First Semester Plan

[northbayfb]

Well, in the specific, they go to games. Except my mom. But she goes to band recitals with my nephew. All of their grand kids have been, or are varsity sport athletes except the youngest ones. They are in youth sports, though. In the general, there is very little separation in many families, including many, many grandparents who live with their grand children.

I'm confused on the opposing views comment. Personally, I want to see data driven solutions that allow effective mitigation practices to be put into place (masks, screening, cleaning, testing, etc.) without unduly risking vulnerable populations so that we can all get back to some semblance of our former lifestyle. So many other countries are already there. We could be there, too. I can't imagine you are opposed to that.

By opposing views I mean that I feel it’s my family’s job to isolate my at risk parents from as many potential threats as possible which includes mask wearing and social distancing when virtual contact is not possible. Those threats would not be magnified if high school sports were to happen.

Others want to place the burden on everyone else. Multiple protocols have been put in place just to hold a practice without contact or a football including masks, screening before every practice, 10 foot spacing. For some it will never be enough.

It’s hard to tell from your answer and god forbid I make more assumptions that are “loaded” but it appears that high school football could happen without increasing exposure to your parents. Nobody HAS to attend the game and if it meant the kids get to play the Senior season I would forgo attending games. It’s truly for those kids that every effort should be made to have a season. Waiting til January is just kicking the can down the road. There will not be a vaccine by then so there’s no point in playing at that time either. Wear a mask and social distance. Have school, wear a mask and social distance. Play sports, screen every day, wear a mask and social distance. Go to the grocery store, wear a mask and social distance. Love your parents, wear a mask and social distance.

 

[WCAL75]

The new rage according the news last night was for teenagers to have Covid-19 parties with the intent on getting the Infected. They get paid for Catching it.

These kids think they are invincible. But being kids they don’t understand the broader issues such as infecting there parents or Grand parents or anyone else the come into contact with.

If we have one or two students on the football team this year come down with Covid-19. That school’s football team will more than likely will be quarantined for 14 days. That school will forfeit those games.

Let’s hope that things are different in January.

 

[m4success]

It MAY all come down to this: No Vaccine, no HS Sports, period.

But right now, my recommendation: Mandatory COVID-19 Testing, follow all the rules (wash hands, stop touching your face, wear a mask and social distancing)

Vaccine by the end of the year. I promise you: There is life after Corona!!!

“Moderna” COVID-19 Vaccine on its way!

 

[MTsince2004]

By opposing views I mean that I feel it’s my family’s job to isolate my at risk parents from as many potential threats as possible which includes mask wearing and social distancing when virtual contact is not possible. Those threats would not be magnified if high school sports were to happen.

Others want to place the burden on everyone else. Multiple protocols have been put in place just to hold a practice without contact or a football including masks, screening before every practice, 10 foot spacing. For some it will never be enough.

It’s hard to tell from your answer and god forbid I make more assumptions that are “loaded” but it appears that high school football could happen without increasing exposure to your parents. Nobody HAS to attend the game and if it meant the kids get to play the Senior season I would forgo attending games. It’s truly for those kids that every effort should be made to have a season. Waiting til January is just kicking the can down the road. There will not be a vaccine by then so there’s no point in playing at that time either. Wear a mask and social distance. Have school, wear a mask and social distance. Play sports, screen every day, wear a mask and social distance. Go to the grocery store, wear a mask and social distance. Love your parents, wear a mask and social distance.

Trust me, I want high school football to go on as much as anybody, but I am also being realistic. One thing about being realistic is that I know there is NO high school football on a broad basis without fans. It's just too expensive. College, and certainly the pros, can make something work with TV contracts, but high school will not make it. IF IT COULD WORK, I would buy a season viewing package for my family tomorrow. It's actually not a horrible idea. The problem is time and equity, but that's another thread.

If you look at previous posts, I have totally advocated for procedures to get the season on the field. Screening at the gate, designated seating sections for tracing ease, testing for players-coaches-officials. I don't think we are on opposite sides of this. It's just that we have to have real solutions for this stuff. But it's not possible to think that we can just have one group (h.s. athletes) go about their normal business without affecting other groups. It's just wishful thinking. We are all too inter-connected.

