Rick Pitino argues for May Madness.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...t-date-madness
As of today, I know 4 people personally that I'm close with that currently have COVID. (They are all spread out, not necessarily local.)
A month ago, I hadn't known anyone as of yet.
The numbers are increasing, and they won't be slowing down without some nearly impossible action on a national level.
I know many want the season to happen, but I think it's a pipe dream. I'm totally fine with both fans and athletes staying healthy if it means we have to miss more games.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Rick Pitino argues for May Madness.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...t-date-madness
I realize that I'm pointing out the obvious...but this week is shaping up to be pretty much just as bad as last week. 16 of 62 (over 25%) of the games have been canceled (so far), affecting every single FBS conference. Coach K says they should delay the basketball season for exactly this reason, yet games will almost certainly still start on Wednesday. What a mess.
This is the latest from duke.Children will not be included in the first phase of vaccine distribution because pediatric patients were not initially included in vaccine clinical trials. We need to wait until we have enough data to ensure safety and efficacy in children.
1200. DDMF.
Yep, that's really the only chance that athletes get vaccinated before children.
That said, athletes aren't going to get vaccinated by March. Not nearly enough vaccine doses will be available by then, and athletes are WAY down the list of folks to get vaccinated. It'll come down to when trials get conducted in kids as to when kids will be eligible for doses, but neither group is going to be in line to get doses by March.
Yikes - Bellarmine has cancelled/postponed its first three games due to Covid, which means their first game would be against us on 12/4
While listening to ECU's football game, I caught this news about The Gulf Coast Showcase.
https://www.tribstar.com/sports/loca...898043602.htmlIndiana State's men's basketball team has withdrawn from the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Multiple positive COVID-19 test results of individuals within the program brought about the decision, the school reported Saturday.
So what is "The Gulf Coast Showcase"? Here's an ironic description.
https://ecupirates.com/news/2020/11/...coast-showcase"We have built [the tournament] with the health and safety of our teams first and foremost in mind," said Brooks Downing, President of bdG Sports. "We have instituted a comprehensive safety plan with the focus on our three pillars of the host resort, game venue and ground transportation. Our partners at Hertz Arena, FGCU, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Naples Tours and Transportation, Summit One Source, which provides our testing, and Loop Insights, which provides contact tracing, have all bought in from day one how important it is that we do this right and, in a manner, which protects the players and coaches as best we can."
Indiana State was ECU's first opponent, and now even though they don't have any cases, ECU may not make the trip either.
It's all dominoes, and they are falling fast.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Florida State-Florida A&M women's basketball game canceled after A&M cancels season.
https://seminoles.com/florida-state-...ener-canceled/.
UConn women’s basketball pauses after positive COVID-19 test, first four games wiped out amid 14-day quarantine
https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...80164#nws=trueAs a result, all players, coaches, and other close-contact personnel will undergo a quarantine period of at least 14 days, the school said, meaning that the team will not compete in its first four previously scheduled games. Those games included two matchups in the Women’s Hall of Fame Challenge this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena, a Dec. 4 contest in Uncasville against No. 5 Louisville and the Huskies’ conference opener Dec. 6 at Seton Hall.
Ole Miss men's hoops joins the cancellation party.
https://www.si.com/college/olemiss/f...ames-cancelled
Over the summer, much of the country decided it was fine to normalize and creep along next to the volcano. This was most obvious in regards to southern/Texan football, where stadiums were half full of yahoos not wearing face masks, where even Notre Dame fans rushed the field after a game (tho it shouldn’t be forgotten that their own college president got COVID after attending a public party without a mask, which is simply shameful—I’m amazed he’s still employed).
In much of the country, for much of the past 9 months, it’s been acceptable to jam together in public spaces, to get drunk in crowds, to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday (!!!), to get in each others’ faces and shout freedom (I’m looking at you, Dems and Republicans, antifa, BLM, and supremacists), but i still think the decision to play football was the single most obvious symbol of a damaged American priority. Sure, most people were careful, and Duke itself has been especially competent, but it’s a bit like a vaccine: a little more than half doesn’t cut it, and now the entire country is paying the price.
We made choices, and many of those choices seemed to prioritize amusements over core businesses, health, and the education of children.
Further, while we Americans like to see ourselves as world leaders, we’ve done very little from a policy standpoint to help the rest of the world. Yep, Big Pharma has created vaccines, and Big Medicine is doing what it can, but the football decision, to my mind, is the most public aspect of a simply catastrophic public response to the virus.
The possibility of a full basketball season went out the window in July, when we agreed to play football and try to fake our way through a pandemic. Worse, of course, is the reality that many of us won’t be around to watch the 2022 season.
Last edited by johnb; 11-24-2020 at 08:49 AM.
Let's assume the vaccine gets wide distribution in ~April. That means a significant proportion of the population gets inoculated in May/June (first vaccine followed by second vaccine three weeks later). Until that time, as long as it's cold outside, players will continue to get COVID. It's an inevitability. And it doesn't matter how well Duke protects their players; it matters more that players of the opposing team are protected. And I doubt Duke, as an institution, trusts all the teams on their schedule. If one player or staff from the opposing team gets COVID after they play Duke, Duke will cancel games as a precaution.
This season is %$@#. No doubt about it. Without a bubble, the NCAA cannot control the spread.
The G-W game is the first domino. And it certainly won't be the last.
Postpone the season until March at the earliest. Get rid of all non-conference games. Have a tournament in June when inoculation is likely and the weather gets better.
What the NCAA is doing is irresponsible and futile.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
That's extremely well put. I was OK with trying to get college sports up and running, in a responsible fashion, a few months back. But the situation has changed DRAMATICALLY in just those few months, and the fact is the rates of infection and spread are way higher than they were when the plans for this season were put into motion. All the more frustrating is the fact that most people knew that this change could, and likely would, happen, but it appears the NCAA didn't take that into consideration in their planning and make any sort of contingency plan.
Delaying the season for a few months, until (hopefully) the community spread is diminished a bit and there's a clear timeline for vaccine distribution, makes all the sense in the world. It can't be good for these programs and these kids to be operating under a constant atmosphere of uncertainty. That said, this is the NCAA, so I have little hope for them acting rationally or in the best interests of anything besides their bottom dollar. Honestly, the fact that the NBA doesn't come back until late December is possibly a factor here too, with the NCAA wanting to seize the weekday sports airspace for at least a month.
The number one priority for Duke, and hopefully for all teams, should be keeping their athletes safe and healthy, no matter what that means for their schedules. I hope that's the mindset moving forward.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
I agree with you and FDD. I love Duke BB and watch every game possible but keeping the kids safe is the number one priority. My question is how does Coach K feel about the 2021 basketball season? I thought I read he's in favor of games being played. Does he think there's little risk in playing the games? I'm curious.
GoDuke!
This has also hit close to home for me in recent weeks. My next door neighbor of 30 years, a tough police officer, got COVID19 and was in ICU for six days. He continues to have lung problems but seems to be slowly improving.
Validation for my wife and me that our caution throughout this is warranted.