'pausing the start of the winter sports season'

 
This seems different than the fall. Numbers were low in the fall, and we pushed ahead and got our seasons in. Good decisions made by everyone to push ahead in August, as the Big Ten probably wishes they had done the same.

Now with numbers climbing, it’s just not the same starting point in November as it was in August. Maybe it makes sense to pause sports and start back up later (Jan 1?). Just play your league games and get to the sectional tournament at the normal time?
 
szerszen said:
This seems different than the fall. Numbers were low in the fall, and we pushed ahead and got our seasons in. Good decisions made by everyone to push ahead in August, as the Big Ten probably wishes they had done the same.

Now with numbers climbing, it’s just not the same starting point in November as it was in August. Maybe it makes sense to pause sports and start back up later (Jan 1?). Just play your league games and get to the sectional tournament at the normal time?
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What if you are not affiliated with a conference?

With many schools throwing in the towel on in person learning and going back to distance learning it kind of sets the stage for athletics. If it is too risky now I would bet January will be no better.

Winter sports (basketball, wrestling, swimming, bowling) may be hit harder than last season.
 
The difference is the whole indoor vs outdoor sports debate. Winter sports are indoor, fall sports (minus volleyball) are outdoor. Social distancing and getting access to fresh air is obviously easier outside.

With all the talks of another shutdown of bars, restaurants, etc happening, I would imagine a full statewide shutdown of schools is only a matter of time. This would basically pause winter sports indefinitely anyways. I don't think OHSAA will have any say in that. There are rumors of schools going remote from Thanksgiving break until winter break (and possibly longer if cases continue to stay high)
 
The timing is just completely terrible. While I understand nobody has control over it - teams are getting ready to play their first game next Friday (girls) and then boys the next week. Some teams have already had 15 plus practices and 2-3 scrimmages.

If a "pause" does indeed happen, what does that mean from 11/20 - 1/3? That is 6 weeks OFF. (I can't imagine teams ONLY practicing for 6 weeks - that would get old quick). I would assume teams are not permitted to practice or scrimmage during this "pause". So when they do come back on say 1/4, teams would need at minimum 2 more additional weeks to reacclimate and re-prepare. So then you are looking at a 1/18 start.....girls would have 4 weeks of "regular season" before the tournament would start. Boys would have 5 weeks of "regular season".

You are going to have girls teams play 14 conference games in 28 days? Seems unrealistic. Boys would have an additional week, but still - doesn't seem like a smart move from an injury prevention viewpoint.

I'd say at this point - a "pause" would effectively wipe out the winter sports season.

I am hoping they continue to turn it over to the local school districts and they can handle it as their BOE deems appropriate.
 
You guys must not speak politics very well....allow me to translate for you!

Pause = Cancel

Think about it - If they come out right now and say "sorry everyone, we are cancelling the winter sports season" the amount of backlash they will get will make what happened last spring look like nothing! So instead its the ole "we're going to pause things for now until we get the number of cases under control" ......but in reality, we're heading into flu season, and there is not going to be any "controlling" of the number of cases.....The only control any one has, is the number of cases they are TELLING you that are being reported......

This post isn't meant to be political, I don't really care what your views on masks/COVID/government are....It's just meant to open eyes to the fact that this winter sports season is in serious jeopardy of never happening.....
 
I know a lot of boys programs only had 1-2 practices before their teams were put on quarantine. You're going to see a lot of big differences in programs. Some schools will take it very seriously and quarantine a team if one person gets it. Some will allowed a team to practice even if a couple of players get it. Going to be a total mess IMO
 
WhatsupDoc said:
I know a lot of boys programs only had 1-2 practices before their teams were put on quarantine. You're going to see a lot of big differences in programs. Some schools will take it very seriously and quarantine a team if one person gets it. Some will allowed a team to practice even if a couple of players get it. Going to be a total mess IMO
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You're spot on with that. I've seen some teams completely shut it all down for two weeks while others have said that only a few guys are out. I'm guessing teams who missed two crucial weeks of practice are going to be just fine pausing things so as not to go in with too much of a disadvantage.
 
