Department of Health - Shutdown was a recommendation, not an order
New article this morning - https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2021/01/24/michigan-athletic-department-no-choice-but-shut-down-2-weeks/6694672002/
Shot - "The MDHHS, according to the memo, recommended Michigan suspend all practices and games for two weeks, and expand testing and public messaging about how to prevent the spread of the virus. All athletes, coaches and associated staff members are to quarantine for two weeks."
Chaser - "When asked in an email what potential penalties Michigan might face if it did not follow the recommendations, Stufin replied, “no penalties.” When told of that response, a Michigan athletic department official again said that was not the department’s interpretation of the memorandum."
January 25th, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
Warde doing Warde things.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:11 AM ^
They're putting Warde in a bad position - "disobey" their recommendation and someone gets sick in the next two weeks and you open yourself up to all kinds of crap, "obey" it and it hurts the team and pisses off fans.
I've seen behind-the-scenes decision making in large organizations, including during this pandemic, and if there's one thing for certain it's that there are going to be people complaining and saying you didn't do it right no matter what your decision is.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
Exactly right Ypsi. Well said.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^
Which is why nobody wants to make any decisions during this pandemic.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:08 AM ^
Yeah, and in this case "pissing off fans" loses to possibly having to deal with basically your boss (the state of Michigan) being pissed you didn't comply with their "suggestion" and also possibly exposed them (and the school) to liability.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
One of the more recent episodes of the shutdown fullcast, Spencer laid it out in stark terms. The NCAA had no plan because it left open the potential for failure. If you don't have a plan, no one can hold you to it. It felt really bleak but accurate.
Airing on the side of caution is really the only thing that feels prudent here
January 25th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
Serious question, no snark intended. What is "erring on the side of caution" in this case? These guys test daily. Are you saying shut the whole season down?
Did anybody from either basketball program (mens or women's) have contact with someone who tested positive in the past 14 days?
If not, how is this different than proceeding with the game against Purdue last week?
January 25th, 2021 at 11:44 AM ^
The point being made that Warde is in a lose/lose situation. While not being compelled to halt all athletic activities, he walks a fine line of CYA and risking only one student athlete getting hit with this new virus strain. It's not an easy decision, either way.
The student athletes must continue living in a bubble for now, which is no fun.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
The one item that rarely seems to get mentioned on here due, most likely, because we fans tend to be a bit myopic, is that U of M is part of a community where the vast majority of people are not students to say nothing about student athletes.
At one point before the recommendation went out to go completely on-line, 61% of the Covid cases were directly attributable to the University. I would venture a guess that a good deal more spread came from students out and about.
With how transmissible the UK strain is, I believe the Ann Arbor community needs to be considered as part of the reasons why things need to be controlled and athletics curtailed until we get a handle on things. I say this as someone who lives in Ann Arbor and in normal times goes to all home football games and many hoops and hockey games as well as donating to Michigan Athletics. With our bball success this season I hate like hell to have things curtailed but I'd rather do that for a few weeks than have this community pay a larger price than it already has.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
Reminds me of... politics.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
Spot on. I work in a large school district, and there is no way we are ever going to go against state government or the Health Department on anything they say, whether it's an order or a recommendation, and whether we agree with them or not. No upside in doing so, tons of downside in terms of liability and PR.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^
It almost feels the angst toward Warde, carries over from Brandon, and its en vogue. Fact is, Warde in his one big hire hit it out of park... pundits said it was a terrible hire...rather, it was the best hire in Juwan.
Can tease him in good spirit, about eating too many donuts, as they did Hoke, as they should be in shape, but that is the extent of it so far, for other criticism is unmerited. And now with this two week "recommendation", they just tied his hands.
Let this be the voice of the unsilent majority, when I say, "Well done, AD Warde (and cut back on the cake :) "
I digress... if infected, don't they test positive after day 5?
January 25th, 2021 at 9:49 AM ^
I don’t know if the fat shaming is part of the silent majority.
But as a fat person, no offense taken. Not that I am Warde fat. Yet.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
I agree with sentiments about Warde. I don't really understand why Brian and some people on this blog give him more flack than he deserves. Really the only two things that matter to an outsider/fan like myself are having a financially prudent athletic department and hiring/managing coaches. Retaining Harbaugh would not have been my first choice but to act like any of us had some great idea in the middle of the pandemic is laughable.
