UConn President: Fall sports likely to be cancelled

[the Q]

Damn you UCTV

that seems kind of obvious since it’s the same situation where all spring sports were cancelled...

 

[the Q]

You've never seem a meet. There's more banging than a mosh pit, particularly once you get out of sight.

Even the start is a mosh pit.

 

[upstater]

The FDA said they are targeting March for a vaccine but it could be sooner. The billions poured into the effort are yielding good results apparently. If the idea is to undersell, we might have a vaccine by Christmas.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I understand wanting to be safe, but why make a call on sports beginning in September now? A LOT can happen and change in 5 months.

Please direct me to the part of that statement where anyone "made a call."

 

[selles]

Yea because being selfish and not caring about people's lives is the correct action.

A vaccine is the only answer and that's going to take a year.

It's not clear to me why worrying about the widespread socioeconomic impacts of long-term social distancing is "selfish". It strikes me as "rational". I can understand people disagreeing on how long and in what form social distancing ought to continue and I certainly don't have a clear answer in my own mind. But shutting off debate by accusing anyone raising the question of not caring about other peoples' lives is counter-productive.

It's also not clear that a vaccine is the only answer. The purpose of implementing social distancing measures was to "flatten the curve" - to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, not to directly protect each of our individual lives. As the curve flattens and more people develop some level of immunity, as our capacity to test, track and treat improves, and as the economic impact of distancing becomes more severe with time, it doesn't follow that everything must remain in place until there's a vaccine.

This whole situation is much more balancing test and nuance than bright line. August makes a good point above about the potential impact of filling arenas and that's a strong argument (at this point) for either playing in empty gyms or developing arena-specific social distancing measures. But by the same token, COVID is (again, at this point) a minimal risk to the lives of students and athletes and it seems ludicrous to me to concede in April that their lives should be put on hold yet again in the fall. Especially when we're certain to learn much more information over the next month or two about the true characteristics and saturation level of the disease.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Who would think a classroom full of undergrad aspiring journalists would get the facts wrong on an explosive story line?

(They didn't get the facts wrong)

 

[JimHurley]

There will be eventually.

But I think its going to be quite a while.

I just find it mind blowing that people are holding out hope for a hoops season.

The country is not waiting for a vaccine to begin returning to normal life. By then, 50 million people would be out of jobs and the vast majority of small businesses would permanently close.

 

[methodology]

It's not clear to me why worrying about the widespread socioeconomic impacts of long-term social distancing is "selfish". It strikes me as "rational". I can understand people disagreeing on how long and in what form social distancing ought to continue and I certainly don't have a clear answer in my own mind. But shutting off debate by accusing anyone raising the question of not caring about other peoples' lives is counter-productive.

It's also not clear that a vaccine is the only answer. The purpose of implementing social distancing measures was to "flatten the curve" - to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, not to directly protect each of our individual lives. As the curve flattens and more people develop some level of immunity, as our capacity to test, track and treat improves, and as the economic impact of distancing becomes more severe with time, it doesn't follow that everything must remain in place until there's a vaccine.

This whole situation is much more balancing test and nuance than bright line. August makes a good point above about the potential impact of filling arenas and that's a strong argument (at this point) for either playing in empty gyms or developing arena-specific social distancing measures. But by the same token, COVID is (again, at this point) a minimal risk to the lives of students and athletes and it seems ludicrous to me to concede in April that their lives should be put on hold yet again in the fall. Especially when we're certain to learn much more information over the next month or two about the true characteristics and saturation level of the disease.

It's not even debatable that it is 100% selfish for people to want sports to return when there is no vaccine.

Yes the socioeconomic issues are real but believe it or not most people I know are still working (either from home or going to actual work) and there are jobs available if someone wants to work but the problem is they don't want to put themselves in harm's way. So it's a catch 22. People are still allowed to go outside and live a somewhat normal life. Sorry mass gatherings for the sake of humanity should take precedent.

Hypothetical.. sports reopen I'm that jerkoff that goes and gets the virus. Half the people get the virus. You work with one of those people you contract the virus and pass it along to your kid who might not be lucky enough to overcome it. How does any of that benefit society as a whole. Rushing to reopen and have sports return before a vaccine is all do to selfish reasons because you want to go back to how things were. Rome wasn't built in a day. It's going to take time.

Last week on Jordan Belfort podcast he was very much in the thought this was all over blown and yadda yadda. He changed his tune when he said he heard from all his Chinese contacts in manufacturing that the actual number of deaths in China from this outbreak is closer to 500k. Who knows what the actual # is but this virus is going to continue to wreak havoc until there is a vaccine

 

[phillionaire]

The country is not waiting for a vaccine to begin returning to normal life. By then, 50 million people would be out of jobs and the vast majority of small businesses would permanently close.

