I’ve seen enough over the past four months not to be particularly outraged or even surprised by this Washington Post piece about a meeting this week between SEC football players, members of the conference’s medical advisory board and SEC officials, including Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Hell, the conference isn’t even trying to avoid saying the quiet part out loud.
MoMo Sanogo, a linebacker at the University of Mississippi, asked the officials on the call why his school planned to bring thousands of students to campus for fall classes. Sanogo said he has four classes per week, and he fears some of those classmates will go to bars and parties at night, then unknowingly infect football players during class.
The answer Sanogo received shed light on the pressure that university presidents, who rely on college football for prestige and revenue, face to reopen their campuses this fall, even as the pandemic surges. “It’s one of those things where if students don’t come back to campus, then the chances of having a football season are almost zero,” an official who did not identify himself said.
It really does mean more.
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UPDATE: Lots of words saying nothing.
Get The Picture 
Part of the problem is how cases are reported in the media. I have read three reports this morning of notable persons, local and national, that reported having Covid. The reports are simple and not hysterical. But the implication is that a positive test is a death sentence. If it’s in the media, it’s important. And if it’s important, then it affects me. And if it affects me, I should be concerned. And now being concerned, I have to act. And the only acceptable action is cower in the corner and view everyone with skepticism because they will infect me. That’s what this young man at Ole Miss is expressing, it seems to me.
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No, this is what he’s expressing:
These kids deserve more credit than you’re giving them.
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Why would a young, strong individual be concerned about Covid infection if he/she had been told that death was highly unlikely, absent of “at risk” indicators? It’s because there’s a possibility of dying, albeit a small one. How “small” is the point, isn’t it? When the implication is that a positive test is life changing, hell yes, I want some assurance. How life changing is a positive test result? That depends on one’s view of this pandemic and, by a wide margin, it’s not that life changing. And I stipulate that this is a terrible virus, etc.
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That’s a risk assessment that’s pertinent only to you.
Wide margins are reassuring until you’re the one caught outside them.
The schools aren’t providing all the answers, and how can they, since they don’t know themselves?
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Why is death the only triggering event for concern?
How about prolonged illness?
How about spreading it to a loved one?
Do you advise young folks to disregard wearing a condom because no one dies from herpes or gonorrhea? Hell, people live with AIDS now so why take any precautions?
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The Senator is scared enough for all of us…it is what it is.
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Dude, I’m not telling you or anybody else what to do.
If you want to brush off the players’ concerns — they do want to play, by the way — because you must be entertained, that’s on you, not me.
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It’s always helpful to dismiss realistic points by accusing the one making the point of preferring death for entertainment purposes. The very definition of good faith.
#ApocalypseNow
#ICareMoreThanYouDo
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If the shoe fits…
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Oh yeah. And if someone objects, you’re just a comedian. 😉
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No, man — that’s your gig. I wouldn’t dream of impinging upon the gifmaker.
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Dude, you’ve already used that shtick. Just own your fear and bad faith.
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Again, I’m not telling you or anyone else how to live their life. So spare me the bad faith BS.
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Bullshit. Referring to the “muh freedom” as the reason for not wearing a mask. Insisting that someone who recognizes the risk to healthy young people from Covid is zero just wants death in exchange for entertainment is bad faith.
That’s you. I’m not telling you not to be scared shitless. It’s fine. But have some intellectual honesty that when you’re admitting how little anyone knows about the virus, it’s just possible that the fear may be a little less warranted than is currently thought.
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You deliberately misstate my comments and accuse me of intellectual dishonesty? That’s rich.
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All is well:
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Honestly, I feel sorry for Cain.
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I misstated nothing. You accused the poster of wanting players to risk death for entertainment in this very thread. Again, own it.
If you don’t like me calling you out, ban me or stop practicing bad faith. Easy.
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I didn’t accuse him of wanting players to risk death. I accused him of disregarding the concerns they raised in the linked article.
But you feel free to call me out anytime.
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Typical Derek. It’s only the highest quality human being who celebrates death.
At least Cain was brown, eh Derek?
#Woke
#StayOnThePlantation
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Tfw when a Confederate apologist calls you racist:
Its a stupid people issue, not a race issue.
https://www.insider.com/ohio-man-veteran-died-coronavirus-mask-facebook-posts-2020-7
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Let me know if you ever read a history book beyond a sixth grade level. You will definitely gain some insight beyond bumper sticker history. But you’ve got to both read and understand high school level work.
