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2020-2021 season in doubt?


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7 hours ago, McFan said:

According to the SUNY website there’s been 1,156 positives and ONE hospitalization.  Shut it down.  

Where does that data come from? I just checked and there's been 543 positives in the whole SUNY system to date and 60% of those are in Oneonta. 

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1 hour ago, jimbo said:

Where does that data come from? I just checked and there's been 543 positives in the whole SUNY system to date and 60% of those are in Oneonta. 

https://www.suny.edu/covid19-tracker/

Sorry, top of the page its the "estimated" (in lighter font) total positives.  I think we're on the same page here for our date.  Wether it's the 543 or 1,156 there's been ONE hospitalization.  59,204 tested.   A hospitalization rate of .0017%.  

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Per UAlbanysports.com Benson has totally shut down Athletics indefinitely.  543 in TOTAL Suny system is far less than 1% required to open events. Benson said he must do what is good for the student body. IMHO what is good for the student body is find the offending students; quarantine and/or penalize THEM and get on with education {INCLUDING Athletics.} 

In the TU article concerning football & volleyball being shut down to spring and all other sports to begin 9/21: an anonymous coach claimed there has been 1000 high school football games played across the county so far this fall and NOT ONE confirmed case of covid from any of them. I am not sure where he got his numbers and if they are accurate and he might have said 1000 athletes not games; but in either case, if true it shows sports CAN proceed if protocols are followed.

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The statement from Mark Benson used "pausing" not shutting down... see below:

ALBANY, N.Y. – Within the last 24 hours, the University at Albany in conjunction with the Albany County Department of Health announced a spike in Covid-19 cases within the campus community.

"As a result of a cluster of positive COVID-19 tests within our student athlete population, we are indefinitely pausing all athletic-related activities," said Director of Athletics Mark Benson. "Effective immediately, we also will shift to weekly pool testing of all student athletes as we continue to work with University leadership and the Albany County Department of Health to isolate and quarantine all impacted students."

Benson added, "The health and safety of our student athletes, staff, campus and greater community remains our number one priority. It's imperative that we all learn from this and follow the policies in place relative to COVID-19 to ensure that we are responsible community members.

Our top priority today, tomorrow and for as long as necessary must be taking the appropriate steps to stop the spread of this virus. Until then, it is premature to talk about a timeline for a resumption of athletic activities or competition."

For up-to-date information regarding Covid-19 cases on the University at Albany campus, please visit www.albany.edu/covid-19

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I guess he's protecting the staff.  But the kids?  Up to 1,249 cases w/ ONE hospitalization.  Meanwhile a new CDC study shows that "25.5% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 reported having seriously considered suicide in the previous 30 days."   We continue to view this in a vacuum.  There is another side of this Covid equation that is just swept under the rug.  And I'm not downplaying the deaths that have happened but there is no better place for these kids to be than the classroom and the athletic fields.  

From the CDC there's been 315 deaths in 15-24 year olds due to Covid since 2/1/20.  Meanwhile there's been 19,998 total deaths over the same period for the same population.  In that age group your 63X's more likely to die from something other than Covid.

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There were 40 cases among athletes in 1 day.  1 day.  From zero cases.  And most were in the Pine Hills off campus houses. In short, when 11% of your athletes test positive less than a week after practices begin, and most of those kids live off campus where they can infect others, including locals, then I’ve got zero issue if the department decided to shut it down. 
 

 

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Does cancelling sports suddenly remove these kids from society?   Will cancelling/pausing athletics stop them from gathering?  They will still live off campus.  They will still get together.  If they wear their masks when the go to stores, restaurants and other places aren't they really only putting themselves/each other at risk.

Sorry, other than punishing them I'm not sure what shutting it down accomplishes other than maybe, maybe slowing the spread between each other.  

Serious question:  After UNC had it's outbreak did the surrounding areas see any measurable bump?  Maybe too soon in Oneonta but we're approaching 2 weeks.  Has the city of Oneonta (other than the students) seen a big jump.  Not sure if the data is readily available but I'd love to know.

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Edited by McFan
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Last I looked, the school isn’t in the business of “adulting”.  It’s clear a structured life (what athletics brings) isn’t stopping them from not  “adulting”.  So at that point, the schools job is to keep the greater community of Ualbany safe, on campus.  What they do off campus is up to them.  And if anyone thinks Benson made this call on his own, I have a bridge to sell you. 

Edited by Dane96
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Agree 100% not Benson’s call.  He may not have even been given a courtesy call for his opinion.

That said, to me this is a PR move more than a science based safety move.  Nobody can be wrong in the wrong direction.  I get it.  Over the top better safe than sorry.  My two cents.

