Pitino: May Madness

[brasssbonanzaa]

I don't think you understand how probabilities and expected value works.

I stopped reading here.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Not that it's any real surprise to anyone but the "student athlete" farce is going to be highlighted when all 'students' are sent home at Thanksgiving...with an exception made for 'student athletes' who will still be out there expected to make some money for the schools...

While very clearly a money making endeavor, sports will be a symbolic event to some level of normalcy. In my mind you either have the season as planned, or don't. Nothing significant will happen by delaying a month here or there. If you decide the risk outweighs the reward cancel the season...if not, play ball. People will be upset either way... unfortunately people will be upset and sick(er)/dead(er) with one of the options...

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Every sport is being played, I could care less if there are no fans. Not trying to be a jerk but I could care less about your son's law firm, everyone's life is more difficult right now but there's no reason sports can't be played...I think it's important they are played.

Exactly how much less could you care? Just trying to get accurate numbers here.

 

[BGesus4]

I stopped reading here.

Yeah, my point

 

[TXHuskyFan]

Not that it's any real surprise to anyone but the "student athlete" farce is going to be highlighted when all 'students' are sent home at Thanksgiving...with an exception made for 'student athletes' who will still be out there expected to make some money for the schools...

I said to a buddy last night, “these schools need to send all the students home so they stop infecting the athletes.”

 

[FriarJ]

If any of you think Rick Pitino would be advocating for this if his team was not on lockdown then I have a bridge in New Rochelle to sell you.

Cancel the season, or whatever but don’t you dare try to sell me it will be better in January. It won’t be.

 

[freescooter]

Hey guys,

I completely agree with "Little Ricky" (an old Long Island nickname for Pitino in the 60's because he always "brown-nosed" the coaches at camps):

The 2020-21 college basketball season needs to be postponed indefinitely.

COVID-19 is completely out of control, in the whole world. The coronavirus will tell us when we can return to our normal lives, not before. We don't call the shots this time - it does. And it doesn't give a hoot about college basketball or its fans. Basketball players just have too much prolonged direct contact to avoid getting the virus - all of them! We must protect the kids, from themselves - and their coaches.

We also must use simple common sense based on science & stay away from one another, even families, for a year. We can do it!

Basketball coaches cannot roll out the roundballs just yet. Postpone the college basketball season until science says it can resume!

Fatha Demo

I have to say this is NOT an outlandish plan by any means. Postpone the season until February when with luck we will have it at least partly under control. And begin rolling out a vaccine. Makes for a long winter but at least it will be a realatively safer one. And it might be possible to have a predictable schedule as well.

 

[freescooter]

A few kids? There's 4,500 D1 men's basketball players.

It's pretty simple, I don't think they should be forced to hurt their future earnings and not play because there's a virus that isn't deadly for them. They want to play, let them play.

You realize that there are kids majoring in the sciences who aren’t getting the lab time they need. And Med students who are having to watch stuff online that they would typically do in their labs. And high school and elementary school kids not getting to go to school in person. Forgive me if I don’t get all weepy over a couple of top players who might not get drafted as high yet have options to leave and play in other places if it is so important. Infections are skyrocketing. Deaths are following. Hospitals are being so badly overrun that people are dying of treatable disease because there is no room for them. And we are supposed to be all weepy because the college basketball season might get delayed a couple of months. Please.

 

[JohnFSilver]

It’s not the science, it’s the interpretation of the science by the “experts”. There are examples of differing interpretation from all over the world. Lots of flip flopping about what to do, like fish out of water, from the “experts”. Getting COVID is usually an annoyance for younger people. Let them play.

this makes no sense.

the concern isn’t young kids getting sick and dying. It is young people spreading the illness.

This is totally lost in almost every argument. Do young people have a moral responsibility not to infect those that are susceptible? I just had a friend, in good health, 51 year old women, in the icu fighting this. She is out and home and recovering.

there are people in that AD department that are over 50 that I care about.

the point is, there a lot of peole thet age who are otherwise healthy that can be in danger for whatever reason.

i am more concerned with the storrs campus day to day than the basketball team. I think they can isolate the team and should play. They can’t isolate students on campus. This is awful what is happening.

but, there comes a saturation level that you can’t play. We aren’t there in CT yet. But if this was North Dakota we would probably be with a stay at home order.

 

[Storrsbred]

this makes no sense.

the concern isn’t young kids getting sick and dying. It is young people spreading the illness.

This is totally lost in almost every argument. Do young people have a moral responsibility not to infect those that are susceptible? I just had a friend, in good health, 51 year old women, in the icu fighting this. She is out and home and recovering.

there are people in that AD department that are over 50 that I care about.

the point is, there a lot of peole thet age who are otherwise healthy that can be in danger for whatever reason.

i am more concerned with the storrs campus day to day than the basketball team. I think they can isolate the team and should play. They can’t isolate students on campus. This is awful what is happening.

but, there comes a saturation level that you can’t play. We aren’t there in CT yet. But if this was North Dakota we would probably be with a stay at home order.

