Mount Trashmore

[Cat In The Cradle]

This former garbage dump off off Oakton in Evanston was featured in video about the 1995 Rose Bowl season, including several vignettes from players remarking how devastating it was for them to run up during the summer heat, but conceding that the exercise was both an effective strength and conditioning tool and team building exercise. Walter Payton also used this hill to train on during his early years with the Bears, and no one ever criticized his durability or "down-hill" - pardon the bad pun - running prowess.

My question is: does the team still practice on Mount Trashmore? If not, why not?

 

[evanston09]

If they dont (likely) it's because there's more than one way to train

 

[Hungry Jack]

Unfortunately the patellar chondromalacia has pretty much ended my days of running hills and stairs, but I cannot imagine a more efficient workout.

 

[shakes3858]

If they dont (likely) it's because there's more than one way to train

But the 95 did that so it's the only right way to do it.

 

[FakeFitz]

But the 95 did that so it's the only right way to do it.

Cuz it worked in 95 it's gotta be the best way now? Lucy, please 'splain it to him more clearly. He may not get your sarcasm.

 

[its_the_sauce]

The Mt. Trashmore at Ken's Diner in Skokie is outstanding.

 

[TXnumbCAT]

Was Mt Trashmore involved in the death of Rasheedi Wheeler?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Was Mt Trashmore involved in the death of Rasheedi Wheeler?

No.

 

[Deeringfish]

Was Mt Trashmore involved in the death of Rasheedi Wheeler?

I wondered that too. I don't think that they were there that day but it could have been part of that regiment. Many times it was reported that Walker's teams were more fit than others and that is why they finished strong in games. It may have been just a good story line to explain how "Just NU" was having success or the regiment was deemed too strenuous and was rebuilt in a new way. Walker was known for really pushing guys but maybe all coaches are that way.

 

[shakes3858]

I wondered that too. I don't think that they were there that day but it could have been part of that regiment. Many times it was reported that Walker's teams were more fit than others and that is why they finished strong in games. It may have been just a good story line to explain how "Just NU" was having success or the regiment was deemed too strenuous and was rebuilt in a new way. Walker was known for really pushing guys but maybe all coaches are that way.

Walkers teams employed the spread and other teams weren't used to defending a hurry up offense or that type of offense. They got gassed. Fitz's teams have done they same thing. Look at Iowa's dline on the last drive of the game Persa got hurt. 1st round NFL draft pick Adrian Clayborne couldn't even get done in a stance.

Walkers teams were known for winning close games and great comebacks so media types that don't know a thing say crap like "well conditioned." Now, Fitz has lost some games late so the answer is we have a "soft team." The truth is our line has struggled and we can't run the ball to kill the clock and teams play 7 spread teams a year and are prepared for it.

 

[NUCat320]

Walkers teams employed the spread and other teams weren't used to defending a hurry up offense or that type of offense. They got gassed. Fitz's teams have done they same thing. Look at Iowa's dline on the last drive of the game Persa got hurt. 1st round NFL draft pick Adrian Clayborne couldn't even get done in a stance.

Walkers teams were known for winning close games and great comebacks so media types that don't know a thing say crap like "well conditioned." Now, Fitz has lost some games late so the answer is we have a "soft team." The truth is our line has struggled and we can't run the ball to kill the clock and teams play 7 spread teams a year and are prepared for it.

Walker had a grueling fitness test. His teams were better conditioned.

I don't know the specific details, but it was a series of sprints ranging in distance from 40 to 100 yards with limited rest and different mandatory benchmarks by position group.

If I'm not mistaken, players were required to pass within the first week of summer camp or they were forced to sit out until they did.

 

[shakes3858]

Walker had a grueling fitness test. His teams were better conditioned.

I don't know the specific details, but it was a series of sprints ranging in distance from 40 to 100 yards with limited rest and different mandatory benchmarks by position group.

If I'm not mistaken, players were required to pass within the first week of summer camp or they were forced to sit out until they did.

They still do this. The Winning Edge is a series of workouts and fitness tests conducted in the spring. I'll let some former players and staffers comment on how grueling it is, but having watched a few minutes of it and seeing the players when it's don't, it's rough.

I believe the difference between Walkers teams and Fitz is that Fitz is getting the funding to keep the entire team on campus during the summer. Did Walker? I thought Walker had to get the team in shape in the late summer because many went home.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Walker had a grueling fitness test. His teams were better conditioned.