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19 hours ago, Dane96 said:

Anyone blaming Benson (and I often blame him for things) simply is not understanding the background to the decision.

This time, he should not shoulder the blame...rather, commended for protecting the kids and staff.

OK. Don"t know who to blame; but you protect kids, staff, community,  by finding the culprits, identifying those affected with covid--putting them in isolation, quarantine, penalize them if appropriate. By penalizing ALL sports, All kids, ALL fans, you are just grandstanding and "TRYING" to send a message. You are using the actions of a bad few to try and get everyone else to comply, even when MOST are complying already. I wear a mask, I social distance, I had my flu shot yesterday, will get covid vaccine when scientifically ready and I 100% supported total shutting down schools and non-eccential businesses this spring. Love him or hate him Cuomo did a great job controlling the virus in NY state, with controlled data driven re-openings. The NUMBERS the DATA @ UA do not support a total shut down at this point.  I get it; they are trying to keep the numbers low and everyone safe and to avoid a return to pandemic like numbers. But IMHO by penalizing everyone when MOST are already in-compliance, you are operating with threats and fear tactics and NOT science. Test, Trace, Isolate (penalize if you will) has proven successful. 

ps I humbly disagree that colleges are not in the business of "adulting".

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6 hours ago, dslyank said:

OK. Don"t know who to blame; but you protect kids, staff, community,  by finding the culprits, identifying those affected with covid--putting them in isolation, quarantine, penalize them if appropriate. By penalizing ALL sports, All kids, ALL fans, you are just grandstanding and "TRYING" to send a message. You are using the actions of a bad few to try and get everyone else to comply, even when MOST are complying already. I wear a mask, I social distance, I had my flu shot yesterday, will get covid vaccine when scientifically ready and I 100% supported total shutting down schools and non-eccential businesses this spring. Love him or hate him Cuomo did a great job controlling the virus in NY state, with controlled data driven re-openings. The NUMBERS the DATA @ UA do not support a total shut down at this point.  I get it; they are trying to keep the numbers low and everyone safe and to avoid a return to pandemic like numbers. But IMHO by penalizing everyone when MOST are already in-compliance, you are operating with threats and fear tactics and NOT science. Test, Trace, Isolate (penalize if you will) has proven successful. 

ps I humbly disagree that colleges are not in the business of "adulting".

Cuomo admittedly did a decent job on the phased reopening (other than being a giant Stony Brook canoe on this advisory - when other states wanted to ban NY'ers he screamed it was unconstitutional but now it's okay for him to do it) but the guy completely dropped the ball in the beginning with his BFF De Trashio and the NYS DOH official who were tweeting and telling people to continue to enjoy themselves, see a broadway show, etc. and then with his handling of the nursing home fiasco (which, IMO, = blood on his hands). Then you have the hospital fiasco in NYC where he needed a large hospital ship and tented hospital built; both of which he barely used (if at all). Oh, and then the whole ventilator thing where he could have bought them years ago, etc.

Cuomo is a loser, through and through. Easily the worst governor NY has had in decades (or rather, in my lifetime as an teen/young adult/adult (which is about 20 years).

Don't break your arm patting that moron on the back; he doesn't deserve it.

Edited by Eli
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My point was not to praise Cuomo. He certainly made his mistakes with the covid crisis. Not to name names or get political; but he handled the crisis far better than the leader/s in the White House and by the looks of things, far better than most other governors across the country. The crisis is/was pretty much un-precedented and everyone stumbled their way through it; including people in power, medicine and the public in general. But I digress:

My point is we have learned, data and best practices dictate:  masks, social distancing, testing, tracing and isolation are our best defenses until medicine and vaccines catch-up. Some people still seem to doubt these defenses or refuse to follow out of ignorance or personal freedom issues or {readers free to choose a reason for non-compliance}. Many college students think they are invincible, would rather party then get an education or play sports. Maybe they are just being youthful rebels, we've all been there. But society has rules and laws to protect the general public for the good of ALL. Those rebelling or just being stupid or refusing to follow such rules, need to face the consequences.

My point in this long winded tirade is, punish the violators NOT EVERYONE.  In New York we have reached a point and the data supports this that MOST people ARE following the proper protocols. In NY which UA falls into, MOST have suffered {some more than others} 7+ months of this covid pandemic and have made sacrifices and followed the rules to reach a point where we can/have gotten this thing under control {data proven}.  It is NOT OVER, but we certainly reached a point where MOST PEOPLE following the rules, should NOT be punished for the digressions of a few IDIOTS {readers feel free to replace/ignore this adjective.}

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