May 4, 2015

Now, we know.

Yesterday, I listed 2 "Things it seems we should know by now." The first was "The name of the princess baby." Of course, as already blogged today, we now know the name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The second was "The cause of the death of Sheryl Sandberg's husband. David Goldberg 'died suddenly,' last Friday, at the age of 47." As we discussed in the comments, the lack of information makes people guess that it was a suicide, and it would be significant if the husband of the author of "Lean In" killed himself.

But the husband, David Goldberg, did not kill himself. We learn today that he "died of head trauma... after he collapsed at the gym at a private resort in Mexico":
Mr. Goldberg, 47, was on vacation with family and friends at the Four Seasons Resort near Punta Mita, close to Puerto Vallarta in southwest Mexico, according to a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Nayarit State. Mr. Goldberg left his room around 4 p.m. on Friday, collapsed while exercising and died of head trauma and blood loss, said the spokesman. His brother, Robert Goldberg, found him on the floor of the gym at the resort at around 7 p.m., with blood around him. The spokesman said it appears “he fell off the treadmill and cracked his head open.”
This might be interesting to those who are questioning Harry Reid's account of his recent injuries.

41 comments:

Curious George said...

It's a fact that Reid is lying. The only thing in question is what exactly is the truth.

jr565 said...

I don't know much about David Goldberg, but my guess is I'd feel a lot worse about him cracking his head open after falling off a tread mill than I would if it was Harry Reid.

CatherineM said...

How terrible. I keep my phone attached to me in case I fall and break something exercising alone. Too bad he didn't go with someone (if that would have helped).

Mountain Maven said...

Tacky to associate Goldberg's death with Reid's injury. That's journalism and page views

Virgil Hilts said...

If you watch treadmill fail videos, the story of record is quite believable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPhVVjnoC0

Ann Althouse said...

@virgil

Thanks. That was... instructive.

MadisonMan said...

Who would've guessed the woman in high heels would have a treadmill accident!?

Michael K said...

I wonder if Goldberg had the same Mafia connections that Reid has ?

Virgil Hilts said...

I think seeing videos like that can be instructive. Treadmills are by far the most dangerous piece of gym equipment and its amazing to see people (like the ones in the videos) goof around on them without understanding the physics involved.

Skeptical Voter said...

Okay so he "fell off a treadmill" in gang and drug cartel ridden Mexico. He's at a high end resort, and he's not discovered for three hours. And it's a family member, not an attendant at the gym at a Four Seasons Hotel? As the Chinese philosopher said Sum Ting Wong with this story.

But I'll concede that this is how it happened with a treadmill. They're a motorized device and you can fall off of them.


But Harry--who is lying every time his lips are moving--wasn't on a treadmill. A big old rubber band leapt up and beat him about the head and chest and various other body parts all at once. This rather improbable tale from Old Mexico does not serve to rehabilitate the non existent credibility of a lying, scum sucking, prevaricating, pompous little putz from Searchlight Nevada.

Etienne said...

"Friends don't let friends exercise." - David Goldberg

Gahrie said...

Personally, i think we should start a go fund me campaign to raise money to give to whoever beat Reid up, if he releases the video on Youtube......

Ann Althouse said...

Hotel gyms tend to be deserted. I've been in hotels like that... Four Seasons... That's exactly what it is like. If you go alone, you will be alone. The pools and hot tubs are like that too. You're usually alone!

MayBee said...

If I were the family, I would want to be sure it was a fall off the treadmill that give him the blow to his head. I mean, it's Mexico.

MayBee said...

There are often cameras, no?

Sebastian said...

Ellipticals, ergs, or bikes are the way to go.

Stay away from exercise bands, at least when Fat Tony or Big Luigi are nearby.

Michael K said...

I've had two friends drop on hotel treadmills. Neither fell off.

Until after, I suppose.

Mark O said...

Reid never denied that he was a pederast.

Howard said...

Humans on hamster machines win Darwin Awards.

Freeman Hunt said...

Poor guy and poor wife. Nobody expects The Freak Accident. That's terrible. Plus, if you're him, maybe you're lying there for a second thinking, "Sheesh. A treadmill?"

rcommal said...

