Guess they are worried about losing their director of ops, charter flights, cross country games, recruiting vacations etc, all while losing 1 million per year.
There a bunch of coaches and staff that are not associated with football. Those are the ones I am concerned about.
That may still be up for discussion, and perhaps why the NCAA did nothing today. It turns out the NCAA does have the power to cancel conference tournaments, and may be using that to bring the P5’s closer to the majority of D1 by making the optics of football going it alone really bad, and they starting to have football players on their side. Looks like a risky path https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/power-five-ncaa-are-now-officially-adversaries-and-a-breakaway-may-only-be-a-matter-of-time/ Need more popcorn.
And for the anyone-with-half-a-brain-could-see-this-coming files: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/ne...ing-up-coronavirus-health-threats/5572625002/ "CSU football players and university athletic department staff say coaches have told players not to report COVID-19 symptoms, threatened players with reduced playing time if they quarantine and claim CSU is altering contact tracing reports to keep players practicing." I am sure that the extreme nature of these allegations is due to the money behind football, but surely every coach in every sport is facing the same pressure to play.
UConn is the first FBS team to cancel its football season. https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2020/...on-due-to-risks-associated-with-covid-19.aspx
Here's the thing no one is talking about. These kids are going to get it one way or another. From what I've seen, the programs are begging kids to follow protocol. Stay away from others, they are testing them, etc. Kids are ignoring protocol (as are MLB players etc) and going to parties etc. You can't protect these kids from being kids. They are not listening or acting in protocol manner. So do we want the athletes in a program with regular testing which will somewhat keep them safe *at least they'll know if exposed etc or do we want to cancel athletics and have it be a free for all *which is what it is going to be without supervision, Many schools which are fully online and who have closed dorms are seeing big increases in apt rentals close to campus. Kids and parents are thinking if I'm paying 50K in tuition why keep them at home. Have them be with other kids and experience some of the college life. And that means, no social distancing, parties etc etc. It is naive to think that the athletes who have already signed leases will go home and social distance if said athletic programs are canceled. They'll stay on campus, most likely get sick and recover and life will go on.
this is what I have observed also. Them getting sick and recovering isn’t the only issue. They will infect older faculty and staff who won’t recover so easily and are more at risk. Life will go on for them, but not necessarily those around them.
Now your talking sociology and some interesting points. Another point I've been discussing is when all the athletes get tested with 'negative' results so they are training and playing, they think every other athlete is 'clean' and so they interact and socialize and will party thinking everyone is safe in the athlete "bubble". So, when germs do get into the bubble, it spreads quickly, since athletic activity is inherently risky behavior. Not doing universal testing makes students behave like everyone has the virus, since anyone may have the virus, and they will be more disciplined and take mitigation measures more seriously. Like you can't trust anyone to not have it. Kind of a catch-22. The virus is pervasive enough that breaking campus bubbles of athletes, or student groups generally, will become pretty common and likely lead to the house of cards falling. I agree that keeping kids home rather than 'near campus' is certainly a lot safer. Some folks are stuck in private housing contracts and will move to their campus town to still take online classes. And that will soon be a problem as well. The article above about CSU football had another story about CSU fraternities. Will be more of that I'd bet.
But my point is that you are not going to change the behavior of the kids. The athletic departments are trying. "normal" students have no such people watching over them. I'm not minimizing what risks they are bringing to others, I'm stating what is happening and what is going to happen. The cat is out of the bag. We can't put this virus back in the bag. We are all getting either the virus or antibodies via a vaccination. This generation of kids has said they are done with social distancing. So the vulnerable population will have to self isolate. It sucks. It sucks for everyone but this is the reality of it. The virus is here. We can't run from Mother Nature. Personally I would rather my athlete be in a program with protocols and testing and hopefully a team abiding by the rules than have her be in the free for all that EVERY campus online or not will have this fall. I know parents who have paid for off campus apts at USC (in CA), Duke etc (all over the country) and their kids will be 100% online. Also, I'm not sure anyone can get out of leases they signed last year due to COVID. Yes, they can't evict you for non-payment but payments are not being waived, just deferred and yes, if you bail, it is absolutely going on your credit. Most parents I know are saying if I'm paying for it, my kid can live there.
I'm 99% sure that the kids are not getting COVID from soccer athletic activities..parties sometimes involve hooking up. Then roommate is positive, spreads to other roommate etc. Soccer is outside and generally the virus needs 15 minutes of prolonged close contact inside environment to spread unless someone gets a high viral level from a sneeze, cough etc.... Per my doctor friends, we were not getting it at groceries etc. And the data supports that theory quite well. Once bars closed in most of the states with high spike this summer, the levels started dropping about two weeks later... It's the living with others, the parties and the hooking up that's going to drive the spread on campuses.
Agreed above as a lot of the parties that have caused outbreaks at Rutgers football/MSU football etc seem to have been athlete parties. We are not doing a good job in educating the kids that your negative test was a negative point in time. It does nothing to protect you and if you go to a party that has kids who haven't been following protocol even if you have been, now you have potential exposure and you've broken protocol. They don't get it. It just takes one person who is dating a non-athlete or one non-athlete roommate to bring the whole thing crashing down,
I see huge spikes around every single college town in the US this fall as the kids go back to school. Yes, many will stay at home but there will be enough there to spread this disease widely. And we can't as a country police adults living in apartments on their own. We can't lock them inside. We can expect masks etc and limit parties (via noise complaints) but there is no way to stop kids from gathering together and hanging out. If colleges would open dorms and have in person classes we actually could police the kids. Widespread testing, contact tracing etc. The kids would absolutely agree to stay on campus and go to class but we've decided it's too "risky" (read liability for the universities) and most won't do it. All the online only schools will see huge spikes as the kids are still attending USC, UCLA, CAL etc etc virtually from their off campus apts...