#Goals
#DerekGotLeftBehind
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The players are in control…play or not…
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So that’s it, a take it or leave it binary choice? No room for negotiation or compromise?
Honestly, I don’t get some of you.
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I know it is the echo chamber but…. You have hit the nail on the head in frustration and it is an unfortunate truth these days. Binary positions are the norm. I’m not even talking compromise. I am talking 2 things that can be true. COVID is dangerous and the media has overblown the situation. Players can want to play and be worried about COVID.
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“Why would a young, strong individual be concerned about Covid infection if he/she had been told that death was highly unlikely, absent of “at risk” indicators?” you are citing old insights, shit is a lot more real for everyone than it was believed to be a month ago. Healthy people who showed no signs of infection have lasting health complications. Lifelong heart/lung damage is a very possible outcome. Kids over 10 contract and spread the disease as readily as adults. Read the article, nobody famous in it, just emerging insights on this virus.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/brain-fog-heart-damage-covid-19-s-lingering-problems-alarm-scientists
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The article is a nothing burger. We don’t know what the long term effects are. So they could be bad. One lady is still suffering several months later. Granted, most aren’t, but hey. Anything is possible.
The CDC warning of health consequences of not opening schools probably aren’t sciencing properly.
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Two weeks ago you and the like were on here questioning the narrative about the surge, masks, and the death rate. If infections were so high, why wasn’t the death rate up, remember? The narrative in the main stream media then was accurate, we are back to averaging over 1,000 daily deaths and masks are indeed our only proven hope at limiting spread. Your continued skepticism is shallow protection against reality.
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Right. Masks work great in Nebraska, but not in California. Curious.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/31/herd-immunity-long-term-solution-covid-19-has-become-taboo-says/
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I guess any admission to being wrong back then is a hill too far. I am genuinely curious though, you believe herd immunity is the answer? Have you attempted to infect yourself yet? We’ll need to average 300,000 infections daily in the US for AN ENTIRE YEAR according to the leading infectious disease experts, time’s a wasitin’….
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No expert has stated that every person must be infected to achieve herd immunity. That’s the kind of bullshit FUD that people who don’t know anything spew. Thanks for the example.
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Lulz. Imagine getting on Al Gore’s internet in 2020 and not knowing maths.
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Exactly. The data is out there. And if someone wants to remain ignorant, God bless. But to remain ignorant and then post with righteous indignation is just a bit too much.
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TF you talking about? 300,000 x 365 = 109 million, 1/3 the US population. 33% is below even the most optimistic herd immunity thresholds, it’s why no one is talking about herd immunity anymore. My righteous indignation is not sourced from my ignorance, it’s yours.
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Best explanation of why HI isn’t practical comes from, of all people, the governor of Mississippi.
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I saw that a week or two ago. Funny reading some of the follow-ups, a few just saw “Mississippi Governor”, assumed he was on the wrong side of the science and posted critically.
How great it would be if there was a WP AI fact-checker plugin for comments….
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“We know nothing, so lets do everything.”
Stupid McDumbfuck
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Just as cogent as ever, junior. D for content. A for how stunning and brave you still are. Precious.
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You’re making a lot of assumptions.
As a fan, and I would think more so as a player, its concerning wondering what happens to the season, to the team’s chances of a successful season, WHEN someone on the team (or the opposing team) tests positive?
If I was being asked to put in a substantial investment of time and effort into winning a championship and no one could answer:
What happens when the inevitable infection occurs?
I’d be concerned about more than just simply my own health/ life/death.
At this point no one has given us any framework for understanding what happens when that inevitable infection occurs.
If the answer is: “we shut it down” I would think practice is a waste of time because an infection is a certainty.
If the answer is: “we play on” I start wondering whether they are taking safety adequately under consideration.
If the answer is: a shrug of the shoulders, I have both concerns.
The truth is that these guys don’t know what they’re going to do WHEN someone tests positive and its an answer the players deserve to have a clear answer to.
The fact that the “freedom of the press” in that inconvenient founding document gives a player the information he needs to express those concerns may be unfortunate in your own mind, I think it gives all people the tools to have a chance to make an intelligent decisions, should they so choose to.
Or they could go the other way and call in death threats to covid care doctors because its all just a big hoax.
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/07/health/coronavirus-houston-hospital/index.html
I suppose if everyone were like the death threat callers we’d be playing Virginia on the 7th with a full capacity crowd. Can I suppose that such an anti-“the narrative” approach would be preferred by you?