If we had a functioning social safety net then that wouldn't be a problem, and people wouldn't have to choose between economic security and their health.

 

[August_West]

The country is not waiting for a vaccine to begin returning to normal life. By then, 50 million people would be out of jobs and the vast majority of small businesses would permanently close.

Read my post again,

we will incrementally return to normal life stuff as soon as this summer. Jobs, retail,restaraunts etc..... all open with social distancing practices observed. Because they will be able to be observed.

The last thing that will encompass is mass gatherings. Theres simply no way to do it. Just becuase you want it so won't make it so. As much as I love College Basketball and Live Music, you aint seeing either for a long time. "Events" are antithetical to social distancing. Impossible to observe. Sports and Music, two of my favorite things in the world are a fricking joke in the scheme of what is at stake. "Normal lifes" definition has changed. Embrace the horror.

 

[phillionaire]

Read my post again,

we will incrementally return to normal life stuff as soon as this summer. Jobs, retail,restaraunts etc..... all open with social distancing practices observed. Because they will be able to be observed.

The last thing that will encompass is mass gatherings. Theres simply no way to do it. Just becuase you want it so won't make it so. As much as I love College Basketball and Live Music, you aint seeing either for a long time. "Events" are antithetical to social distancing. Impossible to observe. Sports and Music, two of my favorite things in the world are a fricking joke in the scheme of what is at stake. "Normal lifes" definition has changed. Embrace the horror.

I'm super bummed Dead and Co cancelled their summer tour, but the last thing I want to see is Bobby catching COVID. Plus those concerts would be a hotbed for spreading, everyone sharing and smoking joints, coughing everywhere.

 

[August_West]

I'm super bummed Dead and Co cancelled their summer tour, but the last thing I want to see is Bobby catching COVID. Plus those concerts would be a hotbed for spreading, everyone sharing and smoking joints, coughing everywhere.

you ever get or hear of the wook flu?

 

[JimHurley]

If we had a functioning social safety net then that wouldn't be a problem, and people wouldn't have to choose between economic security and their health.

No country in the world can prepare a safety net for tens of millions of its citizens to be unemployed for several months on end. Let’s be realistic here. As of today, about 22 million Americans have lost their jobs due to the virus. You think we should have had a safety net in place to care for all these people? Not possible. The stimulus packages we’ve seen have already totaled more than the government brings in tax revenue for an entire year. It’s not possible to fully prepare for an event like this. You can be more or less prepared, but no government can be prepared for THIS.

Read my post again,

we will incrementally return to normal life stuff as soon as this summer. Jobs, retail,restaraunts etc..... all open with social distancing practices observed. Because they will be able to be observed.

The last thing that will encompass is mass gatherings. Theres simply no way to do it. Just becuase you want it so won't make it so. As much as I love College Basketball and Live Music, you aint seeing either for a long time. "Events" are antithetical to social distancing. Impossible to observe. Sports and Music, two of my favorite things in the world are a fricking joke in the scheme of what is at stake. "Normal lifes" definition has changed. Embrace the horror.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I think with social distancing we might see close to net zero new cases by the end of summer. Football I think we can count out for fans attending. Maybe the players can play in empty stadiums but no fans. But basketball is still almost 7 months away. That’s a lot of time. You never know.

 

[phillionaire]

No country in the world can prepare a safety net for tens of millions of its citizens to be unemployed for several months on end. Let’s be realistic here. As of today, about 22 million Americans have lost their jobs due to the virus. You think we should have had a safety net in place to care for all these people? Not possible. The stimulus packages we’ve seen have already totaled more than the government brings in tax revenue for an entire year. It’s not possible to fully prepare for an event like this. You can be more or less prepared, but no government can be prepared for THIS.



Sorry if I misunderstood. I think with social distancing we might see close to net zero new cases by the end of summer. Football I think we can count out for fans attending. Maybe the players can play in empty stadiums but no fans. But basketball is still almost 7 months away. That’s a lot of time. You never know.

Other developed countries have figured out a way to provide for their citizens without resorting to opening up during a pandemic, but go off king

 

[JimHurley]

Other developed countries have figured out a way to provide for their citizens without resorting to opening up during a pandemic, but go off king

Have figured out a way. They did not have a social safety net in place to get them through an event like this. Only people who have no clue how an economy works would say this. Also please don’t act like this country is doing nothing. The Fed has injected over 20% of annual GDP into the economy and the government is printing trillions of dollars for business loans and increased unemployment. If you do some research, you’ll realize the government is doing a lot to bridge the gap. Whether or not it’s enough is up for debate, but a lot is being done.

 

[navery12]

The country is not waiting for a vaccine to begin returning to normal life. By then, 50 million people would be out of jobs and the vast majority of small businesses would permanently close.