CasualFan24 said:
Pause = Cancel

Think about it - If they come out right now and say "sorry everyone, we are cancelling the winter sports season" the amount of backlash they will get will make what happened last spring look like nothing! So instead its the ole "we're going to pause things for now until we get the number of cases under control" ......but in reality, we're heading into flu season, and there is not going to be any "controlling" of the number of cases.....The only control any one has, is the number of cases they are TELLING you that are being reported......
Kurt Rambis said:
A "pause" is code for cancel.

Liberals in charge (even RINO's) want to shut the country down. A pause is an excuse to do so. They'll say "we'll hope to start up on January 3", but they never will.
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Agreed. When goals are vague (they say numbers need to get better but they don't quantify how much better), dates are arbitrary (yeah, January 3 sounds good since it's next year and not this year, as if the change in the year makes it so much different), we're looking at a perpetual rolling 'pause' which eventually results in a full cancel.
 
It 100% does not make sense to postpone winter sports.....if people think that pushing the season back will do anything, you are wrong. Harsh reality is, COVID-19 is here, and it's not going anywhere. We are going to have to learn to adapt and live with this virus. This virus will be very similar to the flu... just because you get a vaccine doesn't mean you are immune to it. You can still get it. If you push the season back, which will make the season shorter, you are only taking away the opportunity for these kids to play at all. The only reason covid cases are spiking is because more and more people are being tested. Even Dewine stated that. This is stupid. If you are worried about your child getting sick, keep them home! It's that simple. Homeschool them! The fact that our rights are being stripped from us and we no longer have a choice is a problem.

Scenario: "Season is postponed until January 1, your first day back one of your teammates tests positive for COVID-19...now your team is quarantined for 14 days...roughly half of your postponed season."

Covid is here now and it will be in January as well. We need to start focusing on how to live with this virus instead of hiding from it. It's not going anywhere.
 
Kurt Rambis said:
A "pause" is code for cancel.

Liberals in charge (even RINO's) want to shut the country down. A pause is an excuse to do so. They'll say "we'll hope to start up on January 3", but they never will.

Don't let it happen.

Kids are safe and fine.

Limited crowds are MORE than fine.

PLAY BALL
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Exactly right! Might as well fold up shop and get ready for AAU basketball if they are going to "pause" the season.
 
There is no reason to cancel the season. This nonsense has to stop. Kids have been playing sports since March (yes indoor sports too) and there has been no concrete correlations to spread during sporting events if you ensure kids with symptoms aren’t participating.

we can’t keep doing this. Schools seem to be doing a great job of keeping sick kids at home and isolated. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to cancel sports.
 
Ivy Leagues have cancelled their winter seasons......seems that the league that started last spring's decisions have made their choice.

While I'm sure there is a financial hit for these teams it could be argued that they have some of the smartest minds in our country making this decision.

Pot stirring
 
I think it's all crazy and ridiculous. However my brother in law got a call from his AD last night and said that the school is going to postpone all winter sports games through the first week of December. He's still allowed to practice, but Friday he found out his team has to quarantine till Thanksgiving.
His principal told him that the should be ready to go online from Thanksgiving through Christmas. The way he made it sound a lot of schools are going to be doing the Thanksgiving till Christmas online thing.

He thought that the OHSAA would do a modified schedule for the season. His AD voted to pause the season and start in January. He called other coaches and the said their ADs for the most part voted the same way.
Sounds like schools and sports will be taking a break in the next week or two
 
yossarian said:
Ivy Leagues have cancelled their winter seasons......seems that the league that started last spring's decisions have made their choice.

While I'm sure there is a financial hit for these teams it could be argued that they have some of the smartest minds in our country making this decision.

Pot stirring
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I see your pot swirling.

Does intelligence equate to risk tolerance or are they entirely separate issues?

I'm not intelligent but I am willing to take one for the team if it means we get to live life rather than simply exist. If they want to wimp out because they are afraid of a few family members succumbing to the virus that's on them.
 
HiTime said:
However my brother in law got a call from his AD last night and said that the school is going to postpone all winter sports games through the first week of December.
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Arbitrary timeline, just a guess on the duration of the postponement.

