The Gang Writes Unverified Voracity For It
You know what's far too relevant in 2020, in all cases? It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Today's episode is The Gang Wants Football. We've got Bird Law:
Asked him. Small part of today’s story. And spare me the lecture on journalism, bro. pic.twitter.com/2rDD2UMTYz
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 24, 2020
Bryan, our resident law-talking guy, refers to this as "possibly the most insane legal theory I have ever read." Says something in 2020.
We've got Dr. Mantis Toboggan, MD, parachuting in from the internet where all things are lies:
Ackerman wedged his way into the discussion via Twitter, posting that shutting down college sports based on data about myocarditis would be “NONSENSE!” He said that, two days later, he received an email from a Big 12 athletic director, whose name he could not recall, who asked “would you be interested in expounding on your 250-character tweet” during that night’s meeting of Big 12 university presidents.
This guy is definitely on the up-and-up!
When asked by The New York Times if he could check his email for the athletic director’s name, Ackerman later replied that it was instead a Big 12 official. Asked for the name of the official, Ackerman said on Friday that the invitation had come through his secretary and that she was not working that day.
Meanwhile the university's plan to re-open bears a strong resemblance to the D.E.N.N.I.S. system. We appear to be on exiting stage four (Nurture Dependence) and entering stage four (Neglect Emotionally).
[After THE JUMP: more baffling quotes from this one New York Times article]
Concealment isn't going so well, but... So you've got a bunch of people who are furious about football being canceled who demand to see the receipts. I find this to be an unconvincing argument about why football should be played. I also think that we should see the damn receipts.
On the other hand, you've got Ohio State front and center in the protest movement—Fields, and Ryan Day is continually amplifying the There Are Dozens Of Us people—while they are prohibiting the release of information. From the Mantis Toboggan article in the NYT:
Daniels said he is prohibited by the school from revealing how many athletes who had the virus have been tested, how many attend Ohio State, what sport they play, the severity of the myocarditis symptoms, what parts of the heart it attacks, or most other questions about the data. He said only that 13 to 15 percent have shown symptoms of myocarditis, which he revealed only because Gov. Mike DeWine had coaxed it out of him during a news conference.
So the same institution that is roaring about football being played and the transparency of the process is refusing to allow timely information from the team doctor from being released. This is what I mean by bullshit processism.
Also in baffling quotes from one NYT article. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who previously issued a quote asserting that the B12 would pull back on football after their wheels left the tracks, on explaining himself:
Meanwhile, Bob Bowlsby, the Big 12 commissioner, said he did not feel compelled to release the medical underpinnings for his conference’s decision to continue playing, even though new infection rates remained high in the counties of half its universities. “Well, if we got to the point where we were going to not play it probably requires more of an explanation,” he told reporters on a conference call. “The decision to continue to move forward and stay the course, I think, is a different one.”
Filed under Reasons This Is Happening To The USA. Bowlsby's the cowboy on top of the nuke right now.
Sitting out. Georgia State's quarterback had COVID, got myocarditis, and is now sitting out the season:
…a trainer advised him to get his heart checked out, due to growing concern about heart issues stemming from COVID-19, so Colasurdo underwent an EKG and a cardiogram on Wednesday.
The trainer called him Wednesday night and said something was abnormal. A visit to a cardiologist Thursday morning confirmed a word spreading across college football: myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that has been linked to the coronavirus and increases the chance of sudden cardiac death.
“The cardiologist was pretty confident it’s a case more on the mild side,” Colasurdo told The Athletic. “A lot of it is going to just be precautionary because they really just don’t know what’s going to happen in the long term. If the cardiologist wasn’t super worried, I’m doing OK.”
The recommendation is that athletes sit out three months, which is the length of a college football season. If there is widespread transmission—a near-certainty—you're going to have something like 10-15 percent of college football knockedout for the season, and that's if they diligently catch all the cases.
There are dozens of us. Randy Wade's protest drew more reporters than protestors:
By my count, 30-plus reporters, 26 family members. https://t.co/5OZ7KaDcwF
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) August 21, 2020
Someone cited the global pandemic as a reason for low attendance. Close, but no potato. Anyway, these people stood in front of an empty building and chanted stuff.
I do have some sympathy for this argument:
"These kids basically self-quarantined for three months," Kyle Borland, father of Ohio State linebacker and co-captain Tuf Borland, and a former linebacker at Wisconsin, told ESPN. "They did everything the NCAA asked them to do, everything Ohio State asked them to do, for a chance to play the season. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Then, to have it pulled out at the eleventh hour, is really disappointing."
