Ivy League postpones all Fall sports

[Go4Broke]

The Ivy League Council of Presidents announced on Wednesday the conference will be postponing all fall sports for the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"With the safety and well-being of students as their highest priority, Ivy League institutions are implementing campus-wide policies including restrictions on student and staff travel, requirements for social distancing, limits on group gatherings, and regulations for visitors to campus," the group said in a statement. "As athletics is expected to operate consistent with campus policies, it will not be possible for Ivy League teams to participate in intercollegiate athletics competition prior to the end of the fall semester.”

The Ivy League Council of Presidents becomes the first Division I conference to postpone its fall sports, including college football and basketball until January 1. Division II’s Morehouse and other Division III schools have canceled their seasons completely. In March, the conference faced criticism for being the first to cancel its men and women’s basketball conference tournaments because of the concerns of Covid-19, but other major conferences shortly followed suit.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-07-08-20-intl/index.html

 

[Go4Broke]

U.S. Senator calls on college conferences to follow Ivy League in not having football this fall

In the wake of the Ivy League announcing Wednesday that fall sports will not be held during the upcoming semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on other college sports conferences to do the same.

“There's absolutely nothing different between the Ivy League and any division except for the money, to be very blunt,” Blumenthal told USA TODAY Sports. “It's about the money. And if the other schools fail to follow the Ivy League's lead, it will be only because of the money. And, in fact, it will be another misguided act in a long litany of putting school profits ahead of the people who play for them.”

He called the Ivy League’s decision “absolutely right on moral and health grounds.” He added that the Ivy League and other conferences are “all are dealing with the same health threats and the same age population and the same vulnerabilities when students play football and other sports that either involve contact or close proximity.”

Blumenthal and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., recently introduced a bill that would make it illegal for schools to obtain liability waivers from athletes regarding COVID-19. The move was in reaction to a number schools asking players to sign documents that are explicitly, or could be interpreted as, liability waivers before allowing them to join voluntary on-campus workouts. On Wednesday, Blumenthal called those waivers “an implicit recognition of the dangers (of) having those students come back.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ivy-leagues-lead-says-u-s-senator/5402884002/

 

[MplsGopher]

Make no mistake, this is definitely a bad sign.

I would not have thought it, until this week ... but it's looking like 50/50 if we get college athletics this fall semester, at all.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Quite!

-fiddles with monocle-

 

[Tommyboy]

The whole purpose of isolation was to allow hospitals to be prepared for the onslaught of sick patients, that has been achieved. The virus is not going anywhere, it is here for good. You can play hide and go seek all day, eventually you will get caught. 99% of the young people recover, it is the elderly or compromised, like every virus every year. There is going to be collateral damage no matter what, they will have to return sometime and the bug will be present until it moves through the whole population. It looks like the virus like any virus is still running its course, because of this acute situation, they probably will not move forward due to legal stuff. Thoughts anyone?

 

[MplsGopher]

The whole purpose of isolation was to allow hospitals to be prepared for the onslaught of sick patients, that has been achieved. The virus is not going anywhere, it is here for good. You can play hide and go seek all day, eventually you will get caught. 99% of the young people recover, it is the elderly or compromised, like every virus every year. There is going to be collateral damage no matter what, they will have to return sometime and the bug will be present until it moves through the whole population. It looks like the virus like any virus is still running its course, because of this acute situation, they probably will not move forward due to legal stuff. Thoughts anyone?

You're ignoring a vaccine possibly being ready by the end of this calendar year.

Let's give that a chance, before we declare defeat.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

The whole purpose of isolation was to allow hospitals to be prepared for the onslaught of sick patients, that has been achieved. The virus is not going anywhere, it is here for good. You can play hide and go seek all day, eventually you will get caught. 99% of the young people recover, it is the elderly or compromised, like every virus every year. There is going to be collateral damage no matter what, they will have to return sometime and the bug will be present until it moves through the whole population. It looks like the virus like any virus is still running its course, because of this acute situation, they probably will not move forward due to legal stuff. Thoughts anyone?

I think for most of us yeah.

I think it is possible for isolated groups like care facilities to hold out long enough... maybe.

