Rumor: Illinois fb team has multiple covid positives
Link: https://mobile.twitter.com/IlliniPulseRy/status/1322013315657248769
So far this has not been confirm by any Illinois officials or any other (reliable) Illinois insiders. Yet, they did play Wisconsin last Saturday, who does have a confirmed outbreak.
Let's hope it's a false rumor or just false postives.
October 30th, 2020 at 5:42 AM ^
Non-rumor: game is still on !
October 30th, 2020 at 6:15 AM ^
As Lonnie Schafer says above, if true.... let Nebraska play Purdue.
October 30th, 2020 at 6:18 AM ^
The league might ok it, but not sure how feasible it would be on such short notice.
Would be fun to watch if they pull it off.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
I would think that both the conference and the individual teams should be ready to jump at any opportunity that presents itself to play, whether that be a 1, 2 or 5 day notice. Teams can't be selfish and the conference has to be flexible. Then, you figure it out in the end. MLB, NBA, NHL all proved that the goal is just to get to the end. If match-ups are double, or even tripled up, that's what you do. In 2020, the goal is simply to play, within the established parameters. The Big 10 laid out those parameters. I don't recall any prohibitions against juggling the schedule or from doubling up match-ups. If you back yourself into a corner, you better be willing to use every inch of it to get out.
October 30th, 2020 at 6:58 AM ^
They have a game scheduled in December. Don't see how this would fix anything.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:41 AM ^
October 30th, 2020 at 9:37 AM ^
I don't think it's quite that simple. Nebraska and Purdue are supposed to play on 12/5. If Nebraska and Purdue play this weekend with the goal that 12/5 will make up the games that are canceled this weekend (Purdue / Illinois and Wisconsin / Nebraksa) what do you do about the teams who are supposed to play Illinois and Wisconsin on 12/5 (Iowa and Indiana respectively)? I could see a solution where Purdue and Nebraska play this weekend and then just play again on 12/5. That way the teams with outbreaks are the ones who actually lose games.
October 30th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
I'd cancel the Indiana @ Wisconsin game, it's Wisconsin's home crossover, and they deserve to lose it for being the first team with Covid issues in the Big Ten.
Illinois vs Iowa is more complicated. I tried last night to work through the schedule to see how games would get moved around and couldn't find an easy way to make it work. Both Iowa and Indiana were scheduled to be on the road anyway, so maybe they would schedule Iowa @ Indiana as a bonus crossover game? I assume it won't have an impact on the final division standings since Iowa and Indiana are both expected to be pretty far from the top.
Also, since Indiana and Iowa would have already played a third division crossover game, you could make up Iowa @ Illinois in Week 9. It would require two East teams to rematch, however.
I did think about playing Purdue/Nebraska twice in the same season, and it's a decent idea too. In a pandemic, nothing is going to be perfect or balanced, every problem is going to present multiple mediocre solutions.
October 30th, 2020 at 8:37 AM ^
Agreed.
The Big Ten considered these scenarios when contingency planning ... right? Right?
October 30th, 2020 at 9:12 AM ^
Based on how we’ve gotten to this point, imagining that the big ten is doing much forward thinking is in fact wishful thinking.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:19 AM ^
Well, the league tried to cram a 9-game schedule in a 9-week timeframe, so...
October 30th, 2020 at 7:50 PM ^
That's funny, but even if they were to try to plan for this, there are so many possible permutations that it would be impossible to come up with a schedule that has a solution to every possible outcome.
October 30th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
I don't want to see the Big Ten shutdown, but I really don't care about the integrity of Nebraska's schedule, and that team whining about the cancellation shouldn't be rewarded.
October 30th, 2020 at 6:56 AM ^
Makes sense as they just got slobber knocked by the Badgers last Saturday.
Seems like that game was a month back with all the craziness of 2020.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:42 AM ^
False. The game was Friday night.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:03 AM ^
It’s a fine kettle of fish you’ve put us in, Wisconsin. Is Illinois really sick? Hard to tell, but I’ve never heard of a ‘rash of false positives’. Going to play them, Purdue? I’d be nervous, since I wouldn’t know if new cases aren’t blooming every day. It’s a slippery slope you’ve put the B1G on, Wisconsin.
