[NotDeadYet]

It really feels like we are in for another season of fan-free games. Nationally, COVID rates are about where they were in January '21, very high. I think that it is most likely that we will be watching the games from the comfort and convenience of our own homes via ESPN, which is a lot better than listening on AM radio.

I'm hoping for a way of letting at least some fans be at the games in person. Maybe a lottery of some sort.

In a month we'll have better data, but that has never stopped this forum from making early and sometime remarkably accurate predictions. What do other fans think will happen?

 

[TovarishchLisa]

The country generally stopped caring about it tbh. I can see maybe mask mandates and/or reduced capacity, but not closed doors.

 

[umainealum]

The country generally stopped caring about it tbh. I can see maybe mask mandates and/or reduced capacity, but not closed doors.

I agree. I think everyone is kinda "over it" at the moment. As evidenced by filled football stadiums across the country this past weekend, people just don't seem to care anymore. It will be very interesting to see if there is a big surge in cases across the country near those college campuses.

 

[godanesgo99]

I am pretty confident that the season will happen, even if there is a surge of cases. As you have all mentioned - the country is pretty much over it. There are a lot of vaccinated people, lots of people with some natural immunity, and the survival rate is now EXTREMELY high.

What was originally "two weeks to flatten the curve" turned into "16 months to keep everything shut down until there are no more cases"

The curve was flattened, yes there is a surge of cases, but the majority of the country is handling it well without any real bed shortages. The only areas that are having those are the ones that fought against vaccination and restrictions the hardest. Those places will clamp down and their numbers will improve, or they won't. Not sure any further shut downs or restrictions will have any affect on the rates of spread.

 

[tizzy]

I am pretty confident that the season will happen, even if there is a surge of cases. As you have all mentioned - the country is pretty much over it. There are a lot of vaccinated people, lots of people with some natural immunity, and the survival rate is now EXTREMELY high.

What was originally "two weeks to flatten the curve" turned into "16 months to keep everything shut down until there are no more cases"

The curve was flattened, yes there is a surge of cases, but the majority of the country is handling it well without any real bed shortages. The only areas that are having those are the ones that fought against vaccination and restrictions the hardest. Those places will clamp down and their numbers will improve, or they won't. Not sure any further shut downs or restrictions will have any affect on the rates of spread.

Help me here. Who has has ‘natural immunity’??? And can I get some??? SMH.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

I feel pretty confident that the season with fans will happen. I've seen correspondence from the athletic department with in the last few weeks touting a back to normal experience for fans. Additionally, in Vermont we have a very high vaccination rate. UVM supposedly has a 100% vaccination rate of its students. I expect that we'll see quite a few masks in the stands for the games, but I don't think that there will be a limited capacity.

The high vaccination rate translates to not many severe cases that lead to hospitalization and an overwhelming load on Vermont's healthcare system. Overwhelming the healthcare systems was one of the major concerns when this broke.

 

[NotDeadYet]

It seems that many people are indeed "over it", as this article on college football in the LA Times reports.

COVID-19 affects college football powerhouses and their fans

COVID-19 still complicates college football game day, nowhere more than in the South, where vaccination rates lag and hospitalizations have spiked.

www.latimes.com

Another article reports that Georgia now requires fans to show proof of either vaccination or recent negative COVID test for game entry. I suspect that in a week or two more schools will have similar requirements, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happened for basketball and hockey, since they are played indoors.

I bet the vaccination rate is going waaaay up for Georgia fans right now.

 

[tizzy]

I feel pretty confident that the season with fans will happen. I've seen correspondence from the athletic department with in the last few weeks touting a back to normal experience for fans. Additionally, in Vermont we have a very high vaccination rate. UVM supposedly has a 100% vaccination rate of its students. I expect that we'll see quite a few masks in the stands for the games, but I don't think that there will be a limited capacity.

The high vaccination rate translates to not many severe cases that lead to hospitalization and an overwhelming load on Vermont's healthcare system. Overwhelming the healthcare systems was one of the major concerns when this broke.