My daughter lost her last season of high school sports. So did her boyfriend, who was a borderline scholarship kid. My son is getting pushed out of college classes that he WANTS and NEEDS to take for a truly valuable education. It's hitting my family at every level and NOBODY is happy about it. But I'm trying not to dwell on the fact that the screw-ups go back to February and we could be have been out of this by now. Instead, I'm trying to focus on getting on track with real solutions going forward.

 

[colhenrylives]

Excellent points...and well-said.

 

[northbayfb]

One thing about being realistic is that I know there is NO high school football on a broad basis without fans. It's just too expensive.

But it's not possible to think that we can just have one group (h.s. athletes) go about their normal business without affecting other groups.

Depends on what you mean by broad basis. Any high school with a strong booster group would be able to economically support football without fans. I would put that number around 40% of programs.

Agree. But nobody said going about their normal business. I too have heard of Covid parties. That's not an athletic endeavor. To think that our high school aged kids don't represent the same threat whether they are an athlete or not is wishful thinking.

 

[MTsince2004]

Depends on what you mean by broad basis. Any high school with a strong booster group would be able to economically support football without fans. I would put that number around 40% of programs.

Agree. But nobody said going about their normal business. I too have heard of Covid parties. That's not an athletic endeavor. To think that our high school aged kids don't represent the same threat whether they are an athlete or not is wishful thinking.

Fair enough.

I always think about equity in places like Elk Grove Unified (nine high schools). We have several schools who could play with just booster support, but many who could not. The District works in an "All or None" manner for obvious reasons. I wonder if the boosters at the economically advantaged schools would pay more into ALL the programs. They might. One big pool. They could run pay-per-view camera crews at all the games, as well. Monterey Trail already streams many of their away games that way, so it really doesn't take much to set up. Kinda glitchy sometimes, but that's fixable.

Covid parties...and I thought the Tide Pod Challenge was the height of adolescent stupidity.

 

[colhenrylives]

Reading all of this depressing material has forced me to my bunker again. I now self-isolate with my computer, cable-TV and a cellphone; I subsist on a diet of Dr. Pepper, Twinkies and re-runs of Gilligan's Island. If prep sports don't re-start soon, you can count me out within three months or fewer. Even a return of Pacifica Pete won't help. Desperation is in the air.

 

[Scoop and Score]

Trust me, I want high school football to go on as much as anybody, but I am also being realistic. One thing about being realistic is that I know there is NO high school football on a broad basis without fans. It's just too expensive. College, and certainly the pros, can make something work with TV contracts, but high school will not make it. IF IT COULD WORK, I would buy a season viewing package for my family tomorrow. It's actually not a horrible idea. The problem is time and equity, but that's another thread.

If you look at previous posts, I have totally advocated for procedures to get the season on the field. Screening at the gate, designated seating sections for tracing ease, testing for players-coaches-officials. I don't think we are on opposite sides of this. It's just that we have to have real solutions for this stuff. But it's not possible to think that we can just have one group (h.s. athletes) go about their normal business without affecting other groups. It's just wishful thinking. We are all too inter-connected.

My daughter lost her last season of high school sports. So did her boyfriend, who was a borderline scholarship kid. My son is getting pushed out of college classes that he WANTS and NEEDS to take for a truly valuable education. It's hitting my family at every level and NOBODY is happy about it. But I'm trying not to dwell on the fact that the screw-ups go back to February and we could be have been out of this by now. Instead, I'm trying to focus on getting on track with real solutions going forward.

Nothing could of changed in February that would change this predicament we are in. From the start there were going to be cases for at least 12 months. Instead of being willing to operate on a personal risk status, our government has decided to rob the fountain of youth which they will never get back. Compromised stay home and quarantine period, it can be done. We will not have any sports until next fall as a result. Molestations, abuse, drug addiction, mental health are going to continue to skyrocket. If you are comfortable with that, keep living in fear. Imagine if we just allowed the British control, taken the easy road out, we would not be the Nation we are today.

 

[concrete17]

Reading all of this depressing material has forced me to my bunker again. I now self-isolate with my computer, cable-TV and a cellphone; I subsist on a diet of Dr. Pepper, Twinkies and re-runs of Gilligan's Island. If prep sports don't re-start soon, you count me out within three months of fewer. Even a return of Pacifica Pete won't help. Desperation is in the air.

Where is Mud 'n Guts when we need him??