That's because I have also done that, and now there is no football. But this isn't the Big Ten's fault. It's everyone who blew off a global pandemic because they have goldfish brains.
Monitoring. Michigan basketball fans who don't follow the NBA too closely (hello) think of Adrian Wojnarowski as the most destructive force in the universe:
ESPN Sources: A possible NBA coaching candidate whose name is gaining traction within front offices: Michigan coach Juwan Howard. Howard has an obviously strong resume as a player and later an assistant under Erik Spoelstra. He interviewed for Lakers, Cavs before taking UM job.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 24, 2020
Anyone who says "never" after John Beilein left a lifetime job where he was adored for the Cleveland Cavaliers—who, uh, did not adore him—isn't paying attention. That said, you would think that Howard is likely to stay around for the careers of his sons Jace and (probably) Jett, if not longer.
UPDATE: Howard released a pretty definitive statement that says "no."
More enjoyable NBA things. Trey Burke has carved out a role for himself on the best offense in NBA history:
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle made a brilliant switch Sunday by going smaller with his starting lineup and inserting Trey Burke, who has been a revelation since signing with the Mavs as a substitute player before the bubble. Burke destroyed the Clippers’ defense, which isn’t playing a traditional point guard with Patrick Beverley out. He finished with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
Burke has been the perfect tag-team partner for Doncic in this series. Doncic goes from a net rating of plus-16.7 in 53 minutes with Burke to minus-11.6 in 89 minutes without him.
The journeyman point guard gives Dallas a second ball handler who can pressure defenses at the rim. The Mavs’ other primary scorers—Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Seth Curry—are all mostly jump shooters. Doncic can swing the ball to Burke after drawing multiple defenders in the paint and count on him to do the same thing. He doesn’t have to do quite as much on offense with Burke sharing some of the ballhandling responsibility, which has been an issue for the Mavs, particularly in crunch time. Burke’s presence on the floor is stretching the Clippers’ defense past its breaking point. It’s the role Dennis Smith Jr. was supposed to fill in Dallas.
Very happy to see Burke make a home for himself in the NBA.
Etc.: Michigan has not formally submitted a waiver for Chaundee Brown yet. European football as emirate-washing. The New Yorker(?!) on Ultima IV. Alabama has "entered a 14-day moratorium" on in-person activities. Positive test rates there: 29%.
NCAA issues blanket waiver that says everyone, playing or not, gets an extra year of eligibility. This is going to seriously mess up our depth chart by class. The Onion is not fiction. Iowa discontinues four sports, most of which cost about as much as one Kirk Ferentz bonus.
Oliver Martin walks on at Nebraska.
August 24th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
Is it too late to change course on a fall season?
August 24th, 2020 at 1:36 PM ^
As far as the teams are concerned, no. I don't think they've stopped practicing.
As far as Kevin Warren's statements are concerned, yes. I don't know who authored and/or approved those statements, but they put the school presidents in a corner. And none of them are named Baby...
August 24th, 2020 at 1:39 PM ^
Iowa I know has not been practicing
August 24th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
Warren has stated pretty clearly (its the one thing he HAS been clear about) that the decision is final and there's no going backwards.
August 25th, 2020 at 1:46 PM ^
Afraid so...?
August 24th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
re: ETC.
The New Yorker(?!) on Ultima IV.
This was mostly likely written based on the netflix special, "High Score" that recently came out and features an episode dedicated to the history of the RPG, in which the creator, Richard Garriott, was interviewed. During this episode, the documentary alleges that the origins of using an avatar in RPGs/MMOs was Ultima IV: The Quest for an Avatar
August 24th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
I know this must be a good explanation to the "(?!)" because I have no idea what any of it means.
I mean that's on me, but yeah, I feel old.
August 25th, 2020 at 10:24 AM ^
I figure it means he's surprised that the New Yorker would write an article about an old RPG, but I could be wrong
August 25th, 2020 at 1:34 PM ^
Word nerd alert! It's the modern English language equivalent of the Interabang...
August 24th, 2020 at 6:56 PM ^
Ran into Garriott at the world premiere of Predators 10 years ago or so. I saw Adrian Brody and Robert Rodriguez, but meeting video game royalty was the highlight of that day.
August 24th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
It can't be said enough: The people pooh-pooh-ing the pandemic in order to have football are the very same idiots responsible for getting football canceled.
So, thanks, you stupid jerks.
