Random Thoughts About All This

Shooter25

Member
Before I get attacked, let me say that I am pro high school sports. I have sat and read and listened as this whole OHSAA debacle has taken place and have identified a few things I have found interesting


1) Jason Lloyd said it as well as it can be said and I paraphrase: Kids are going to wear masks and be socially distanced the entire school day and then go outside and smash into each other continuously for two or more hours after school. Regardless of your political views, the hypocrisy of this is ridiculous to say the least.

2) A lot of parents and coaches have been using the “kids have to have sports for their mental health. Lack of sports creates stress, suicidal thoughts, and mental illness.” If this is true, and by reading many articles people have posted where many doctors think it is, then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Forget overwhelming our hospitals. We should be concerned about overwhelming our mental health institutions the next couple years. SEVEN PERCENT of high school athletes go on to play in college. ONE PERCENT play beyond college. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sports is going to end very soon for almost all kids and if they can’t handle that then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Maybe we should be promoting non-contact sports like golf, tennis, and running that kids can play the rest of their lives, with or without school and with or without the coronavirus. This would appear to eliminate a lot of potential mental health issues. Maybe it could even help the people who have the real issue with sports being delayed or canceled, vicarious mom and dad.

3) The OHSAA keeps saying it’s moving forward so our high school can have a school sports experience and this is what Athletic Directors and Superintendents wanted. Well, your job is to provide that experience to ALL kids. With all these schools canceling and postponing fall sports wouldn’t an association who’s charged with providing an equal opportunity for ALL student athletes move to delay the season so ALL kids could participate. You have a plan for all sports to be played beginning in December. USE IT! So ALL kids can participate! Of course, if it’s only about money, self-preservation, and making your association financially solvent, then I suppose you move forward so you can make your playoff money with 1/3 of the schools and kids not participating.

4) Kids have absolutely no chance of COVID-19 affecting them so let them play. I have heard this way too often. First of all, this appears to be true. But there is A CHANCE, however slim, it could drastically harm a kid. The number of parents willing to take that gamble is alarming. However, the real issue here is the contact kids have with the elderly and vulnerable. I live in a district that embraces its elderly and the elderly embrace our kids and school. I am heartbroken to think we might proceed with high school sports at the possible expense of some of our beloved community members. I hope and pray that parents make sure their kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable in our community and take the necessary sanitary precautions.

5) My final thought I think is the most alarming. Every list of mandates and procedures for schools to return to sports I have seen has NOT required testing and has relied on self-monitoring and self-evaluation. I have raised two kids of my own.They had to be reminded to brush their teeth and take a shower. How in the heck does any organization or department that has even a most basic understanding of teenagers really believe they will accurately and adequately self-monitor their temperature and possible symptoms of COVID? I’m not even going to get into kids being asymptomatic. I’m just baffled that adults are really willing to roll the dice of a possible huge outbreak on the ability of teenagers to assess if they might have COVID. Isn’t that for doctors to diagnose, not a kid? Maybe this makes it easier for OHSAA to say, “We have no cases. Or we have only had this many cases.” Of course you have no cases. You have teenage kids diagnosing themselves!!! Think about that! If you went to the doctor and a teenager came into your examination room and started to diagnose you, how confident would you be with that diagnoses? There is also the idea that coaches have to take temperatures and make a diagnosis during game week. I really liked my sons football coaches but I WOULD NOT want any of them to be responsible for my son’s medical diagnoses. And what keeps the coach from overlooking the star player’s 101 degree fever for a big game? Especially if that coach is of the belief the virus isn’t real or isn’t a threat to kids. Your kid could be playing with and against multiple players who were diagnosed by a football coach and who might be running “overlooked” fevers or symptoms.

This whole thing has become absurd. Everyone knows what the “right” thing to do is but we have become blinded divided by our political beliefs and by our own personal interests. Unfortunately, we have seen far too often lately that a void of true leadership leads to a division of people who really ultimately want the same thing - kids to be safe and still be physically active. In order for ALL kids to have the same opportunity our leaders need to move the season.
 
 
Thanks for taking the time to write and share this. Responding to a couple points...