...and be careful with the Twinkies. Last guy who went on a Twinkie feast ended up going full on postal In the City Hall of SF........

 

[shcguy92]

The Santa Clara County health director has banned extracurricular activities at schools in the fall. She has not ruled yet on athletics.

Being Athletics falls under the umbrella of extracurricular activities, that pretty much rules out athletics in the Fall as well I would think.

 

[colhenrylives]

My depression knows no bounds at this hideous juncture.

 

[jordan24]

Happy 4th ! Be safe and well! Gonna catch the Hamilton stream with the Fam tonight!

 

[WCAL75]

Hopefully they will at least let us play flag football this year.

 

[thespecialone]

Just curious why so many think a vaccine is the cure for this. We have been developing flu vaccines for decades and 80,000 people died of the flu in the US in 2018.

 

[concrete17]

How many of those 80,000 were vaccinated?

 

[carmelkyd]

Crete17 - Not a direct answer to your question but it is very likely any vaccine won't prove to be a silver bullet. Here is what the CDC says about this season's flu vaccine.

"How effective the flu vaccine is will vary from year to year. In a good year, when the flu vaccine is most effective, it can reduce your risk of getting sick by 60%. That means you have at least a 40% chance of getting the flu if you are exposed to it, even if you're vaccinated.

That's better than a bad year when the flu vaccine's effectiveness can dip below 20%, meaning you still have more than an 80% chance of getting the flu if you are exposed to it."

 

[salgovernaleisaturtle]

the way vaccine works, is true herd immunity. you basically decrease your chances of an exposure. if everyone took the vaccine, and it worked for x% of people, then you decrease the number of cases... which then decreases the number of potential exposures, etc.

So you basically have to be unlucky to get sick. You have to run into someone who is contagious (which is less with the vaccine), then, if you are vaccinated, you have to be in the unlucky group that it doesn't work for.

That's how the virus will 'die'. You basically starve it.. give it less people to infect. This virus is at an all you can eat buffet right now...

People that think herd immunity is the answer, so just get sick... they are disillusioned. There is no herd immunity without a vaccine, only massive deaths.

And 80k is definitely an outlier. The range is from 15k to this 80k... but average closer to 30-40k. But this is all peanuts when compared to covid: 132k and counting.... in 4 months.

To whomever is saying it: Stop saying this is just the flu.

Plus, if there is an effective vaccine, and it decreases MY chance of getting the covid by any percent... sign me up.

 

[MTsince2004]

the way vaccine works, is true herd immunity. you basically decrease your chances of an exposure. if everyone took the vaccine, and it worked for x% of people, then you decrease the number of cases... which then decreases the number of potential exposures, etc.

So you basically have to be unlucky to get sick. You have to run into someone who is contagious (which is less with the vaccine), then, if you are vaccinated, you have to be in the unlucky group that it doesn't work for.

That's how the virus will 'die'. You basically starve it.. give it less people to infect. This virus is at an all you can eat buffet right now...

People that think herd immunity is the answer, so just get sick... they are disillusioned. There is no herd immunity without a vaccine, only massive deaths.

And 80k is definitely an outlier. The range is from 15k to this 80k... but average closer to 30-40k. But this is all peanuts when compared to covid: 132k and counting.... in 4 months.

To whomever is saying it: Stop saying this is just the flu.

Plus, if there is an effective vaccine, and it decreases MY chance of getting the covid by any percent... sign me up.

Well said. One thing to add: in the contest between natural (no vaccine) "Herd Immunity" on one hand and "Virus Suppression" on the other hand, VS wins.

If we suppress the virus, keeping people from even getting sick and intensively treating any community flare ups, it could almost go away. If no one has it then no one can pass it along. Many countries are close to this now, even without a vaccine and are most at risk from outside visitors.

Herd Immunity, even when it works (because it does in many cases), has one great Achilles Heel: mutation. The more people that have the virus, the more likely it changes and breeds new strains that will cause whole new waves of disease. There has already been one significant mutation in the virus that made it more infectious. The next mutation is very unlikely to make it less so.

