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Post by rideanddecide on Jun 24, 2009 9:05:13 GMT -6
Just saw on ESPN that a head football coach in Iowa was shot in the high school weight room during summer workouts.
I always thought that was sacred ground that wouldn't fall to these kinds of act.
Sad, sad story.
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Post by wiaa3 on Jun 24, 2009 9:06:22 GMT -6
WHAT?!?!?!?
Link?
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Post by hammerhead on Jun 24, 2009 9:09:05 GMT -6
Word is coach Ed Thomas was shot in the weight room this morning around 8:30. Suspect is in custody. No word yet on coach Thomas's condition.
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Post by brophy on Jun 24, 2009 9:10:30 GMT -6
DES MOINES, Iowa - An Iowa high school official says the school's athletic director and
Ed Thomas was airlifted to a hospital, said Sue Muller, the Aplington-Parkersburg High School district's board secretary.
Muller says it's her understanding a suspect has been caught. She doesn't know who the person is but doesn't believe it's a student.
The district's superintendent and a guidance counselor are meeting with students who were in the weight room at the time of the shooting.
The school is in Parkersburg, about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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hwkfn1
Junior Member
Posts: 258
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Post by hwkfn1 on Jun 24, 2009 9:12:23 GMT -6
Unfortunately, its true. Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas was shot this morning multiple times, including in the head. Local news is now reporting that he has passed away. If you are not familiar with Aplington-Parkersburg, they are a small 1a school here in Iowa with four alumni currently playing in the NFL. Last May, their town was destroyed by an F5 tornado. This is, obviously, a terrible tragedy. Please keep his family, friends, and players in your thoughts and prayers. The shooting did occur in the weight room in front of a group of players.
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Post by wiaa3 on Jun 24, 2009 9:16:48 GMT -6
Talk about a sad story. My prayers go out to everyone involved.
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Post by ocinaz on Jun 24, 2009 9:18:48 GMT -6
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Post by knighter on Jun 24, 2009 9:21:10 GMT -6
I got my start in coaching under Ed Thomas. You would be hard pressed to find a better man, a better coach, a better husband, father, role-model anywhere. I am just in shock. He treated everyone he came into contact with like they were family.
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Post by brophy on Jun 24, 2009 9:23:54 GMT -6
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Post by airraider on Jun 24, 2009 9:46:08 GMT -6
I am afraid that something really pathetic is going to come out of this.. something such a disgruntled player. A random act of violence is bad enough, but to target a coach for something that didnt go your way is a step above.
I will keep this man's family and his team in my prayers.
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Post by groundchuck on Jun 24, 2009 9:53:32 GMT -6
I had the opportunity to meet Coach Thomas on a few occations. He (and my former high school coach) were coming to do our camp next month. Just a terrible terrible thing. I am upset by this and I cannot imagine how the kids in the wt room who witnessed this feel.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Thomas family and A-P community.
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Post by colmesneilfan1 on Jun 24, 2009 10:09:15 GMT -6
We will keep them in our prayers......what a tragic story......
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Post by schultbear74 on Jun 24, 2009 10:16:38 GMT -6
I will to go to the weightroom tonight. As I do, I will pray that we all be spared senseless tragedies.
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mrigg
Junior Member
Posts: 457
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Post by mrigg on Jun 24, 2009 10:25:23 GMT -6
I read the news reports and it made me sick to my stomach. Prayers for the Thomas family, the A-P students and the community
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Post by mariner42 on Jun 24, 2009 10:58:55 GMT -6
Pretty speechless, really. Selfish, cowardly, and tragic.
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Post by skiplee4 on Jun 24, 2009 11:38:25 GMT -6
That is pretty weak!! what a senseless tragedy that really didnt need too happen again it makes me wonder what is in peoples heads when they do this crap because really they need too die instead of the person they shoot !! Condolences go out the family , players(past and present), and community.  |
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djr4373
Sophomore Member
"AA State Champions or Bust"
Posts: 129
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Post by djr4373 on Jun 24, 2009 11:45:40 GMT -6
I read somewhere that the suspect was a former player who graduated in 2004, and had recently been released from prison. Drug problem, mental issues, etc, and told people that the only fun time in his life was playing for Coach Thomas...so he decides to kill him???
Absolutely tragic and senseless. Really nothing else to add.
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Post by knighter on Jun 24, 2009 12:00:45 GMT -6
Former player had a little brother currently on the team. From what I am hearing from my sources in Parkersburg, Coach Thomas had been on the little brother somewhat about not working hard enough (so in general just being a coach). Not sure if I am hearing truth or fiction, but what has the world come to if this is the case? What happened to the days of older brother putting a boot in younger brother's a$$ and telling him he needs to work harder?
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Post by bigdog2003 on Jun 24, 2009 12:14:49 GMT -6
Sad news. Something you never expect to hear.