HiTime said:
His principal told him that the should be ready to go online from Thanksgiving through Christmas. The way he made it sound a lot of schools are going to be doing the Thanksgiving till Christmas online thing.
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Arbitrary start/stop dates for remote learning. Then it will be until the day after MLK day, and after that it will just keep rolling out.

HiTime said:
His AD voted to pause the season and start in January. He called other coaches and the said their ADs for the most part voted the same way.
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Arbitrary date to start-up after the 'pause'.

All this arbitrariness makes no sense. There's nothing scientific behind it, nothing logical, just picking dates. Until the sports and the limited spectators are proven to be the source of any uptick in cases, then no pre-emptive pause should be required.
 
Hback said:
The timing is just completely terrible. While I understand nobody has control over it - teams are getting ready to play their first game next Friday (girls) and then boys the next week. Some teams have already had 15 plus practices and 2-3 scrimmages.

If a "pause" does indeed happen, what does that mean from 11/20 - 1/3? That is 6 weeks OFF. (I can't imagine teams ONLY practicing for 6 weeks - that would get old quick). I would assume teams are not permitted to practice or scrimmage during this "pause". So when they do come back on say 1/4, teams would need at minimum 2 more additional weeks to reacclimate and re-prepare. So then you are looking at a 1/18 start.....girls would have 4 weeks of "regular season" before the tournament would start. Boys would have 5 weeks of "regular season".

You are going to have girls teams play 14 conference games in 28 days? Seems unrealistic. Boys would have an additional week, but still - doesn't seem like a smart move from an injury prevention viewpoint.

I'd say at this point - a "pause" would effectively wipe out the winter sports season.

I am hoping they continue to turn it over to the local school districts and they can handle it as their BOE deems appropriate.
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As I said when that memo came out last week, my fear is that if we delay the start of winter sports, they may never get off the ground. There's no guarantee that things will be better 6-8 weeks from now.
 
WhatsupDoc said:
I know a lot of boys programs only had 1-2 practices before their teams were put on quarantine. You're going to see a lot of big differences in programs. Some schools will take it very seriously and quarantine a team if one person gets it. Some will allowed a team to practice even if a couple of players get it. Going to be a total mess IMO
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Our entire district is shut down through Thanksgiving break. There are no practices/scrimmages/games allowed.
 
Ericles said:
As I said when that memo came out last week, my fear is that if we delay the start of winter sports, they may never get off the ground. There's no guarantee that things will be better 6-8 weeks from now.
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And there is no metric established (never has been for sports) to define what determines that, in the future, a 'better' situation exists after it has been determined that the current situation is 'out of bounds'.
 
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BlessEmAll said:
How many posters on here have lost friends or family or known someone that died from covid?
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Fairly close business acquaintance died of it, lived about a mile away from our family. Other than him, the 10 or so people I've known who have had it had no difficulties with it.
 
Triangle Man, I think they picked the Thanksgiving to Christmas Break because that's what the colleges are doing in Ohio.
 
BlessEmAll said:
How many posters on here have lost friends or family or known someone that died from covid?
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And how many of those people were of advanced age and/or had comorbidities?

If masks work as well as we are told they do, there is no reason why we need to shut everything down again. Unless the "masks save lives" mantra has been a lie this whole time.

Protect the most vulnerable and let the rest of us get on with our lives.
 
HiTime said:
Triangle Man, I think they picked the Thanksgiving to Christmas Break because that's what the colleges are doing in Ohio.
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That's what I am expecting. Hopefully get the vaccine out sometime in December and the number of vaccinated continues to climb as they restart in early January.

But I would be happy if they continued playing the games and limited attendance while still using Youtube to livestream.
 
zebrastripes said:
And how many of those people were of advanced age and/or had comorbidities?

If masks work as well as we are told they do, there is no reason why we need to shut everything down again. Unless the "masks save lives" mantra has been a lie this whole time.

Protect the most vulnerable and let the rest of us get on with our lives.
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If we can save just one life.....
 
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