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No, you can’t. And you’re making assumptions about my comment. Let’s agree that there is a narrative, correction, two narratives. Problem is, there is truth in both. We absolutely should lock it down for some period of time. And we absolutely cannot do that. Both are true. How do you reconcile that? Be careful or your narrative will show, leaving you open to scorn and ridicule.
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So the “its a hoax” side has a point? Good people call covid docs and threaten to kill them?
Whatever problems you may have with the media, the fact is that over 150k Americans have died over the past 4 months from this thing and we know that because of a free press. Doesn’t mean a “perfect” press.
Because people have at least some of the facts they ask questions. Its called citizenship.
And that’s a good thing.
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It’s a good thing, unless they question the narrative. As long as the elites can define the narrative and dictate the actions of others, we’re cool.
Good people don’t threaten doctors. Good people scream at folks who don’t wear masks. Or side good. Their side bad.
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An elite establishing the narrative:
https://apple.news/AjI5fNX81SNKUegq9OS_ejw
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We all know the masks work. I mean, they didn’t work on respiratory viruses until March. But now, the science is unimpeachable. Or something.
#SaintFauciHearOurPrayers
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You seem hung up on the masks. They protect other people if you have a respiratory virus. CDC has recommended if you have the flu, wear a mask for years. If you have the flu, in general you know it. If you have covid, you might not know it. Wear a mask.
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An elite establishing the narrative:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/20/politics/donald-trump-mask-tweet/index.html
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“It’s a hoax” is your label for the side you don’t agree with. Its absolutely true that we can’t close shop, including essential industries, to quarantine everyone for long enough to quell the virus. That’s far from, “it’s a hoax”. Covid is not a hoax or joke. But tell me, please, how we reconcile the two imperatives. Lockdown to save everything or remain an economy? Anything in between is where we are and we’re not getting anywhere.
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We are using the students so we can use you to make money.
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From just reading the article it seemed to be a very open and frank discussion. I think what Sankey said about having to live your life in this new environment that just involves higher risk was true. We are all doing that. I don’t know that there are any guarantees for any of us. No guarantees that this spring or next fall will be better. If I am Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields I just by pass this season and take my top 5 draft.
Give them all the information you can and let them make informed decisions about what they want to do. I think the level of testing and protection that these kids in the football/athletic program have will be superior to what the average student has. It’s their call. I will respect them either way. We are all making hard choices in our current environment.
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Sorry, but I think you’re missing the point.
The players are saying “if you want us back, it’s safer if you don’t let the general student population back”.
The SEC is saying “we have to let the student population back if we want football”.
I only see one group being asked to make a hard choice there.
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The SEC SCHOOLS want students back because the schools purpose is to educate students. All the employees earn a living if there are students. The students want to get an education. It’s not rocket science, assess the risk, mitigate the risk within reason and go forward. If a football player, student, teacher, coach or janitor decides the risk is to great stay home. The rest can sign a waiver and go forward. There are no penalties for students or student athletes to “opt-out” financially or academically.
All of that assumes the various government agencies don’t implement shelter in place orders again due to spikes.
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That’s your takeaway from “It’s one of those things where if students don’t come back to campus, then the chances of having a football season are almost zero”? Ho-kay.
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I am not flaming Senator but is the expectation “leave the students at home so we can play football?” Or create a bubble for the athletes that insulates them from the rest of the student population which is a potential solution that would create a logistical nightmare for many who are into their major courses. I don’t see how that can actually logistically be done. I respect this virus as much as anyone. Is the post about the one sentence “No students, no football”? They could be having a very similar conversation with the other 35,000 students who will be putting themselves at risk like my daughter who heads back in a few weeks.
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No, that’s not the expectation, at least not what I gather from the article.
The players aren’t arguing for an all or nothing false choice, which seems to be what many here are advocating.
The schools have put themselves in a box. Consider:
Unfortunately, the message being sent is that #s 1 and 4 are more important than 2 and 3.
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10-4. Thanks for the clarity. I didn’t initially get what the beef was.
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I think the point is that everything is wrong. If schools open normally, that’s wrong. If the schools open with precautions, that will also be wrong. If schools put players in prison, er bubbles, that’s wrong. If schools stay closed and cancel the season? You guessed it. Wrong.
Something something plans. Something something testing. We get to bitch about everything.