I don't know the specific details, but it was a series of sprints ranging in distance from 40 to 100 yards with limited rest and different mandatory benchmarks by position group.

If I'm not mistaken, players were required to pass within the first week of summer camp or they were forced to sit out until they did.

Fitz has utilized the same exact test.

 

[NUCat320]

Fitz has utilized the same exact test.

My understanding, and perhaps I'm totally off-base, is that the conditioning test was reduced in duration or intensity following Wheeler's death.

Coach Walker was 25-4 at NU when leading entering the fourth quarter.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

My understanding, and perhaps I'm totally off-base, is that the conditioning test was reduced in duration or intensity following Wheeler's death.

Coach Walker was 25-4 at NU when leading entering the fourth quarter.

Same. Exact. Test.

 

[Gladeskat]

Same. Exact. Test.

He makes them run 10X100, 8X80, 6X60, and 4X40 within certain times and recovery periods? I distinctly recall him eliminating a substantial portion of this test shortly after he took over as HC. I believe he stated there were more efficient tests to find out if players were in shape.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

He makes them run 10X100, 8X80, 6X60, and 4X40 within certain times and recovery periods? I distinctly recall him eliminating a substantial portion of this test shortly after he took over as HC. I believe he stated there were more efficient tests to find out if players were in shape.

To my knowledge, it was the same test.

 

[NUCat320]

To my knowledge, it was the same test.

Unfortunately, I can't paste in the rivals interface from my phone. However, gcg2003, you were right to hedge in your response to Glades.

Google "Wildcats Make Sprint Drill Easier", (can someone link it?) and you'll find an LA Times article with date August 4, 2002, that talks about the test being reduced from what Glades described to two sets of 12 x 25 shuttle runs - a reduction from more than 2,000 yards of sprints in 2000 to 600 yards in 2002. Jason Wright is quoted as the source.

I can't find anything that says the test Glades described was reinstated at any point, but I haven't tried to find that.

I can say that, if RW maintained the test as established in 2002 through 2005, and if Fitz maintained that test and has kept it unchanged since taking over in 2006, then it is far from the 'Same. Exact. Test.'

I'm not a program insider though.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Unfortunately, I can't paste in the rivals interface from my phone. However, gcg2003, you were right to hedge in your response to Glades.

Google "Wildcats Make Sprint Drill Easier", (can someone link it?) and you'll find an LA Times article with date August 4, 2002, that talks about the test being reduced from what Glades described to two sets of 12 x 25 shuttle runs - a reduction from more than 2,000 yards of sprints in 2000 to 600 yards in 2002. Jason Wright is quoted as the source.

I can't find anything that says the test Glades described was reinstated at any point, but I haven't tried to find that.

I can say that, if RW maintained the test as established in 2002 through 2005, and if Fitz maintained that test and has kept it unchanged since taking over in 2006, then it is far from the 'Same. Exact. Test.'

I'm not a program insider though.

Didn't realize the carried-over test had been itself already reduced. My mistake.

 

[shakes3858]

Coach Walker was 25-4 at NU when leading entering the fourth quarter.

Which had to do with Walker's teams having great running backs and an offensive line built with road graders while Fitz's teams that have struggled at RB and Oline. It's not conditioning.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Unfortunately, I can't paste in the rivals interface from my phone. However, gcg2003, you were right to hedge in your response to Glades.

Google "Wildcats Make Sprint Drill Easier", (can someone link it?) and you'll find an LA Times article with date August 4, 2002, that talks about the test being reduced from what Glades described to two sets of 12 x 25 shuttle runs - a reduction from more than 2,000 yards of sprints in 2000 to 600 yards in 2002. Jason Wright is quoted as the source.

I can't find anything that says the test Glades described was reinstated at any point, but I haven't tried to find that.

I can say that, if RW maintained the test as established in 2002 through 2005, and if Fitz maintained that test and has kept it unchanged since taking over in 2006, then it is far from the 'Same. Exact. Test.'

I'm not a program insider though.

Well, dammit, maybe we should go back to the pre 2002 version. The 6 win Walker teams didn't do as well as the team that gassed Michigan and others.

And the media is right. We are soft. We are until we prove we aren't.

