I wonder if he’s going to urge them to go to an eight-team playoff field this season.
**************************************************************************
UPDATE: Or maybe he wants to discuss this.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert and one of the faces of the United States’ fight against the coronavirus, says the only way professional sports will happen this summer is to do so without fans in attendance and by keeping players in hotels.
“There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci told Snapchat’s Peter Hamby as part of a weeklong interview series. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put [the players] in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled. … Have them tested every single week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out.”
**************************************************************************
UPDATE #2: In response to VP Pence asking what it would take “to get things back to normal”, Bob Bowlsby had this to say.
“Our players are students. If we’re not in college, we’re not having contests,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who was on the call.
“Our message was, we need to get universities and colleges back open, that we were education-based programs, and we weren’t going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on,” he added.
I’ll be curious to hear what “something closer to normal college going on” looks like a few months from now if the college football season has been shut down.
Get The Picture 
His wife will accompany him in case a woman is on the conference call.
LikeLiked by 3 people
LOL
LikeLike
Everyone thought it was hilarious (WHAT A PRUDE!!!) that he wouldn’t meet with women one-on-one. Then #metoo happened. Funny how I didn’t hear anyone make fun of him for this after that (until now).
LikeLike
Then you don’t go on Twitter much.
LikeLike
The only social media I use is LinkedIn. So there’s that.
I highly recommend a book entitled Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.
LikeLike
Glad to see the Vice President could make time for the “Bread and Circuses” Committee. Jesus Christ. College football ought to be about the LAST thing on peoples’ minds, but Joe Tereshinski XII is rightfully worried about securing employment for Joe Tereshinski XIII and there are some random Meshad relatives of Coach Dooley who have to have sinecures…
LikeLike
Believe it or not, at some point, the economy is going to have to be reopened…or they won’t be one to reopen.
JMHO.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And we all know that the college football playoff is one of the key engines of the economy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Uh oh, the natives are getting restless. I think it’s about time for another riveting edition of “McGarity’s Minutes”. It’s been a couple of weeks since the milquetoast AD passive-agressively reminded everyone that they think their jobs within the Butts-Mehre Country Club are really difficult and that they also think of themselves as some sort of quasi-charity.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’ll probably recommend adding a Russian to the committee.
LikeLike
ba dum tiss
LikeLike
This virus loves mass transit. Airports, airplanes, buses, the lot.
Maybe they want to discuss that angle first.
LikeLiked by 2 people
What virus doesn’t?
LikeLike
I know there are those who say they won’t watch. But if we’re still under lockdown, with nothing else to do… I’d hate it, but I’d tune in to cheer on my dawgs. And I’d be willing to bet that those taking a hard line stand right now would do the same, come August, if the situation doesn’t improve.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I would watch our guys, a few interesting SEC games, ATL Utd, LigaMX, EPL etc. if they are available.
However, I have had tough time watching anything new during this time. Most of the stuff I am consuming is stuff I have watched before like Parks & Rec, Scorsese movies, The Godfather, The Sting, Slapshot, A Few Good Men etc plus some selected UGA games from the past. Not necessarily all that different from my normal screen consumption but honestly I don’t have the emotional energy to pay attention to something new. I guess I need to ask a therapist about that ….
I have watched just two new things in total during this whole time – Honeyland, which was good and interesting but also made me mad, and The English Game, which was interesting but pretty tame and honestly didn’t really take a lot of “thought”
LikeLike
My liver just told me I won’t last till August….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I understand. Mine gave me the same choice….
LikeLike
I’ve been trying to figure out how to use a VPN to watch the Belarus Premier League (only sports on earth still going). Yeah, I’d watch.
LikeLike
That’s a BIG hotel bill…
Plus a loss in ticket revenue.
Another taxpayer funded bailout coming?
Will the players accept it?
Aren’t the coaches and staff going home every night?
LikeLike
Yeah. No way coaches are being sequestered in a hotel for up to 13 weeks.
LikeLike
We were all together a month ago, it’s a wonder we aren’t all dead now. We are still getting together in large numbers in grocery stores etc…why haven’t I read about the massive amount of dead Kroger/Publix/Walmart workers etc and related suppliers…
The County I live in has had 5 deaths, with an average age of over 79…population over 114K. When folks get into their 70’s…unfortunately, they start to die more often. The cure is worse than the disease.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Who is this “we” you refer to “still getting together”? I haven’t been near more than four or five people at the same time since this thing blew up.
LikeLike
Have you not been inside a grocery store? Or a Home Depot? Costco? Folks everywhere touching everything….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have been in grocery stores during senior hour, so I’ve been there when there haven’t been more than four of five shoppers in the store. I wear gloves, too.
I’m in Buckhead and the lack of traffic is a strong indication that folks are taking social distancing to heart.
LikeLike
Sr.’s should definitely take extra precautions (obviously from the stats) …stay safe.
LikeLike
Definitely.