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Post by pantherfb10 on Jun 24, 2009 12:28:58 GMT -6
Nothing warrants death, ever. I could only imagine what it must have been like to be there. We all have our crazy parent stories etc, but this one definately tops them all. Sometimes we need to remember that this is just a game, not life
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Post by knighter on Jun 24, 2009 12:34:28 GMT -6
Also heard older brother may have applied for an Assistant Coaching vacancy and was not hired. Older brother had drug/alcohol issues and suffered from some depression/schizophrenia/bi-polar disorders as well.
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Post by wingt74 on Jun 24, 2009 13:01:35 GMT -6
What a nightmare for that family and the community.
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Post by airman on Jun 24, 2009 15:13:50 GMT -6
I think it clearly is an example of how the self esteem generation handles things when they do not get what they want. kids have told they can have or do what they want and when a figure says no, the children of generation y(babyboomers children) cannot handle it.
in the cooperate world generation Y is having terrible time because they cannot handle they are not winners all the time.
this kid wanted something, the coach said no and now the coach is the bad guy or the coach has it out to get him.
I think the widow of coach thomas has a wonderful case against the school. schools are to provide safe work enviroments for their teachers and acts of violence against teachers are going up.
I know a female teacher in the city of chicago who was beatup by a troubled teenage girl and the class sat and watched. sad world we live in. sad thing is all the city of chicago did was move the girl to another class room.
time to protect our techers from this crap.
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Post by kylem56 on Jun 24, 2009 15:18:23 GMT -6
im just stunned right now. my prayers are with his family, friends, and his team.
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mojoben
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
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Post by mojoben on Jun 24, 2009 19:07:30 GMT -6
Like many on here, I have friends in the coaching profession that knew Coach Thomas very well. It is a hard thing to swallow right now. The football world lost a great man and coach.
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Post by charger109 on Jun 24, 2009 21:32:27 GMT -6
I am so upset right now. I can't even speak. I never met him or anything, just was told about him before, but this brings me as close to tears as I have been in a long time. I pray that all of you and your families stay safe and protected and that the community effected will be blessed with greatness beyond their wildest dreams both on and off the gridiron.
P.S.
Keep Coaching!
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Post by formrbcbuc on Jun 24, 2009 22:23:32 GMT -6
It's a major tragedy, the one place where everyone should get together and work to better themselves became a sight of tragedy. I cannot see why anyone would do this over football, at the end of the day it still is a GAME. That coach was an amazing guy I heard good things about him. My prayers to his family and the young men who will forever be scarred by the incident. I hope this never happens again.
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Post by struceri on Jun 25, 2009 8:16:31 GMT -6
ESPN did a special a while ago when they were recovering from the devastation of the tornado. Although I didn't get to see the whole thing it seemed that Coach Thomas and the football team were an inspiration to the people in the community. The coaching profession truly lost a special person who positively affected the lives of not only his students and players but an entire community.
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Post by Coach JR on Jun 25, 2009 8:49:11 GMT -6
Very sad! Heard about this yesterday, and heard this morning it was a former player. Unfortunately there is a culture out there that deals with "issues" by shooting people. I see it all the time in my prosecutorial duties. It's hard to phathom that kind of thinking for most of us. Recently prosecuted a case where 4 defendants got in a verbal altercation at a party with a guy. As they pulled out of the parking lot, they jumped out of the car with shotguns, pistols, and an AK 47 and fired multiple times in to a crowd, many of who knew nothing of the altercation and weren't involved at all, including an off duty Probation Officer. 5 victims shot, 2 lost legs below the knee. One of the victims is also a defendant in another unrelated case...for guess what...shooting in to an occupied dwelling. I asked him why were you shooting at Frank? His answer: "Well it's been going on a while, but we just don't see eye to eye." Don't try to understand it...most of us aren't capable of the type of thought process that would make a person with a very mild issue with another human being pick up a gun and solve it that way.
Usually it's one piece of garbage taking out another piece of garbage...I hate these cases where good people suffer and die at the hands of a piece of $h*t.
Prayers for the family of this fallen coach.
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Post by coachguy83 on Jun 25, 2009 9:17:30 GMT -6
This is one of the most tragic and quite frakly effed up things I have ever read. I am a part of Generation Y and I have struggled with mental health issues most of my life but instead of taking anothers life it has made my life better. I am a better person and a better coach for what I have been through. If my brother was being told by the coach he needed to work harder you can damn well be sure I would a boot in his a$$ and tell him the same thing. I have also been turned down for assistant coaches jobs and the last thing that would ever cross my mind would be to get my gun out of the closset. I am not normally a fan of the death penalty, but in this case this young man deserves to die. My thoughts and prayers are with the coaches family and all that knows him.
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