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My take is if it’s too dangerous for students as decided by local government authorities then how many players aren’t students? Otherwise let each kid make their own choice.
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People with zero symptoms, shut everything down….D,JD.
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How the fuck do you know what they have? You their doctor?
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Any articles out there re players with symptoms? In the hospital? Hell, even high fever…you know the media is searching, even hoping for such…show me…
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If it isn’t in the media, it doesn’t exist?
I thought the media was responsible for COVID fear porn.
I can’t keep up with the narrative.
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This one just popped:
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This god damn virus is going to be with us through the end of 2021 (next year)…. we either press forward with life (in this guys case his life is as a student-athlete, not an athlete in a bubble) or we continue to create our own prisons. It’s not some false choice either the longer this goes. We can’t pack away real life worth living for longer than a Class A misdemeanor.
Get a mask that works, with behind the head/neck straps so you can seal it, a polypropylene filter, and go live life. If you have to be indoors and need a breath, protocol should be to sit down when lowering your mask, stand up when putting it on.
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Big of you to speak for them.
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All you have is fear and derision, just like your favorite writer Dan Wolken. No solutions for you, just waiting for some Daddy to tell you it’s OK. You wouldn’t characterize it this way, but that’s exactly you’re doing with perpetual snark and no solutions. You think this thing is going to be better in Spring 2021 or even Fall 2021 ? It’s not.
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Surely there has to be something better than fuck it, kids, take a risk because we want football.
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Well, if masks are supposed to work (which i believe) then what i originally said mitigates the risk a lot. There are non N95 masks out there available to the public that can filter around 85% of the smallest corona size particles. Of course half the world are virtue signalers and think any old stupid cotton mask will work—it won’t.
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So, again, read what the players are saying — they’re following good protocols, but are worried their fellow students won’t. Why is it unreasonable for them to ask to be isolated if schools want them to play?
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That’s not at all a problem, fine by me…. other than the Wolkenites waiting to pounce for them not being student athletes. Maybe that ship has sailed… i guess i just don’t know why some of y’all who seem to hate every single god damn thing about college football and how it’s run spend so much time covering and thinking about it.
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“Y’all”? I’ve blogged for almost 14 years about something I hate?
Man, that’s dedication. 😉
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You gotta pay for the Cayman and that Bronco some way. 😉
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That’s why I haven’t quit my day job.
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Leave the Bronco out of it…
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I have no problem if the players want to play and want to be isolated. Isolation means no going downtown, no seeing your significant other, no seeing your family, no going to off-campus parties, take classes online, etc. Don’t force the other 35,000 people on campus to do the same thing.
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I agree.
But there’s no way the schools can reconcile that with their amateurism stance.
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I agree. I only read what the player from Ole Miss(?) said about his concern about being exposed to other students. I’m betting he doesn’t really want to be subject to the college/amateur version of isolation. Hell, the NBA guys were complaining about their accommodations in some of the swankiest resorts at Walt Disney World.
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We could largely stop the disease spread in its tracks without a vaccine or any new miracle cures. This could let us have a normal-ish football season starting in late September. But it won’t happen, because way too many selfish folks will complain about just the first few steps. https://coronavirus.medium.com/we-can-eliminate-covid-19-if-we-want-to-64abc91ccc1c
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So how did Sweden, who did none of that, beat the virus?
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Did you know literally half the households in Sweden are single-person? Clearly a good comparison to our dorms
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Interesting. Sweden still did none of the “necessary” steps to stop the virus. What they actually did was protect the weakest and then lived their lives. Since elderly people don’t usually live in college dorms, I think the colleges may be ahead of the game.
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Most of the countries in europe are now in freakout, second wave mode… not saying the article is wrong but the self-flagellation may be. Europe has been far from perfect in this.
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Only far better than us. But perfect should be the standard when comparing them to the American Clusterphuck anti-strategy.
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Except for the death rates of most western European countries, they’re totally beating us. In terms of how many restaurants they’ve shut down, it’s not even close.
#priorities
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EU 12 percent 2nd Q gdp retraction
USA 32 percent 2nd Q gdp retraction
Stupid McDumbfuck says: “winning!”
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That’s not at odds with the proposal at all. It’s not going to be totally wiped out, but if the state could go a week with no new cases? That’d be huge and allow for some 80% or more normalacy and make new cases less of a worry because it’d be easy to know who anyone had contact with.
