Coronavirius - Sports Related

CORNER BLITZ wrote:[tw]1264968538709790720[/tw]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-playoffs-only-scenario-becoming-increasingly-likely/amp/

Iowa State athletic director Jaime Pollard is telling Cyclones fans that football home games will be played at no more than 50% capacity at Jack Trice Stadium, pending a change in state and local health guidelines. That means no more than 30,000 fans.

Pollard made the announcement in a letter posted to the ISU athletics website Tuesday.

About 22,000 season tickets have been renewed, leaving about 8,000 seats to be filled. Fans not renewing their season tickets and making their Cyclone Club donation by June 12 won’t be allowed to attend games unless guidelines change and capacity can exceed 50%. Single-game tickets sales are unlikely unless capacity is increased.

Season ticket holders who don’t renew for 2020 will continue to have first rights on their same seats for 2021. Season ticket holders who renew but later decide they aren’t comfortable attending games because of fear of coronavirus infection can request a refund or defer the purchase of their season tickets to the 2021 season.

COVID and college football: An introduction
May 19, 2020

As the majority of higher education institutions across America grapple with the complex challenges of resuming in-person instruction in a few months, one particularly vexing issue confronting many colleges and universities is the feasibility of playing intercollegiate football during a global pandemic. The sports world is only now beginning to reopen, with individual sports for which social distancing does not pose a major obstacle—golf, stock car racing, rodeo—leading the way. The conditions under which the resumption of major American team sports like baseball and football might be possible are complicated (at best), if indeed resumption is possible at all. Nonetheless, many college athletic departments are sustained by the revenue generated from playing football, and the economies of many college towns rely heavily on the spending that takes place during football weekends. There is definite urgency to find a workable solution.

Of course, the rush to restart the economic engines like college football may end up being a prelude to our “darkest winter in modern history”. As states begin to roll back shelter-in-place orders, despite many failing to meet federal guidelines for doing so, there is legitimate concern that American lives will be needlessly sacrificed on the altar of commerce and entertainment. In our effort to “get back to normal” (an effort in which football and other popular sports ostensibly play a key role), we may instead create for ourselves a much more dire and tragic—and certainly, abnormal—situation.

There are no easy answers here, but clear-eyed analysis can and should guide decision-making. To this end, the map pictured above is my effort to visualize COVID-19’s prevalence in areas where college football might be played this fall, as well as to represent recent trends in confirmed cases and fatalities. What follows are a few notes on how the visualization was constructed and the information it contains. The map will be updated daily as the COVID-19 data is made publicly available.

Each location marker uses data for the corresponding combined statistical area (CSA), which the US Census Bureau defines as “groupings of adjacent metropolitan and/or micropolitan statistical areas that have social and economic ties as measured by commuting to work” that “can be characterized as representing larger regions that reflect wider-ranging social and economic interactions, such as wholesaling, commodity distribution, and weekend recreation activities, as well as lower levels of daily commuting interaction.” In short, CSAs encompass more completely the flow of people and goods in a particular region. If we are concerned about the spread of a highly-contagious virus, data for CSAs paint a more comprehensive picture than data for individual counties, cities, or even states.

The size of each marker indicates the number of cases per 100,000 people for the CSA. Since this is a standardized measure, it provides an apples-to-apples comparison of COVID-19’s prevalence across CSAs of different sizes. Each marker’s color indicates (as noted in the map legend) the percent increase in cases over the preceding three weeks. As of this writing, most of the 164 CSAs in the dataset are within the 0% - 100% range (there’s more to say on the reasoning behind setting this range, but I won’t delve into it here). The three-week window is somewhat arbitrary. Intuitively, it seems long enough to smooth out any daily blips, but short enough to indicate meaningful shifts in one direction or the other.

Finally—scrolling over each marker will display:

The name of the CSA
The school(s) located in the CSA
Confirmed cases and deaths per 100,000 people
Percentage increases in confirmed cases and deaths over the preceding three weeks

In a little over 100 days, the 2020 college football season is scheduled to kick off. University presidents, athletic directors, faculty, students, and fans will be monitoring the situation (and hopefully, the data) closely. Like all data, the information presented here is not, in itself, prescriptive; numbers cannot tell us what to do. However, they can help us to decide what to do, whether that takes the form of socially-distanced tailgating, playing games in empty stadiums, or even not playing at all.

After a brief Twitter leak on Wednesday, which was then taken taken down, the helmet manufacturer Schutt yesterday officially announced a new product called the Splash Shield, which according to a press release “will offer some protection for football players from harmful droplets caused by talking, sneezing, and coughing in close proximity.” I believe this product, which Schutt says will be available to ship by July 1, is the first new piece of sports equipment — or at least the first one that I’m aware of — directly related to the pandemic, although I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The development of this type of product has been hinted at for a few weeks now. Back on May 18, NFL Players Association medical director Thom Mayer said that when the NFL returned to action, it was reasonable to expect that players might have to wear some sort of mask that “could cover a player’s entire face,” which is essentially what the Splash Shield does.

Schutt is being careful not to overpromise here. The term “some protection” — not exactly a hyperbolic claim — appears twice in the press release, including in this sentence: “While the Splash Shield will offer some protection, it can only limit exposure to airborne droplets that the athlete encounters during play.” In other words, it’s not like wearing an N95, but it’s probably better than nothing.

