We’re up to three SEC programs that will not be conducting mandatory COVID-19 tests for college athletes. Hope they know what they’re doing… or not doing, as the case may be.
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Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
I would think a major university could dedicate part of an on campus lab to cut the cost and time to process multiple types of testing. Which would make frequent testing easier to facilitate.
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You would think, but all the on campus labs with any serious equipment are engaged in research grant$$$ that can’t just be dropped. Plus, I was on a call with one professor who indicated they were experiencing shortages of some equipment for their actual testing as it is.
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Has anyone yet been presented with a waiver of liability when returning to work? Meaning, if you return to work, you can’t sue us for opening up the office/warehouse/whatever. This came up yesterday in a discussion. If this becomes a thing, will ad’s require players to sign one?
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If they test an asymptomatic player and he tests positive the kid has to miss practice reps. That is what their concerns are.
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As prior noted, te$ting/treatment cost$ could get into the mid to upper 6 figure$ fa$t, don’t forget rete$ting….cause the thing to do after a positive result is to test again (in a timely fashion)
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Nailed it. ^
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Doesn’t bode well for a coach or staffer with any preexisting conditions, not to mention every player’s families, other students, professors (assuming players go to class), school staff, etc. No testing all but guarantees a program will contract and spread the virus.
Last I looked, testing was an inexpensive preventive measure. I guess it costs less for multiple people to contract the virus, be quarantined 14 days, make Dr. visits, maybe go to the ER, maybe go to the ICU, maybe contract pneumonia, and maybe die.
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So, 43% of the deaths come from .6% of the population and 51% of the deaths come from five Democrat controlled northeastern states that have been grossly mismanaged. What % of the deaths are actually in the workforce or college aged? Its a joke. Sounds like a good reason to shut down a country of 330 million.
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How dare you!?! You know perfectly well that Trump or 5G towers that have caused this.
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A joke? Fuck you, dude.
I truly hope no one in your family or circle of influence’s family dies completely alone, in an isolated hospital room, covered in protective equipment, drowning and gasping for air.
Then no one can come to grieve together and pay their last respects at the funeral.
Again, just so we’re clear, fuck you.
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Nice. Emotional BS. Typical nonsense. Completely avoided the data and the facts. Facts are stubborn things. People are dying every day. Its awful. That’s not the point. The point is shutting down an economy when it wasn’t necessary given the data and demographics. How about this: I truly hope you don’t have anyone in your family that dies of suicide or has lost their job and their home.
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I don’t think the emotional fallout from this thing due to loss of jobs/income is anywhere at the top of the curve, to use a term that has been thrown around.
No links, JMHO.
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Correct.
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So what’s your point? Buzzfeed, really? Its not my conservative talking point. Its REAL data. Back it up Senator. Tell me where causing 40 million unemployment claims was necessary given the data and demographics and the real death rate (per CDC less than 1%) ? Tell me given the data where this has been done before? Tell me given the specific criteria of slowing the spread and preventing the overwhelming of hospitals that it was supported and necessary nationwide. Show me real statistics that backup that there is no correlation between significant increases in unemployment into double digits and increases in drug addiction, high blood pressure, obesity and suicide. I love your blog but honestly I don’t get you sometimes. Absolute BS. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/05/21/how_fear_groupthink_drove_unnecessary_global_lockdowns_143253.html
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Here’s what I don’t get. You mention suicide. I point out the doctor whose assertion about suicide has received a ton of media attention now says his remarks have been misinterpreted. That’s not a fact because Buzzfeed?
Look, you don’t like the economy right now. I get it. I’m concerned, too. Pretending that a majority of folks aren’t comfortable with with 100K dead and over a million infected in a few short months and that the unemployment rate is purely the result of government lockdown orders isn’t data driven. It’s the same emotional reaction you accuse those you disagree with of having.
Like it or not, there’s a lot of risk out there. And there’s been a massive failure to prepare for and ameliorate that risk. We’re all struggling with the consequences of that every day. The idea that you’ve got the real statistics on your side… well, I’m sure you believe that. I’m a lot more skeptical.
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Here’s the thing. I agree there is risk. No doubt. I never said there wasn’t. People should take personal responsibility. Its the challenge of living in a free country. But decisions should be made on real data. They didn’t have it. We didn’t and still don’t thi sfar in! Why? The experts still don’t know exactly HOW and HOW MUCH it spreads and HOW MANY people had have it. These leaders are fumbling in the dark and that includes Trump. I do have statistics on my side because they are real. Death rate is below 1%. Half the deaths are in one area of the US. The age demographics of deaths are overwhelmingly NOT in the work force and have significant pre existing conditions. Tell me where this supported a national 60+ day lock down and 40 million unemployed and where this precedent has been set before? Its just not supported in ANY way other than the typical “you don’t care people are dying!” as if it was a real choice. You can’t prevent the flu. You can’t prevent lots of deaths and causes. We needed a much more strategic and targeted approach and certainly many areas needed the lock down for a brief time and in hot areas maybe longer but the media and the freaking election have driven this narrative and its completely unjustified. 7800 people die every day in the US. Tragic, but life has to continue.
