https://twitter.com/dennisdoddcbs/status/1293273222968991744
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This question over the effect on the heart needs an answer before football or any sport should be played. Already had the ex-FSU center die of heart failure the other day after COVID.
This includes UH, they need to have more clarity than we do right now.
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Well the AAC guy says that they are no medical problems and everything is fine and dandy.
He has “medical people” you know.
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The ACC also has a medical expert
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It’s a very legitimate concern but the very valid counter to this is that practically speaking these guys are probably more likely to get COVID without a football season than with one.
Look at the number of positive tests when all these guys showed up to practice vs. the small number of positive tests that are happening with players now.
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That’s wrong.
Data point A - Lots of positive tests when guys showed up after they were on their own.
Data point B - Very few positive tests after they’ve been in a controlled environment practicing and playing while getting ready for the season.
Explain why no season will not look more like data point A than data point B.
Here’s the counter. We don’t have data for tackle football. These HS strength and conditioning sessions and whatever is being done at the college level is not in full pads and tackling. Before basketball and soccer returned they were scrimmaging and accumulating data in the actual sport they were playing. Also they were operating in a bubble. A bubble is not doable anywhere but the pros without spending wads of cash. I also don’t think testing on Monday and Thursday is adequate. Just my opinion. Obviously each conference has its own opinion.
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That’s somewhat fair and of course things may change with students coming back to class and having more temptation and whatnot. Also travel presents risks.
Overall though we know that a good number of guys got COVID on their own and so far they’ve done a good job of keeping it out of their environment for the most part. Of course if it gets in there it could spread faster than in some other environments.
I honestly am not super invested in having a football season so it’s not like I’m trying to rationalize. But it does make sense to me that these players might be better off with a season keeping them on their good behavior than the alternative. More testing could make sense.
The default should be to let these guys play if they want and we should see pretty strong reasons to believe they are safer on their own than playing the season to tell them we are going to protect them from themselves. I don’t see that right now. Maybe if they continue practicing for a hopeful spring season it would do the same thing but I think the incentive to not break protocol will be a lot harder pushing it that far out.
I keep hearing this argument that the guys needs the discipline and routine to avoid the virus. Why can’t they just keep doing what they’re doing and just not play football? Is that not the compromise? One side says football is not safe. One side says we need to keep our players in our program and in routine to keep them disciplined and safe.
The obvious answer is this is was and will always be about $$$.’ This isn’t about keeping the players from getting the virus. It’s about keeping athletic departments afloat. Someone has to have the balls to say that and just be transparent about it.
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I noted that at the end of my reply.
Maybe that works but I think there’s going to be a massive letdown if they don’t have a season and it’s going to be a lot harder to continue going on and not break protocol pushing it out that far.
I don’t want to veer this too far off topic but as a country for a while we were doing pretty good and then stopped for a variety of reasons.
For sure I think the money is the biggest reason these questions are being asked and a season is being contemplated (note: Though only to an extent, some of these coaches are at a higher risk, will get paid either way, and they want their kids to play). It doesn’t mean the rationalization is incorrect even if it’s a rationalization, though. I thought the season should probably be cancelled but looking at it from that perspective I’ve changed my mind.
The flip is that these school presidents are probably more scared of the possibility of a football related death than a higher number of deaths if there’s no season and these guys let down and break protocol.
A commentator on TV today made an interesting observation about how culture and political persuasion is playing a role in this debate. The West and East Coasts are more apt not to play whereas the central and south regions are likely to have a season. The debate over whether we have a college football season this year may indeed reflect the political divisions we have today.
I suppose, though I would argue that the ACC is as much if not more East Coast than the Big 10 is.
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There’s no question political affiliation is correlated with thoughts on a lot of COVID-19 related topics for both cynical and non-cynical reasons.
It may be part of this but doesn’t match perfect. Indiana has two B1G schools that voted against playing and that’s probably a redder state right now than several states in the Big 12, SEC, and ACC, collectively.
It also sounded like the B1G was ahead of the Pac-12 on this and overall the former is definitely redder overall.
This would appear to shoot down Dr Ackerman, the doctor that “saved” the
Football season for the Big12. Be interesting to watch how school leaders
will process this latest revelation.
Reposting link for reference.
According to a study published in JAMA Cardiology , Covid-19 patients are at risk for heart problems. When researchers performed cardiac MRI testing on 100 adults two to three months after Covid-19 recovery, 78 had structural changes to their hearts, and 60 had myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle that can lead to abnormal heartbeat, heart failure, and sudden death.
Holy moly.
I’m sorry, no politics. That’s terrifying…
I’ll add… I’m a believer and dont live in fear.
But … 
Yes, the Penn State doctor had given some older figures and admitted they were incorrect. But he also said there were very abnormal effects on the heart from Covid that they don’t typically see from virus-induced myocarditis.