LikeLike
In my fairytale world, every single municipality starts their own mass production of N95s and hand sanitizer (hey more employed people) and we add a line item service like our garbage collection where these items get delivered to every door once a month or something. If we had everybody wearing N95s with a bottle of sanitizer in their pocket, this thing would fizzle.
LikeLike
You’re an idiot.
LikeLike
So the death numbers, ages, etc don’t trouble you? You think it’s worth economic suicide? Carry On…
Good luck in the Govt Cheese line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You do understand that one of the main factors behind the hospitalization/death numbers being lower than previously projected is the implementation of aggressive social distancing/staying at home measures…right?
Actually, why am I asking this? It’s obvious you don’t understand that at all.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hence my very succinct comment above, ATL Dawg. Came to the same conclusion.
LikeLike
You’re wiser than I am. A Mark Twain quote about arguing with a certain type of person comes to mind here.
LikeLike
Of course, mine was an ad hominem attack of the sort not typically appropriate…but there comes a time when what would normally be considered ad hominem crosses over into factual observation, seems like.
LikeLike
Why do so many act as if “opening the economy back up” and “maintaining social distancing” are mutually exclusive???
LikeLiked by 1 person
Because the current party line is that we can’t vote, I mean, go out in public, until there is a vaccine and we must do whatever we can to allow vote harvesting in November, I mean, to completely prevent anyone from catching the virus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, you think there’s a middle ground? Well why don’t you start licking toilet seats down at the hospital if you’re so brave? It’s obviously one extreme or the other, jackass!
LikeLike
My grandparents survived two world wars, the Spanish flu, and the Great Depression. Glad they were around to be my grandparents. Oh, and they retired on the water in St. Pete on teacher salaries.
How did we reach the point where we’re literally demanding higher death counts in the name of 3rd quarter GDP?
LikeLiked by 2 people
#DieForTheDow
I expect to see PTC Dawg & kin attending the very first game, sans masks and gloves of course. if they’re big contributors, maybe they can sit in a booth with Pence.
LikeLike
When did the plan turn from “flattening the curve” to preventing another infection. The latter cannot be done — even if they were to develop a vaccine within the next 12 months. We have new flu vaccines every year and yet 80,000 people per year still die from it. The question isn’t why we have to sacrifice people to a virus, the question is since when did we all decide that saving a single life was worth locking the world down? We could save just as many lives each year by banning cars and, if your position is that any economic cost is justified by saving tens of thousands of lives, you better be ready to ban cars and lock seniors inside during flu season.
LikeLike
Those are horrible comparisons for obvious reasons I have posted weekly.
US flu deaths over the past 10 flu seasons (CDC estimates) average nowhere near 80k a year. Highest number on that chart is 61k.
I agree the economy needs to be reopened. With robust testing, not a death lottery.
LikeLike
Everybody just says “those are horrible comparisons” but they really aren’t at the end of the day. Everything is a risk / reward tradeoff. The old lady who never speeds getting killed by the kid doing 20over (wrong place wrong time) is not that different from a random viral infection. There are lots of traffic-law abiding citizens that get killed by non-abiders every year but we don’t knock all speed limits down to 40mph even though that would absolutely save more of their lives.
LikeLike
This is obviously the greatest threat in the history of humanity. It’s bigger than the World Cup, the World Series and World War II combined.
If it saves even a single life, obviously the Greatest Depression would be well worth it.
#HeartlessRepublicans
#NeverShakeHandsAgain
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t tell if this is satire
LikeLike
That’s always been Boner’s plan…
LikeLike
Government cheese?
Lets hope it doesn’t come to ’29 crash, Dust Bowl, Flood of ’27 proportions.
I grew up with people who lived it. I don’t want to find out if I am as tough as they were.
LikeLike
I would say you’re like the guy who complains that not enough people died during a hurricane after evacuation orders were given…except that there’s nobody crazy enough to actually do that.
LikeLike
Folks do complain when the locals won’t let them back in…where have you been?
Hurricanes don’t harpoon an entire Countries economy.
LikeLike
See the Dominican Republic …
LikeLike
Why don’t those assholes just evacuate?
#It’sSoEasy
LikeLike
There are indeed a few who complain that they aren’t allowed back the second the storm stops destroying everything. However, those few (emphasis on few) complainers don’t rant and rave over and over about how not enough people died during the storm to warrant the evacuation.
Hurricanes don’t affect an entire country either. This was an analogy. Do you know what an analogy is?
LikeLike
Geezus makes a good point above about the DR. I wasn’t thinking of smaller island countries. So hurricanes do indeed affect entire countries.
Of course, this makes the analogy that much stronger…
LikeLike
Living in coastal North Carolina, I’ll weigh-in here as a resident “expert”.
People tend to not evacuate here because they will not be let back in after a hurricane passes. Then the flood waters rise and you are away from your property for weeks on end. The meth-heads never evacuate and start stealing everything that’s not nailed down.
LikeLike
I”m with you on this one. Our economy has been crippled. People have lost jobs. It will take us a long time to recover and the Dr.’s still want to keep shit shut down indefinitely until we find a vaccine which we may never do.