2)...“kids have to have sports for their mental health. Lack of sports creates stress, suicidal thoughts, and mental illness.” If this is true, and by reading many articles people have posted where many doctors think it is, then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Forget overwhelming our hospitals. We should be concerned about overwhelming our mental health institutions the next couple years. SEVEN PERCENT of high school athletes go on to play in college. ONE PERCENT play beyond college.

It is quite curious that the quoted claim about how 'kids are going to struggle with drug addiction, suicide etc' has only started to come around lately with the threat of no sports. This has always been specious from the get-go, with an even more facile claim. Seriously -- are we led to believe kids are going to develop intractable mental health issues because they missed a football season? Some we'll be bummed, yeah. The rest is hyperbole.

5)How in the heck does any organization or department that has even a most basic understanding of teenagers really believe they will accurately and adequately self-monitor their temperature and possible symptoms of COVID? I’m not even going to get into kids being asymptomatic. I’m just baffled that adults are really willing to roll the dice of a possible huge outbreak on the ability of teenagers to assess if they might have COVID. Isn’t that for doctors to diagnose, not a kid? Maybe this makes it easier for OHSAA to say, “We have no cases. Or we have only had this many cases.” Of course you have no cases. You have teenage kids diagnosing themselves!!!

The problem is there's such a wide range of symptoms, with no clear marker as to what could be COVID-19 and what isn't. The best that we understand is if you have a fever of >100.4, self-quarantine and if you have any of the other symptoms then get tested. The other strong indicator is douse a cotton ball with isopropyl alcohol and put it under your nose -- if you can't smell it, get tested. It's becoming clearer that the loss of smell is linked to the relationship between the virus and the ACE-2 presence in your nose.
 
This is what I think..we are no longer on lockdown like we were in the spring. Kids are out and about, hanging out with friends, swimming, playing some sports going on vacation. If you can do all that why can’t you be in school? So all week you have to learn at home and then you are going to go hang out with your friends at night? Seems like these decisions are being made by a select few who are afraid. If you don’t want your kids to go back, that’s fine, but don’t make the decision for everyone.
 
Before I get attacked, let me say that I am pro high school sports. I have sat and read and listened as this whole OHSAA debacle has taken place and have identified a few things I have found interesting


1) Jason Lloyd said it as well as it can be said and I paraphrase: Kids are going to wear masks and be socially distanced the entire school day and then go outside and smash into each other continuously for two or more hours after school. Regardless of your political views, the hypocrisy of this is ridiculous to say the least.

2) A lot of parents and coaches have been using the “kids have to have sports for their mental health. Lack of sports creates stress, suicidal thoughts, and mental illness.” If this is true, and by reading many articles people have posted where many doctors think it is, then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Forget overwhelming our hospitals. We should be concerned about overwhelming our mental health institutions the next couple years. SEVEN PERCENT of high school athletes go on to play in college. ONE PERCENT play beyond college. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sports is going to end very soon for almost all kids and if they can’t handle that then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Maybe we should be promoting non-contact sports like golf, tennis, and running that kids can play the rest of their lives, with or without school and with or without the coronavirus. This would appear to eliminate a lot of potential mental health issues. Maybe it could even help the people who have the real issue with sports being delayed or canceled, vicarious mom and dad.

3) The OHSAA keeps saying it’s moving forward so our high school can have a school sports experience and this is what Athletic Directors and Superintendents wanted. Well, your job is to provide that experience to ALL kids. With all these schools canceling and postponing fall sports wouldn’t an association who’s charged with providing an equal opportunity for ALL student athletes move to delay the season so ALL kids could participate. You have a plan for all sports to be played beginning in December. USE IT! So ALL kids can participate! Of course, if it’s only about money, self-preservation, and making your association financially solvent, then I suppose you move forward so you can make your playoff money with 1/3 of the schools and kids not participating.

4) Kids have absolutely no chance of COVID-19 affecting them so let them play. I have heard this way too often. First of all, this appears to be true. But there is A CHANCE, however slim, it could drastically harm a kid. The number of parents willing to take that gamble is alarming. However, the real issue here is the contact kids have with the elderly and vulnerable. I live in a district that embraces its elderly and the elderly embrace our kids and school. I am heartbroken to think we might proceed with high school sports at the possible expense of some of our beloved community members. I hope and pray that parents make sure their kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable in our community and take the necessary sanitary precautions.