August 24th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
I don't know that 'people pooh-pooh-ing' the pandemic off has anything to do with our current situation. I think the athletes are NOT taking this decision lightly but they have put their entire lives into training for this moment and are willing to take a measured risk to play.
Other people that want sports are not necessarily pooh-pooh-ing the pandemic off, they just may live on more rural areas where covid is next to non-existent.
My opinion is that if schools are unwilling to have students in classrooms, I see zero arguments to support playing any sports (or having any other extracurricular activities) at all.
It's really that simple... if it is viewed to be unsafe to go to class, then it has to be viewed as being unsafe to play sports.
August 24th, 2020 at 8:50 PM ^
I think the argument was cross infecting other programs and thus students.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:24 PM ^
It can't be said enough: The people who want football canceled and schools closed are the same people who have the resources and privilege to avoid most of the negative consequences of those closures.
See these simplistic arguments work both ways. The truth is of course more complicated than that. The us vs. them framework you are promoting here does not really help us find solutions to a complex problem with no clear answers.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
I dunno about that last bit. Sure seems like there are answers across the rest of the modern world.
August 24th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
Based on the answers from the rest of the world, what should we be doing?
August 25th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
It depends on which 24-hour news station is filling you with pure unfiltered truth as you brush your teeth in the morning.
August 25th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
What WE SHOULD have done is what Korea did do!
What we should do NOW having failed that, is a bit more complex!
But according to a map I saw today, the only state that was colored Red (new positives up over 50%) is the one that has Sturgis in it.
So I have a suggestion what NOT to do!
(If you don't reply "yeah but what about" protests I'll be devastated!)
August 24th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
I am not saying I agree with school / no school, sports / no sports... I just can't see an institution making a valid argument for sports if they are not having in person school.
I live in a semi rural area and we thankfully are being given a choice to either send our kids in person or to do virtual (for K-12). We are sending our kids for in person school because our area has little to no covid, our teachers are not trained to teach virtually, and we feel they will get a much better education in person.
Personally I think all of these choices need to be made by the individual schools. Smaller rural schools can probably safely go back and also have sports. Larger more urban schools, not so much.
August 24th, 2020 at 3:43 PM ^
OK Chicken Little
August 24th, 2020 at 1:30 PM ^
The world right now is very, very weird...not necessarily scary, just very weird.
August 24th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^
PSG in the finals is 2020's way of sneaking one in.
(I was a fan when I lived in Paris but that was pre-Qatar.)
August 24th, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
Instead of trying to scrape together money by getting shafted by Ulrichs or the Union Bookstore, Harbaugh should keep the playbook to sell for half-price to a freshman and try his hand at some Always Sunny.
I hear they have the best milk steaks boiled over hard and served with their finest jelly beans.
Fucking 2020, man.
August 24th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
A parent protester citing a global pandemic as the reason for low turnout hurts my brain.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
the stupidity in that comment is...uh...remarkable is the word?
August 24th, 2020 at 2:47 PM ^
And doing so in an empty dystopia suburbs mall designed for biz conferences that aren't happening!
August 24th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
I feel awful for the kids, even OSU ones, who did what they were told and followed the rules so that they may be able to play in the fall, only to see a bunch of cooler poopers ruin it because they thought their freedoms were under attack due to having to wear a mask when they pick up groceries. But sadly, that's where we are as a country, and it likely won't change until a vaccine comes out.
That said, and I'm an absolutely shitty lawyer, the legal theory expounded in that article is bananas and would likely be laughed out of a courtroom. The fact Rittenberg didn't push back on it, apparently, is bad (I generally think he's reasonably good at writing these types of articles).
August 24th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
Going to need a citation to show that the cooler poopers not wearing masks into grocery stores are the primary spreaders of covid and not large inner city populations living on top of each other...
August 24th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
Well, for one thing there aren't that many "large inner city populations living on top of each other" in this country. The current hotspots in the US by county are definitely not in areas I'd consider particularly dense (couple of counties in MS, GA, western Texas, etc.). Yes, places where more people live will likely have more cases than places where people aren't, but that's true for most things.
Also, we continue to have thousands of deaths a day despite the fact that large cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas, and Houston don't have particularly high infection or death rates (at least not to the degree that would cause this high death and infection rates).
August 25th, 2020 at 12:05 AM ^
From the link you just posted....
In California, Florida and Texas, the states with the most known cases, a combined 1.8 million people have had the coronavirus. In some less populous states, including Vermont and Wyoming, there are fewer than 5,000 patients each. And in a handful of remote counties, there has been not even one positive test.