At some point you have to say enough is enough. If people want to wear masks and not shake hands then fine. But, goddamn, people’s way of living are crashing because of a virus that has killed less than 40,000 in the USA.
Its time to open back up. We can’t live at home forever. At some point you have to bite the bullet and go back out. That time upon us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just curious — how do you intend to make people “bite the bullet”, as you put it, who don’t want to yet?
LikeLike
I don’t really think he’s arguing in favor of mandated social interaction. I think he’s arguing in favor of allowing social distancing to be voluntary.
LikeLike
No, he’s arguing that the government should stop issuing mandatory shelter in place orders, along with closing businesses like bars and restaurants, in the belief that everything will go back to normal.
Kinda like this guy:
Problem with thinking like that is that it assumes everyone is in agreement. Reality suggests that many won’t agree, not to mention the ill and those tending to the ill, and won’t participate in a return.
LikeLike
That’s exactly what I said. Absent government force, voluntary action rules.
You don’t like voluntary action. Fine. Right now, you get your wish and the government is forcing everyone to behave as you want them to. Congrats. Hopefully, that doesn’t change come November.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you lift the rules — which are working, by the way — and half the population stays out due to lack of confidence in the public health crisis, how does that bring the economy back?
I know, you’re not in this for the economy but freedom. WOLVERINES!
LikeLike
How is half the population working better than none of the population working? Gee, that’s a tough one.
And I think it might be possible to salvage both some freedom and some of the economy, rather than simply closing down the world for a few years.
LikeLike
Unless I missed something, more than half the population is working now. Point is, what is lifting orders going to do to restore normalcy if the general population doesn’t feel normal?
Which is why it doesn’t matter what you think is possible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The point stands. Forcing people to stop working is bad for the economy. Allowing some of those people to work again would be good for the economy. Even if some of the workers choose to stay home.
And if consumers don’t want to shop, then why do we need the government ordering them not to? Just get out of the way and people will stay home and not shop until they feel like doing it. I fail to see why you put your faith in official proclamations that shopping must be banned from date X to date Y, then everything will be great.
And I agree that what I think doesn’t matter. What you think shouldn’t matter, either. You think that bartenders shouldn’t be allowed to work right now. I think the appropriate people to make that decision are the bartenders, the bar owners, and the patrons. If any one of those groups doesn’t like the timing, the bartenders won’t be working. Problem solved without mayors, governors, or presidents declaring contradictory standards that have more to do with posturing than with science.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Uh hunh. And if their judgment impacts the health and welfare of thousands of others, tough shit for those folks — and the taxpayers who will foot the bill for the consequences.
It’s a public health crisis, not the remaking of Braveheart.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Do you expect infected bartenders to break down your doors and spit in your mouth? I don’t. If you want to stay inside for the next three years, I will defend to the death your right to do so. If you want to wear gloves and a mask and never shake hands again, God bless.
But I’m not joining you and the politicians in advocating for suspending civil liberties. I just don’t trust that the same government that puts the entire population under house arrest (for our own good) will be very inclined to give back that kind of power once the fear abates.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Again, the issue is the lack of testing and lack of a coherent plan. I am not rejoining the economy until we have a plan other than “whole lot of people going to die, and whole lot more are going to have very long recoveries, but fuck it, maybe I won’t be one of them.”
Calculated risk. We can’t calculate it right now because testing demand is about 20x higher than testing supply.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Exactly, ASEF.
LikeLike
There is a reason we haven’t seen 40,000 deaths – it’s called acting in a sensible way. Our death rate is minuscule compared to Italy or Spain. If we had the same rate of death we would undoubtedly have surpassed your 40,000 reference point.
Sure it’s painful for most of the country but think about the alternative.
LikeLike
Dying isn’t the only issue / consideration. Overwhelming our health system is equally important. For a good reference point see Albany, Ga.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Why is this so hard for some people to grasp?
LikeLike
The curve has already been flattened. How long are we going to keep this up?
Also, do you really believe that a college athlete would be at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than they are at risk of catastrophic injury from the sport itself? Serious question. People on this board seem to be ok watching young men risk life and limb in a violent contact sport while simultaneously claiming that the risk of death from COVID-19 is too much for them. That’s utter nonsense.
LikeLike
You are looking through a narrow window. It’s not the players as much as it is the general population.
LikeLike
How many teams would you need to put in the playoffs to include Indiana?
LikeLiked by 3 people
I’m thinking (+/-) 118.
LikeLiked by 1 person
From the guy that said covid is not a threat to the US, then 2.2-1.6 million will die, to less than 100,000 in the span of 7 weeks. His projections past 15 days need some work.
LikeLike
You know what science does? It uses the current information available and tries to make predictions. Do you know why the predictions change? Because this is a NEW occurrence and information is still coming in.