Even though we are long time season tickets holders and we put down our deposit for now, we may well sit tight at home, given the massively-cramped seating at Patrick. Our anxiety over this and concerns about our very young grandkids are important drivers right now.

 

[godanesgo99]

Help me here. Who has has ‘natural immunity’??? And can I get some??? SMH.

That was a reference to people who have already had it and recovered. Yes people have had it twice or even three times, but from what I am reading those are people with multiple strains, or those with a very minor case, causing insufficient antibodies to be produced for long term protection. It appears (from what I am reading) getting immunity the natural way (getting over having it) is more effective than the vaccine, and provides longer lasting protection.

Love the SMH considering you had no idea what I meant. Feel free to "get some"

Article on "natural immunity" vs vaccine immunity from science. org

Having SARS-CoV-2 once confers much greater immunity than a vaccine—but vaccination remains vital

Israelis who had an infection were more protected against the Delta coronavirus variant than those who had an already highly effective COVID-19 vaccine

www.science.org

SMH on you not realizing that building anti-bodies through infection and recovery is called "natural immunity." A quick Google search would have saved you the pain of hitting your own head.

And while I meant people who have had it and now have anti-bodies, there is also this from NPR: New Studies Find Evidence Of 'Superhuman' Immunity To COVID-19 In Some Individuals

 

[VT Cats Fan]

Even though we are long time season tickets holders and we put down our deposit for now, we may well sit tight at home, given the massively-cramped seating at Patrick. Our anxiety over this and concerns about our very young grandkids are important drivers right now.

I'm sure that you are not alone with that sentiment. Fans will certainly get to decide what they are comfortable with. My response was based on my thought that if people wanted to attend, they would be able to, abeit with some restrictions like masks.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

That was a reference to people who have already had it and recovered. Yes people have had it twice or even three times, but from what I am reading those are people with multiple strains, or those with a very minor case, causing insufficient antibodies to be produced for long term protection. It appears (from what I am reading) getting immunity the natural way (getting over having it) is more effective than the vaccine, and provides longer lasting protection.

Love the SMH considering you had no idea what I meant. Feel free to "get some"

Article on "natural immunity" vs vaccine immunity from science. org

Having SARS-CoV-2 once confers much greater immunity than a vaccine—but vaccination remains vital

Israelis who had an infection were more protected against the Delta coronavirus variant than those who had an already highly effective COVID-19 vaccine

www.science.org

SMH on you not realizing that building anti-bodies through infection and recovery is called "natural immunity." A quick Google search would have saved you the pain of hitting your own head.

And while I meant people who have had it and now have anti-bodies, there is also this from NPR: New Studies Find Evidence Of 'Superhuman' Immunity To COVID-19 In Some Individuals

Maybe take a look at this GDG99???

‘Natural Immunity’ From Covid Is Not Safer Than a Vaccine

The thing with the interwebs is that there are lots of "news items" that will reflect your worldview.

 

[godanesgo99]

Maybe take a look at this GDG99???

‘Natural Immunity’ From Covid Is Not Safer Than a Vaccine

The thing with the interwebs is that there are lots of "news items" that will reflect your worldview.

There are tons of sources with info. The CDC says one thing, the WHO says another. The NY Times says something different than the AP who says something different from Reuters.

Either way, we should all get vaccinated and hope that we don't get it.

At the end of the day, we end up with the Mu variant that isn't affected by the vaccine. We end up causing more variants and mutations when we attack a virus, all of them die except the few that are mutated in a way that makes them immune to what we use to stop them, then it starts all over again. As a species we are going to eventually be ended by an anti-bacterial resistant strain of some superbug that feeds off a virus that was unleashed by drilling into lakes in Antarctica that have been encased in ice for millions of years.

We need to do what we can to stop/slow the spread while living our lives the best way that we can.