Is he perfect? No. But the consistent critical takes I see about him are almost laughable. "He doesn't have a backbone - he won't rip person 'X' when they've screwed or slighted Michigan." I'll never understand people that want high ranking officials at Michigan to tear into people publicly and expect something good to come out of it in the future. Take refs for example: Do you honestly think calling out a ref is going to get us a holding call at an opportune time in the future from that crew or buddies? Also, don't even get me started on the people that blame Warde for ticket prices. No, he hasn't lowered them. Neither did any of the previous AD's and the next AD won't either.
Warde is a perfectly fine AD. Hockey hire was good, basketball appears to be great. He's handled Covid about as well as anyone can. What more do you want?
January 25th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
I'll never understand people that want high ranking officials at Michigan to tear into people publiclly and expect something good to come out of it in the future.
It's usually because these folks have never had a position in life/work ever that actually require them to lead or work with people cooperatively
They don't understand diplomacy or long-term thinking in terms of people management
Only knee-jerk feelingsball
January 25th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
Well stated. Knee-jerk feelingsball basically dominates all sectors of the public square these days. People in their underwear emoting from behind a computer screen.
Years ago I laughed when my grumpy uncle bellowed: "These computers are going to be the end of us all!' Now I'm the grumpy uncle.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
Woah, woah, woah. Totally unfair to drag donuts into this argument, man. Really uncool.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^
Why don’t you just apply for the job and show him just how to do it perfectly during the pandemic. Because I’m sure you’re over qualified.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
avatar checks out.
nothing like bitching about warde manuel erring on the side of caution in the midst of a, you know, global goddamned pandemic.
warde manuel being careful, what an idiot.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
Warde was doing the right thing to implement the county recommendation. You cannot fault him for that.
You CAN fault him for not establishing a quarantine process for people travelling overseas, especially to hotbeds like UK. I don't know why you would even allow your athletes to travel there.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
In principle I agree with this, but I'm not really sure how the AD stops a student from visiting the United Kingdom during winter break. I'm more surprised that the government over there let the kid in and then the government over here let the kid come back.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
How do you know there is no quarantine process? The department cannot lock people up, nor can they suspend travel when an athlete decides to go somewhere. When the traveler gets back, it's on that person to self-quarantine - and to do so properly. If that person decides not to show personal integrity, and violate basic quarantining guidelines, well, there isn't much anyone can do about it.
So, no, we do not have to blame everything on Warde. Most (if not all) of the blame must be laid squarely on the person who chose to not to follow basic guidelines to self-quarantine after international travel during a global pandemic.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
That may apply for some random person on the street, but this is not the case. There are coaches, support staff, and other team members who can clearly see if the person is following the quarantine protocol and report if there are any violations. Warde should have established clear quarantine protocols including where the person is to quarantine, how to make sure that person is following the protocol and what to do if there are any violations.
Clearly, there was no process or that process failed. That is on the AD.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:55 AM ^
It feels like everybody assuming that protocols weren’t followed are ignoring that this extreme measure is due to the specific variant that may be more contagious. The whole point of it being more contagious is that some of the very protocols may not work as well as intended. Maybe they were followed pretty damn closely and they still didn’t work.
I want to watch basketball too, but it’s a fucking pandemic. Stop trying to find fault with every single decision the university makes. It’s exhausting.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
I don't care about 2 weeks of missing games. I care about exposing students to COVID needlessly.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
"The department cannot lock people up..."
They absolutely can. Athletic departments & coaches set all sorts of rules for athletes in order to participate in sports (e.g., "Show up for testing every other day at such & such time" ; "be at practice for 2 hours, starting at 8am."). There is no question they could, if they wanted to, say to anyone traveling overseas (especially the UK -- the world's biggest hotspot over Christmas) that they need to be quarantined for 10 days upon return.
Not this bullshit "self-quarantining" which means, "Hey, try to stay in your house/dorm, limit where you go, and be careful." Actual, "pick you up directly from the airport and have someone wearing PPE take you immediately to a place of isolation." This is how Hong Kong, Australia, China, etc do it.
The University of Michigan literally has dorms set up for "isolation" quarantining. There are 31 people in them right now. That's where you go if you are found to have COVID.
https://campusblueprint.umich.edu/dashboard/
U of M screwed up. They relied solely on testing, which is a great step, but not enough for people traveling, especially to known hot spots. And now we are on a two week "pause."