How is changing your outlook based on the information available a bad thing? We’ve gotten to the point where “he sticks to his guns” is an attribute, and rational thought based on current knowledge is a negative.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I always love the “science is fact”, but “science is subject to constant change” angles
LikeLiked by 1 person
Speed of light = fact
Knowledge base on virus that we saw for the first time 6 months ago: growing
Pretty simple, actually
LikeLiked by 2 people
Exactly. That’s why only a fool would criticize someone for their decisions when new information makes those decisions look imperfect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If the decisions were based on scientific information at the time, I’d agree.
If they were based on denying the science then and denying it now – and wrong both times – then no.
LikeLike
I always love the “because scientific theories/facts refine and change over time via the scientific method…that somehow means that my non-scientific opinions should be given just as much respect” angle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just allows continually moving goal posts and saying its science when it was wrong along. And furthermore, its impossible for people not to tinker with data for their bias, giving bad data and bad models.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ever boarded a plane? Or had surgery?
You trusted science with your life.
LikeLike
I was an air force pilot. And as we said “the dash 1 is written in blood”
LikeLike
My grandma felt about flying the same way you feel about “science.” Always took the train.
And by the way, as broad brush strokes go, that’s broader than broad. The Air Force and Carl’s Duct-Tape Air Taxi are both “aviation,” but they’re not remotely close to the same thing. Carl has an agenda, but it would kind of silly to paint all aviation concerns with the same brush.
I grew up in a very military, very Bible Belt, very science research town. Good science, good commanders, good churches – you could find them easily, and they were the majority. But you could also find some pretty poor examples if you looked hard enough. The key is the adjective (good/bad), not the noun (science, military, religion).
LikeLike
You don’t know how I feel about science from a few brief comments. You’ve thrown me in your little box with your grandma, after previously trying to tell me about aviation, a subject that I’m an expert on.
Good day.
LikeLike
I was once thrown into a little box (“internet warrior”) based on nothing but someone being an uninformed asshole – pissed me off and I’ll likely never forget the asshole that did it.
LikeLike
Maybe you’re right. But you’re only choosing to argue with the ones that don’t correspond with your worldview, exposing your bias.
http://www.ajc.com/news/faulty-data-obscures-virus-impact-georgia/LhCiI0bVKXOQW9VuEF9OrN/amp.html
LikeLike
You would disagree that our understanding of reality is subject to change? Please, explain.
LikeLike
The issue is people misuse the term “science”: there are all sorts of sciences, but only natural sciences can be said to constitute “facts” (or, more accurately, phenomenon that are subject to absolute rules, in every circumstance). Applied sciences – such as epidemiology and the forecasts/projections made by them and computer whizzes – lack absolute certainty, although in certain/many circumstances they can achieve a high degree of reliability (which is different than “fact” or absolute truth). Nonetheless, it has become fashionable to bash people upside the head with the “science” hammer in recent years, as if all “science” consists solely of absolute truths…. All sciences are not created equal!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like this a lot. People are throwing the word science around all over the inner webs but this is an absolute disaster of science. Apparently in Japan there death rate is low and they didn’t do much of anything. We are so completely devoid of even half ass data to have people state things as science and fact is completely unreasonable
LikeLike
If it makes you feel better, based on his comments to you above, it is apparent ASEF has a very warped understanding of what “science” is or is capable of. Neither medicine nor airflight are natural (or “hard”) sciences, but are applied sciences consisting of the application of chemistry and biology in the case of medicine, and physics in the case of airflight. But more importantly, each medical procedure and each airflight is subject to millions of variables that can most definitely affect the outcome of a particular situation – in fact, in both medicine and airflight, one of the biggest variables is the HUMANS in control of the situation….
No doubt there were many walking around the docks of New York this exact day 108 years ago saying, “Science said the Titanic was unsinkable!”, scratching their heads and wondering how the “science” could have been so wrong….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t often call names on the internet, but when I do…..
If you’re talking about Fauci, then you’re misrepresenting him. But I’m guessing you know or suspect you are, but don’t care, because it fit some sort of strange narrative you prefer.
You are not examining your own primary sources — you’re merely parroting some neo-Conservative talking points about Fauci currently doing the rounds on the conservative/news/talkshow/twittersphere rounds….
Fauci — at various singular points in time, before the disease was known to be widespread in the USA — said (more than once) that Americans didn’t have to worry about it “RIGHT NOW”. He offered that qualifier every time. He never said it would never be a concern. He never said it wasn’t as deadly as, say, H1N1/Swine Flu. But you don’t know that. Or maybe you do, but you choose to ignore it. You just take what they spoon-feed you.
Also, when he helped (along with the President) to unveil projections of 1.6-2.2 million USA deaths he clearly immediately said, BUT this is WITHOUT social distancing and lockdowns. With them, Fauci said, deaths may be between 100,000-200,000 — “but I believe we can even do better than that.” That’s my paraphrase, but that’s what he said. But you don’t know that because you take what they spoon-feed you.
I can’t tell you all how hilarious I find it that I find the exact same talking points HERE one to two days after I read them linked on Drudge Report and/or RealClearPolitics.
