While Northwestern coach Randy Walker was recuperating from a heart ailment, Minnesota coach Glen Mason was remembering his own health scare.
Walker checked himself into an Evanston, Ill., hospital on Monday because of chest pains. Doctors determined that he was suffering from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. The 50-year-old coach spent the next couple of days in the hospital but was hopeful of being on the sidelines when his team hosts No. 17 Purdue on Saturday.
Mason began his weekly news conference with a story about a recruiting trip to Ohio a couple of years ago. He was about to board a flight to St. Louis when he started feeling ill.
"I start sweating, I got a pain in my chest and my arm," Mason said. "I said, 'God, I can't believe it.' Then I start getting a pain in my jaw and now we take off and I say to myself, 'I'm having a heart attack."'
When the flight arrived in St. Louis, assistant coach Mitch Browning called the trainer for the St. Louis Rams, who called ahead and had a nearby heart institute put on alert for Mason's imminent arrival.
Panicky and in pain, Mason arrived at the heart institute and was met by a heart surgeon who reassured the coach he was in good hands.
"So I was relieved and started thinking to myself, 'Well, I'll be OK. I probably have a little blockage, they'll do one of those balloon deals. I'll have to change my diet, you know. I'll lose some weight. I've probably had my last cheeseburger," Mason said.
After several tests were done, the surgeon returned to Mason's bedside to tell the coach he had myocarditis -- or, as Mason called it, "cardio-I-don't-know-how-to-say-the-word-itis."
Four hours later, after a shot and some other medication, Mason returned to the recruiting trail. But he did make one side trip.
"I said, 'Mitch, you see that McDonald's? Pull in there,"' Mason said with a widening grin. "I went and got two Big Macs and a big milkshake and I've been fine ever since."
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A YUGO-SIZED PRIZE: Michigan State and Michigan meet Saturday to decide possession of the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
The heavy, wooden statue stands nearly 4 feet tall and features backwoods hero Paul Bunyan astride an ax, each foot planted on a corner of the state.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said, "I think it's the ugliest trophy in college football, but you know that doesn't mean that we don't love it. And we want to give him a nice, secure place to live and to spend his years. So hopefully that trophy will never leave Ann Arbor because we don't want him going up there. I mean, that's not where he belongs."
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MASCOTS, PART I: Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez must have slept through Mascots 101.
Basanez insisted the Wildcats weren't flustered by what was, for many of them, their first trip to Wisconsin last weekend. Northwestern got off to a slow start, falling behind 17-0 at the half, in a 24-12 loss to the No. 6 Badgers.
"It's a fun place to play. I don't think we were intimidated," Basanez said. "It was us beating ourselves, not being scared of the Buckeye. Or the Badger, whatever it is."
For the record, Wisconsin's nickname is the Badgers and its mascot is Buckingham U. Badger, affectionately known as Bucky. Ohio State is the Buckeyes.
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MASCOTS, PART II: Ohio State's starting quarterback, Troy Smith, and promising freshman receiver Ted Ginn Jr. are both products of Cleveland's Glenville High School.
The school's nickname is Tarblooders.
A "tarblooder" is a railroad term, referring to the workers who laid down the heavy ties and cemented them with tar. They were considered hard-working and dedicated men who went far beyond the pale in doing their jobs.
"A tarblooder to me is one of the most, if not the most, creative high school mascots in the country," Smith said. "I don't know another team who has the tarblooders as their mascot. There's a lot of eagles, there's a lot of tigers, there's a lot of panthers.
"But there's only one tarblooder."
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QUOTABLE: Purdue coach Joe Tiller, who takes his third shot at career win No. 100 on Saturday at Northwestern: "Either I'm getting wiser or dumber. Both are a possibility and the latter is a probability."
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QUICK-HITTERS: Iowa defensive end Matt Roth got off to a slow start but has 24 tackles and five sacks in four Big Ten games heading into Saturday's game at Illinois. ... Texas A&M is looking into expanding Kyle Field from 82,000 to 115,000 seats, which would exceed Michigan Stadium's 107,501 and turn The Big House into The Second Biggest House. ... In the midst of a five-game losing skid, Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo is considering replacing two-year starter Matt LoVecchio, who is 4-15 as the starting quarterback, with redshirt freshman Blake Powers.
Originally published Thursday, October 28, 2004
