Hess, Wallace 2004-10-20
Wallace Hess discusses his early life and the desire to work in the medical field, as well as his beginning to work with athletes in Texas Tech’s athletic department. He expresses his personal perspectives on relationship among coaches, players and team medical staff.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Wallace Hess
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: October 20, 2004
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: David Marshall
Length: 02:59:27
Abstract
Background information; Born in grandparent’s house; Father in the World War One; Railroad industry; Father’s family came from Germany to Nebraska; Father’s experience fighting Germans in WWI; Not sure about mother’s side of the family ancestry; Aunt worked in University of Texas’ Ph.D. program; Family established Abilene Christian University; Mother’s maiden name; Born July 11, 1922; Had one brother; Brother served in Japan; Father re-married; Education; Public education; Lab courses in high school; Air Force base; Got discharged to go to medical school; Navy Reserve medical program; Got accepted by Baylor Medical School; Penicillin; Medical School; Internship years; Assignment in the hospital; Graduated 1946; Salary during internship; Got a car from brother in-law; Interest in world view; First open chest surgery; Preference in family practice; Worked with athlete; Considered becoming a team doctor; Encouragement from different sides of the family; Standardized the approach of dealing with injury; Protocol to protect athlete; Confronted coaches concerning a team member’s injury; Sports Medicine; Doctor Marvin; E. J. Holub; Renaming Monterey High School; Transition in one season; Water intake during the game; Reason for not having water during the game; Authority over athletes’ health condition; Gator Bowl; Bobby Cavazos; Border Conference and Southwest Conference; Game in Arizona; Learned football rules from E. J. Holub; New rules and new regulations in Southwest Conference; Knowledge acquired from medical school concerning athletic injury; Border conference’s influence on facemask rule; Period of Big 12 Conference; Positions verses injuries; Neck injuries verses the type of tackle; Members of the Southwest Conference; Sports medicines characteristics; Coaches’ concern for money and penalty; Three major principles in sports medicine; Example of a full-back’s injury which lead to death; Sports medicine should be safety oriented; Other goals of sports medicine; Comparison of the safety condition of athletes now and then; Learn from mistakes; Improvement in theory of athletes’ safety; High School football; Medical and training conditions; Influence from the pop culture on football players; Sequence of training; Liability issue; Record keeping system; Organization of Southwest Conference; Consistency within the Conference; Comparison with a colleague from Ohio State; Robert J. Murphy; Similar position and similar organization; Pride of the home team; Objective needed in cooperation; “Captain” in sports medicine research; Evolution in football management; Expectation and money; Different stadiums to play football; The duty of athletic directors in a program; Frequent coaching changes within a short period of time; The hierarchy of the priority in management; Things that need to be done; Relationship with the coaches; Switching from one administration to another; Most effective decision; J. D. Kings; Distribution of responsibility; Polk Robinson; Mentality of a country boy; Great philosophers; Understand the people and human personalities; Intelligent level of the quarterback in a team; Highly motivated personalities; Donny Anderson; Attitude problem; Tackles and offensive line; Team captain solution; Different individual personalities; Jack Henry’s performance in the team; Jack Henry’s life after football career; Highly specialized personnel; Result-oriented training; A game in Kansas; Introverted personality; Turning point of team performance; 2004 season basketball team; One experience running with the coach; Direct interaction between team doctor and team players; Referral for students to surgeons; Suggestions for students; Attitude problem of the players; Other medical personnel’s learning process from team doctors; The connection between the doctors and the athletes; Building up trust.
Access Information
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Transcript: No transcript available
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