Why didn’t anyone here bring up “Fauci downplayed this too!” two weeks ago? Oh, it wasn’t the headline on BreitBart yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s sort of like the people who claim that Trump caused people to die because complete and total social distancing was not implemented on March 1st while ignoring the fact that Nasty Pelosi was still encouraging people to go out on the town in early March or the fact that the number of deaths per million in the U.S. is second only to South Korea. The same people who want to try Trump for manslaughter aren’t willing to acknowledge that the outcomes in the US are better than they are in any other western country.
We all have our biases and are influenced by the political agendas of our preferred media sources. If you don’t realize that you are just as susceptible to this, then you have quite a bit of growing up to do.
LikeLike
“…the number of deaths per million in the U.S. is second only to South Korea… the outcomes in the US are better than they are in any other western country.”
You’re way off, bud:
Death’s per 1M, as of 2pm today:
South Korea: 4
Canada: 27
Norway: 27
Germany: 43
Austria: 44
Portugal: 59
USA: 83
LikeLike
forgot link to source….
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
LikeLike
I see Italy and Spain didn’t make the list.
LikeLike
Why would I put them on the list?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why not? And are we sure the Italians didn’t overrun their hospitals attempting to surrender to the coronavirus, then wandered off? What does France look like? Have they declared Paris an open city yet?
The English will work “In the bars, in the pubs, on the chip fryers…. We shall never surrender…”
Poking fun at the Europeans aside, there are two sides to everything and the truth is somewhere in the middle, but I watched about 30 seconds of CNN last night and the incredible passion that the talking head spouted the statistics of the sick and the dead really rubbed me the wrong way. I’ll play by the CDC’s rules but this whole thing smells like bullshit to me.
LikeLike
It’s not BS, insofar as it’s a ravaging disease for the vulnerable (aged, underlying health conditions). It’s certainly BS if you’re position is “if it’s not going to kill ME or half then why should I care?”
LikeLike
What if your position is “I have children in my home but no money coming in” ? I’d love to hear from anyone out of work and struggling to put food on the table that advocates for an indefinite lockdown. Lot of you must-sacrifice-your life-for-mine out there.
LikeLike
If they won’t let me go I’ll watch football on TV but I wonder if they can pull that off for very long. There appears to be two camps on this economic shutdown and it’s not medical. One group has kept their income stream or pensions versus those who worry about their next paycheck, which will include all of us if we’re still locked down come football season. Anybody unwilling to admit that is unrealistic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We will defeat ourselves with extended shutdowns, and yet, the virus will still remain a part of our seasonal concern each year, meaning we are sitting under a pergola thinking it will block the sun only because it is just rising off to the side. Soon enough it will be midday and the sun will shine right through. Point being, we need to get on with accepting coronavirus sooner than health experts are suggesting. We can hold out a bit longer, but society will suffer more on the economic end than the virus can cause us to suffer on the health end.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, you just go right on ahead with that. Think I’ll make up my mind on my own.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For PTC, Biggen and Ace.
This is how you make your point that somethings are just more important than your life:
https://apple.news/AEXw8nb5xQWi-9CzZIwtcdg
It would buy you a lot of credibility.
LikeLike
Or I could just take your route, and start calling everyone names….
LikeLiked by 2 people
Funny how some get all butt hurt about name calling from a commenter on a blog. Snowflakes I guess.
LikeLike
If you were stupid as fuck the inherent hypocrisy would slide right by your notice.
LikeLike
You can’t fix stupid. But you move on to the next best thing.
If your zipper was down and you were walking around like that without a clue, wouldn’t you want someone to tell you? I would.
Why is going around being an idiot any different?
I just think people should know. Deep down they appreciate the heads up. You can’t convince me that I’m not providing a valuable service to mankind. At a bare minimum, I know it’s cathartic for me. And the cure of outrage towards stupidity is significantly better than the disease of silently tolerating it.
LikeLike
Keep up that rage against the world, Derek. You’re right. It’s the world that’s wrong. Perhaps instead of repeating the same points in multiple comments, you could start repeating yourself within the same comment for increased effectiveness?
#NormalizeAdHominem
#NormalizeAdHominem
#NormalizeAdHominem
#NormalizeAdHominem
#NormalizeAdHominem
#NormalizeAdHominem
LikeLike
You call stupid’s name and it arrives. Without fail.
LikeLike
Derek really hates it when I agree with him.
LikeLike
I hope you aren’t allowing Derek to live rent free in your head. It’s pretty creepy dude.
LikeLike
Not at all. I’m a great admirer. He’s one of the great thinkers of his middle school.
LikeLike
I haven’t responded to a single post of his in years. But he cannot stay away from me. Its stalker-like behavior for sure. Is the “middle school” thing part and parcel of his fantasy that one day I’ll pretend he exists and also be 13?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just because you arrange your replies in a passive aggressive way so that it’s not directly under my posts doesn’t mean you’re not replying to me, son. And the middle school thing is because, absent direct knowledge of your age, I’m inferring your age based on your level of education and your maturity.
