A Coaching Legend is No More
by ChiFan13 on Jun 24, 2009 11:09 AM CDT
44 comments
Blogging is a fun hobby; I enjoy writing about the NFL and the Chicago Bears in particular. However, posts like these are never easy or fun to write.
Aplington-Parkersburg (IA) head football coach Ed Thomas was shot in the head five times at point-blank range this morning while supervising a lifting session at the high school. He died a short time later. Football players were in the weight room when the shooting occured.
You may be wondering why this story is showing up on a Chicago Bears blog. First, the towns of Aplington and Parkersburg are less than twenty minutes from where I live. Second, he's a football coaching legend in Iowa. He's coached four NFL players from a town of 1,900 (Aaron Kampman, Brad Meester, Jared DeVries, and Casey Wiegmann). Even though his house was destroyed in the F-5 tornado last year, he helped rebuild the town and made sure the football team would have a place to play last fall. He knew how much watching the team would mean to the town's residents. I know the last statement seems rather fake and cheesy, but it was something the town could (and did) rally around. For a town still reeling from that devastating tornado, this isn't the best news to hear.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Thomas family and the towns of Aplington and Parkersburg.
Link to the E:60 clip of Parkersburg rebuilding after the tornado last year.
KCCI-TV is reporting the suspect is Mark Becker, 24, from Parkersburg.
Becker was involved in a high-speed chase last Saturday. After he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, he was taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
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A sad story.
I’m speechless…… I hope and pray some good comes out of this
by rdent4hof on Jun 24, 2009 11:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow... that's horrible, and seriously F'd up.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
by SackMan on Jun 24, 2009 11:16 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That's just terrible.
My thoughts are with his family, and the entire community. It’s awful that these things really happen.
"A lot of fans were drawn to me because they knew that whatever the score was, I was going to run as hard as I could on every play. You don't have that now, you have guys waiting for next week or even next year." - Walter Payton
by HoneyBear on Jun 24, 2009 11:21 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
i remember the original story on those towns...
will keep praying for the family, and those communities(yours included)… and for justice to be served!!!
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
by windycity72 on Jun 24, 2009 11:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Coaching Legend
He is a coaching legend in the state of Iowa. As a player that played against his teams, they were class acts after kicking our ass every year. Thoughts and Prayers to the family and towns of A-P
by rdr3131 on Jun 24, 2009 11:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Unbelievable
These random shootings have gotten out of control. Gun laws need to be stiffer. Horrible, horrible news.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 12:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
hold on a second
what makes you think this is a ‘random’ shooting? it was obviously planned out, probably by a disgruntled ex-player of his. and by the way, you could walk up behind a 60-something year old man and kill him with a baseball bat. the problem isn’t gun control, the problem is sick individuals like this.
by genetic on Jun 24, 2009 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stiffer insanity laws then
Guns in the wrong hands can be reduced by having a stricter screening process.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
i'm OK with that
and i also think that stiffer penalties for murderers would help too, as in the death penalty. not in all cases, but in a situation like this where there is basically no possibility of convicting the wrong guy that should be the judgement.
by genetic on Jun 24, 2009 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
This kid was suppossed to be in a mental institution....
it was an error made by the police that allowed this to happen. Guns don’t kill people, people do.
by CardsDefense on Jun 24, 2009 4:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
+1
Exactly
There is no infinity button for failing in sports. At some point, things turn. They always do. - Bill Simmons
by Allie on Jun 24, 2009 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Obviously you two have never seen Bowling for columbine
I’m pretty sure most people would be less hesitant to kill somebody if they had a gun opposed to a blade or a blunt object.
Camp ifuwanna, we hold you in our heart...
by ifuwannacrownem on Jun 25, 2009 9:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
right...
because michael moore is who i go to for factual information. why can we no longer believe in individual responsibility? why does there always have to be some way to shift the blame?
by genetic on Jun 25, 2009 9:48 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even mentally ill people
would have trouble committing to a crime that takes a lot more effort than simply pulling a trigger….it’s way too easy to pull off. Try imagining yourself shooting someone from 10 feet, and then picture yourself stabbing or swinging a bat a half a dozen times in order to kill someone.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 25, 2009 1:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
If you can blame the judicial system...
then you can blame the system by which he acquired the murder weapon. Everyone ask yourselves this question, why weren’t there these types of crimes before in our history? Because people didn’t have the means to commit these despicable acts.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 5:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
what history book are you reading?
people have been killing other people since the beginning of time.
by CardsDefense on Jun 24, 2009 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well duh
I was referring to the way these mentally unstable people can easily access handguns.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 5:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
A guy with a baseball bat would've
been stopped by a football team before he could kill the guy.
Guns DO kill people. Nobody is going to get in the way of a crazy person with a gun. People will stop a crazy person with a bat.
The “guns don’t kill people” argument is tired and wrong.