My first thought, on reading early accounts, was, "out of the country," which is always a complicating thing. My second thought was that he was in only his late '40s, which generally requires autopsy. Each of of those factors are complicating, and both together more so, even before considering the "when" and the realities of weekends.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I am skeptical too that he went there at 4PM and wasn't found til 7PM. Someone on the earlier thread said he was overweight so I doubt he was jogging for hours and then had his accident. And why the delay in reporting the cause of death? Were the cops involved?

Birches said...

There are often cameras, no?

I would assume looking at the cameras was one reason for Cause of Death to take time. You'd want to make sure that's what happened.

rcommal said...

Also, apart from thoughts in any order, I did spend a lot of time writing obituaries over a number of years between the latter '80s and early '90s.

rcommal said...

For that reason, I do think that I have some basis for speculating or not speculating, in the moment. I choose "not."

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Exercise is bad for your health.

rcommal said...

Exercise is bad for your health < Sometimes yes, more often no.

^ Sorry, but there's my POV.

William said...

Although early death is always tragic, it is particularly poignant if your spouse is a billionaire......Do treadmill accidents always come in threes? Who will be next to suffer a mortal or disabling injury, while ironically trying to improve his health?

Wally Kalbacken said...

If they expected it, it wouldn't be The Freak Accident now, would it?

Sammy Finkelman said...

Mark O said... 5/4/15, 9:22 PM

"Reid never denied that he was a pederast.

That sounds Japanese.

The word is pedalist




Once written, twice... said...

The Althouse Hillbillies remain some of the more nastier commenters in blog land. Ann, you must be so proud of these vile folks that you have cultivated here.

Brando said...

I use treadmills a lot, and noticed a lot of the new ones don't seem to have safety switchoffs where if you fell it would make the machine stop immediately.

MayBee said...

Hmmmm. Four Seasons says it did not happen on their property.

sparrow said...

Sounds like a murder.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"did not happen on their property"??

Hmm..the plot thickens...Did he eat someone else's taco? Pee in the pool and try to deny it? Loudly proclaim he never really cared for Speedy Gonzalez cartoons?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Goldberg's injuries are at last consistent with the story about the treadmill. Harry Reid's injuries -- blinded in one eye, smashed orbital, broken ribs, face bruised all over -- are difficult to square with the story of an "exercise band" that snapped or slipped, depending on which Reid story one tries to believe.

paminwi said...

In this day and age, not having video of pretty much everywhere in public spaces for a high end resort is unheard of. Also, this isn't the exercise room at a Hampton Inn. There are attendants in those spaces much of the time. Why the heck do you think prices are so high at places like that versus lower end resorts? More employees at your beck and call! An attendant, even if he/she were lazy would walk through more than every 3 hours. Even security would make a walk through more than that. I don't buy it! (Lastly, wouldn't a wife ask where the dickens he husband was if he said he was going to exercise and she still hadn't heard from him for that long? Did she not send him a text or something?)

gerry said...

The Althouse Hillbillies remain some of the more nastier commenters in blog land. Ann, you must be so proud of these vile folks that you have cultivated here.

I believe the CORRECT usage would be

"The Althouse Hillbillies remain some of the nastier commenters in blog land. Ann, you must be so proud of these vile folks that you have cultivated here."

The word "more" is unnecessary.

Freeman Hunt said...

If they expected it, it wouldn't be The Freak Accident now, would it?

Exactly. Therefore, no one expects it.

PatHMV said...

It's a pretty large fitness facility at that Four Seasons. 5,500 square feet (or 3,114, depending on which figure on the web page to believe), with 8 treadmills and a total of 22 major pieces of workout equipment. And headphones (for the 13" TVs on each machine) are available from the "fitness staff."

That's not a dinky little facility in the basement of the Holiday Inn.

I do note that, according to the article, he left his room at 4pm; it doesn't seem to say when he actually arrived at the fitness facility, so we have no idea how long he was actually on the floor in there.

I'm a bit skeptical of the report. I'd want a more thorough investigation.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

A traveler's death. A tourist would not be caught dead using the hotel gym.