Hartzell again

[Adam]

The guy just can't stay out of the news.
From http://www.desmoinesregister.com today.

Northern Iowa athletic director Rick Hartzell is recovering from burns received Thursday while working on a race car driven by his son, Nate.

"It was an accident," Hartzell said. "It happened really fast."

Hartzell said he has first- and second-degree burns on his hands, a burn on his neck, and the worst burns are on his lower left leg.

He was released from University Hospitals in Iowa City Friday, but must be re-evaluated on Tuesday.

"It could have been a lot worse," said Hartzell, who is also an NCAA basketball official. "I was really lucky. I was just talking to Jill, my fiancŽe, and said, 'As much as it doesn't feel good, it's better than the alternative.' "

The fire that caused the burns started in the car's carburetor, Hartzell said.

He had stopped by to help work on the car before a scheduled stint as master of ceremonies at Northern Iowa's senior athletics banquet.

Instead, Nate drove him to a Cedar Falls hospital, then Hartzell was life-flighted to Iowa City.

Nate Hartzell races a late model primarily at Farley Speedway and Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City.

"I'm really thankful," Hartzell said. "My son's OK."

Hartzell said the burns would not affect his duties as athletic director. In fact, he was doing some work Friday via telephone.

"I'm up walking around," Hartzell said. "Other than a sore hip, and a little pain from the burns, which really isn't that bad, I'm pretty good."

Hartzell said it was too soon to tell if his other job as an official would be impacted.

"I couldn't run very good before, so I may not be able to run at all," Hartzell said, laughing.

Hartzell's spirits were buoyed by a visit from Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby, who formerly held the post at Northern Iowa.

"I've had a million calls, and the people at the hospital were great," Hartzell said.

[tjones1]

Best of luck to Rick on recovering and I hope he has no problems returning to the court next season.

[canuckrefguy]

Doesn't sound like he had much choice about whether or not to be in the news....