Rhabdo documents released
The Des Moines Register got its hands on hundreds of emails and documents from the Iowa Sport Information department regarding the Rhabdo 13 through the Freedom of Information Act. They have published all the emails, so you can read through them if you want. The vast majority of it is quite bland. About half of the emails are just back-and-forths trying to figure out the correct wording for the multiple press releases, including Kirk Ferentz's official statement, done around the time of the hospitalizations. The other half is mostly shooting done requests for information from various media outlets including ESPN's Pat Forde and some guy from the Wall Street Journal. There's also an email from a parent concerned about the school work his son would miss while in the hospital. They are student-athletes after all.BHGP keyed in on the fact that at least one person at Iowa was concerned about the lack of content in the initial release. Tysen Kendig was worried that the information-less release would lead to more questions and "could lead to public health concerns to a small degree, but certainly to rampant and unfounded speculation." Kendig was overruled and the release was sent out and *gasp* Kendig's prediction of rampant and unfounded speculation came true.
Pretty much everyone agrees that Iowa could have handled the communication piece of this incident better. From the press releases to the press conference without Barta and Ferentz...poor decisions were made. Even U of I President Sally Mason agrees as she told the Daily Iowan when asked about the Rhabdo 13 "I think that's one area that we have learned our hospital has to be talking to Tyson Kendig, our strategy communications vice pres, our athletics department has to be talking to Tyson and that way we can coordinate our message so that we're we at least know where we all are."