 

[GringaGopher]

While the mortality rate is extremely low in young people it's not zero. In addition, it is way too early to know if there will be more long term complications. We will have to learn to live with this virus like we do with many others but there remains many unknowns for this pandemic. I think they either greatly restrict crowd sizes or move FB to the spring. There are multiple companies getting funding to find an effective vaccine.

 

[MplsGopher]

While the mortality rate is extremely low in young people it's not zero. In addition, it is way too early to know if there will be more long term complications. We will have to learn to live with this virus like we do with many others but there remains many unknowns for this pandemic. I think they either greatly restrict crowd sizes or move FB to the spring. There are multiple companies getting funding to find an effective vaccine.

I highly disagree with moving football to spring.

It’s doubly unfair to spring sports, that were simply “lopped off” this spring, and then to be completely overshadowed and crowded out next spring. Pretty much absurd.

 

[Word]

Yeah, moving football to spring would really cut into the crowds that watch boys tennis.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yeah, moving football to spring would really cut into the crowds that watch boys tennis.

Baseball? Lacrosse? Track, where high schools often have track and football field at the same stadium?

Maybe it's less a deal in high school.

But in college, how are you going to do a spring season without screwing up training for the combine, the draft? Put that back to fall? But then the next season starts in fall.

 

[hello-world]

I don't know why people think that the pandemic will be any more contained in the spring. At least in the fall people are outside and have room to spread out. This thing is going to turn into wildfire next winter.

Moreover, the ivy league doesn't set national policy, and they are now combating the possibility of all of their foreign students getting deported, so I'm not sure that they're even going to stick with their current policies.

You can't stop a virus this contagious from spreading without mass immunity. Even a vaccine doesn't guarantee mass immunity.

 

[howeda7]

I don't know why people think that the pandemic will be any more contained in the spring. At least in the fall people are outside and have room to spread out. This thing is going to turn into wildfire next winter.

Moreover, the ivy league doesn't set national policy, and they are now combating the possibility of all of their foreign students getting deported, so I'm not sure that they're even going to stick with their current policies.

It's true the Ivy League doesn't set policy. But look how fast everything happened on March 11th and 12th. The entire sports world went from "all games are on" to "everything is cancelled" in basically 18 hours. No league/conference wants to be out on the ledge alone.

 

[hello-world]

It's true the Ivy League doesn't set policy. But look how fast everything happened on March 11th and 12th. The entire sports world went from "all games are on" to "everything is cancelled" in basically 18 hours. No league/conference wants to be out on the ledge alone.

The premier league is playing. The NFL is definitely going to play. CFB can play if they choose to play.

 

[MplsGopher]

The premier league is playing. The NFL is definitely going to play. CFB can play if they choose to play.

Premier is in Europe. Things are way more in control there.

If the shit hits the fan here -- deaths start spiking -- guarantee the NFL will also cancel. No amount of money lost from cancelling one season can make up the negative PR of having a player die from covid, a coach die, or have fans die.

 

[howeda7]

The premier league is playing. The NFL is definitely going to play. CFB can play if they choose to play.

Anyone "can" play. It's a matter of if they will. I expect the NBA/MLB and NHL to at least start. If they have issues, the NFL likely will not. Already you have issues of how can TB play the Yankees in NY when they're supposed to quarantine for 14 days? For now the NFL has already kicked the can on any actual games to the last week of August. It's certainly not definite at this point.

College sports are going to be more risk-averse than the pros for obvious reasons.

 

[MplsGopher]

I don't know why people think that the pandemic will be any more contained in the spring. At least in the fall people are outside and have room to spread out. This thing is going to turn into wildfire next winter.

Moreover, the ivy league doesn't set national policy, and they are now combating the possibility of all of their foreign students getting deported, so I'm not sure that they're even going to stick with their current policies.

You can't stop a virus this contagious from spreading without mass immunity. Even a vaccine doesn't guarantee mass immunity.

It's all riding on a vaccine. You're correct, there are no guarantees.

But everyone is hoping like hell that a vaccine rides in by Xmas like a knight on a white horse. If it doesn't ..... honestly don't think there is a plan B right now.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Premier is in Europe. Things are way more in control there.