 

[FakeFitz]

Well, dammit, maybe we should go back to the pre 2002 version. The 6 win Walker teams didn't do as well as the team that gassed Michigan and others.

And the media is right. We are soft. We are until we prove we aren't.

You're spot on, O Great Evanston One. When we make the change, would you mind leading the charge up the hill? We'd love to see you in action.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Well, dammit, maybe we should go back to the pre 2002 version. The 6 win Walker teams didn't do as well as the team that gassed Michigan and others.

And the media is right. We are soft. We are until we prove we aren't.

Who you calling soft? My ride on Sunday morning was like angry Spartacus. I roared "SHUT UP LEGS" as I blew past an old lady on a Hoveround near B'hai Temple. I snarled at some kids on tricycles in Elder Park. I threw my water bottle at a dog to lighten my load as I prepared to ascend the hill just south of Tower Road. Before the descent into the ravine, I ripped a NY Times from an old man and stuffed it into my jersey to preserve my hard-won core warmth for the climb that followed. It was a devastating performance to behold. There was fear and loathing in my wake...

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

[

Well, dammit, maybe we should go back to the pre 2002 version. The 6 win Walker teams didn't do as well as the team that gassed Michigan and others.

And the media is right. We are soft. We are until we prove we aren't.

The Program's training exercises the last few years have been marketed as Navy Seal worthy. Hence, we see players trudge along the university beach carrying logs on their backs during misty overcast days. Maybe those exercises build comradeship but nothing I witnessed in the promotional tapes bore any resemblance to the Navy BUD/S training regimen, as grueling a conditioning program anywhere with a over 90% failure rate (including yours truly despite being a competitive D1 decathelete at the time). I wonder if Tom Hruby considers those exercises as gimmicks.

I'm as much a booster of the Program as anyone else here, but heed the wisdom from the mechanic from the old Fram commercial: "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later." From my unenlightened perspective, lighter workouts, including the no-contact scrimmages of recent vintage, seem to postpone and cause the team to become more injury prone during the season, which has become the excuse par-excellence for the poor showing the last two years. Another thought: I wonder how much the Program is still reeling from the Wheeler tragedy.

Let's get back to Mt. Trashmore. Let's return to the hill. I leave you with the legendary Payton talking about his first hill back in Mississippi:

 

[Deeringfish]

Well, dammit, maybe we should go back to the pre 2002 version. The 6 win Walker teams didn't do as well as the team that gassed Michigan and others.

And the media is right. We are soft. We are until we prove we aren't.

Are you feeling OK, Ecat? You have used Dammit in multiply threads in the last two days. You must be stressed.

 

[Gladeskat]

This former garbage dump off off Oakton in Evanston was featured in video about the 1995 Rose Bowl season, including several vignettes from players remarking how devastating it was for them to run up during the summer heat, but conceding that the exercise was both an effective strength and conditioning tool and team building exercise. Walter Payton also used this hill to train on during his early years with the Bears, and no one ever criticized his durability or "down-hill" - pardon the bad pun - running prowess.

My question is: does the team still practice on Mount Trashmore? If not, why not?

The last time I recall the team doing the Mt. Trashmore thing, they exceeded the famous workout that the 1995 team did and wound up getting trashed in their first game 52-3.

 

[NUHockey]

My buddy and I run at this hill. It's covered in weeds and plants now, but still very effective.

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

The last time I recall the team doing the Mt. Trashmore thing, they exceeded the famous workout that the 1995 team did and wound up getting trashed in their first game 52-3.

It would have been 52-0 had they not gone up the hill that year . . .

 

[NJCat83588]

It would have been 52-0 had they not gone up the hill that year . . .

And they played a team that trains in real mountains at 6,000 feet of altitude!

 

[rmndcat]

Who you calling soft? My ride on Sunday morning was like angry Spartacus. I roared "SHUT UP LEGS" as I blew past an old lady on a Hoveround near B'hai Temple. I snarled at some kids on tricycles in Elder Park. I threw my water bottle at a dog to lighten my load as I prepared to ascend the hill just south of Tower Road. Before the descent into the ravine, I ripped a NY Times from an old man and stuffed it into my jersey to preserve my hard-won core warmth for the climb that followed. It was a devastating performance to behold. There was fear and loathing in my wake...

Channeling Football Phil?