The country is obviously going to reopen so people can go back to work. College sports are far from essential to our country opening so I don't think it's crazy to think people go back to work AND sports are delayed

 

[JimHurley]

The country is obviously going to reopen so people can go back to work. College sports are far from essential to our country opening so I don't think it's crazy to think people go back to work AND sports are delayed

Agree. My main point being, November is a long ways away, and nobody can predict what will happen between now and then. If the situation isn’t under control by then, I’m all for cancelling or delaying sports. Safety first

 

[navery12]

Agree. My main point being, November is a long ways away, and nobody can predict what will happen between now and then. If the situation isn’t under control by then, I’m all for cancelling or delaying sports. Safety first

Yeah there's a little more time for basketball but the football decision is going to need to be made soon. @Storrs South made the point better than I ever could on page 2 (post 44) with the realistic timeline

 

[CL82]

Spoke with a contractor recently. He's worried about the restriction the state is placing on new work. Plus some of his workers have let him know that they will not be coming for the foreseeable future. He's starting to the see the handwriting on the wall regarding the viability of his business. Scary times.

 

[Scoe]

Not sure what “from a safe distance means” to be honest.

That shouldn’t be a problem for UConn’s defense.

 

[Storrs South]

Yeah there's a little more time for basketball but the football decision is going to need to be made soon. @Storrs South made the point better than I ever could on page 2 (post 44) with the realistic timeline

I'm strangely optimistic about basketball (probably just in denial). You could delay the start of the semester or not have kids on campus until second semester and just skip OOC games starting conference play New Year's Day. In that scenario, you wouldn't need to make a call on basketball for awhile. It sucks there is so much ambiguity. No one really knows at the end of the day.

 

[superjohn]

It's not clear to me why worrying about the widespread socioeconomic impacts of long-term social distancing is "selfish". It strikes me as "rational". I can understand people disagreeing on how long and in what form social distancing ought to continue and I certainly don't have a clear answer in my own mind. But shutting off debate by accusing anyone raising the question of not caring about other peoples' lives is counter-productive.

It's also not clear that a vaccine is the only answer. The purpose of implementing social distancing measures was to "flatten the curve" - to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, not to directly protect each of our individual lives. As the curve flattens and more people develop some level of immunity, as our capacity to test, track and treat improves, and as the economic impact of distancing becomes more severe with time, it doesn't follow that everything must remain in place until there's a vaccine.

This whole situation is much more balancing test and nuance than bright line. August makes a good point above about the potential impact of filling arenas and that's a strong argument (at this point) for either playing in empty gyms or developing arena-specific social distancing measures. But by the same token, COVID is (again, at this point) a minimal risk to the lives of students and athletes and it seems ludicrous to me to concede in April that their lives should be put on hold yet again in the fall. Especially when we're certain to learn much more information over the next month or two about the true characteristics and saturation level of the disease.

Amen, thank you for this. You get it. I'm not picking on Methodology's post as he may just be talking about we can't have crowds at games until a vaccine. I disagree with this but there are people on this board and all over tv media, print media, and social media saying we can't return to life until there's a vaccine and they are shutting down debate by calling people selfish for saying we can't continue on much longer like this.

This argument that a nuanced discussion about opening things back up means you're choosing money over lives drives me nuts. It's a non-starter, all it does is end debate. It's pretending that the economic strife that comes along with a very long lockdown doesn't also cost lives. It's pretending that many months of being locked down doesn't raise depression, alcoholism and drug use, domestic violence, suicides, poor kids (especially inner city black and brown) being left behind educationally etc. Poverty equals more death.

France and Italy are at 50% unemployment, the US lost something like 25 million jobs in a little over a month. To pretend the people who are talking about opening things back up are selfish is just so wrong.

 

[Peacefrog]

The country is obviously going to reopen so people can go back to work. College sports are far from essential to our country opening so I don't think it's crazy to think people go back to work AND sports are delayed

This is going to be interesting, no doubt. I heard this morning that the State of Georgia allowed tattoo parlors to reopen as they are now deemed essential. If getting some new ink is necessary I think you can make a case for just about anything.

 

[superjohn]

Spoke with a contractor recently. He's worried about the restriction the state is placing on new work. Plus some of his workers have let him know that they will not be coming for the foreseeable future. He's starting to the see the handwriting on the wall regarding the viability of his business. Scary times.

It's wrecking the restaurant and bar industry. My friends who who own bars/restaurants are getting no help from PPP and insurance.

 

[CL82]

It's wrecking the restaurant and bar industry. My friends who who own bars/restaurants are getting no help from PPP and insurance.

There are going to be a lot fewer smaller locally owned places and that's a shame, maybe not if you are in an area where the big chains are the dominant option, but here in the Northeast the smaller local place is our bread and butter.