[popolamma]

Except Hoop Cat is wrong because there is a college basketball season going on right now, UVM just decided not to participate for political reasons.
...
So yes, Hoop Car was wrong. there is a college basketball season this year, and from my viewpoint its a hell of a lot more “normal” looking than I was expecting. I thought the Mohegan Sun would be a shit show. It’s not.

Sorry that this is so hard for you that you need to continuously post about how upset and angry you are. The whining and complaining is getting annoying.

You're welcome to have your opinion on basketball, but that also means that an athletic department, school, team, etc. can also form an opinion.

Basketball is being played and UVM as well as many other teams are making a choice to not play during a pandemic. Suck it up, and watch some other teams.

 

[Alumni96]

Sorry that this is so hard for you that you need to continuously post about how upset and angry you are. The whining and complaining is getting annoying.

You're welcome to have your opinion on basketball, but that also means that an athletic department, school, team, etc. can also form an opinion.

Basketball is being played and UVM as well as many other teams are making a choice to not play during a pandemic. Suck it up, and watch some other teams.

I'm pretty sure that's what he is doing. I'm pretty sure that's what we all are doing.

 

[Alumni96]

Except Hoop Cat is wrong because there is a college basketball season going on right now, UVM just decided not to participate for political reasons.

What I didn’t see happening is the full scale 180 that most of the country (again, not UVM or the Ivy League, but yes with our peer Hockey East schools) took in terms of risk appetite/mitigation measures.

Obviously no one was expecting to play without significant testing protocols and the like, or to play when players have had known contact with a positive, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see the college sports being rammed through for the most part. Of course it will be stop-and-go and it will be sloppy given how much less full team practices they’re doing but for the most part college sports aren’t being phased by high transmission rates and increased risk, and the success of the Mohegan Sun tourney this weekend is testament to that. The amount of games being played these past few days uninterrupted are beyond my wildest dreams and expectations I had as recently as last weekend.

So yes, Hoop Car was wrong. there is a college basketball season this year, and from my viewpoint its a hell of a lot more “normal” looking than I was expecting. I thought the Mohegan Sun would be a shit show. It’s not.

They are technically in a Covid mandated pause. Whether the positive tests were the chicken or the egg, I don't know.

 

[popolamma]

I'm pretty sure that's what he is doing. I'm pretty sure that's what we all are doing.

I meant to highlight the constant complaining about politics, which is inherently political. I realize this forum is for voicing opinions, but at some point it becomes enough.

 

[VCat_2015]

They are technically in a Covid mandated pause. Whether the positive tests were the chicken or the egg, I don't know.

the pauses only last seven days if there are no more positive cases during testing protocol. That time has now lapsed. I assume they are no longer in pause, because we would’ve heard about additional cases coming to light, unless you have other information?

 

[VCat_2015]

Sorry that this is so hard for you that you need to continuously post about how upset and angry you are. The whining and complaining is getting annoying.

You're welcome to have your opinion on basketball, but that also means that an athletic department, school, team, etc. can also form an opinion.

Basketball is being played and UVM as well as many other teams are making a choice to not play during a pandemic. Suck it up, and watch some other teams.

I will whine when UVM chooses not to play for political reasons at a time when every one of their peer institutions are moving full-steam-ahead with sports.

But the point of my post is not to whine about UVM’s actions--I’m noting that COVID has not canceled college sports like it did in the spring, and NCAA basketball will be played this winter. The mentality and whats deemed socially acceptable has changed since the spring when we were in shutdown.

I was wrong myself because I thought the pandemic would still be raging (it is) and as such sports may be planned, but they would be cancelled. Well, they ain’t getting cancelled. I’m not saying that’s a correct decision or not, but people who said “we won’t/can’t have sports this year”--myself included--were wrong. Sports are happening and daily national case counts of 200,000+ and 3,000+ daily deaths (and 1,000 of student-athlete cases) clearly arent benchmarks that will result in the cancellation of college athletics.