Looks like the NCAA just decided to let the Divisions decide on Championships but ALSO that those Resocialization Guidelines just became Required for all Fall athletes at NCAA schools. That pretty much takes out any remaining D3s and likely D2s and some of the smaller D1s who do not have the resources, or perhaps the ability, to do weekly testing with a 72 hour turnaround. So, now the only schools that can play are the ones with the resources to meet that testing standard. (until outbreaks or specific infections shut them down) Many schools realized these guidelines where going to become very real expectations but some smaller schools with cash problems were not going to test every week. https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/co.../2020-21BOG_RequirementsFallChampionships.pdf
You're right - the kids don't get it (understand). Many adults and parents of those kids don't get it either. If the parents don't get I don't expect the kids to get it either. Parents also set an example for the kids even if their kids are adults in college or in their 20s. If parents thought the virus was a hoax, the kids will as well. Additionally, and I hate to bring politics into this because this should not be a politicized issue, the president was not serious enough about all of it either. If he wasn't serious about it and thought it was a hoax than his fervent fans are going to think the same. I was going in to a store a few days ago and there was a man & woman around my age that were walking out of the store, without masks on, laughing "Oooohhhh.....the scary virus....we're all going to die!" I assume that someone in the store just told them to mask up or leave. I felt like clocking the guy. Even in areas where it is stated that masks are required I see people without them on. I just assume that those people are idiots, selfish, and just don't give a fuk. Things would look very different today if this virus was taken more seriously in the early spring. Masks, diligent hand washing, keeping a safe distance, not gathering in large groups at social events, restaurants, and bars, etc. I'm amazed that people are still going out to bars and restaurants. We've been invited to numerous graduation parties lately by families that have put them off until now. We find ways to politely decline and thankfully we have had other things going on so we did not need to lie about why we couldn't attend. It's mind-boggling that people are having these gatherings. If all of the "safety" measures had been followed, I firmly believe that we would not be having these discussions about what kind of season there would be for sports and if kids would be attending classes in person. There would be sports and kids would be in school. The economy wouldn't have needed to shut down as long as it did either. It still doesn't need to in order to get this under control. People just need too be smart. Knowing what I know about human nature and knowing that most people have no self-discipline to control themselves and delay gratification, I don't see any of that happening.
That sounds crazy to me. My DD's classes are all online, and the day the season is cancelled she will be flying home. Her request and I agree with it. I'll eat her lease for the time being and there is no valid reason for her to be in an apartment just for kicks at this point. Granted she is very focused and "partying" isn't high on her priority list. I would suggest some parental "guidance" rather than throwing your hands up saying, "Do whatever you want princess."
I know of maybe one family whose daughter is coming home to online school. The rest of the kids are going to be off campus in the various college towns or starting school on campus for however long that lasts. One friend who has a freshman, which I was personally shocked about but his school USC said they couldn't defer and if they wanted to come back next year he would have to reapply. It's tough to get in at USC. Dorm was cancelled and parents thought well if we have to pay 50K plus in tuition and he wants to try and experience college then we will allow him to do so. Now with that said, had USC allowed him to defer he wouldn't have made this choice....Berkeley just made their learning online a day or two ago after all fees etc became non refundable. Either the schools want to keep kids safe or they want to stay afloat. I think the reality lies between both of those. They know that kids will be close to campus. Closing dorms and making classes online removes their liability,...it doesn't go to keeping kids "safe" whatever that means. And if we are talking politics and keeping people safe why are we still allowing massive crowds of people protesting. Either it is safe to be in a crowd or it isn't. The whole politicizing of everything has been awful and both sides are guilty of using the virus to their own ends.
Eddie K, thanks for posting the announcement. So if on August 21, 50% of eligible Division teams cancel their fall season then the fall championship gets moved to the spring. Right now that number is around 25%, so about half way there. Would expect more schools to be added to the cancellation list once they see the costs needed to do what the NCAA is asking. Was really hoping the NCAA would have some balls and would have made an announcement yesterday or today to just bag the season as there's no safe way to make it happen this fall. They just keep pushing this off to the schools and conference and this bottom-to-top leadership style isn't working. Mark Emmert sucks at this leadership thing.
I guess I'm coming from the perspective of my Daughter's school. All classes are online for Fall and the campus is closed. So basically she's there for soccer only. Once that's done there is no point to hang out. Rather have her home with her trainer.
I actually know students, who are not athletes, who are doing exactly what you have indicated -- renting apartments near campuses, with school friends.
According to the release: Regarding the status of other fall sports, UConn will continue to work with the BIG EAST to chart the best path forward.
Actually, we can, as it was done in some countries in Europe -- policed and enforced. The question is not one of ability, it is one of willingness. We need to be clear about that.
She may not be playing soccer at college again depending on what level she is playing at. We will be seeing some cuts to sports, scholarships etc in the 2021-22 academic year.
It’s just as much the P5’s fault as Emert’s. the P5’s are the ones pushing hard to have a season so they can have the tv money to pay for the yachts and charter flights. They are even threatening ( or using the issue as an excuse ) to break away from the NCAA entirely if conference championships are cancelled. P5 AD’s are on record they will hold their own. Come Spring the shoe will be on the other foot with March Madness where something like 80%+ of the NCAA budget is paid for.