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I agree! What real data are schools giving to football players? I hear a lot about hope and optimism, but not so much about actual risk these kids (and their families) are being asked to shoulder.
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How many kids below 22 die from the flu each year? How many from drug overdoses? How many in that same demographic have died from Covid?
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C’mon, man, are you really going to rehash the lame car accident argument?
Big of you to accept the risk for college athletes.
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As I said earlier I don’t get you. Where did I mention car accidents? Car accidents have nothing to do with 40 million unemployed. I simply stated give them the data. Show them the thousands, I mean hundreds…I mean a couple in their age category who have died from this illness. Show them the same information on drugs and the flu. Show their parents. I don’t accept the risk for them. They accept the risk or they can freely decide to not play and let them retain their scholarship.
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It’s a metaphor for equating the risk of a pandemic to the risk of something behavior driven that causes a number of deaths.
As to the rest of your comment, the schools aren’t doing that, so why should players and their families accept the risk? Because athletic departments want to get paid and we want to be entertained doesn’t seem like a sufficient justification.
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Families don’t have the accept the risk. Don’t play then. Let them keep their scholarship. Senator is all about the innocent kids and their families and mentions nothing about the economic fallout. Its not about me being entertained. Its not about McGarity sitting in his huge beach house. That happens regardless. But tell that to the millions of university employees and secondary industries that will be unemployed as a result of no play. Tell that to the non revenue athletes that will lose their sports and scholarships as a result. Then show them the data of the risk (death rate, demographics) and support your case. Let them freely make their decision.
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This is, sorry to say, so much bullshit.
There isn’t a school offering those kids the choice you suggest.
I have mentioned the economic fallout more than once here.
It is about us being entertained, don’t kid yourself. Our wallets are what ultimately drive the college sports machine.
Football players aren’t fairly compensated for what they bring to the table already — why is it their responsibility to support non-revenue sports? — and now you want to lay the burden of school employees and local businesses on them, too?
Nobody is showing them the data of the risk. Saying “let them freely make their decision” is a meaningless declaration.
I read crap like this and I find myself wishing every last football player would go on strike. I have a feeling you’d be singing a different tune.
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This is, sorry to say, so much bullshit.–There it is…emotional attack.
There isn’t a school offering those kids the choice you suggest.–That is why I made a suggestion. I agree no player should HAVE to play.
I have mentioned the economic fallout more than once here.–My apology I meant the media narrative as it relates to those who don;t support the way it has been handled. And I meant in this article as it relates to the big risk to players.
It is about us being entertained, don’t kid yourself. Our wallets are what ultimately drive the college sports machine.–So the national lockdown or the argument against was simply because I want to be entertained. That is absurd. I agree that is where the money comes from but money is jobs plain and simple. Support the risk argument with the data.
Football players aren’t fairly compensated for what they bring to the table already — why is it their responsibility to support non-revenue sports? — and now you want to lay the burden of school employees and local businesses on them, too?–I am not going to this again with you. We disagree. That is ok . You have the best blog and I am sure you are a good dude and a loyal Dawg for sure. I agree with you on most other areas. . We disagree on how to measure and distribute the compensation. Moving on.
Nobody is showing them the data of the risk. Saying “let them freely make their decision” is a meaningless declaration.–Are parents not capable of making that determination? If my kid played college football I would do the same and ultimately I would look at the overwhelming data and realize he would not be at all at risk of dying any more than so many other causes and I would let him play and expect him to protect himself and if he gets sick he gets sick and isolates himself, just like other illnesses
I read crap like this and I find myself wishing every last football player would go on strike. I have a feeling you’d be singing a different tune. –Sorry you feel that way but I respect your position and motives. We live in a free country nobody but the kid and their parents make the decision to play or not and they are offered a lot for playing a sport. And yes thay can be offered more for their names and likenesses.
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Again, you are correlating the unemployment and economic damage directly to the lock-downs. Certainly, the lock downs have had some effect, but the lock downs are not mutually exclusive to people taking personal responsibility. People taking personal responsibility, even absent any government-mandated measures, would still have caused a huge toll on the economy and led to layoffs. Sweden has been more open than its European neighbors, but it’s economic situation is pretty much the same (https://www.ft.com/content/93105160-dcb4-4721-9e58-a7b262cd4b6e).
