Overheating in Stillwater Isn't Just an Excuse

Here is what AI "Claude" has to say when I asked "What are the effects of Hyperthermia on athletic and mental performance."

For those that are going to say "It was hot for OSU too." I'll put what it says about acclimating first.

Performance also depends on hydration status, acclimatization, and individual heat tolerance — well-acclimatized athletes can maintain performance at higher core temperatures than unacclimatized ones.

Hyperthermia (elevated core body temperature) impairs both physical and cognitive performance, generally in a dose-dependent way as core temperature rises above ~38–39°C.

Athletic performance:

Reduced endurance capacity — time to exhaustion drops sharply as core temp approaches ~40°C, a threshold linked to central fatigue

Decreased muscle power output and increased perceived exertion for the same workload

Cardiovascular strain: blood is diverted to the skin for cooling, reducing blood flow to working muscles and raising heart rate at a given intensity ("cardiovascular drift")

Faster glycogen depletion and dehydration, compounding fatigue

Increased risk of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke at the extreme end

Mental/cognitive performance:

Slower reaction times and reduced attention/vigilance

Impaired decision-making and executive function, especially in complex tasks

Working memory and short-term memory take a hit

Mood effects — increased irritability, perceived fatigue, and reduced motivation

Above roughly 39–40°C core temp, cognitive decline becomes more pronounced and consistent across studies.

It was measuring 97F in the stadium and likely higher on the field, with the level of humidity was probably a heat index of 110-115, and they are in pads and a helmet!

Without a doubt their bodies were redlining on temp, and you body doesn't care about you trying to win a game, it's literally trying to dump enough heat to survive.

And if you don't think Dan Lanning's brain was baked by the 4th quarter with two delay of games that NEVER happen and going for it on 4th and 8 from his own 30 yard line when there are 3 minutes and 3 timeouts left, then I don't know what to tell you.

I saw a tweet from an OSU fan that said he was seated near the entrance to the Duck locker room and going into halftime they looked absolutely exhausted.

I grew up in Oregon and lived in St. Louis. There is no way to go from 60s and 70s to that kind of weather overnight and perform. It's an out of body experience, but with time I acclimated to go on runs when it was that hot out, come back in a pile of sweat feeling fine, opening the door to my apartment that was A/C'd to a dry 80 degrees and it felt like an icebox!

Anyways, don't get me wrong, we've got real problems that need to be corrected, but for the entire sports media industrial complex and fans to act like this wasn't a factor for them playing uninspired and with poor execution is more than a bit unfair.

Edited 43 minutes ago43 min by Solar