 

[GoCatsGo]

As a species we are going to eventually be ended by an anti-bacterial resistant strain of some superbug that feeds off a virus that was unleashed by drilling into lakes in Antarctica that have been encased in ice for millions of years.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

 

[godanesgo99]

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

LMAO

I was exaggerating for effect obviously. The point was: we have to live our lives the best we can because we are all going to end eventually. Get busy living or get busy dieing and all that jazz.... (in my best Morgan Freeman impression)

 

[jfromvt]

Even though we are long time season tickets holders and we put down our deposit for now, we may well sit tight at home, given the massively-cramped seating at Patrick. Our anxiety over this and concerns about our very young grandkids are important drivers right now.

UVM has not sent out the bill for basketball or hockey season tickets yet, just a deposit, so wondering what is going on. It’s getting late, the first hockey game is in early Oct.

 

[c00per]

UVM has not sent out the bill for basketball or hockey season tickets yet, just a deposit, so wondering what is going on. It’s getting late, the first hockey game is in early Oct.

I was wondering the same thing. I know they changed ticket systems but it looks like most of that has been squared away already.

 

[Chilldude]

SBU is taking payment-in-full from previous season seat holders and enthusiastically promoting the forthcoming home schedule. Curiously, I thought anyway, there was zero mention of covid, protocols, etc. in the "welcome back" email to fans.

I sent a response to the ticket office asking if there would be any guidelines, restrictions, requirements, etc. in place at the arena related to covid. The response I got back from a staffer at the arena was brief: "we do not have any COVID-19 restrictions in place. However, that could change at any time. We will keep our fans informed if new information comes out."

Huh? I thought. So NO requirements/restrictions of any kind in place right now as we gaze toward the start of the season? Seemed pretty odd. A quick visit to the university web site states that masks are required in all buildings on university property. So, I typed another email essentially asking, Are you sure? Aren't masks required at the university at least?

Got a response back stating, oh yes, masks will be required as the arena will follow university guidelines.

Couldn't they have said that sooner, like in the first email to fans?

Here are my contradictory thoughts as I sit here today:

Feels a bit like a "don't ask, don't tell" or "say as little as possible" messaging coming from SBU athletics. Seems a no-brainer to me to simply state the situation and clear requirements for fans who want to attend, with the obvious possibility that things might change in the near future. Unless, I'm left to guess, you don't want to or don't have much interest in establishing and upholding guidelines. Keep it vague, not our problem, let's play ball!

And that said, I'm still debating whether or not to pony up for my season seats. I've got roughly a week to decide....

 

[umainealum]

I wonder if there will be some sort of vaccination mandate or "show us a negative test result from within the last 2 weeks" at some/all of the conference schools along with some sort of mask mandate. I know the politics within our conference states varies quite a bit so it will be interesting to see if anything is done.

 

[umainealum]

Well, effective Oct. 15th, anyone wishing to attend a Maine hockey or basketball game (at any facility - Alfond Arena, Cross Ins Center, Augusta Civic Center) will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours of entering the facility. You will also have to have a mask on, covering your nose and mouth when you enter the building.

I can only imagine how many will be up in arms about this policy, which looks like it was put in place by the University of Maine system based upon the very first line of the release. Anyway, here it is:

Maine athletics covid attendance guidelines

 

[VT Cats Fan]

Well, effective Oct. 15th, anyone wishing to attend a Maine hockey or basketball game (at any facility - Alfond Arena, Cross Ins Center, Augusta Civic Center) will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours of entering the facility. You will also have to have a mask on, covering your nose and mouth when you enter the building.

I can only imagine how many will be up in arms about this policy, which looks like it was put in place by the University of Maine system based upon the very first line of the release. Anyway, here it is:

Maine athletics covid attendance guidelines

I wish UVM would do the same. They have said that they "expect" that all attendees will be vaccinated and masking is required, but it does not sound as though they will be checking. I know that most of the policies in Vermont have been to trust that people will do the right thing. In this case...I certainly wouldn't mind a little, "trust, but verify"