5) My final thought I think is the most alarming. Every list of mandates and procedures for schools to return to sports I have seen has NOT required testing and has relied on self-monitoring and self-evaluation. I have raised two kids of my own.They had to be reminded to brush their teeth and take a shower. How in the heck does any organization or department that has even a most basic understanding of teenagers really believe they will accurately and adequately self-monitor their temperature and possible symptoms of COVID? I’m not even going to get into kids being asymptomatic. I’m just baffled that adults are really willing to roll the dice of a possible huge outbreak on the ability of teenagers to assess if they might have COVID. Isn’t that for doctors to diagnose, not a kid? Maybe this makes it easier for OHSAA to say, “We have no cases. Or we have only had this many cases.” Of course you have no cases. You have teenage kids diagnosing themselves!!! Think about that! If you went to the doctor and a teenager came into your examination room and started to diagnose you, how confident would you be with that diagnoses? There is also the idea that coaches have to take temperatures and make a diagnosis during game week. I really liked my sons football coaches but I WOULD NOT want any of them to be responsible for my son’s medical diagnoses. And what keeps the coach from overlooking the star player’s 101 degree fever for a big game? Especially if that coach is of the belief the virus isn’t real or isn’t a threat to kids. Your kid could be playing with and against multiple players who were diagnosed by a football coach and who might be running “overlooked” fevers or symptoms.

This whole thing has become absurd. Everyone knows what the “right” thing to do is but we have become blinded divided by our political beliefs and by our own personal interests. Unfortunately, we have seen far too often lately that a void of true leadership leads to a division of people who really ultimately want the same thing - kids to be safe and still be physically active. In order for ALL kids to have the same opportunity our leaders need to move the season.
100% Shooter---great points--be careful or you'll be accused of being the "smartest person in the room" for having a contrary opinion that comes with experience of raising two kids (we have 5 that have completed college and 3 in Education/Coaching)---many of the gung-ho posters still have to wait to see if there is actually a season that involves playing an opponent. For my wife and daughter we are happy VB season moves forward and see how it all goes as the OHSAA says it's safe for athletes and coaches---time will tell!!
 
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Guess what? While kids will be disappointed if they can’t play sports, they will be fine if adults let them be. Kids are way more resilient than people give them credit for. I think if sports are canceled many parents will be more disappointed and heartbroken than their kids will be.

Also, there is a difference between kids being at school around 500-1000 other kids every day and kids hanging out with a few friends on a Friday night.
 
Guess what? While kids will be disappointed if they can’t play sports, they will be fine if adults let them be. Kids are way more resilient than people give them credit for. I think if sports are canceled many parents will be more disappointed and heartbroken than their kids will be.

Also, there is a difference between kids being at school around 500-1000 other kids every day and kids hanging out with a few friends on a Friday night.
Really? LOL Not social distancing is not social distancing no matter what the number?
 
Before I get attacked, let me say that I am pro high school sports. I have sat and read and listened as this whole OHSAA debacle has taken place and have identified a few things I have found interesting

Ohio is not the only state in the country moving forward with Fall sports. They are going to take as many precautions as possible. I'm sure there will be hurdles for teams at times. Resilience is a good quality to learn and develop.
 

good read.

a lot of people seem to have the thought "I don't even understand how any of you could think sports are a good idea".
I am not saying you are wrong. I am not trying to change your mind. Just saying not everyone who wants football to go on is a callous, uncaring, idiot who likes sports more than lives. Many of us feel like this article.
 