But keep on keeping on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Want to open the country back up now – watch this and get back to me.
LikeLike
Maybe I’m just a bit too paranoid about China right now, but I feel like maybe its too convenient that the news being allowed out of that Country concerning this virus always seems to undermine the US. Two weeks ago when cases were still climbing in the US, China claimed that there were no new cases and this was used to criticize the US. Now, Trump is talking about eventually setting a timeline for him to end the declaration of national emergency and suddenly the Chinese Communist Party is willing to admit that people are still catching the virus. Maybe everything the Chinese Communist Party is saying is true, but it just seems to be too convenient for them at every turn.
LikeLike
Adding on to the videos I posted above. Hopefully these aren’t in poor taste, but I’ve been accused of being insensitive once or twice in my life.
LikeLike
Oops, meant to post that over in the playpen. My bad, Senator!
LikeLike
LikeLike
Dammit, did it twice! I give up.
LikeLike
That’s okay. We know you meant well. 😉
LikeLike
Good call on Duncan Sheik though …
LikeLike
Think about what it would cost to test and quarantine that many people each week to have these games.
It’s probably 1000 people minimum to put on a game. That’s a $100k per game per week in just testing costs if a test is $100. Currently in Georgia we are only going 3-5k test per day. So the state of Georgia would be dedicating a significant portion of its testing resources each day to testing football players?
Do we just test UGA? Does GSU or the other GSU get tests? Maybe KSU?
I just dont see many schools being able to foot the bill for a full season.
They might try and pull together some sort of month long tournament with the top 16 teams or something. Think LLWS for college football.
Especially with no ticket revenues to offset putting the game on.
LikeLike
“Professional sports.” The leagues pick up the checks I would reckon.
LikeLike
That would actually be damn good for the economy, as long as it’s not at the taxpayers expense.
LikeLike
How is a new expense good for the economy? If the economy works like that, why don’t we just create a new law that requires everyone to pay for a stamp on their hand every day so that we can put people to work stamping hands? I don’t think you’ve thought this through.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The edit link references “professional sports,” not college sports. If the leagues and their advetisers want to play their games with the requirements imposed as referenced, and they pay the associated costs, it would be good for the economies in those areas.
It wouldn’t just be the players that would have to be quarantined. It wouldn’t have to be every coach, assistant, manager, staffer, aide, referee etc… It would be small armies of teams that would be (I’m guessing moving) en masse from quarantine to quarantine.
The local hotel industries would benefit. The local food industries would benefit. The local shipping and delivery industries would benefit. Somebody would have to supply all of these people.
Or do you think they just load up the HC and the starters and find a local rec center somewhere?
LikeLike
From the article below:
“To also capture infected people without symptoms, we could ask everyone to wear masks in indoor public spaces. Outdoors is more difficult, since most people pose little or no risk. Perhaps, as we reduce restrictions, masks could also be required at some outdoor crowd events, such as sporting events or concerts.
Another possibility is a “2 x 2″ rule: if you are outdoors and within 2 metres of other people for more than 2 minutes you need to wear a mask.”
Should We All Be Wearing Face Masks? Here’s Why Experts Are So Conflicted
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-why-advice-on-whether-you-should-wear-a-mask-is-just-so-confusing?fbclid=IwAR3KNkt6PGjMG4GKSWVAIiGFC7xQAy7NuUt9bedaeUll2rm6z09H0NQTuUU
LikeLike
Compulsory mask wearing works in many Asian countries why not here?
LikeLike
I’m thinking I have too much time on my hands. I watched Hamby’s video of Fauchi and I think his style makes me not want to watch him in the future. He asks about football in the fall but in Fauchi’s response he(Fauchi) is clearly,unequivocally and obviously talking about baseball. This looks like the misleading and panic inducing BS as I’ve come to expect from much of the media.Have the Doctor answer the question he asked or rephrase the question but that clip was misleading. I believe in liberty and freedom. Hold the games and let me make in informed decision if I wish to take a risk or give the tickets to my son or young associates. Choice is not a bad thing. We’ve already bent the curve down(if Cuomo is to be believed) let’s move on.We were told this shutdown was to keep from overwhelming the Emergency Rooms but now people are talking about doing nothing until we kill the virus. Quit moving the damn goalposts. A virus can not be killed because by some definitions it is not alive. #bringbackourjobs.
LikeLike
So, you should have the freedom and liberty to go where you please, but others shouldn’t have the freedom and liberty to protect themselves from the coronavirus by separating themselves out of concern of infection.
It’s a public health crisis. The problem comes when your freedom and liberty infringes on someone’s health.
Those of you jonesing to open the economy back up should be insisting on what needs to be done first to restore the public’s confidence, you know, things like widespread testing. Otherwise, all you’re doing is rolling the dice with other people’s lives and expecting them to go along with what you want.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am not really arguing your sentiment but at some point we have to go back to work. You can’t sit in your house for the next 3 years and hide from this disease. There isn’t going to be a vaccine anytime soon and I have no idea how long I would have to wait for an antibody test (and what if I don’t have the antibodies?).