DEJESUS!!!
by tomas21 on Jun 24, 2009 4:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
ok, how about a knife then?
the problem is people, that’s why i have a gun- for protection. i never wake up in the middle of the night wanting to go kill someone. the other problem is our legal system, this guy should have already been locked away. the shooter was just arrested last week for smashing up a home with a bat and leading police on a chase. he was also arrested last year for assault, why did he even have a chance to do this?
i suppose you’re against the death penalty for this guy too. it wasn’t his fault, the gun made him do it. yeah, right.
by genetic on Jun 24, 2009 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think he would've been stopped
by Ed himself or one of his teammates. Again, no one would really fear someone with a knife or any weapon that’s considered “intimate.” When I use this word, it means the murderer or prospective murderer has to come in close to commit the crime.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 5:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hope none of my many firearms tell me to hurt people
All these years I thought criminals committed crimes. I guess they were all innocent people who were corrupted by those evil guns.
Thanks for clearing that up for me tomas21
by CardsDefense on Jun 24, 2009 5:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
What?
Your guns don’t talk to you late at night like mine?
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I’ve seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!" - Homer
by propheteer on Jun 24, 2009 5:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
oh they do.....
but we talk about nice things like football and bird watching
by CardsDefense on Jun 24, 2009 5:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The gun
doesn’t shoot itself, but without the gun most of these murders wouldn’t take place. Criminals would find a way to commit some of these murders, but not nearly the number made possible by guns.
You (like most gun owners) are rationalizing, trying to make your ownership of a deadly weapon sound reasonable. The same way smokers only care about people’s rights being infringed when smoking bans are put in place.
You can use the trite “guns don’t kill people…” argument, or waive the 2nd amendment (as if congress is infallible), but the fact is there are a lot of tragedies and innocent people dead because guns exist.
DEJESUS!!!
by tomas21 on Jun 24, 2009 7:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
You're rationalizing
Taking a story about a mentally f’d up individual, and implying that he wouldn’t have done anything f’d up if he hadn’t had a gun. Let’s all get out our soapboxes, there’s some preachin’ to do tonight!!
It just wouldn’t have happened with any other weapon! Oh, everyone will jump in against a madman with a knife, or a baseball bat!
Okay, you first. Right behind you.
by BullsFanInSeattle on Jun 24, 2009 7:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Speaking as an Iowan with friends and family from the AP area....
This is not JUST addressed to BullsFan but to this entire thread. Can you quit making a tragedy into an opportunity to argue politics? There are other web sites for that crap. Keep it about football and have a little more respect for this forum.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
by Just Dave on Jun 24, 2009 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
In a weightroom
full of football players, you don’t think they would’ve stopped him if he had anything but a gun? Come on.
I’m done talking about this subject, because the post is about the tragedy.
DEJESUS!!!
by tomas21 on Jun 24, 2009 7:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
+1
Camp ifuwanna, we hold you in our heart...
by ifuwannacrownem on Jun 25, 2009 9:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Awful
He sounds like he led a very noble life and was well respected, it’s always a shame when someone like that is a victim of a random act of violence.
by GallopingGhost on Jun 24, 2009 12:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Does anyone know who shot him and why it happened?
Shooting someone five times in the head at point-blank range is pretty extreme. What kind of sick f**k would do something like that? Why has the world gone to hell…
by PolishSausage.Ditka.Bears. on Jun 24, 2009 12:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That finally was released not too long ago
24-year old Mark Becker, former player of Thomas’.
There’s a news conference scheduled in Parkersburg at 2.30 PM CDT. I’ll update the post as more information is available.
I'M A MAN! I'M 23!
by ChiFan13 on Jun 24, 2009 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's Terrible
He sounded llike a guy that cared about his town. My heart goes out to his family.
by Bearsfan23 on Jun 24, 2009 1:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Awful
Thoughts and prayers with the community. How completely horrible.
There is no infinity button for failing in sports. At some point, things turn. They always do. - Bill Simmons
by Allie on Jun 24, 2009 3:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Terrible
I go to Iowa State and to see and hear all of the things he did for Parkersburg after last summer’s tornado really showed me how devoted and genuinely good of a guy he was. The video of him leading his team out for their first game after the tornado always gives me goosebumps.
Rumor has it Alex Brown keeps Chris Simms' right index finger in his back pocket for good luck.
by HanelucaTC on Jun 24, 2009 4:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Sad day
This man was a legend who did so much to enrich the lives of so many. He has contributed a whole lot to the sport we all love. My prayers go out to his family and friends
by CardsDefense on Jun 24, 2009 5:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Wasn't there a story about this coach and school on TV about 6-9 months ago?
It was pertaining to the re-building of the town. I might have even seen it on a news report on an airplane, I don’t remember exactly, but the story stuck with me. It’s really a shame that this had to happen at all, but to happen to a person who has done so much for many other people is truly a tragedy.
by BearFan611 on Jun 24, 2009 6:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
ESPN did a special on A-P a few years back.
They were highlighting the fact that a town so small had produced 4 NFL players. It was a good story. I truly feel terrible for the people of A-P. The community has been through enough the last 13 months.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
by Just Dave on Jun 24, 2009 7:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Too much politics folks.
This was a terribly tragic situation, but let’s keep in mind this is a football blog. Let’s head back into a different direction please.
Thanks.
LSU Tigers Baseball... NCAA National Champions- 2009.
by Dane Noble on Jun 25, 2009 9:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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