 

[umainealum]

I wonder how many public declarations like this one from a Vanderbilt women's player it will take before everything gets shut down:

Following a case of COVID-19, I have recently been diagnosed with myocarditis and will not be able to play this season. While I am disappointed, I look forward to supporting my teammates and returning to the court soon

.

 

[UVM7680]

WaPo: Amid college basketball’s pandemic ‘mess,’ calls for pausing the season grow louder

 

[umainealum]

I can see a 2-week pause being mandated around Christmas/New Year's with a resumption the weekend of January 8th. I also think there will be another mandatory pause at the end of February so that every team will go through a 2-week quarantine before bringing all NCAA Tournament teams to Indianapolis. In fact, they may bring more than 68 to Indy just in case replacements are needed.

 

[VCat_2015]

Whether or not the current season is a "mess" is in the eyes' of the beholder. In many ways the college basketball season thus far has been a wild success--we're approaching 3,500 daily deaths as a nation and 225K daily cases yet college basketball is still chugging along. I consider that to be quite successful. I was assuming much more would be cancelled if more benchmarks and indicators were passed. That's why I was so pessimistic throughout the offseason. Not anymore. The pandemic is clearly not phasing the NCAA or the conferences. Nor has it phased state and county governments who (aside from New Mexico) have basically given NCAA programs custom blanket waivers from any and all their restrictions relating to gathering sizes and travel.

I mean, the data is all pretty bad right now. Real bad. Yet nothing is stopping college college basketball (again, I'm speaking of pre-emptive stoppages, not pauses due to a positive case or known exposure/close contact). Why would the NCAA or conferences change course at this point?

NCAA teams and conferences are basically ignoring the pandemic, and until their attitude changes I don't see any widespread suspensions occurring.

 

[umainealum]

Whether or not the current season is a "mess" is in the eyes' of the beholder. In many ways the college basketball season thus far has been a wild success--we're approaching 3,500 daily deaths as a nation and 225K daily cases yet college basketball is still chugging along. I consider that to be quite successful. I was assuming much more would be cancelled if more benchmarks and indicators were passed. That's why I was so pessimistic throughout the offseason. Not anymore. The pandemic is clearly not phasing the NCAA or the conferences. Nor has it phased state and county governments who (aside from New Mexico) have basically given NCAA programs custom blanket waivers from any and all their restrictions relating to gathering sizes and travel.

I mean, the data is all pretty bad right now. Real bad. Yet nothing is stopping college college basketball (again, I'm speaking of pre-emptive stoppages, not pauses due to a positive case or known exposure/close contact). Why would the NCAA or conferences change course at this point?

NCAA teams and conferences are basically ignoring the pandemic, and until their attitude changes I don't see any widespread suspensions occurring.

Well, when you have entire counties (Santa Clara County California) shutting down athletics and forcing teams/schools to go elsewhere, that is gonna cause an issue. Stanford women's basketball has relocated to Las Vegas. The Stanford men played the "Maui Invitational" in Asheville, NC and because they were facing a mandatory quarantine if they went home, they stayed in NC and actually just played at NC A&T last night. The 49ers will play their "home" games in Phoenix. There are also increasing travel restrictions/quarantine mandates upon returning that are being implemented and forcing teams to make major adjustments.

I think we are seeing that "attitude" changing as coaches are getting more and more frustrated. The Baylor men's team flew to Vegas without a game scheduled and without their coach, in hopes of getting a couple of games. That kind of thing is impossible for most mid/low major programs.

 

[VCat_2015]

Well, when you have entire counties (Santa Clara County California) shutting down athletics and forcing teams/schools to go elsewhere, that is gonna cause an issue. Stanford women's basketball has relocated to Las Vegas. The Stanford men played the "Maui Invitational" in Asheville, NC and because they were facing a mandatory quarantine if they went home, they stayed in NC and actually just played at NC A&T last night. The 49ers will play their "home" games in Phoenix. There are also increasing travel restrictions/quarantine mandates upon returning that are being implemented and forcing teams to make major adjustments.

I think we are seeing that "attitude" changing as coaches are getting more and more frustrated. The Baylor men's team flew to Vegas without a game scheduled and without their coach, in hopes of getting a couple of games. That kind of thing is impossible for most mid/low major programs.