As I said to @Hugo, use a little common sense. All these hundreds or thousands of people you are concerned are going to get the virus because UConn plays BB is nuts. Those people aren’t remotely going to be exposed to the UConn team, who are in a bubble. If you think them going to a game is risky, don’t go. These folks you are talking about may get the virus, but the chances are it will be from a cohort or friends. Trying to shut everything down will just prolong the problem.

 

[superjohn]

You realize that there are kids majoring in the sciences who aren’t getting the lab time they need. And Med students who are having to watch stuff online that they would typically do in their labs. And high school and elementary school kids not getting to go to school in person. Forgive me if I don’t get all weepy over a couple of top players who might not get drafted as high yet have options to leave and play in other places if it is so important. Infections are skyrocketing. Deaths are following. Hospitals are being so badly overrun that people are dying of treatable disease because there is no room for them. And we are supposed to be all weepy because the college basketball season might get delayed a couple of months. Please.

And what does that have to do with kids being allowed to play basketball. Them playing is going to overrun hospitals?

 

[UCDaveD]

Bring up COVID and all of the sudden all of the Tommy Tough Nuts come out.

 

[HuskyHawk]

There is a very, very low chance that playing college basketball will lead to any material increase in spread. The gyms are huge relative to the number of people in them. The air exchange rate is huge. Ventilation systems designed for thousands of people. We keep ignoring the science on how this spreads. And yes, a city law firm in an office building is far, far more risky. Office buildings are major sources of spread events.

Play the season. Giving people at home something to enjoy is important to avoiding fatigue that leads to risky behavior. Postponing is pointless. It assumes the conditions in the future will be different. That is unlikely. We already made that mistake. Haven’t we learned yet?

 

[JB75]

I mean by this point in the fall season, with much better COVID numbers throughout the country and especially here he was outright calling for the cancellation of the football season. I thought it was interesting to see him make many of the same points, but stop short of calling for the cancellation of the basketball seasons... seemed a bit inconsistent and certainly like he was trying to dodge the backlash (or the guarantee of being "wrong", since he knows there is zero appetite within the state/school to be out in front of calling for the cancellation of UConn hoops) he'd get for calling for a cancellation of a much more popular set of team's seasons.

I was thinking same thing. Mike Anthony has been pretty doomsday over the top about his views on the virus. He called for cancellation of college football but season almost 75% done and even tho this weekend was crazy with a lot of games cancelled- overall the season has been pretty. good God I hope we play. I don’t care if it’s not till March. We absolutely have to have a season. Worst case play from mid March till end of may

 

[huskymedic]

There is a very, very low chance that playing college basketball will lead to any material increase in spread. The gyms are huge relative to the number of people in them. The air exchange rate is huge. Ventilation systems designed for thousands of people. We keep ignoring the science on how this spreads. And yes, a city law firm in an office building is far, far more risky. Office buildings are major sources of spread events.

It would seemingly depend on depth of community spread and individual facility design and enforcement of best practices/lesson learned across the board (fully acknowledging that this was early into the current debacle):

UVM basketball game was a major spreading event, VTDigger survey finds

For the first time, Department of Health officials acknowledged that the game may have been a spreading event.

vtdigger.org

 

[superjohn]

It would seemingly depend on depth of community spread and individual facility design and enforcement of best practices/lesson learned across the board (fully acknowledging that this was early into the current debacle):

UVM basketball game was a major spreading event, VTDigger survey finds

For the first time, Department of Health officials acknowledged that the game may have been a spreading event.

vtdigger.org

That was 3,200 fans in a small gym filled to capacity with screaming fans. Entirely different than playing games in empty arenas.

 

[huskymedic]

That was 3,200 fans in a small gym filled to capacity with screaming fans. Entirely different than playing games in empty arenas.

Agree completely on lower potential risk on games in empty arenas. There are lessons learned/best practices out there for everything else (see Butler thread comments).

 

[Greathusky]

What is distressing about the article?

Th headline says it all:

Increasingly bleak outlook for 2020-21 college basketball season as virus rages on

 

[QDOG5]

If I do go to a game I promise not to scream.

 

[Palatine]

Th headline says it all:

Increasingly bleak outlook for 2020-21 college basketball season as virus rages on

We now have two vaccines that are over 90% effective. Pfizer (90%) and Moderna (94%).

Moderna's vaccine will begin to be administered in December. Country wide admistration will last through the Spring. So pushing the the tourney to May makes sense.

Play ball!!!!

 

[andy34]

We now have two vaccines that are over 90% effective. Pfizer (90%) and Moderna (94%).

Moderna's vaccine will begin to be administered in December. Country wide admistration will last through the Spring. So pushing the the tourney to May makes sense.