I know the playbook, if 100% of the blame can’t be pinned on the government, blame the rest on the media. But without having the data to present the counter-factual, just imagine what people would be saying to each other, on social media, and in public demonstrations if a mystery disease was killing tens of thousands of people a month, overwhelming hospital systems, ravaging elder care facilities, putting entire churches and small towns into panic mode, and the media did nothing but say “carry on, just a weird flu season” and downplayed it. I have a feeling that conspiracy theories about about pizza parlor basements would be small potatoes comparatively.
How about we all just realize that this situation sucks, there are no easy answers, it’s hard for everyone – physically, mentally, emotionally and/or financially, and that making a scapegoat out of a president, political party, government in general, or the media doesn’t solve anything?
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So are you telling me that 40 million people would still be unemployed and GDP still in the tank had we not had lockdowns and just exercised personal responsibility? We’ve had less than 2,000 people die in Georgia a state of over 10 million. I never said we shouldn’t have had strategic lockdowns and taken every precaution and protect the at risk-especially the elderly. But the fact is the 330 million people in this country have a very low % are at risk to die. . But given the ongoing data, much lower death rate/morbidity a, demographics HEAVY in 3 categories….I do disagree a national 60+ day lockdown was necessary and I see very little evidence or precedent and very few media outlets or national leaders back up their stance and otherwise ignore what is happening globally and in this country as it relates to the unintended consequences that will occur as a result of the economic fallout.
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I’m not saying the economic numbers would be exactly the same. I’m saying that they would still suck. And that people would still be looking for a scapegoat whether it was 20M or 40M unemployed. Fact – sort of, but not really 🙂
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Bingo, Senator
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He did get one thing wrong. It’s a bad joke.
Which of his facts do you disagree with? The immediate FU tells me you don’t have much to argue with.
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When someone has no facts they resort to emotional outbursts and personal attacks.
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Here’s a fact. You’re being duplicitous. You don’t have any fact to back up your statement that the deaths in those states have anything to do with “Democratic control” or proof of any mismanagement that exceeds the general level of mismanagement of any government, regardless of party control. It’s a fundamental correlation vs. causation tactic being driven by politics, not facts. And you are all too willing to regurgitate BS.
If you take the same COVID-19 hot spots and compare them to a ranking of states and cities by population density, you start to see a much more predictable pattern that aligns with the spread of communicable diseases. Much more so than the percentage of Ds to Rs that make up their respective governments.
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Agreed. Blue states have the largest cities and highest density. They also have the worst deficits and as a result the health conditions are worse. But here’s an important fact. Why are so many people dying in the NE nursing homes and not as much in California, Florida or Georgia or TX? These people aren’t in the workforce. Why is Trump hammered for 100,000 deaths and Cuomo is lauded when he has a tremendous loss of life in his state and city?
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You’re on a roll.
Another faulty assumption that goes beyond correlation to full-on fabrication:
“They [blue states] also have the worst deficits and as a result the health conditions are worse.”
Except the healthiest people seem to disproportionately live in those pesky “blue” states: https://www.americashealthrankings.org/
And the best hospitals and helathcare systems are disproportionately in “blue” states as well: https://www.newsweek.com/best-hospitals-2019/united-states
I don’t blame you – you probably got your talking points from an email forwarded to you from your well-meaning father in law…
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Question: Which states have the highest deficits? Which states have the highest tax rates and govt assistance programs?
Question: Which states nursing homes have FAR higher % of Covid deaths?
I never said people are healthier in general in the red states. Obesity is a huge issue in the south. Tons of nursing homes in Florida. Why are the deaths so much lower?
Keep convincing yourself of your argument that is fine. I welcome other opinions.
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You keep moving the goalposts. I could answer all your questions but you would just change them again. I’m not the one clinging to a narrative, political or otherwise.
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And your 1st Q has nothing to do with COVID-19, while you’re 2nd doesn’t support your argument – a lot of “red” states in the top half:
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Seriously? LMAO. 1/3rd of all deaths are nursing home residents or workers?? So we shut down the entire country for 60 days?
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Compare the deaths in New York to Florida…similar populations, amirite?
Some #’s from Italy..
https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/05/27/italy-96-of-coronavirus-fatalities-had-other-chronic-illnesses/
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No, you’re not right. Not only is the population density ~15% higher in New York than Florida on a state level, you’re also not looking at metropolitan areas that are comparable. NYC metro is 19M people, compared to 5.5M Miami metro. Not to mention the warmer weather is a major help.
See: https://tallahasseereports.com/2020/03/31/florida-new-york-covid-19-deaths-take-a-different-path-but-why/
New York City, the current epicenter of the coronavirus, has an a population of approximately 9 million and a population density of 28,000 people per square mile.
The current hot spot in Florida is Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. These three counties have a combined population density of 1,155 people per square mile, approximately 4% of the population density of New York City.
But here is the stat that indicates that population density may be a factor in explaining the difference between New York and Florida.
The deaths per million of people in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade at Day 10 was 4.3. In New York City the deaths per million at Day 10 was 42.3 or 10 times higher than the three Florida counties.
