UC San Diego

[Slim]

Not to mention that an investigation into the sexual assault allegations did occur. Pretty poor cover up.

[crewu]

Not to mention that an investigation into the sexual assault allegations did occur. Pretty poor cover up.

Reread the story and one student did say he was interviewed as part of the investigation. My bad. The journalist definitely played that down though.

[Slim]

Not to mention that an investigation into the sexual assault allegations did occur. Pretty poor cover up.

Reread the story and one student did say he was interviewed as part of the investigation. My bad. The journalist definitely played that down though.

I don’t know Bond well, but even if I thought he was capable of covering up a sexual assault by one of his athletes (which I don’t), no coach is doing that for some shithead in the 4th boat. That’s a guy every coach is trying to get rid of.

[socalstroke]

You’re not wrong but 1. This isn’t football, and not even a D1 school. That makes a difference in what an athletics dept is willing to put up with

It should not matter but UCSD started the move to the Big West in 2020.

[gamestop]

You’re not wrong but 1. This isn’t football, and not even a D1 school. That makes a difference in what an athletics dept is willing to put up with

It should not matter but UCSD started the move to the Big West in 2020.

I stand corrected!

[UsainBoat]

Knew a lot of guys who rowed for Bond, I had a few meetings with him too. Hard a$$/old school coach is an understatement. Beratement, verging (if not crossing the line) of verbal abuse, was surely part of his style.

It worked at Cal where they had tons of numbers, didn't work at Penn where rowers had to be fostered and numbers were scarce.

This lawsuit for wrongful death seems like a stretch given the time course of events, but I would imagine that UCSD will settle and move on.

(this is not considering the whole sexual assault part, as it is not well represented in this article, but if he didn't report it is a huge issue)

Edit:
“He fat-shamed him. He called him ‘fat Brian’ multiple times,” Brenda Lilly said
“So he finishes the piece, his friend gives him the paper towels, he's cleaning up and you know what coach Bond says, he says to my son, ‘Throwing up is for sissies.”

I found this in another article about this event, to add a little color.

[str8four]

I found this in another article about this event, to add a little color.

That article (https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... e/2736161/) does provide some more detail on the bullying case. I don't think UCSD will be too quick to defend Bond given circumstances. I also don't think they'll be too quick to assume responsibility for the suicide death of a student who went through inpatient treatment for schizophrenia during a national mental health crisis that is also impacting suicides at other colleges: https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/oth ... ents-death.

Does anyone know if Bond is currently coaching or on leave until the school assess what they need to do to adequately CYA?

[gamestop]

Does anyone actually say "(whatever) is for sissies" anymore? I don't think I've heard that phrase used un-ironically in decades. And would have a hard time not laughing at someone who said it. Like, really, thats where you're going with your coaching now? X is for sissies? I hope athletes understand that if a coach is busting out 'sissies' as a motivator, that coach is running out of ideas.

[Almostflipped]

The part I don't understand is, the team was on hiatus since March before this all happened. That's 8-9 months of no contact from Bond, yet they expected some sort of deep felt response to Brian's not returning to the team? Was there communication throughout that period to lead them to believe such a thing should occur? Was there ongoing contact that continued to drive mental health issues? I just can't make the link between these events given that time frame coupled with the onset of schizophrenia at an age appropriate time for a male. With the details currently available, Bond may not be the greatest guy and maybe he shouldn't be coaching anymore with currently accepted social standards, but this feels like angry parents lashing out.

A question for the older members of this board. What was mental health like in the 50's/60's/70's? I keep hearing how this is old-school coaching, but I have never much heard of significant rates of suicide among athletes during those times. Is that just a publication bias as such things were kept quieter or am I not looking in the right places or were students just less prone to seek out help? What was your actual experience with students' reactions in that era?

[Slim]

I can’t speak to the things before the 90s, but coaching the last generation of kids who grew up without social media in their pockets to the first generation who did, I noticed a huge increase in the prevalence of mental health issues.