Play ball!!!!

I haven't read up on the Moderna news yet, but the recent announcement by Pfizer was a glorified press release. Test group less than 100 (about 90 people I believe). Not peer reviewed (yet). Hope it works, obviously!! And I hope we can figure out how to distribute widely a vaccine that needs to be kept at -70 degrees Celsius.

But we're not quite there yet.

 

[freescooter]

We now have two vaccines that are over 90% effective. Pfizer (90%) and Moderna (94%).

Moderna's vaccine will begin to be administered in December. Country wide admistration will last through the Spring. So pushing the the tourney to May makes sense.

Play ball!!!!

Wow. If even pal is on board just do it.

 

[Palatine]

Pfizer (90%) and Moderna (94%) .

I haven't read up on the Moderna news yet, but the recent announcement by Pfizer was a glorified press release. Test group less than 100 (about 90 people I believe). Not peer reviewed (yet). Hope it works, obviously!! And I hope we can figure out how to distribute widely a vaccine that needs to be kept at -70 degrees Celsius.

But we're not quite there yet.

Here's the news. Moderna's coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective, according to company data

 

[freescooter]

I haven't read up on the Moderna news yet, but the recent announcement by Pfizer was a glorified press release. Test group less than 100 (about 90 people I believe). Not peer reviewed (yet). Hope it works, obviously!! And I hope we can figure out how to distribute widely a vaccine that needs to be kept at -70 degrees Celsius.

But we're not quite there yet.

It is a first step in both cases.Beyond s first step really. It means that scientists have found approaches that seem to work but likely need to be refined somewhat in order to be truly available for general use. There is also the problem of distribution. And no doubt it will be a mess initially. As is typical of any major undertaking. Anyone remember when Krispy Kreme opened on the Berlin turnpike and caused traffic jams back to Windsor? LOL. Or the first emissions testing went into effect? Now does anyone even think about getting an emissions test? Those were localized. This involves distributing vaccine to 300 million people. After a few weeks it will be fine but in the initial phase there will be issues and no doubt internet rumors that some guy from Nebraska grew a mustache as a result and my friend’s uncle’s neighbor now has one leg the same length as the other because he got a vaccination. And that will eventually calm down too.

 

[Palatine]

It is a first step in both cases.Beyond s first step really. It means that scientists have found approaches that seem to work but likely need to be refined somewhat in order to be truly available for general use. There is also the problem of distribution. And no doubt it will be a mess initially. As is typical of any major undertaking. Anyone remember when Krispy Kreme opened on the Berlin turnpike and caused traffic jams back to Windsor? LOL. Or the first emissions testing went into effect? Now does anyone even think about getting an emissions test? Those were localized. This involves distributing vaccine to 300 million people. After a few weeks it will be fine but in the initial phase there will be issues and no doubt internet rumors that some guy from Nebraska grew a mustache as a result and my friend’s uncle’s neighbor now has one leg the same length as the other because he got a vaccination. And that will eventually calm down too.

Most of those questions have been answered.

Fauci says he expects the first Covid-19 vaccinations to begin "towards the latter part of December, rather than the early part of December."

Initially, there won't be enough vaccine for everyone. The highest priority groups, which include health care workers, the elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions, will get the vaccine first.

"I think that everybody else will start to get vaccinated towards the end of April," Fauci said. "And that will go into May, June, July. It will take a couple of months to do."

 

[Palatine]

The distribution by the CDC and sub-contractor McKesson started prep in July. This is an update from October. Remember, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy , so there should be hiccups and bugs to work out. But this has been in the works for a while.

DOD planning ‘every logistical detail’ of COVID vaccine distribution

The Defense Department, the biggest logistics organization in the world, is putting its expertise to work developing a strategic plan for efficiently delivering a COVID vaccine to every corner of the country.

www.freightwaves.com

 

[Penfield]

Some of you people are insane.

Regardless of who you think should be afraid of the virus or not, and what you think those people should do. The simple fact is that the schools are not going to let the games be played if the players are testing positive. Last time I checked it's kinda hard to run a league if games aren't happening.

 

[superjohn]

Some of you people are insane.

Regardless of who you think should be afraid of the virus or not, and what you think those people should do. The simple fact is that the schools are not going to let the games be played if the players are testing positive. Last time I checked it's kinda hard to run a league if games aren't happening.

Have you not turned on a TV? College football being played everywhere except for UConn despite tons of positive tests.

 

[Penfield]

Have you not turned on a TV? College football being played everywhere except for UConn despite tons of positive tests.

And every week more and more games are getting cancelled.

When Ohio State finishes the season 5-0 in games played do they still make the playoffs?

 

[superjohn]

And every week more and more games are getting cancelled.

When Ohio State finishes the season 5-0 in games played do they still make the playoffs?

Yes, Ohio State will make the playoffs.