If nothing else, I hope this forces the teams in the B1G to be more transparent about their test results. Being coy about injuries is one thing, but that dog won’t hunt when you’re talking about your status as a disease vector.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:07 AM ^
Seems like the simplest explanation is that Illinois played a team that had some cases and now it's spread through close contact in the game. I'd be surprised if they were a slew of false positives.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:50 AM ^
"Close contact" is generally defined as spending 10+ minutes in close proximity to a person - and when outdoors, the amount of time may need to be longer. You could maybe argue that linemen reached that point over the course of a game but I'm not certain.
October 30th, 2020 at 10:48 AM ^
60 minutes of "game time", how would linemen possibly not meet that threshold? It's a certainty, not a questionable thing.
October 30th, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
If you split possession time 50-50 and then account for the fact that about half of the game is re-spotting the ball and calling the next play, you are already down to the 15 minute CDC limit before accounting for any substitutions.
October 30th, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
The thinking is Covid needs this time to spread? No it does not come on people. One breath in the right direction is all it takes. The time makes it more possible but Covid doesn't need 15 minutes to spread. One full exhale when fully in a line battle is plenty. I don't even know how people don't get this.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
So you're telling me that Rutgers is both undefeated and not the reason the B1G starts to unravel? 2020 is full of surprises.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:11 AM ^
Not good Bob. Looks like Wiscy played dirty. Pun intended. Good job Badgers...
October 30th, 2020 at 9:52 AM ^
They always do.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:17 AM ^
That would become an interesting scenario that might work itself out there
October 30th, 2020 at 7:17 AM ^
This season, man.....
I saw this and I also thought about Nebraska's willingness to play a high school team if it came down to it admittedly, but I hope all is eventually well in Champaign all the same.
October 30th, 2020 at 8:25 AM ^
Word on the street is Lincoln Central’s varsity football team has also come down with a ton of cases as well. So Frost scheduled the JV team. Line on the game right now is NEB -2.5.
Also rumors of a spaghetti dinner and laser tag to follow the game if Frost finishes his AP calc in time.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:29 AM ^
please COTG let this happen and Purdue whoop that ass.
October 30th, 2020 at 7:52 AM ^
Sucks if true. Hopefully can stay under control and limited to those two teams only for now. Wisconsin and Illinois are not doing well in terms of COVID numbers right now so not surprised that these are the two teams affected. Although, seems like the source was Wisconsin.
October 30th, 2020 at 8:04 AM ^
Well, this season’s already going as expected.
October 30th, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Which is why I have yet to watch a game. This season will not end well.
Can’t wait until playoff/bowl picks. Well this team has ZERO positive COVID tests...congratulations!...you are now eligible for the playoffs!
October 30th, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^
Wait you haven't watched a game, specifically a Michigan game, but are on a blog talking about the games you have no interest in? Reminds me of the guy who says bowl games are meaningless but the Brady Bama/ Florida Lloyd retirement games are his favorite.
October 30th, 2020 at 3:35 PM ^
I have not missed a televised Michigan football game (and enjoying College Football) since 1992, and have been on here for over 7 years. COVID screwing up this clown College Football season and losing to Ohio State the last 8 years in a row (and 17 out of the last 19), have pushed me to the limit.
Not sure if you have been around here the last 8 months, but football specific topics have been few and far between.
October 30th, 2020 at 8:13 AM ^
Well, let's see...they played Wisconsin... Could there be a connection?
October 30th, 2020 at 8:24 AM ^
For all we know this weekend is our last game. We must treat this as a our super bowl and obliterate MSU.
October 30th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
Yes. Agreed. Because MSU is certainly gonna treat it as such.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:16 AM ^
I would treat this one with a grain of salt based on what I'm seeing on Reddit. Sounds like this guy does not have access to the athletic department at all and he's the only one reporting it (for now).
Illinois fans are saying wait until someone like Jeremy Werner confirms it. He posted a Game preview an hour ago and made no mention of any potential COVID issues. https://twitter.com/JWerner247
Obviously this still could be true but I'll withhold judgement for now. As we saw with the Minnesota game, they never came out and said anything officially but had players unavailable.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
It may or not be true, but the odds of Illinois players coming up positive 7-10 days after playing Wisconsin, who had several players test positive a day after their game make it likely whether there are reports or not.