 

[GopherGuy8]

It's true the Ivy League doesn't set policy. But look how fast everything happened on March 11th and 12th. The entire sports world went from "all games are on" to "everything is cancelled" in basically 18 hours. No league/conference wants to be out on the ledge alone.

That's true. But back in march we new basically nothing about the virus. So people were very worried about the unknown. Even though there are still many questions about the virus we have a much better understanding of who is in danger and who isn't.

 

[Ope3]

The premier league is playing. The NFL is definitely going to play. CFB can play if they choose to play.

The NFL has a union for which there is collective bargaining for work conditions. CFB does not.

 

[GopherGuy8]

It's all riding on a vaccine. You're correct, there are no guarantees.

But everyone is hoping like hell that a vaccine rides in by Xmas like a knight on a white horse. If it doesn't ..... honestly don't think there is a plan B right now.

Plan B is Bankruptcy

 

[howeda7]

That's true. But back in march we new basically nothing about the virus. So people were very worried about the unknown. Even though there are still many questions about the virus we have a much better understanding of who is in danger and who isn't.

True. Which is why no one is making a decision before they have to. But I think if one league suspends play/cancels due to issues, it will still be a pretty fast domino effect.

 

[Livingat45north]

Plan B is Bankruptcy

Nope, look who's pushing for no sports:

Blumenthal, D-CT and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., recently introduced a bill that would make it illegal for schools to obtain liability waivers from athletes regarding COVID-19.

The "B" in Plan B is for "Biden". As per the comments above, at this point closing down the economy is a political decision being done by the Democratic Party. From professional leagues to little leagues in local communities, sports are now being played and have been for sometime now.

Stop College Sports Now, Vote Joe

 

[Ope3]

Nope, look who's pushing for no sports:

Blumenthal, D-CT and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., recently introduced a bill that would make it illegal for schools to obtain liability waivers from athletes regarding COVID-19.

The "B" in Plan B is for "Biden". As per the comments above, at this point closing down the economy is a political decision being done by the Democratic Party. From professional leagues to little leagues in local communities, sports are now being played and have been for sometime now.

Stop College Sports Now, Vote Joe

Connecting this to Biden is a reach. By Election Day the season would be half over, so the decisions will already be made. Additionally he would not take office until the CFB Playoffs would be completed.

 

[Livingat45north]

Connecting this to Biden is a reach. By Election Day the season would be half over, so the decisions will already be made. Additionally he would not take office until the CFB Playoffs would be completed.

Shutting down sports has a huge impact on the economy and people, which is probably the biggest factor in how people vote ("It's the economy stupid" - James Carville). There is a clear divide, the Democratic Party wants to keep everything closed down, the Republican Party wants to open it up. And the good news is you get to vote on which approach you think is right.

 

[golfing18now]

An athletic, healthy 20-22 year old is more at risk driving to the arena than from this virus. Let them make the choice whether or not to compete. They only get one chance to compete at the collegiate level.

 

[GopherGuy8]

Nope, look who's pushing for no sports:

Blumenthal, D-CT and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., recently introduced a bill that would make it illegal for schools to obtain liability waivers from athletes regarding COVID-19.

The "B" in Plan B is for "Biden". As per the comments above, at this point closing down the economy is a political decision being done by the Democratic Party. From professional leagues to little leagues in local communities, sports are now being played and have been for sometime now.

Stop College Sports Now, Vote Joe

That's sort of what I was saying just without the politics part. That if we are forced to stay inside for another 6 months and plan A(developing a vaccine) doesn't work, plan B will be Bankruptcy for a lot of industries.

 

[MplsGopher]

An athletic, healthy 20-22 year old is more at risk driving to the arena than from this virus. Let them make the choice whether or not to compete. They only get one chance to compete at the collegiate level.

Then dying in a car wreck on the way to the arena doesn’t then infect and kill the head coach and the 60 year old fan in the stands.

 

[golfing18now]

Then dying in a car wreck on the way to the arena doesn’t then infect and kill the head coach and the 60 year old fan in the stands.

The coach can likewise make his or her own choice on whether or not to coach.

NOTE: I'm not talking about fans in the stands. That's a different debate for me.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Football ain't happening.