The press release isn’t long on details, but I followed up with Schutt and can tell you the following:

• The Splash Shield comes in two separate pieces — one for the upper part of the facemask, like the standard visor that we’re used to seeing, and one for the lower part (click to enlarge):



If a player already has a standard visor, he can just use the lower portion of the Splash Shield.

• The splash shield is thinner and more flexible than a standard visor, and also has slots in various locations. Schutt says this allows it to fit virtually any mask on any helmet — not just Schutt helmets.

• The product can be washed and used again, although the press release also notes that it’s “inexpensive enough to be disposable.”

• Speaking of which: The product will be priced at $14.99 for the three-pack of uppers or lowers, or $24.99 for a three-pack for both pieces.

I suspect we’ll see other products like this soon. After the Schutt announcement yesterday, I asked Riddell if they had a similar product in the works. They said they’d get back to me but didn’t have a statement ready by the end of the day. I’ll post a follow-up if I hear back from them.

Either way, it seems likely that this type of product — whether made by Schutt, Riddell, Oakley, or whomever — will soon be standard, or even required, on the football field, at least until there’s a vaccine

CORNER BLITZ wrote:Can't imagine that face shield not fogging up like a mfer

CORNER BLITZ wrote:Can't imagine that face shield not fogging up like a mfer

MattyFresh wrote:

CORNER BLITZ wrote:Can't imagine that face shield not fogging up like a mfer

kinda reminds me of kids that play with full shields in hockey, we call them fishbowls. I never liked playing in them, went from a cage as a kid to a half shield as an adult. Heres Hirose in a fishbowl at MSU

MiamiSpartan wrote:

MattyFresh wrote:

kinda reminds me of kids that play with full shields in hockey, we call them fishbowls. I never liked playing in them, went from a cage as a kid to a half shield as an adult. Heres Hirose in a fishbowl at MSU

That's what it reminded me of, how hockey has those. Plus I'm sure they'd have the latest anti-fog technology.

DWags wrote:I still don’t think we will see football.

Heat Miser wrote:

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I think that for every one of you there's at least a few of me, who are watching the RBC Heritage with renewed vigor and trying to stay up for KBO baseball and counting down the days until the NBA (hopefully) resumes.

Baseball I could give 2 shits about but I'm even excited for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and I haven't watched those since the Wings were last in the tourney.

Statistics would certainly disagree in the case of KBO baseball at least.

The golf is doing well though. Always struck me as "there's nothing else to do" programming, but "different strokes" I guess.

I never understood why people watch a bunch of guys make left turns for 4 hours either (other than the crashes).

Robert J Sakimano wrote:with regard to college football, 6 weeks ago, I thought 'no way in hell' will we see it this fall. Then, it seemed like college presidents, major conferences, AD's, etc were opening the door and making it seem plausible. I was optimistic for a bit.. now I'm back to thinking it probably won't happen. With the virus spiking almost everywhere (except Michigan.. woop Big Gretch), it'll only get worse once students come to campus (if they do), and people cram into sports bars as games are, presumably, being played without fans.

of course, I'd LOVE to see college football. It's the most wonderful time of year. I just think it would be highly, highly irresponsible for everyone involved. Yes, colleges/universities would lose a TON of money.. but I'm not sure another 100,000 Americans dying would be a good return on investment.

Wally Fairway wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:with regard to college football, 6 weeks ago, I thought 'no way in hell' will we see it this fall. Then, it seemed like college presidents, major conferences, AD's, etc were opening the door and making it seem plausible. I was optimistic for a bit.. now I'm back to thinking it probably won't happen. With the virus spiking almost everywhere (except Michigan.. woop Big Gretch), it'll only get worse once students come to campus (if they do), and people cram into sports bars as games are, presumably, being played without fans.

of course, I'd LOVE to see college football. It's the most wonderful time of year. I just think it would be highly, highly irresponsible for everyone involved. Yes, colleges/universities would lose a TON of money.. but I'm not sure another 100,000 Americans dying would be a good return on investment.

Bob,
If we get a keg (of your choice) - while keeping proper social distancing, how many swill posters can fit in your garage on a Saturday morning?
To tailgate and watch the Spartans game in the compfort of Bobs outdoor mancave?
Seems like the perfect way to watch Coach Tucker take the B1G by surprise.
How much would it cost to get the Spartan Marching band and/or Sparty to make an appearance? That would make for a great tailgate

Thanks,
Desperately Seeking Gameday Experiences this fall

DWags wrote:I still don’t think we will see football.

tGreenWay wrote:

DWags wrote:I still don’t think we will see football.

Agreed. Even Fauci said yesterday he didn’t think there would be football this year, and while he didn’t specify college or pro, it seemed like he meant it as a blanket statement across all levels.

Heat Miser wrote:What if people figure out that sports aren't that important to them after all? I haven't missed MLB, tNBA/NHL playoffs one bit. Being a Lions fan, I've never had the opportunity to really care about the NFL. College football might be a harder habit to break, but the rest of the world has never given two shits about it & survived.

What if big time sports became an afterthought in America?!?!?!

Robert J Sakimano wrote:not sure if I can procure the SMB - I could pull some strings (pun intended) with the MSU concert orchestra. They're amazing but wouldn't really provide the energy of the SMB or the drumline.