The nation’s most populous places have all suffered tremendously. In Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, more than 4,900 people have died. In Los Angeles County, Calif., at least 226,000 people have had the virus, more than in most states. And in New York City, about one of every 360 residents has died.
Thanks for confirming my point. It has also been written a ton that the reason NYC is not currently a hot spot is because the bulk of the population has already had it.
August 25th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
where has it been written a ton?
how do you define 'the bulk of the population'? 10%? 20%? 50%?
'Going to need a citation'. yes please.
look at where the current hot spots are.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
look at which states have the highest cases per 100,000. also look at the trends.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html#states
August 25th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
You read that next paragraph, right? Like, literally the next paragraph after the two you cited.
But unlike in the early days of the pandemic, it is not so simple to say that big cities have been hit hardest. On a per capita basis, many of the places with the most cases have been small and mid-sized metros in the Southwest with large Native American or Hispanic populations.
If it was truly only an issue for populated cities then we wouldn't have 1200 people dying a day because a lot of the major cities (that I linked below) are down in terms of cases. So again, hotspots aren't just major cities. I'd also like to add that using Wyoming and Vermont is selective by the author; Wyoming's neighbor to the west (Idaho), for example, has an infection rate (1 per 63 residents) similar to NY and MA (they are both in the high 1 per 40s).
Also, going to need a citation on this ongoing "herd immunity" talk people keep referencing. I have friends who live in NYC and I like in Boston; I can tell you that the biggest reason the numbers are down is because people take this very seriously and have good mask compliance and reasonable social distancing in most circumstances.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^
I am pretty sure they are in stage 5, Inspire Hope. The universities have showed up at the student's windows telling them they can come back... right up until the Separate Entirely and send them back home. EMU told them they can come back in 3 weeks...
August 24th, 2020 at 2:24 PM ^
The B1G has found something more contagious than Covid - Oliver Martin.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:43 PM ^
While the MSM puts out a highly flawed product, I don’t think we’re quite ready yet to dump them in favor of random twitter users claiming to have inside sources. This is yet another example why.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:44 PM ^
I believe bird law is now one of the basic first-year classes in law school: Con Law, Torts, Criminal Law, Procedure, and Bird Law. Guest professors Larry Bird, Robin Thicke, and Screaming Jay Hawkins.
August 24th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Two guys I knew in high school are doctors now. Would anyone like my considered medical / scientific opinion on any of this?
August 24th, 2020 at 3:03 PM ^
With each passing day Im getting angrier at Kevin Warren.. Cancelling FB was premature and now as they are getting ready to start ion the other major conference the B10 looks like fools
August 24th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
Yes, but it was in the cards for the Big Ten to look like fools through early September. Come mid-September, the script will flip.
August 24th, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
Warren is the messenger only, for the schools who voted.
August 24th, 2020 at 9:43 PM ^
Well, that will put Warren and the Big Ten back in its place. Too bad you can’t talk some sense into those arrogant immunologists.
/s
August 24th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
Are sports happening yet?
August 24th, 2020 at 3:25 PM ^
So many golden quotes. Goldfish brains is my fave.
August 24th, 2020 at 3:38 PM ^
Me too, even if only watching that analogy go over really well with certain posters on this board.
August 24th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
Since this whole argument has become political heres a Interesting Fact....the 2 power five conferences that cancelled football are mostly Blue states or now Purpleish states ie PA, MI, WI, OH and the 3 conferenes that are playing football are mostly Red states..almost all...the Mortality rate in Blue states is twice as high as in Red states..why is that?....DISCUSS
August 24th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
Going to need a citation for that "double mortality" rate you're claiming.
August 25th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
Not to wade into the political aspect of it all and to keep the discussion a little more focused on football, looking at the states where they have decided against football in the B1G footprint in the Midwest and NE and comparing them with the southern states where they have decided to try and play, the mortality rate is almost exactly half in the southern states.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/
Midwest/NE States - Avg Death Rate per 100,000 people: 78.6
Southern States - Avg Death Rate per 100,000 people: 38.3
August 25th, 2020 at 1:20 PM ^
deaths usually follow with a delay to cases since it does not kill quickly.
are the majority of cases down south more recent than the northern states?
August 24th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
So you’re suggesting that Red States are under political pressure to play football, open schools, and open bars/restaurants despite any risks?
August 25th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Population density.
DISCUSSION OVER
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