That's basically what I was referring to. Outside of New Mexico there have not been any statewide shutdowns of college (or pro I assume) sports.

Some county headaches here or there for sure. But for the most part while states have been putting restrictive gathering bans and harsh curfews in place, they have always carved out waivers for NCAA sports. And NCAA teams have responded by being incredibly nimble and we've seen very, very few cancellations. Far fewer cancellations that I would've ever imagined in my wildest dreams despite a crushing national case load. In that sense it's been a success (so far). NCAA sports are being rammed through and practically everyone (except UVM and few select counties in California) are on board with that.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

That's basically what I was referring to. Outside of New Mexico there have not been any statewide shutdowns of college (or pro I assume) sports.

Some county headaches here or there for sure. But for the most part while states have been putting restrictive gathering bans and harsh curfews in place, they have always carved out waivers for NCAA sports. And NCAA teams have responded by being incredibly nimble and we've seen very, very few cancellations. Far fewer cancellations that I would've ever imagined in my wildest dreams despite a crushing national case load. In that sense it's been a success (so far). NCAA sports are being rammed through and practically everyone (except UVM and few select counties in California) are on board with that.

Isn't the whole Ivy League shut down?

 

[LakeSinclair]

My alma mater, Wake Forest, got in two non-conference games against overmatched mid-minors during the last week of November. Since then each game has been cancelled until yesterday, when it was announced that due to positive tests and contact tracing, all games until Dec. 30 are off. By that time, they'll be heading into ACC play after being idle for over a month (not that they were likely to win many conference games anyway). This is just how the season - such as it is - is probably going to be. What remains of most teams' '20-'21 seasons isn't likely to constitute a valid measure of their merit as a team.

 

[NotDeadYet]

This is the season that never was.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

This is the season that never was.

Calling it a “season” seems pretty generous/inaccurate.

It’s been more like a series of impromptu exhibitions.

 

[umainealum]

This is the first time since at least the 80's (but most likely the 60's when the poll only had the Top 10) that none of Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky or UCLA have been ranked inside the Top 20. This according to CBSSports. If this isn't another sign that 2020 is just a little out of whack, I don't know what is.

 

[umainealum]

So BU and Holy Cross played back-to-back games, yesterday at Holy Cross, today at Boston U. BU has mandated that their teams wear masks and also said that any team competing on their campus against them must also wear masks. Thus, today, both teams wore masks. I really don't think I could have worn a mask while playing.

These were the first 2 of 6 games that Holy Cross and BU will play against each other. Yes, they are scheduled to play 6 times!

As an aside, the visiting team won both games.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

Just leaving a marker here...The upcoming UVM women's hockey game is cancelled.

 

[VCat_2015]

Interesting, I noticed Hockey East also published an update to this weekend's schedule with most of the rest of the games in tact, so hopefully this is just cancelled due to a positive case within UVM or Maine's women's teams and not as a preemptive measure.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1349400818307354624

Also on this topic there was an article in VTDigger this morning about how and why UVM has returned to play. It was quite well written and allowed Schulman to defend the department's various decisions which gives me a little bit more confidence (in that UVM won't preemptively shutdown if the other members of the AE and Hockey East remain in competition) and some much-needed piece of mind. In Schulman's words (I'm not saying there weren't internal factors that also factored into the decision--just interpreting the public statements) the reason for the initial suspension was because the rapid rise to 100 daily cases in Vermont but now he considers the case load to have "stabilized" so it's OK to play (with protocols in place) provided the Health Department remains on board.

UVM sports are competing this season. How are they staying Covid-safe?

Student athletes don’t need to quarantine for seven to 14 days, according to Jeff Schulman, UVM’s athletic director. “Fewer than 10” student athletes have tested positive for the virus.

vtdigger.org

Schulman also discussed the mask issue. He said hockey teams will be made to wear masks because they have specially fit mask that attach to the helmet cage whereas it's not practical to have such a mandate with basketball or swimming. He alluded to spring sports won't be required to compete with masks provided they're outside.