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So since 15 days to flatten the curve worked so well, we’ll give it another 7?
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Only twenty times more Swedes died than Norwegians.
Stupid McDumbfuck says: “sweden wins!”
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Sweden avoided lockdowns and had similar results to countries that locked down. Now many of those countries are experiencing new waves of deaths. Sweden has burnout. At about a twentieth of the deaths the models predicted for not locking down. But middle schoolers don’t understand math like that. Numbers, percents, it’s all so confusing to children. Thank God Derek has TV to tell him what to think.
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Stupid McDumbfuck says “250 deaths is ‘similar’ to 5000 deaths.”
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This is your seemingly endless reminder to dispense with the personal insults.
It’s really getting tiresome.
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I think the pressure that “university presidents…face to reopen their campuses this fall” comes mainly from parents of regular students–who ain’t paying tuition, room-and-board, books etc–for their kids to take online classes only.
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It’s like you guys don’t want to believe them when they flat out admit what they’re doing.
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Was it meant to be taken literally or seriously? A joke perhaps?
Can’t ever tell these days it seems.
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Happy Saturday!
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Kirby should give them HCQ once a week.
VietNam, a country of almost 100,000,000 people that take HCQ once a week for malaria prevention reports only 3 deaths from Covid 19.
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Uh – no.
http://m.hanoitimes.vn/people-must-not-buy-malaria-drug-for-covid-19-cure-moh-311479.html
Google can be handy for verifying claims you read on FB.
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The indifference to the pandemic is exactly why things have gotten to where they are, and is by far the greatest threat to the season.
And when a team or teams turn into raging hotspots – which leadership is all but saying will happen, it’ll blow a giant hole in the season.
Hope isn’t a plan. The players have sense enough to understand this.
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Senator, you obviously have some strong opinions on this and I share some of them. You have a pretty good grasp of what is going on and why. Soooo… Do you have any thoughts on what would be a reasonable way to move forward, try to play football while providing an acceptable level of risk to the players?
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Contrary to what some people here think, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I think you have to start with isolating the players (something the schools aren’t going to do), test the shit out of them and make sure you have the same standards conference-wide, so they aren’t taking any additional risks when they step on the field against another team.
That’s probably just a good start. That being said, safe travel is going to be a real bitch.
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Yeah, the whole “players are students first” thing is really hard to get around. I’ll share an antidotal story about my experience. That means it doesn’t mean shit as far as scientific evidence goes. I’ve worked 5 – 7 days a week for the last 41/2 months . Less 4 days that I was furloughed in April. Everyday I have performed aerosolizing procedures, which are very high risk for transmitting the virus. I wear full PPE including N95 mask while doing the procedures. Otherwise I wear only a surgical mask. I come in close contact with dozens of people each day. Some are covid positive, some covid suspected, some are not tested or negative. I’m careful what I touch and constantly sanitize or wash my hands. I have not gone to a bar in 5 months. I have gone on vacation, flying 4 hours each way. Been to a few restaurants while on vacation. I haven’t contracted the virus yet. I feel if people would stay vigilant and do the right thing it would go a long way. Again all of this doesn’t mean shit from a scientific viewpoint and I might become infected tomorrow and be dead in a week. Who knows. Just saying my life hasn’t changed much since this shit started and I am constantly in high risk situations. Of course we are dealing with college kids who don’t listen to anybody. ( I have 3 myself ). Didn’t mean to ramble so long. I guess I’m saying it doesn’t have to be, but I think CFB is fucked this year.
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Holy cow. You stay safe, man.
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Thanks. Just want to say that I didn’t share all that to impress anyone. I was just trying to show that you can stay safe if you are careful and do the right thing. It’s interesting about testing the players constantly. I haven’t been tested yet. My hospital says only test if you are symptomatic. That’s not my opinion, it’s hospital policy arrived at by the ID experts.
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Interesting. But players probably won’t be wearing PPE gear as much as you do.
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Yeah, it would be hard to run with a N95 on.
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But I think there’s something to be said for PPE use, especially for road game travel.
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Just realized that the administrators are playing four-dimensional chess.
Step 1 – get all students back to campus to justify their tuition is a tease.
Step 2 – wait for the campus outbreak to happen (by Labor Day).
Step 3 – go to remote learning and send kids hime.
Step 4 – now you have the space necessary to bubble the football team.
Step 5 – profit.
School administrators are the ultimate grifters. This comes naturally to them.
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