Sometimes I feel like the most isolated person on campus. After all, my office is located in the most southwesterly building on campus and in the southern hallway to boot. With the weather as cold as it is, I do not get out much. Cafeteria lasagna or fish sticks does not constitute a good enough reason to brave the negative wind chills and snow.
Other times I feel as if I’m at the epicenter of all things Buena Vista (that is “BYOO na Vista” for all of you non-locals. Forget everything you learned in high school Spanish. Sorry Mrs. Smidt). Those days are typically high school visit days. Apparently my normally semi private hallway is on the tour.
The student tour guides and the coaches don’t know it, but I can hear their spiel echo through the hallway perfectly from my desk. I have heard everything from “that is Nick Huber’s office. He is our sports information director and does a great job of keeping our athletic web site up to date.” All the way to “there’s not much down the hallway. Just some other athletic offices”. Those tour guides seem to come along just when I’m getting a big head. We all need a dose of humility
even though the script changes depending on who is giving the tour (and what kind of mood they are in that day), I guarantee you there is one more word I’ve never heard on any campus tour: herpes
no, I’m not going down the “sex” road. I’m talking about wrestling. Some of the most common things that cause wrestlers to miss competitions are skin infections. Herpes gladiatorum — commonly known as mat herpes because wrestlers are particularly susceptible — is caused by contact with the same common herpes simplex virus that produces cold sores.
We have had numerous athletes miss practices and competitions this year because of herpes and other skin infections. We are not alone. I know that other area high schools and colleges have had to battle this problem this year. It has gotten so bad that an outbreak of the contagious rash among Minnesota high school wrestlers led the state to suspend matches and halt contact practices for eight days
although this year has been particularly bad, it is not a new problem. In fact, three years ago one of our current wrestlers became the first competitor in the history of the NCAA to be barred from wrestling at the national championship (after he had qualified) because he had a cold sore brought on by herpes
when I first heard that story, I thought it was a case of overkill by the NCAA. I did not fully realize how serious it can be. One of our wrestlers got a skin infection earlier this year. It was not caught in time. By the time he was diagnosed, it had worked its way down to his bone. He had to be hospitalized and given IVs for a few days. I can tell his energy has not been the same since
so even though it is the heart of the season, I applaud the Minnesota State High School League for making today’s decision. It could not have been an easy one, but it was surely made with the well-being of the participants in mind
hopefully our kids can make it through the rest of the year skin infection free. I know that our trainers have stocked up on disinfectant!