Beekman and Hillinski

[CougEd]

Is it because of the times and conditions we are living in, not fully plugged into sports, or is it we barely knew Bryce Beekman and he wasn't on campus very long; but the outpouring of posts and sympathy for Tyler dwarfed the attention of another fallen Cougar in Bryce Beekman. Is it simply the times we are in and minds are elsewhere, or that we knew Tyler better, or is there another reason this story didn't seem to raise to the level of other tragedies? Is it possibly because we don't know what he died of?

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Is it because of the times and conditions we are living in, not fully plugged into sports, or is it we barely knew Bryce Beekman and he wasn't on campus very long; but the outpouring of posts and sympathy for Tyler dwarfed the attention of another fallen Cougar in Bryce Beekman. Is it simply the times we are in and minds are elsewhere, or that we knew Tyler better, or is there another reason this story didn't seem to raise to the level of other tragedies? Is it possibly because we don't know what he died of?

I think the biggest thing is the lack of information. Of course, the fact that hundreds of people are dying per day from COVID-19 makes it harder for other things to stay fresh in people's minds very long. I don't believe it's anything nefarious.

 

[froropmkr72]

Is it because of the times and conditions we are living in, not fully plugged into sports, or is it we barely knew Bryce Beekman and he wasn't on campus very long; but the outpouring of posts and sympathy for Tyler dwarfed the attention of another fallen Cougar in Bryce Beekman. Is it simply the times we are in and minds are elsewhere, or that we knew Tyler better, or is there another reason this story didn't seem to raise to the level of other tragedies? Is it possibly because we don't know what he died of?

I think people are a little overwhelmed and perhaps slightly numb given all the bad news. I've noticed people avoiding more bad news right now. Ya tell them of the latest projections and they don't want to hear about it.

 

[etowncoug]

Beekman's death is a tragedy which occured at a time when society is consumed with other world events. I don't think there is more to it than that. Public attention is elsewhere.

I will say I'd much rather the school make a big deal over the loss of Beekman than they did Hilinski (assuming the toxicology report doesn't turn up something crazy). Unfortunately, I don't think Beekman will mount the "look how sad our lives are now" pr campaign to turn him into a household name. It's too bad.

 

[fingerdisco]

Beekman's death is a tragedy which occured at a time when society is consumed with other world events. I don't think there is more to it than that. Public attention is elsewhere.

I will say I'd much rather the school make a big deal over the loss of Beekman than they did Hilinski (assuming the toxicology report doesn't turn up something crazy). Unfortunately, I don't think Beekman will mount the "look how sad our lives are now" pr campaign to turn him into a household name. It's too bad.

Because it's more honorable or legit to die from a physical ailment over a mental ailment? You're f'ed up.

 

[kayak15]

Is it because of the times and conditions we are living in, not fully plugged into sports, or is it we barely knew Bryce Beekman and he wasn't on campus very long; but the outpouring of posts and sympathy for Tyler dwarfed the attention of another fallen Cougar in Bryce Beekman. Is it simply the times we are in and minds are elsewhere, or that we knew Tyler better, or is there another reason this story didn't seem to raise to the level of other tragedies? Is it possibly because we don't know what he died of?

Ed, the factors you mentioned may have had some effect on our response to Bryce's passing. But I rather believe that with all the deaths in the country today from the virus, we have become somewhat inured to such occurrences. Remember what Stalin observed, "One death is a calamity. A million deaths is a statistic." Tyler's loss occurred in isolation. Unfortunately, deaths like Beekman's are becoming only another statistic. Sad but true. RIP.

 

[Coug90]

Because it's more honorable or legit to die from a physical ailment over a mental ailment? You're f'ed up.

Eh. I get what he’s saying, maybe didn’t come off the right way.
I think the shock factor and knowing right away what happened with TH, mental health/concussions already in the news w football, etc. not that it’s right, but we also don’t know what happened with BB, so it’s easier to get lost especially with the daily news.

