the thing fell.

This guy brings up good points about Brian Kelly's job and I have to agree with him if Kelly played a part in making that kid go up there.

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...2910?gt1=39002

Shane P. Hallam · 10-29-2010, 07:00 PM

Nah, Brian Kelly won't be on the hook. He has plausible deniability here.

Silver & Blue · 10-29-2010, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane P. Hallam

Nah, Brian Kelly won't be on the hook. He has plausible deniability here.

Yeah your probably right, I would like to know who is responsible for making him go up there though.

But the quote from Jim Tressel 24 hours before it even happened was very foretelling.

LizardState · 10-29-2010, 07:54 PM

Thanks to S&B for that article, wow, nailed it.

However Kelly's responsibility for everything that goes on during practice outdoors or otherwise is arguable. An atty. would argue that he didn't send Sullivan up there, a lower level mgr. in charge of student athletic dept. employees will get the blame anyway. Kelly just got there & they have too much of investment in him to give the HC his walking pprs, if pressured I think ND will make every effort to retain him.

They will do everything to avoid litigation & its negative publicity too. This story involved loss of life & NDU liability so they can't spin it away.

But I think Swarbrick is where the buck stops, he's the AD. Their President or Chancellor s/b having their PR dept. write his letter of resignation at least.

Multiple investigations have been announced today & are ongoing, NDU, state of Indiana, maybe OSHA at the Federal level too. There could be huge fines for this if the n-word, negligence, is used by them. The settlement to his family & the insurance companies' pay outs will be enormous, maybe totaling up to a hundred million or more.

hockey619 · 10-30-2010, 07:53 PM

Ive actually gone up in the lift to film practices where im doing an internship so this hits pretty close to home.

Only done it twice for a little bit because its ******* terrifying, the things move in even just a little bit of wind and i didnt want to do it anymore because they seem very unstable (and cause quite frankly i wanted to do something on the field not just sitting there filming).

and yes they all have a TON of warnings on them saying dont use in certain conditions because even in good conditions they dont feel particularly safe, they really do shake quite a bit in light and moderate winds.

ryno626 · 10-31-2010, 04:44 PM

is there anyway to prove that he was forced to go up there?

Silver & Blue · 10-31-2010, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryno626

is there anyway to prove that he was forced to go up there?

Thats the tough part about this situation. It would be pretty difficult to prove something like that, because chances are the only person that would know who forced him up there(if he was forced at all) would have been Declan Sullivan.