 

[Valley Boys]

I am consistently amazed by the "Only old people die" line of reasoning. It's really not accurate, but even if it was my grandparents all lived into their mid-80's to early 90's with pretty good mental functioning until the end. My wife's grandparents did, as well, with one grandmother making it to 100 years old with a SHARP mind. Mine and my wife's parents are all in their 70's now. Are we supposed to, as a society, just write off what could be 10 or 20 years of fulfilling experiences for these people and for their families? Are we just callous and cold now? The only businesses that will be saved by killing off parts of our population are funeral homes.

I'm not disagreeing with everything you posted, but I just can't get past this mentality when I see it. This isn't the flu and every other "rich" country has handled it much better than the U.S. Let's learn from them so that we can open up the right way instead of consciously sacrificing family members of a certain age.

Oh yeah, and Sweden REGRETS their move. FAR, FAR, FAR more deaths than the other Scandinavian countries and less than 8% of the population has contracted the disease, according to their testing. It takes 70-80% for herd immunity.

I am constantly amazed how clever people are at cherry picking accurate data and citing false data to prove their point. I am also amazed how soft our society has become in just two generations.

This virus, from data retrieved from China showed an average age of death of 82. This was from early March. The networks didn’t cover it very often and people were confused. Many, healthy people frightened to death. The real bottom line is that only unhealthy people under 65 and the elderly have much to worry about.

We are going about this all wrong. Nothing in the land of the free should be closed...... especially for the young. They are not gonna die from this. They have their whole lives ahead of them and school years are usually their best years. Let them enjoy life.

Instead, focus our energy on keeping the elderly and sick safe. Those currently living with ailments already know the world is not going to change for them. They take precautions and look out for themselves. Because THEY are the minority. I and most the parents I know would certainly give up their freedoms for our kids. (If we were at risk)

Now, this would not be throwing the elderly under the bus. They have options just like the rest of society: stay home, cover the hell up, or move to France. Set our youth free and restart our economy before another MILLION families go bankrupt. So stupid!

In another six months we will have wrapped our heads around the fact that this was hardly worth all the fuss. Far less than 0.1% of our population will have died from this. My personal belief is that it is a blessing. Just wait until something comes along that kills 30% of our nation. This will have been our trial run. THEN it will be ok to cancel a football season.

 

[salgovernaleisaturtle]

i don't know why i torture myself.....

fallacy #1: young people won't die or be hospitalized:

while 99% true, it doesn't matter. the point is who they give it to. it will only make this thing last longer if the young start getting infected... oh but wait.. it's already happening.

AND, no one really knows if they are 100% not at risk. you might have something that you don't know about. OR you might be one that it hits really hard. russian roulette: if there is only one bullet on the table, how many guns have to be on the table before you play?

AND, you know what... I've seen an average football team: a lot of obese out of shape, barely holding it together youths. I would say they are at risk.

fallacy #2: this is only killing people over 65, so it's ok?

that is just unempathetic. a lot of people who died in their 60s and 70s are living quality lives, and would have lived 10-20 more quality years. this virus has cut short an average of 10 years of living. if it were someone you care about, i'm sure you would've wished they didn't die.

fallacy #3: our economy!!!

you know what else is bad for the economy? dead people. You know who doesn't spend money? dead people. and just opening up isn't going to magically make people go out again... (well, at least not the dumb ones).

I'm not against opening up: i'm against recklessness and arrogance, and conflicting messaging from top down that makes opening up dangerous for everyone. Same with high school sports.


I know it's one person, but really, it's only one famous person, and there are more like him: but tell Nick Cordero and his family he shouldn't have been worried. He would not have died if this were just the flu.

 

[concrete17]

I am constantly amazed how clever people are at cherry picking accurate data and citing false data to prove their point..........


In another six months we will have wrapped our heads around the fact that this was hardly worth all the fuss. .......

Amen to those observations....

Almost 6 months ago the Great QB #45 said "We have it totally under control....It's going to be just fine. "

Uh ok ...almost 3 million Covid cases later with 130,000 deaths and climbing.
I'm not so optimistic that the current game-plan is working and some serious half time adjustments are in order.

 

[salgovernaleisaturtle]

9/11: 3k
US military deaths in Afghanistan since 2001: 7k
car accidents: 38k
deaths from flu in 2019: <61k
US deaths from covid so far: 130k

yeah... so hardly worth any fuss at all....

 

[Streak One]

Everyone who has wanted to share their opinion on what the next steps are, including the HS football season, has done so.

On this forum, there isn’t a reason to extend this conversation further.