In addition, the article indicates that another factoring impacting how the coronavirus spreads is weather. The report states that researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that “regions with average temperatures above 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit account for fewer than 6 percent of global cases so far.”
The average temperature in Florida is 71.8 and in New York the average temperature is 48.2.
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Exactly! Protect NY and the surrounding area, shut it down for a year if necessary. The conditions are different. Protect the hot spots. But shutting down GA (among many other states) for 2 months was not necessary given the data.
Question: What % of the total deaths nationwide were in the workforce?
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I agree, NYC was poorly mishandled by their elected Reps. No doubt.
Not sure why everyone thinks the rest of the nation needs to be treated like NYC and surrounding areas.
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“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down”
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Bullshit. We knew early on that seniors were highly vulnerable. Yet Cuomo issues an order to put covid infected seniors back into those senior living homes. Hospitals were not over run and they had a ship in the harbor that was barely used. How many seniors could have been saved had he not done that? Thousands. I believe that NJ & PA did the same. Even with the higher population densities, the numbers could have been much lower.
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You keep talking about deaths. The deaths are caused by the highly communicable nature of this novel virus.
The Rt is still above 1. Fact.
Lockdowns helped lower the Rt. Fact.
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Or not…….lockdowns would slow the flu. Lockdowns would prevent deaths in other categories. That’s not the point.
https://rt.live/
Demographics of the deaths are overwhelmingly concentrated to 3 categories. Highly dense cities. Elderly. Pre existing conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and respiratory issues. Fact.
Where does this support a national 60+ day lockdown?
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Fact. 43% of America is obese. So what’s your plan? Fatties, weaklings, geezers and city folk be damned? At least give it a catchy title like “The Darwinist Samaritan” I hope.
OK I got to get some stuff done, and I’m already way off into Playpen land. Best wishes.
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No they don’t “be damned” they should be protected. Strategic and targeted approach to lockdowns, etc….based on the demographics.
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I tend to agree with most of what you have been arguing here, but I would like to see more analysis (in general, not saying from you) about all these “pre-existing conditions.” A lot of so-called pre-existing conditions do affect large segments of the population that most of us would consider reasonably healthy, or at least not exactly on death’s doorstep even if everyone (themselves included) wish / hope / strive for better health.
Obesity, especially, can be a very vague term. Way more people are “obese” by medical terms, but the general public probably only thinks of the morbidly obese who struggle with basic motor skills. What do we know about those with “obesity” who have succumbed to the virus ? Were they just 25lbs overweight with a beer belly ?
Point being, it’s going to be a tricky post-analysis on pre-existing conditions because what do you say about the 70yr old with some fairly common health problems but who may have easily had a solid 15 more years of quality living, but-for getting Covid.
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Yes I would agree with you. I have a close friend who is a doctor. He says they face that often when patients have multiple conditions and ie. What did they die from, what was the cause of death? My main point is this? We didn’t need to restrict 330 million people at the level and length of time we did without having a LOT more data. And now that we do we realize for 99% of the population this is not a risk of death–CDC death rate. For those that have other health issues they comprise a large % of deaths. Age, health conditions and location. That didn’t warrant the economic devastation that has resulted (we still have NO idea what long term impact and consequences we will see) imo. We could have been much more strategic and approached this from a risk standpoint and in targeted areas have shutdowns and restrictions. But not the entire population and not for a death rate/% which affects almost nobody in the workforce (outside of the healthcare workers).
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100k deaths in 4 months that we know of is an hilarious joke for sure.
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LOL. There he goes, tried and true fallacious argument. I never said DEATHS were a joke. A lot more are going to die. What is your solution given the data?
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81,372 per latest CDC numbers. If your going to be a prick, at least use accurate numbers when doing so.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm
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You need to update your shit buddy.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
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I’m glad UGA is going above and beyond and frankly, Kirby and Co. should be selling the heck out of that on the recruiting trail. “We will take better care of your kids.”
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What they’re not doing is not spending money they’re not being forced to spend. I wish I believed Kirby and company will do a better job taking care of our team. But one test upon arrival on campus is just that. One test. One snapshot of one day. Plus, we haven’t heard anyone talking about what happens once someone turns up positive. Which they will. It may not be a player. But a coach, a support person, an athletics employee, someone is going to test positive at some point. Then what happens? If the team can’t practice and play for two weeks, is the season over for them? There are still far, far too many unanswered questions at this point. I don’t think schools or the NCAA can afford to say they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it. You have to make these decisions ahead of time.
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Here’s something all of us need to realize and tattoo it on our brain:
JUST BECAUSE IT’S NOT MANDATORY, DOESN’T MEAN THEY WON’T TEST.
Everyone and their cousin can go get tested right now, for free. Some of y’all on this blog love being FORCED to do crap. Give the people the right to choose.
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