It should be assumed there would be (additional) positives 7-10 days downstream on both teams. It is how the virus works.
October 30th, 2020 at 6:14 PM ^
No the odds are still low. There hasn’t been a single account of documented spread from one team to another. With the 100’s of games that have been played to this point thorough out CFB and the NFL , it would make the statistical probability very small
October 30th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
Im guessing we (I work for Illinois and marginally root for them) didn't get any infections on the defense. I dont think they got within six feet of anyone. Thank you Ill be here all night, tip your waiter.
Jokes aside none of the people I know that are close to the team have heard this but I dont have any deep connections, fwiw.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:26 AM ^
Worth noting: the obvious suspicion, if this is true, would be that maybe Illinois players picked this up from Wisconsin players.
But there have now been hundreds of football games played across college and the NFL, and I believe that if that is what occurred, this would be the first documented case of such an event.
Worth remembering.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:47 AM ^
And we just played a team that has had a significant Covid outbreak but - knock on wood - apparently have made it out unscathed.
The state of Illinois has been reporting thousands of new daily cases this week, so someone on the team might just have brought it in from the local community. At this level of outbreak, contact tracing is not a very exact science.
October 30th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
While contact tracing may not be an exact science, it's exponentially better than doing nothing or wringing our hands over. If the Illini do have a covid outbreak on their hands, you better believe they'll look at every possible source that may have infected football team members whether it be the community, the football field, or family/friends/spouses or girlfriends of the team and staff.
You and others have posted strong doubts that the Illini picked it up a week ago while playing Wisconsin. The "10 minute exposure time" rule of thumb is often cited, but has it been proven? I look at it as more a generalization for society overall than a hard-and-fast rule that applies in all situations; football, from my experience and observations would most definitely be an exception that must be deeply investigated due to the close face-to-face nature of the sport, ESPECIALLY on the line of scrimmage where sweat, spit, coughs, verbal engagement, heavy breathing, etc. are exchanged on every play.
The jury is still out.
October 30th, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^
"The "10 minute exposure time" rule of thumb is often cited, but has it been proven?"
No, there's generally no science at all backing up people's explanations of the circumstances under which "you can't get covid."
October 30th, 2020 at 11:27 AM ^
It’s 15 minutes. Thus far no data exists showing players in any sports contracting Covid in a game. Does not mean that it cannot happen. But through hundreds of soccer, baseball, basketball, and football there has not been one case reported of a person contracting it in a football game.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Contact tracing is a useful fiction for those people who believe other people tell the truth when asked what they have been doing, and where they have been. Especially when those people being asked are young people.
I would never have told the truth, not to my Mother, not to the government/school, not to anyone who wasn't a friend, if just for no other reason that I *might* get in trouble. No one I knew back then was any different. I refuse to believe kids are much different nowadays no matter how much we old people may complain about it.
Or contact tracing gives wonderful results like shutting down a Walmart back where I used to live 10 years ago. The local health officials identified it as a place most people had been who had contracted the virus. Good job! They didn't so much identify where people got the virus, they identified where everyone in the county got groceries.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
I think that it's likely that the virus can be passed from player to player on the field, though there are no documented cases so far, as you correctly point out.
What I think is less likely is that the Wisconsin players, who tested negative Friday and Saturday (the first reported positive was Mertz on Sunday night), were contagious enough to transmit during the game on Friday but the virus was not "strong" enough to be detected in tests well after the game. (I'm putting "strong" in scare quotes because I'm avoiding misusing the technical language on viral loads, etc.) Then, for the IL players to test negative all week until Thursday. That would imply a much longer asymtomatic, non-detectable, incubation period than I think we've known about. Or at least, the higher end of the range. Of course it's still possible, since everyone is still figuring how this virus works, and it seems like as soon as we think we know something well, we find out something different.
To me, Occam's razor is that the WI and IL outbreaks (if the IL one is even real) are coincidental and unrelated to the game played 6 days ago. Both states are having large case numbers among the general population, so it's not that shocking that both could have gotten it somewhere in their states since last weekend.
October 30th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
So...change Wisconsin's mascot to the Plague Rats?
October 30th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
Same thing.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
Crg, I can’t imagine this is what you meant when you said “Bring back Opponent Watch!”