mgokev

December 22nd, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^

For the National Championship, “If a team cannot play” should mean if they have fewer than 11 negative-test players. 

If your 5 best offensive players and 3 all American defenders are sick, tough shit. No postponement. Field a team with who you have. 

Joined: 06/17/2009

MGoPoints: 18955

bronxblue

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:23 PM ^

I say this as someone who has been a strong advocate for the safety of students and continued mitigation against the spread of COVID, especially before the vaccines were generally available - this is a bugnuts approach by the CFP.  I don't think you'll see any team have to forfeit but I fear this is just encouraging teams to not test their players and that feels counter-intuitive.  

If the players are fully immunized and have a booster + are showing only minor symptoms that shouldn't preclude them from playing.  Practically speaking I've known people who have had to go to work with absolute assholes who don't wear masks, aren't immunized, and in at least one case suspected he had COVID but still went to work (sans mask) because he didn't think it was a big deal and the fully immunized people were fine.  

It's a difficult balancing act here and I get the NCAA/CFP wanting to take safe measures but this feels like a situation where you're just going to encourage sub-optimal behavior out of participating teams.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171742

ERdocLSA2004

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^

I agree with you.  Covid 19 is the only infectious disease where we are forcing asymptomatic people to be tested against a virus they are vaccinated against.  I’m assuming that all student athletes are vaccinated per UofM’s policy.  No idea why we are still testing asymptomatic people unless they have had close exposure defined by the CDC. There is a reason healthcare workers aren’t being tested if they are vaccinated unless they are symptomatic.  Im not sure why this protocol is good enough for hospitals but not for student athletes.

Joined: 01/08/2011

MGoPoints: 15855

BPoneBeGone

December 22nd, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^

"There is a reason healthcare workers aren’t being tested if they are vaccinated unless they are symptomatic."  

 

There is a huge difference here.  Healthcare workers are wearing masks all day at work.  Football players are all exerting themselves, unmasked, in close proximity to each other for an extended time period.

Joined: 12/22/2021

MGoPoints: 41

FrankMurphy

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:59 PM ^

I'm fine with extending full deference to medical experts and public health officials on whether a team should play or not. I might even be okay with allowing a team to advance to the NCG by way of forfeit. But if the NCG can't be played, then no national championship should be awarded. Period. I know that wouldn't be a satisfying outcome to anyone, but that's life sometimes. The 2020 NCAA Basketball Tournament was canceled, and yet life went on.

If the NCG has to be canceled and you absolutely must award a national championship, then at least put it to a vote, like in the old days. Automatically awarding a national championship to a team that didn't play in the NCG just because the other team had to forfeit due to COVID-19 is just loony tunes, if you ask me.

Joined: 08/19/2008

MGoPoints: 31969

BlueinKyiv

December 22nd, 2021 at 3:15 PM ^

And why do you think teams are currently "encouraged" to test their players.  I understand all the cases we are learning about have to do with symptoms and scared staff / players getting tested.....which then leads others who spent time with them  to also independently choose to get tested.  It is not the Olympic Games.

In any case, I don't think its realistic to think that any of this can be rescheduled.  Bowl games are not on college campuses and the contracted stadiums and events are not that flexible especially when you have to turn around and have the finals game as well. 

 

Joined: 04/05/2017

MGoPoints: 4226

aa_squared

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^

Whatever!!! You can only prepare for what is available at your pre-determined time.

If any of the teams have covid, hopefully the appropriate action is taken, and someone will benefit.   "*"

GO BLUE!!!!

Joined: 07/19/2019

MGoPoints: 8126

Njia

December 22nd, 2021 at 7:56 PM ^

Not so fast. The days of states in SEC country laughing at every other state over C-19 numbers appear to be over. I don’t know about GA and AL, but FL posted almost 30,000 cases last Friday, a jump from 13,000 week-over-week.  It’s almost a certainty that nearby states are seeing similar outbreaks. If the waste water testing is accurate, then almost all of those infections are omicron, which should be mild for vaccinated student-athletes. 

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 35773

uofmchris2

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:47 PM ^

Let's just say hypothetically one of the four teams has to forfeit. 