January 25th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
while it's obviously true that the department can't "lock people up," and there are always bad actors, it's the responsibility of the athletic department to be crystal clear with the athletes: "look - we can't stop you from travelling. we CAN, however, stop you from participating AT ALL for some period of time if you do so." and if they were really smart about it, there would be a punitive aspect beyond the reflexive two-week period.
i think it would be valid to put at least some blame on warde manuel if that did not occur, or if the department was...less strident than they could have been.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
I don’t know why you think Warde knows about, let alone has the power to stop, and adult from going somewhere over winter break.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
You can tell the athletes that if they leave the campus for travel that they cannot rejoin the team this year. That would stop them for visiting places like UK.
Basketball team has been doing this since summer. It is quite unfair for careless few to ruin things for others who have been diligent about this.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^
You think the athletic department hasn't briefed the students on CoViD precautions and quarantines?
January 25th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
it's obviously not a question of being briefed on precautions and quarantines. it's a question of what limitations you put on the the athletes, and what repercussions they will experience if they don't follow them.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
It also seems quite unfair to be controlling the lives and travel of 20 year olds so the university can put on meaningless athletic competitions
January 25th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
You should tell that to NCAA...
January 25th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
That would seem to fall above him as well...the university should have things set up for students who travel abroad. They should be the ones laying out the quarantine process, not the Athletic Department.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Do we even know the student told anybody he or she was going to the UK?
January 25th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
I don't think you prohibit the oversees trip. We still should have basic freedoms. Who knows the reason? Close family member is gravely ill or passed away?
What I am curious about is the protocol to make sure the right people were aware of the trip and the quarantine process enforced upon return. Since we don't know where or why that broke down, I'm not going to blame the AD without more info. Maybe the student lied or purposely deceived people? Who knows.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:01 AM ^
RABBLE!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:01 AM ^
WSJ was reporting this yesterday.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
We'll be in 1st place for two more weeks at least.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:03 AM ^
If this is the case, then the optimistic take is that the university will aggressively test all members of the athletic department over the next 7-10 days and, for those who have not been deemed to be direct contacts (or even indirect contacts) of the infected individual, there can be a return to play prior to 14 days. Seems like that would balance the need for caution against the desire to resume activities.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
Whenever I think the AD can't be any more incompetent, they prove me wrong.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
I love the number of geniuses we have on the board.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:17 PM ^
Our fanbase is not smarter than others.
January 25th, 2021 at 3:26 PM ^
No shit...alot of the time they're also moonlighting as virologists and infectious disease experts.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
I honestly don't care that much about this distinction. It sounds like both sides are looking to blame the other but both got the outcome they wanted. An abundance of caution.
Edit: Eh, I just read the memo. Even though I still don't exactly care, it is hard to see how or why UM attempted to pin this on MDHHS. They called it a strongly worded letter or that it strong-armed them? If so, there's context to this that's not contained within the memo itself.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:11 AM ^
Nothing out of the ordinary here. When the Department of Health recommends you shut down, you should probably listen. Being cautious with the lives of our young athletes,coaches/volunteers/and families in contact with the program, is the smart thing to do. Glad they did the right thing
January 25th, 2021 at 9:13 AM ^
The positive way to look at this is that Michigan Basketball will be healthy, rested, and ready while the rest of the league beats up on each other over the next two weeks.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^
On the flip side, our team won’t have played or practiced for two weeks and will have to pick right up where they left off. This isn’t the shit conference Villanova plays in where they can come back and play a couple scrubs. Not only were we on a roll, we had a few winnable games before starting the tougher half of our schedule. Now we will have to navigate the tough half of the schedule while making up all these missed games. The program was doing everything correct and following all safety protocols but is being lumped in there with some other sports programs where apparently they didn’t follow the proper recommendations. If we are truly worried about our athletics program then shut the shit down for the year, or at least a few months, two weeks isn’t gonna do crap.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^
Reminder, I wrote the positive way...not the realistic way....
January 25th, 2021 at 10:13 AM ^
Missing two weeks of basketball practice is an eternity. Not shooting for that long can really throw you off - hopefully they are still able to take some shots. It’s also enough time to get out of basketball shape. Not good.