Originally Posted by
CameronDuke
My take on the NCAA’s decision to make NCSU forfeit their game against Vanderbilt due to COVID issues within the team and thus eliminating them from the CWS and ending their season:
First, I am not pro vaccine or anti vaccine. I’m really apathetic towards the decision of getting one. I did get one personally (Pfizer) and I also had Covid in early March, 2021. I think it’s a personal choice to get a Covid vaccine, though, until more data can be collected on any potential side effects. I am empathetic towards some that are skeptical or frightened to get the vaccine. I also am thankful many are getting it so that life can “resume” in America.
With that said, I think this was 100% the wrong decision to make by the NCAA. First off, similar to the 2021 ACC Men’s Basketball tournament when Duke and UVa were eliminated from the tournament back in March due to COVID issues, this ruins the CWS from a fan and entertainment perspective. Entertainment is what the NCAA capitalizes on to make money off the teams and players and they just eliminated a team that was in the driver’s seat prior to Friday’s game vs Vanderbilt when they had to play the Commodores with only 13 players. To me, a full strength NCSU team was the clear front runner to win a national title before the COVID issues. Eliminating the favorite makes the rest of the tournament uninteresting to me. Whoever wins this “tournament” deserves an asterisk next to their “championship”.
Get vaccinated, don’t get vaccinated, I really don’t care but there doesn’t appear to be any imminent danger for the players from contracting COVID. These are young, seemingly healthy men. There have been 22,000ish fans coming out and packing the stadium in Omaha to watch the games. They’re not getting tested for COVID when they walk through the turnstiles to hand the ticket taker their tickets to gain access to the stadium. To buy tickets, I don’t think you have to certify that you have a COVID vaccine. How many fans haven’t gotten the vaccine out of those 22,000ish? How many would test positive for COVID? That’s an interesting question to me.
As a former college athlete, I can say with high confidence that these players (college kids) do things in their spare time that are a lot more detrimental to their health and have higher risks of death than dying from COVID. Drinking alcohol is bad for your health, driving all over the country on highways on the team bus to games carries a chance of death, and it’s probably higher or similar to the chance of dying from COVID for their age bracket. The NCAA was never worried about their health when forcing them to ride on long bus rides on dangerous highways prior to COVID, but now they’re the voice of reason to ensure player safety from a health perspective? That dog don’t hunt. Safety doesn’t have as much to do with this decision to me as much as it’s a power grab by the NCAA and the NCAA wanting people to have to do what they say. You have a full stadium of 22,000 people unmasked and no vetting process to determine who’s vaccinated or unvaccinated or testing process to see who’s COVID positive. Does the NCAA not care about fans dying from COVID that could potentially be contracted at one of their sanctioned sporting events? The NCAA continually proves how corrupt they are. You can play, you can’t, you can’t get paid, you must do this, you must do that. It’s becoming insane. The NCAA’s days are numbered.
I wonder how many executives of the NCAA that are making and implementing these decisions are former athletes themselves. The decisions that are being made lead me to believe that not a high percentage are former athletes. You can’t determine what’s the healthiest way to live for these kids that are out on the field battling in the “foxhole” if you’ve never been in the foxhole! Want to talk about potential adverse health effects? What’s going to potentially happen to 18-22 year old, impressionable young men who have worked their bodies and minds to the core and dedicated themselves whole heartedly towards a goal - approach the finish line of that goal - only to get the rug ripped out from underneath them? Think that may have a mental health impact on them? I know I’d be crushed. Depression would be inevitable. Think that may cause these kids anger, resentment, sadness, potentially causing them to spiral into a cycle of self-medicating through alcohol, or other substances? How healthy is that? Think those things are good things for these kids to feel or do? Can you blame them? The pinnacle of the overwhelming majority of the team’s careers was just cancelled. Some may likely never play a team sport at this level ever again. Talk about traumatizing.
Health and wellness of the student athletes? Will there be a follow-up or check in with these student athletes that just had their dream ripped from them? Can the NCAA check in with these student athletes should they survive testing positive for COVID in the next few years and see if they’re still crushed they didn’t get to compete for a national championship? Since the NCAA is so very concerned with health and safety, I think that’d be a good idea. Check in on the young men once they survive COVID and get a pulse of their mental health. I would think this moment that was stolen from them will impact them for the remainder of their lives. Maybe offer the kids free therapy or counseling if they’re struggling from this? We ought to since we value health and safety so much!
That’s the way I see it and that’s my take. I’d love to read others.