That is going to  be the single biggest asterisk behind a National Champion team in the history of the NCAA.

:)

 

 

Joined: 10/31/2020

MGoPoints: 12929

FrankMurphy

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:48 PM ^

I am not in favor of this, even if it ends up benefiting Michigan. If the NCG can't be played because one team is hit with a COVID outbreak and the game can't be rescheduled, then they should just not award a national championship this year.

A national championship that was awarded by forfeit would have the biggest asterisk ever in the history of asterisks. 

Joined: 08/19/2008

MGoPoints: 31969

mistersuits

December 22nd, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^

It says either negative test OR vaccinated. Sounds clear to me like if you're vaccinated you won't need to be tested. Michigan's entire team will be vaccinated, ergo, no issues!

Joined: 01/27/2010

MGoPoints: 4522

Firstbase

December 22nd, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^

I recently read M's team isn't 100% vaxxed. Close, but not all. That said, a person can still test positive whether or not you received the shots. The lesson here is that PCR tests are not reliable. See link. Further, you can contract and transmit the virus whether or not you received the shots. 

Given these now known issues, how can we ever get to the point where we're really sure of someone's COVID status? If you test positive but are asymptomatic, should you be able to play and participate in society? In my book, yes. If you're asymptomatic, I don't think you can transmit. 

I dunno. This whole bloody thing is such a circus now.

Joined: 09/30/2009

MGoPoints: 9411

Hail Harbo

December 22nd, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^

A PCR test could be 100% reliable, vaccines aren't preventing infection by omicron, the most prevalent strain of Covid in the US.  Moreover, it would appear that omicron is spreading so rapidly because the symptoms are either non-existent or so mild the infected don't know they are spreading the disease.  On the other hand, thus far in the US there has been only one death in any way connected to omicron, and while the cases are going up, hospitalization rates are coming down.

The dire warnings from federal authorities notwithstanding, omicron becoming the dominate strain of Covid is good news, it is but a matter of time, hopefully sooner rather than later, that Covid will join the ranks of a couple of other corona viruses that are in part responsible for the common cold.

Joined: 06/18/2015

MGoPoints: 13428

Njia

December 22nd, 2021 at 8:01 PM ^

At an individual level, I’m not terribly concerned about omicron either. But the problem is math. If omicron causes 80% less serious disease but infects 10X the number of people, you’re getting 2X the number of hospitalizations. If those happen in a short period, e.g. a month, you’ll crush the healthcare system.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 35773

kalamazoo

December 22nd, 2021 at 3:12 PM ^

Given there are 3 forfeits, which I would never ideally want, I don't care if the remaining team is crowned National Championship.

It's quite an achievement to outlast this season with many wins and lower covid and who cares if it is not the best team. Still better than 95% of the other teams who didn't even make the playoff (unless Cincinnati, in which case still better than 80% of the teams...my opinion only).

I do wish there was less attention paid to vaccinated, boosted, and covid-positive but asymptotic players though. Seems they are doing a lot to reduce their own sickness, and more importantly, the time the virus is contagious.

If all players (including positive, asymptotic players) could be quarantined before and after the game for about 7 days with only their teammates, they would pretty much be model citizens versus the rest of society that is spreading it like wildfire and often in an unvaccinated way (longer time virus is contagious).

Joined: 08/20/2010

MGoPoints: 2566

Don

December 22nd, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^

"If both teams are unable to play on either an original or rescheduled date, then the game shall be declared "no contest" and the CFP National Championship shall be vacated for this season."

This is bullshit—if this scenario occurs, then the obvious, legitimate, and rightful National Champions are the University of Omicron Fighting Viruses.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148358

Michrider41

December 22nd, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^

Nothing says the shots don’t work like a team with 100% of their players having the taken shot testing positive for Covid.  The PCR tests don’t work. If they can’t test for the original virus, how do they test for any variants?  They can’t. This whole thing is turning into a farce.  Omicron is a mild cold, if that.  To cancel these games over some people having a cold is a joke. Could you imagine Michael Jordan sitting out the NBA Finals when he had the flu?  

Joined: 07/26/2016

MGoPoints: 2980