We have a total of 60 cases in my entire county since this started. I guarantee 60 business have/will go out of business and I couldn’t count how many people are unemployed or in a bad financial situation. There is a real risk of financial collapse in this country. I think that would result in a lot more deaths than the virus will cause.
For the record, I am for temporarily closing schools and other public gatherings (sports, concerts…). I also think that even non-essential businesses should be allowed to operate in a safe manner without the police beating down the door. In most parts of the country this thing is close to under control. We are all getting the virus at some point, keep yourself healthy and you will be fine. Unless you are the 1%….
LikeLike
Here’s the thing: I own a business. I want things to get back to normal as soon as they can, too.
But some people are putting the cart before the horse with this. You aren’t going to get normal unless people aren’t scared. And the place you have to start building confidence is with wide-scale, readily available testing. That’s what we should all be insisting on right now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It seems to me that if you need a test right now you can get it. I am in relatively rural coastal NC and there is testing. The hospitals are not complaining about a lack of test kits. They are complaining about a lack of revenue since all elective procedures are cancelled.
Even with testing, things are not going back to normal for many years. The days of packing 100K people into metal bleachers with tight concourses are likely over for a while. I personally don’t see how they play football this year. I doubt students will be on campus at the end of August. How do you deal with 100 players and coaches sharing locker rooms/buses/meals?
This thing is definitely coming back in the fall with no vaccine on the horizon. Hopefully the therapeutic drugs work. I just wonder at what point do we say F it and start holding events like football, basketball, and concerts.
LikeLike
“It seems to me that if you need a test right now you can get it.” Sides that simply isn’t true. Even front line medical workers cannot get tested. And yes I have close relatives that are surgeons and nurses. People are dying before their test results come back. A woman who works with my wife came down with COVID-19. She was hospitalized for a couple of weeks. It took a full seven days for her test results to come back. These are the people who we know to be exposed and/or sick. Folks like you and me who aren’t exhibiting symptoms cannot get a test. Without widespread testing like the Senator is advocating you don’t have a data set to make decisions. That’s business 101. Better data gives you the opportunity to make better decisions. Unfortunately we have almost no data to work with. And we don’t appear to believe we need to develop the capability to collect and interpret relevant data. Why, I have no idea. We have a bunch of seasoned business professionals in key positions. I do not understand why they aren’t pushing for more data.
LikeLike
I too have friends in the healthcare field. There are tests available if you need to be tested. The tests are getting more accurate and faster. Your example of your wife’s co-worker, when did this happen? Using an example from 3 weeks ago doesn’t represent the current state of affairs. It definitely took time to get testing up and running but it seems like these issues are solved. I know the media would be reporting any current failures right now.
LikeLike
What I’m hearing is that while capacity has certainly started to ramp up there are still supply issues in many areas. Here in Georgia for instance, the criteria for being tested is still very limited. We currently have only 5,000 tests available for the entire state. We did, however, just sign a contract to purchase more test kits. We rank 45th nationally in the number of tests performed per capita. So, yeah, we’re still way behind here. The public is demanding a whole lot more testing and information before they feel comfortable easing up on shelter in place and social distancing.
LikeLike
Dr. Birx, Dr. Fauchi and (yes, believe it or not!) the Vice-President have been saying it for over a month now – social distance and wash hands. Recently, they added wearing masks (and some people are also wearing gloves). We have been working (as have many others) while following these guidelines, and seem to be doing okay…. Will it work for every business? Obviously not – in particular, restaurants, bars, etc. will be really difficult (perhaps they come back later?). Large public gatherings – such as sporting events – have also been cancelled for the past month, and I doubt they’ll be the first thing to come back either (at least with fans in the stands).
In addition to those measures, we could also start “locking-down” nursing homes and senior living centers (as well as, perhaps, other large institutionalized settings, such as prisons/jails), where the population is extremely susceptible and where we know the outbreaks have hospitalized/killed many.
And again, everyone would continue with the general hygenic recommendations – social distance, wash hands, where a mask and gloves. I’m not on the task force or anything, and these are just my non-scientific ramblings, but these seem like fairly simple and straightforward steps that have (pretty obviously) significantly mitigated the risks for most of us, and which could serve as a way to continue to risk mitigation for others as we try to return as many as possible to “normal.” (I would add, schools are another large institutional setting where things like this can spread quickly and, to the extent schools are closed until the beginning of the new school year in 4 months, that’s another positive mitigating factor).
LikeLike
Then stop scaring them. (Not you per-se)
LikeLike
Yeah, irrational fear, that’s what it’s all about.
That would explain why the business interests pushing Trump to “reopen the economy”, whatever the fuck that means, are also asking for immunity from liability for employers from lawsuits filed by returning workers who become infected by the coronavirus on the job.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think the problem is people being overly informed about the threat.
