NYT: UConn Basketball Should Follow Football's Example and Shutdown

[ColchVEGAS]

As much as I want to watch UConn play this year and succeed the author is not wrong. Both football and basketball should have been shut down before it started.

The NCAA tourney was shut down and all sports stopped when rates were similar to what they are today. Very little has changed in this period of time, but here we are playing games this time around.

 

[bendm]

LOL. so it’s a mess. You can bet if fox wasn’t overpaying the season would have been cancelled already. And btw, Val Ackerman is not even on the same planet as the real conference commissioners. As the Swiffords and Delanys and retire and get replaced by bean counters she might be fine but she has limited strategic vision and it will show over the next 5 years.

LOL is right. i responded to your post criticizing the BE because "so many games have been canceled" and now you're criticizing the BE for not canceling games??? the only conference to cancel the season is the Ivy so why are you even singling out the BE? nvm i dont care. your "strategic vision" involves a bunch of directional community colleges that suck at everything scattered from coast to coast. F off already.

 

[Hi-Low]

Our football team loses lots of money, I assume that was a major factor in shutting the season down. We probably couldn't afford to test all those players & staff every few days. The pcr tests are about $200 each I believe so we're talking what $50K for twice a week tests ($500K for season)...major bucks for an indy program bleeding dollars. I'm guessing if the football program made money they would have played the season.

 

[Chin Diesel]

As much as I want to watch UConn play this year and succeed the author is not wrong. Both football and basketball should have been shut down before it started.

The NCAA tourney was shut down and all sports stopped when rates were similar to what they are today. Very little has changed in this period of time, but here we are playing games this time around.

You honestly believe little has changed in knowledge of the virus, how it spreads, treatments and now a vaccine?

Really?????

 

[ColchVEGAS]

With the vast amounts of knowledge and learning we have gathered over the past year one would think you would see some break...but alas here we are today with the same and more cases on a daily basis putting strain on the healthcare system. At least we have sports entertainment this time around.

It is either we have learned nothing and are still just throwing something at the wall to see what sticks and running with it...or there is a large group of the population that does not recognize the issue at hand which continues to put others at risk. Do I think the universities are doing everything that can to keep their athletes and students safe? Absolutely. Unfortunately there are many more variables at play that cannot all be controlled.

 

[superjohn]

As much as I want to watch UConn play this year and succeed the author is not wrong. Both football and basketball should have been shut down before it started.

The NCAA tourney was shut down and all sports stopped when rates were similar to what they are today. Very little has changed in this period of time, but here we are playing games this time around.

With the vast amounts of knowledge and learning we have gathered over the past year one would think you would see some break...but alas here we are today with the same and more cases on a daily basis putting strain on the healthcare system. At least we have sports entertainment this time around.

It is either we have learned nothing and are still just throwing something at the wall to see what sticks and running with it...or there is a large group of the population that does not recognize the issue at hand which continues to put others at risk. Do I think the universities are doing everything that can to keep their athletes and students safe? Absolutely. Unfortunately there are many more variables at play that cannot all be controlled.

We barely knew anything about the virus back then, we didn't even know if young players would be dropping dead if we let them play. D1 basketball players playing isn't stressing our healthcare system at all.

 

[HeGotGame]

On the football forum I lauded Edsall and how he handled the situation.

However you can’t compare a football team with no conference to a basketball team with a well-run conference.

The basketball team is a 1/10 of the size and they have the leadership of a great commissioner like Val to handle the work the AD doesn’t need to.

No, you just care more about watching the basketball team than the football team.

 

[HeGotGame]

As much as I want to watch UConn play this year and succeed the author is not wrong. Both football and basketball should have been shut down before it started.

The NCAA tourney was shut down and all sports stopped when rates were similar to what they are today. Very little has changed in this period of time, but here we are playing games this time around.

Very little has changed? Really? You sure about that?

 

[Chief00]

Hogwash n

Hogwash. If the conference is so good and all how come so many games have been cancelled. And the schedule is such a mess?

Agree, Val has done a poor job this season.

 

[Chief00]

Written by a NYT writer, reposted in HC:

Randy is correct this time, it’s all about the money. This buys him another $1 million year before he gets fired.

 

[huskyblooz]

As much as I want to watch UConn play this year and succeed the author is not wrong. Both football and basketball should have been shut down before it started.

The NCAA tourney was shut down and all sports stopped when rates were similar to what they are today. Very little has changed in this period of time, but here we are playing games this time around.

