Covid Sports Cancellations

Football
21

The shutdowns are trial runs for the real thing. The Marxists want to see if we will be sheep.

I don’t know if masks work. I do know the science says 1.4% catch COVID19 from indoor restaurants. Not a reason to shut down indoor restaurants.

Science has shown that people need to be within 6 feet talking for 10-15 minutes to catch enough virus material to get sick. So, not sure why we need masks in restaurants, stores and in Church. Especially not alone in our cars like I see people doing.

I do know that we have our homeless shelter full with 45 people and all 45 tested positive. Seems to be like leaprosy with the poor.

22

I would agree with that!!

Masks probably prevent some transmission but they aren’t a guarantee against getting it. I tend to be the cautious type so I wear one when I am out shopping and running errands. Even here in Texas where the shutdowns are pretty minimal right now every business and public place requires a mask. I am generally not in one place long enough to get too annoyed by the mask but I don’ t wear it in the car. That’s ridiculous.

23

Most schools in Arizona are online only. Today is our last day of school before Christmas break, and we are one of the rare districts that emphasized as much normalcy as possible. I only had 8 students who chose to be online, and we will be in person only in January (so, families wanting to stay online will need to find another school). This is an email from our principal this morning:

Hello Staff…

Congratulations – you made it!

Despite some very significant challenges; despite a very demanding requirement to support both in-person and online students; despite tremendous uncertainty; and coming amidst nine months of stress, tension, anxiety, and frustration in our homes and communities; you all made possible what most people said could not be done: you delivered a full, uninterrupted semester of in-person education to over 1300 students.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t perfect. But you successfully overcame myriad distractions and obstacles to make it happen.

As you’ve heard me say many times, I think that it will take philosophers, sociologists, and historians a decade or two to understand and articulate fully the impact COVID has had on our communities and our youth.

But you can take great pride in the fact that you stood your ground in the fight against the negative impacts COVID could have on the education of our students. And in doing so, you made a genuine and substantial difference in the daily lives, education, and social development of over 1,300 young adults.

You faced real and daunting adversity this semester – and you did not back down. Your commitment, flexibility, and innovation ensured that we fulfilled ALA’s mission to provide “the best educational experience” for your students and families.

You did this when other schools could not or would not. You should not underestimate the significance of this.

When other schools – and more importantly, other districts’ teachers – were fighting not to have in-person education, you chose to put your students first by showing up each and every day to teach in person. That choice was an example for all of Arizona.

The fact that ALA’s enrollment increased by over 1,000 students this year is a testament to our families’ views on the importance of in-person learning.

Having persevered through this semester, I know you are excited about the fact that next semester should be much less complex, although no less important, than this semester. We will have the ability to focus on our students in a way that was difficult to do this semester. I’m looking forward to a “return to basics” and a renewed emphasis on the things that make ALA what it is – a positive campus culture, a moral and wholesome environment, and quality instruction provided by dedicated and caring teachers.

As we wrap things up today, I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing, and joyful holiday. Please enjoy every single minute of a holiday break that you have unquestionably earned.

We will see you all in 2021 –

24

From May 1 through August 7, MLB had performed 53,826 tests, with 71 positives, for a positive test rate of just over 1/10th of 1 percent. 49 of the positives were players. Zero died. Zero were hospitalized.

From August 1 through Nov 7, NFL had conducted 600,000 tests with 218 positives. That is THREE HUNDREDTHS OF ONE PERCENT positive. As far as I can find, zero have died and ONE has been hospitalized.

A NYU Medical School researcher was able to find one college FB player who died from Covid (although he was 6’/350, had seemingly largely recovered from Covid, and died of a blood clot), two HS players, and three HS coaches. https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/26/myocarditis-mechanical-ventilation-death-join-football-risks-covid-19/ . NO ONE KNOWS whether ANY of these victims contracted Covid from ANYTHING TO DO WITH FOOTBALL. They may have all gotten it at home or from friends whether they played football or not.

