Covid-19 and College Athletics

[goon]

Yes I think so. I had a hard time in statistics and was an econ major. Some of that theoretical stuff never made any sense to me. Your sampling in general would fit. As always there are exceptions. Don't ask me about the 95% confidence level. I am done here.

You two need to take an epidemiology class. I truly enjoyed it. Its about the only math that made sense to me.

[Nidaros]

You two need to take an epidemiology class. I truly enjoyed it. Its about the only math that made sense to me.

Such big words, its been many decades since I was in a college class.

Here is the definition:https://www.bing.com/search?q=epidem...c60ee20313098d

On second thought maybe not. So many courses that I had in the mid 1960 have branched off such as statistics which apparently this course is an example. I just hate the thought of going back to age 18 and starting over.

[NebraskaJack]

I was listening to sports talk radio in Omaha last week. Obviously there is some concern playing smaller Universities that aren't doing the testing. I am not sure how accurate this information is but they stated that the process of testing the Husker football team three times a week over the course of a season will cost UNL $250,000. They understood why smaller schools don't have that in their budget. Just found it interesting, explains why we wouldn't be doing testing if true.

[Nidaros]

I am watching MSNBC this morning. The Dallas School Superintendant was on. Among other things asked was if Friday Night Football would occur. His reply, very short and to the point. No football this year because it’s a contact sport. I suspect colleges, including SDSU are looking at it from this angle. What if the Butler QB is asystematic and tested negative prior to the Sept 5th game but later tested positive and 20! Or so of our defense are hospitalized with the virus. Not good and if the crop insurance guy who sits next to me shows up at kickoff, full of tailgating and virus, then you won’t have to read my stupid posts as I will be reduced to ashes and resting in the West Sinai Cemetery. Calling off the entire season will not be a problem for me.

[Southeast]

Just yesterday both Ohio St and U. North Carolina shut down voluntary workouts because they had a pile of positive tests. Ohio St wouldn't release the number but it was enough to stop all sports. UNC had 37 positive tests just on their football team. How is this going to get cleaned up in time to start real practices? If the season actually starts will all the teams be able to afford the non-stop testing?

Maybe they'll manage to somehow give it a try, but right now I've moved on from worrying about football to basketball.

[sdsurulz08]

Just yesterday both Ohio St and U. North Carolina shut down voluntary workouts because they had a pile of positive tests. Ohio St wouldn't release the number but it was enough to stop all sports. UNC had 37 positive tests just on their football team. How is this going to get cleaned up in time to start real practices? If the season actually starts will all the teams be able to afford the non-stop testing?

Maybe they'll manage to somehow give it a try, but right now I've moved on from worrying about football to basketball.

Yeah, good points not looking good for sports this fall. Any testing results on SDSU student-athletes yet?

[Nidaros]

Yeah, good points not looking good for sports this fall. Any testing results on SDSU student-athletes yet?

We do have some real concerns. Nothing reported at SDSU that I have heard.

[GopherHole]

It's not collegiate, but Nebraska is having their Shrine Bowl football game this Saturday. There's been plenty of discussion in the Husker state that this will be a litmus test for high school sports, like football this fall. While they've done some adjustments to try to protect the players, social distancing is in the eye of the beholder. The two rosters are made up of 90 players and this is believed to be the first organized football game to be held in the US since the pandemic broke out. They've been doing daily temperature checks, including before players arrived in Kearney.

Mark Macke, coach of the North team touched on the efforts to keep the players safe.

“We’re doing the best we can. We’re trying to keep our masks on as much as possible, especially when we’re indoors,” Macke said. “Trying to do as much social distancing as we can inside but you know when you’re out on the football field. You cross the line it ends there.” (KSNB News - Hastings, NE)

They are allowing fans at the game, but are limiting attendance to 75% of capacity. It's a nice DII football facility with regular seating capacity of 5,250 people. I've been at the event before and based on previous attendance they won't be turning fans away. They've taped off some of the seats to keep spacing between fans. Not sure how they're doing that as they are all bleacher seats. I haven't decided if I'm going to the game or not.

It will be interesting to see in a couple of weeks to see if there are any reported Covid cases attributed from this event. I'm not sure how they're handling the players visits with kids in Shriner hospitals. They've done that in the past, but I don't see how they're allowed into a hospital environment.

[GopherHole]

I forgot to mention that some future Jackrabbits will be playing.

LB - Caleb Francl, Grand Island
CB - Dalys Beanum, Millard West
CB - Abe Hoskins III, Omaha Central

Omaha World Herald had reported that 22 players chose not to participate to prepare for their college careers. I suspect that's why the following chose not to participate.

WR/CB - Isaac Appleget, Lincoln SE
WR/S - Nate Sullivan Jr., Bellevue West
TE - Wyatt Seagren, Oakland

[Southeast]

The last few days feels like a slow motion version of the three days after the Summit League Basketball tournament. The announcements just kept coming. I'm guessing soon the football discussion will soon shift from "will there be a season?" to "which seniors or early draft guys are going to stick around for 2021?". Some interesting questions there - especially for guys like Cade Johnson.

[jakejc795]

We do have some real concerns. Nothing reported at SDSU that I have heard.

Unless things have changed, the Jacks aren't testing, according to Justin Sell.

[filbert]

The fatality rate for COVID-19 in the age group of college students/athletes is not much different than the fatality rate of the same age group for influenza.



These decisions are being driven by panic and by PR concerns.

[jakejc795]

The fatality rate for COVID-19 in the age group of college students/athletes is not much different than the fatality rate of the same age group for influenza.



These decisions are being driven by panic and by PR concerns.

Sure, one could limit the comparison to mortality rates, but that ignores integral factors, such as considerable difference in transmissibility (particularly propensity for superspreading events).

Setting aside the "panic" you mention, there are ethical complications ranging from access to tests to implications of thousands of fans commuting to and from games amid a pandemic (assuming fans can attend), but even at the most basic level, Covid has a greater potential to skew competitive balance given aforementioned risk of infection, notwithstanding any fatalities.

I want to see the Jacks in person this season, but I guarantee folks in Brookings and elsewhere aren't limiting their consideration of this to COVID mortality rates, and one could argue that if the standard for liability protections mentioned in the InsideHigherEd article is "reasonable practices," then constraining examination to fatalities would represent an unreasonable limitation.

[bigticket1]

Just saw a tweet from Jeff Goodman, a national college basketball analyst, who was told by a mid-major coach that his administration informed him that his team would not be allowed to do any airplane travel during the upcoming season.

[jakejc795]

Just saw a tweet from Jeff Goodman, a national college basketball analyst, who was told by a mid-major coach that his administration informed him that his team would not be allowed to do any airplane travel during the upcoming season.

Interesting to compare how Patty Viverito's tone has evolved from late June through yesterday. She specifically mentioned yesterday having less optimism than two weeks ago.

She has been consistent in mentioning a "national testing standard," particularly once the season were to begin. Of course, costs associated with such a standard generally follow [with her again consistently estimating aggregate costs exceeding $300-400k (given current testing regimens, with hopes that adaptation can result in less expensive protocols)]