[crewu]

Two students at UNC Chapel Hill committed suicide just last week.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/un ... s-n1281229

[JD]

The part I don't understand is, the team was on hiatus since March before this all happened. That's 8-9 months of no contact from Bond, yet they expected some sort of deep felt response to Brian's not returning to the team? Was there communication throughout that period to lead them to believe such a thing should occur? Was there ongoing contact that continued to drive mental health issues? I just can't make the link between these events given that time frame coupled with the onset of schizophrenia at an age appropriate time for a male. With the details currently available, Bond may not be the greatest guy and maybe he shouldn't be coaching anymore with currently accepted social standards, but this feels like angry parents lashing out.

A question for the older members of this board. What was mental health like in the 50's/60's/70's? I keep hearing how this is old-school coaching, but I have never much heard of significant rates of suicide among athletes during those times. Is that just a publication bias as such things were kept quieter or am I not looking in the right places or were students just less prone to seek out help? What was your actual experience with students' reactions in that era?

Almostflipped: I guess my number just got called. I'm 70.

I rowed for Bob Ernst when he began his career. He was charismatic, fun, organized and a great teacher. He was also a former football and water polo player and fresh out of special forces training in the USAF reserves. IOW, one tough fellow. But while blunt and demanding, he wasn't abusive, at least not to me. He was also funnier than hell and we laughed our way through a lot of hard training. And we were successful. But as a big country boy with the fastest erg, I wasn't on the bottom of the pile. When I went to Vesper I was near the bottom and I know what that's like. In my rowing days, name calling, tongue lashings and the like were never the case. I'm talking about Dietrich, Ernst, Rosenberg, Nash, Arlett and others. Some were caustic, but all were supportive.

As for metal illness, I can think of one of my dearest friends and teammates who, just before his passing a few years back, wrote the team that he had suffered from life long severe depression and never would have made it through to middle age had it not been for us, the guys on the team. (It's still gut wrenching to think of it.) But I don't recall that in college ever thinking of him as suffering, or depression as mental illness. Much of it wasn't recognized. You were just blue or down in the dumps, and I recall that friends rallied around you. At least mine did, especially the rowers. So, perhaps it was hidden or those struggling with depression or certainly schizophrenia were hospitalized. Two major things changed in this field since I graduated: mainstreaming and chemical therapy. Many of those with mental illness killed themselves, or tried, in hospital. Now they are our peers or in worst cases living on the streets.

One thing I have learned from experience over the years is that isolation is tough on mental health. COVID was really hard on people, gregarious ones especially, who thrive and are rejuvinated by human interaction. We get depressed when alone too much. Imagine you're fighting mental health issues, get cut off from what you love to do and from those with whom you loved doing it. Add in the epidemic of suicide and the modernist and nihilistic notions of life having no meaning, and suicide might seem like a better option than suffering. Yet it's suffering itself and getting through the hardship that makes rowing the great sport that it is. I bet this young man missed rowing terribly.

[Magis12]

I can’t speak to the things before the 90s, but coaching the last generation of kids who grew up without social media in their pockets to the first generation who did, I noticed a huge increase in the prevalence of mental health issues.

This. The data is pretty clear that social media use correlates with mental health challenges.

[str8four]

I can’t speak to the things before the 90s, but coaching the last generation of kids who grew up without social media in their pockets to the first generation who did, I noticed a huge increase in the prevalence of mental health issues.

This. The data is pretty clear that social media use correlates with mental health challenges.

+1

There is a good book by Jonathan Haidt called the Coddling of the American Mind that details the changes that happened on college campuses once the first generation of kids who grew up with cell phones and social media started arriving around 2015 (safe spaces, trigger warnings, anxiety, fear, etc.). He provides a few charts that tell some of the story here: https://48156919-c823-48bd-a34e-f15f9b6 ... caeee5.pdf

In particular slides 6, 7, and 8 show the charts for suicide, depression and mental health for college kids since the social media generation arrived on campus. The trends aren't good and COVID likely made them much worse. In the context of all of this, plus schizophrenia and limited interaction with Bond for 8 months before his suicide, I think it is impossible to pin this kid's tragic death on Bond's coaching.

This community might also find the last slide on Equity Theory of interest as it talks about inputs and outcomes for male and female rowers.

[crewu]

No longer a college coach. But as a youth coach my first observation would be it is the parents showing the greatest mental health declines in recent years.