Each death is tragic, but this we know: football instills positive mentoring, discipline, and pride in kids who otherwise might lack those inputs. And this is significantly magnified with the poor. As Oregon’s governor cruelly deprives kids of that means of developing self-confidence, pride and discipline, how many of those kids will die from addiction or suicide, or poverty induced by aimlessness? I think that numberis MUCH MUCH MUCH higher than the number of kids who have or may die from Covid.

So we don’t know if playing football (or any other sport for that matter) increases the risk of Covid, but to the extent it does, the risk is nominal. But we DO know that taking sports away from kids damages them, particularly discriminating against the poor and most vulnerable of them. I have literally cried talking to kids from my program who have lost the only thing that kept their world together.

25

Congrats, Rubicon. You are part of the solution.

26

Excellent post!

27

Thanks for the statistics. I like hard facts when it comes to these sorts of things. I sensed that well conditioned athletes were generally not at risk based on age and fitness but it is good to have some hard data to support what one concludes through a logical thought process.

The alarmists, propagandists, and politicians with an agenda to transform society, and destroy individual freedoms, will cite some anecdotal evidence that everybody is at risk. It is true we are all at risk to varying degrees, from the infinitesimal to the extreme, but everybody is at risk for something every waking breath and no pompous jacka$$ government official, or bureaucrat, can guarantee 24/7 safety for everybody while robbing people of their liberty and shutting down everything that enriches our lives.

28

it often happens that a society turns to a totalitarian government when it descends into chaos brought on by anarchists whose aim is to destroy the existing social structure and create such a terrible environment that the citizens welcome an autocratic government to restore order. It doesn’t matter if the government is Communist, Fascist, a military dictatorship, or absolute monarchy the result is a loss of liberty, poverty, enslavement of the citizenry, and the elimination of the middle class.

30

Thank you. I’m taking the “no school and no sports” thing pretty hard because I’m a longtime head coach in our district (retired from coaching in Feb but still close to the program) and have coached far more poor kids than rich kids. Oregon’s governor seems to be enjoying herself far too much. She is extremely vindictive and IMHO downright cruel. She has become wealthy, yet as far as I know, she has never had a real job outside the government. She is openly hostile to small business, quite publicly fires any state agency officials who do not share her politics, and all 7 supreme court justices have been appointed by her party, so she has absolute power and she knows it.

The kids with money replaced football with pay-to-play 7 on 7, travel basketball, etc. And I would have done exactly the same thing as they did and commend those parents for figuring out a way to keep their kids active and playing the sports the kids love. The problem is that most of the poor kids–and ESPECIALLY those who are both poor and not great athletes (who may be sponsored onto a “travel” team)–simply can’t pay to play, and are forgotten. So when we cancel sports, we cancel the kids who need them the most.

1 Like
31

Absolutely you are correct and if you are a conspiracist then I am as well.

32

Preach, brother.

33

Can you recall her as they are in the process of doing in Cali?

34

There have been at least 3 recall petitions, but she has the court quash them. She was appointed governor to replace our former governor, who quit after it came out that he authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars of “consulting” payments from the state to his wife (you can’t make this shi$ up). Governor Brown is a shameless self promoter, cruel to those who oppose her, and vindictive as he$$. Even though she can’t run again (currently in 2nd term), she has raised millions of dollars in “campaign” funds and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “consulting firms,” which is just her tossing money out to her allies. It’s that bad. This is from a major article in the Oregonian, a very liberal paper that supports the governor:
“The governor wouldn’t agree to an interview to discuss her campaign strategy or why a sitting term-limited governor who is not running for another office should engage in “private political activity” during the work week.”
When she leaves office she will simply keep the money. We all know that. She spent all her time this summer egging on the rioters in Portland, while the Santiam Canyon fire raged, killing people and burning down whole towns. Sorry, I know this is a sports thread, but a close friend of mine burned to death in that fire, and another close friend is the mayor of a small town that disappeared overnight to ashes, and I’m still sore about it. The governor did nothing to help the people in that canyon because she views them as her enemies: they are conservative value country folk and don’t have enough money to be powerful. Am I cynical enough? Geez, must be a Friday afternoon.

35

In Eastern Oregon there was a petition going around to be accessed into Idaho. I signed it but never heard what happened to it