LikeLike
Where’s the line between overly informing and outright fear mongering?
Your comment below regarding Germany is dead on and not surprising. Regardless of their past sins, I’ve spent lots of time there recently and they as a people have their collective shit together.
My “irrational fear” is that the lack of leadership and bipartisan rivalry in our government is compounding an already bad situation into an unnecessary socioeconomic catastrophe that a sensationalist media is more than happy to exploit.
LikeLike
So, tell everyone to go back to work and let Gawd sort it out is the best response you’ve got?
LikeLike
Wake me up when you hear Trump discuss the situation in terms anywhere near that.
LikeLike
And there is no way I could have typed that at 10:29 pm last night. (Turns out our favorite taco joint sells “virgin” margaritas to go, add your favorite tequila in the amount you see fit). So it distilled down to “Stop scaring me”. I changed “me” to “them” in a fit of solidarity, me being a subset of them.
I don’t want anyone to depart this realm before their time, not me, you, or anyone. On the other hand, it’s heartbreaking to watch not only people’s life work but potential opportunity for an important popular demographic put on indefinite hiatus with no plan for support or recovery other than a $1200.00 block of “Government Cheese.”
That’s the bullshit i’m talking about. I do not think the actual threat is bullshit at all.
LikeLike
If you’re saying there’s been a massive failure of government at the federal level, I’m not one to argue. But human nature being what it is, telling folks to get out of their houses and work/spend/socialize won’t amount to much if people aren’t confident it’s safe to do so. And saying “but, muh economy” isn’t particularly convincing in that regard.
LikeLike
That’s exactly what I’m saying. I in no way intended for you to infer a Trumpish “Suck it up and get back to work you bunch of pussies” intent from my comment.
I think and organized, reasonable plan/ schedule with definable parameters to allow people to begin incrementally gathering again would do wonders to allay the fear of the unknown. Not “Muh economy”. Sell some hope and a plan.
Unfortunately that will require courage, rational discussion, decision making and common sense. I haven’t seen much of that from our leadership.
LikeLike
You protect yourself by not going out and participating in group activity. This reminds me of the rather heated discussion we had regarding the peanut free zone at some northern school(might have been Northwestern). If you or your child has this allergy protect yourself and your child but don’t ask me to not let anyone have peanuts. Likewise, if you have some risk factors that make you more susceptible to having a severe reaction to this virus than you may want to quarantine yourself but I don’t think I need to restrict my reasonably healthy butt from enjoying my life. My limited recollection of the police power from law school……you recall some of that too,right?…is that the State traditionally has huge,expansive powers to quarantine the sick but I’m not sick and we have already bent the curve. The original purpose of this crap was to not overwhelm the ERs. Life has risks and you decide how many you wish to take. I’ll be happy to take the risk of going to the game. You do you, I’ll do me. The school will have no liability because anyone who goes, gets sick and than claims damages because they didn’t know they were assuming this risk would and should be laughed out of Court. #rollingthedicewithmyOWNlife
LikeLike
“The cure is worse than the disease” is a bumper sticker slogan, not a public health strategy.
Instead of bitching about your personal freedom being infringed because you might infect somebody with a disease that could kill them, why not insist that public officials get their collective shit together about testing?
Germany is, in fact, opening up its small businesses next week. How can they? They’re testing the fuck out of the citizenry — 650,000 tests daily — then backtracking the source of infection along with rigorous isolation for those who test positive.
We’re not doing anything close to that here. That’s what you should be focused on. Good government should be there to reduce the risk you blow off.
LikeLike
Gretchen Whitmer for Corona virus czar!
LikeLike
I believe Germany also started mass testing almost immediately after putting shelter in place orders out.
LikeLike
In essence, every person in the country is tested every two weeks. That’s the way to do it.
LikeLike
Pretty amazed Bob (of all people) would say no CFB without students on campus and in classes, but will give him props for saying it (and hope he means it)!
LikeLike
I agree. He gets it.
LikeLike
FWIW:
Two state universities within 10 miles of me in Maryland. (Both are DIII schools). Was on webinar/call with director of governmental affairs for each yesterday… both seemed to indicate their money was on NOT having “normal” semester in the fall. Likely all online.
LikeLike
I have a good friend who is an Educational consultant, works with a lot of administrators in public school systems, universities etc. On a virtual happy hour earlier this week she said that Boston University (D1 but no football) is ready to announce that no one will be on campus for Fall 2020. It was the largest University she has heard thus far that was ready to go public with an announcement.
As has been mentioned, educational institutions will not have in person classes until there are enough tests, a proven course of treatment and/or a vaccine.
LikeLike
Relax peeps. This ain’t the apocalypse. Y’all seen Jesus yet? Women are jumping off the roof to get in your bed. Blutarsky that shit!
LikeLike
This is what a quintessential one thirty in the morning comment looks like. Hope the whisky was tasty, my man.
LikeLike
Lol, so true, ive been there.
LikeLike