 

[fingerdisco]

Eh. I get what he’s saying, maybe didn’t come off the right way.
I think the shock factor and knowing right away what happened with TH, mental health/concussions already in the news w football, etc. not that it’s right, but we also don’t know what happened with BB, so it’s easier to get lost especially with the daily news.

You have to go back to his comments after TH committed suicide to put this comment in context (He essentially said TH was being selfish for doing what he did and did not acknowledge the role of mental illness as the root cause).

 

[Coug90]

You have to go back to his comments after TH committed suicide to put this comment in context (He essentially said TH was being selfish for doing what he did and did not acknowledge the role of mental illness as the root cause).

Well I’m about 4 drinks in so I’ll take your word for it.

 

[fingerdisco]

Well I’m about 4 drinks in so I’ll take your word for it.

Four? You’ve had all day...four is all you got? And you call yourself a Coug

 

[Coug90]

Four? You’ve had all day...four is all you got? And you call yourself a Coug

I’m rationing

 

[fingerdisco]

I’m rationing

Clearly you misallocated your shopping efforts towards nonessentials like toilet paper.

 

[sellas]

There are a ton of obvious reasons.

not a competition.

 

[etowncoug]

You have to go back to his comments after TH committed suicide to put this comment in context (He essentially said TH was being selfish for doing what he did and did not acknowledge the role of mental illness as the root cause).

I get touchy on the subject of suicide. I've known too many people who have been devastated by the suicide of a parent/child/spouse. It's a grief people never fully recover from. Sadly the narrative making Hilinski a martyr with a national PR campaign has encouraged other students at WSU to follow his example. There have been other students at WSU who left in their notes how they knew no one would make as big a deal of their death as they did with Tyler's. They are now dead and the thesis proved correct.

I know another D1 University which had a football player commit suicide within the past year. The team kept it quiet and I'm pretty sure it never hit the paper. To my knowledge there wasn't a clustering of suicides on this schools campus as a result.

I realize there is going to be a lot of disagreement on this topic and I don't have a popular opinion on how to deal with it. I hope we can agree suicide is a really bad thing and should be discouraged for the sake of the rest of the community.

I don't think mental illness is the main contributing factor to suicide in Tyler's case. If you look at suicide statistics, it's clear something else is going on with Americans that can't be explained by stage one CTE. https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/ Why so many 15-24 year olds, disproportionately upper middle class, white, and male are killing themselves is a discussion worth having. Why there has have been a dramatic increase in the past decade is also worth investigating.

Back to Bryce Beekman. I hope the school dedicates the season to Beekman. Arranging a missing man formation on the first play of the game on defense in our home opener is also appropriate.

 

[AncientCoug]

I get touchy on the subject of suicide. I've known too many people who have been devastated by the suicide of a parent/child/spouse. It's a grief people never fully recover from. Sadly the narrative making Hilinski a martyr with a national PR campaign has encouraged other students at WSU to follow his example. There have been other students at WSU who left in their notes how they knew no one would make as big a deal of their death as they did with Tyler's. They are now dead and the thesis proved correct.

I know another D1 University which had a football player commit suicide within the past year. The team kept it quiet and I'm pretty sure it never hit the paper. To my knowledge there wasn't a clustering of suicides on this schools campus as a result.

I realize there is going to be a lot of disagreement on this topic and I don't have a popular opinion on how to deal with it. I hope we can agree suicide is a really bad thing and should be discouraged for the sake of the rest of the community.

I don't think mental illness is the main contributing factor to suicide in Tyler's case. If you look at suicide statistics, it's clear something else is going on with Americans that can't be explained by stage one CTE. https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/ Why so many 15-24 year olds, disproportionately upper middle class, white, and male are killing themselves is a discussion worth having. Why there has have been a dramatic increase in the past decade is also worth investigating.

Back to Bryce Beekman. I hope the school dedicates the season to Beekman. Arranging a missing man formation on the first play of the game on defense in our home opener is also appropriate.

I agree with most of this. I think nearly all of us agree that we don’t want to glorify suicide. We should at least consider the possibility that by honoring a fallen teammate who died by suicide while practically ignoring those that died in other ways, we may inadvertently be doing exactly that.