Have you been out of your house since March? If yes, then you're a hypocrite.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Have you been out of your house since March? If yes, then you're a hypocrite.

I have been out of my house since March to get essentials and bring my children to daycare. I can count on my hand how many times I have eaten inside a restaurant since they have opened. I now have two children, 2 years and 1 year old, and a wife who have tested positive for this virus after my children were exposed to another child at daycare that tested positive after the holidays.

My point is we as a family did everything we possibly could to stay safe but we are all at the liberty of each other. There was obviously another family at my daycare who felt differently during this time.

We have made leaps and bounds learning about this virus, but yet have been unable to slow it. We just had a player at Florida collapse on the floor and now they are saying the heart condition may have been caused by the virus. Not a definite but a maybe. While we have learned so much we still do not know much about long term effects or many other aspects of this virus. So yes, D1 athletes may not be filling up the hospital beds but American people are. Teams can control their players but they cannot control everything and that still leaves the opportunity for risk and loss for some family out there. If the NCAA decided it was too dangerous to play the tournament in 2020 due to infection rates and the infections are the same if not worse now, why play? $$$$$. Again I want to watch sports. I just think that the sports should have been put on hold until the vaccine was deployed and herd immunity was started, which by all accounts appears to be in process and back to the new normal in 2021.

 

[Offhegoes]

I agree w this article. I love uconn basketball, but sports should not be on the priority list right now. I know this isn’t the popular opinion, but if you spent time on a covid floor at a hospital you might understand. It’s hard to care about sports leaving work everyday.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

I have been out of my house since March to get essentials and bring my children to daycare. I can count on my hand how many times I have eaten inside a restaurant since they have opened. I now have two children, 2 years and 1 year old, and a wife who have tested positive for this virus after my children were exposed to another child at daycare that tested positive after the holidays.

My point is we as a family did everything we possibly could to stay safe but we are all at the liberty of each other. There was obviously another family at my daycare who felt differently during this time.

We have made leaps and bounds learning about this virus, but yet have been unable to slow it. We just had a player at Florida collapse on the floor and now they are saying the heart condition may have been caused by the virus. Not a definite but a maybe. While we have learned so much we still do not know much about long term effects or many other aspects of this virus. So yes, D1 athletes may not be filling up the hospital beds but American people are. Teams can control their players but they cannot control everything and that still leaves the opportunity for risk and loss for some family out there. If the NCAA decided it was too dangerous to play the tournament in 2020 due to infection rates and the infections are the same if not worse now, why play? $$$$$. Again I want to watch sports. I just think that the sports should have been put on hold until the vaccine was deployed and herd immunity was started, which by all accounts appears to be in process and back to the new normal in 2021.

I do wonder, how many of these athletes would be better off at home? When they’re in school, they get constant testing, stricter social distancing, and top of the line medical staffs.

The Florida player was a horrible incident, but if it is due to Covid, it’s one of only a few to happen so far, and probably as a result of Covid + another existing issue (though just a guess). Whichever the case, the players are choosing to play. They have the option to sit out, and were granted an extra season. Its not like they don’t have options.

It’s not the most ideal situation, but it’s the same outside of just sports too. Why are restaurants and malls open? Time is valuable and businesses can’t afford to keep playing the wait and see approach.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

I think the biggest problems are the lack of uniform approach as a country, and as much as we have learned we still just do not know. The honor code unfortunately s too many holes. I was all for a two week shut down at the beginning of this mess, but after the hit our economy has taken I do not think that is an option.

I do not know who has the answers or if there are, but we need to do better as a country.

 

[businesslawyer]

some of the writers seem to not understand how much dedication being a college athlete takes and how painful it is if that is ripped away from you. So many kids in high school with dreams to play their sport in college or whatever the next level is have already gotten their dreams shattered, depending on where they live and what sport they play...missing an entire year or most of it in stops and starts doesn’t make you better. It makes you worse can permanently stunt development and prevents kids from reaching goals they live for.

Please. There is no reason to think that everyone doesn't understand that. But leaders in government have to balance the sacrifices that various people are making versus the sacrifice of human life that every decision to allow human intereaction brings. Yes, it sucks for college athletes that lose a season. But if you don't think it sucks when people lose a parent or a grandparent or a friend because we didn't implement enough restrictions, I don't know what to tell you. and tha

 

[SubbaBub]

Clearly UConn is inconsistent on this and money is the driving force, but the article stresses that the decision was left to the players, so there is some cover here.