While I believe football should be shut down and many schools will, I also recognize there will be some die hard zealots who won’t, unless ordered to. Without that order, it will be interesting to watch what happens in those communities who elect to play and to the people involved, the relatives and neighbors as well as any interacting elements of society. COVID is an equal opportunity infection, not caring who you are or where you are at. No doubt, even at die hard zealot schools, infections will occur and be spread. People will die in the pursuit of football. Then, I would expect the interjection of the Darwinian effects - lawyers. If you think this has all been chaotic to this point, you ain’t seen nothing yet. All the arguments we have read and heard about why football must be played will be played out in front of jurors who will hear the evidence and render a verdict. Everyone thinks going ahead and playing will be without cost - to the players, coaches, school employees, boards and all the members of that community. Are all members of those communities ready for what will transpire ( excluding the zealots, of course) ? Game on.
 
good read.

a lot of people seem to have the thought "I don't even understand how any of you could think sports are a good idea".
I am not saying you are wrong. I am not trying to change your mind. Just saying not everyone who wants football to go on is a callous, uncaring, idiot who likes sports more than lives. Many of us feel like this article.
[/QUOTE]

AND THIS FOOL JUST GOLFS--287th time in 42 months!! What does Mike Rowe think of this???
 
good read.

a lot of people seem to have the thought "I don't even understand how any of you could think sports are a good idea".
I am not saying you are wrong. I am not trying to change your mind. Just saying not everyone who wants football to go on is a callous, uncaring, idiot who likes sports more than lives. Many of us feel like this article.

AND THIS FOOL JUST GOLFS--287th time in 42 months!! What does Mike Rowe think of this???
[/QUOTE]

Nothing like taking solid information from outlaw 09.
 
Before I get attacked, let me say that I am pro high school sports. I have sat and read and listened as this whole OHSAA debacle has taken place and have identified a few things I have found interesting


1) Jason Lloyd said it as well as it can be said and I paraphrase: Kids are going to wear masks and be socially distanced the entire school day and then go outside and smash into each other continuously for two or more hours after school. Regardless of your political views, the hypocrisy of this is ridiculous to say the least.

2) A lot of parents and coaches have been using the “kids have to have sports for their mental health. Lack of sports creates stress, suicidal thoughts, and mental illness.” If this is true, and by reading many articles people have posted where many doctors think it is, then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Forget overwhelming our hospitals. We should be concerned about overwhelming our mental health institutions the next couple years. SEVEN PERCENT of high school athletes go on to play in college. ONE PERCENT play beyond college. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sports is going to end very soon for almost all kids and if they can’t handle that then we are in BIG trouble as a country. Maybe we should be promoting non-contact sports like golf, tennis, and running that kids can play the rest of their lives, with or without school and with or without the coronavirus. This would appear to eliminate a lot of potential mental health issues. Maybe it could even help the people who have the real issue with sports being delayed or canceled, vicarious mom and dad.

3) The OHSAA keeps saying it’s moving forward so our high school can have a school sports experience and this is what Athletic Directors and Superintendents wanted. Well, your job is to provide that experience to ALL kids. With all these schools canceling and postponing fall sports wouldn’t an association who’s charged with providing an equal opportunity for ALL student athletes move to delay the season so ALL kids could participate. You have a plan for all sports to be played beginning in December. USE IT! So ALL kids can participate! Of course, if it’s only about money, self-preservation, and making your association financially solvent, then I suppose you move forward so you can make your playoff money with 1/3 of the schools and kids not participating.

4) Kids have absolutely no chance of COVID-19 affecting them so let them play. I have heard this way too often. First of all, this appears to be true. But there is A CHANCE, however slim, it could drastically harm a kid. The number of parents willing to take that gamble is alarming. However, the real issue here is the contact kids have with the elderly and vulnerable. I live in a district that embraces its elderly and the elderly embrace our kids and school. I am heartbroken to think we might proceed with high school sports at the possible expense of some of our beloved community members. I hope and pray that parents make sure their kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable in our community and take the necessary sanitary precautions.

5) My final thought I think is the most alarming. Every list of mandates and procedures for schools to return to sports I have seen has NOT required testing and has relied on self-monitoring and self-evaluation. I have raised two kids of my own.They had to be reminded to brush their teeth and take a shower. How in the heck does any organization or department that has even a most basic understanding of teenagers really believe they will accurately and adequately self-monitor their temperature and possible symptoms of COVID? I’m not even going to get into kids being asymptomatic. I’m just baffled that adults are really willing to roll the dice of a possible huge outbreak on the ability of teenagers to assess if they might have COVID. Isn’t that for doctors to diagnose, not a kid? Maybe this makes it easier for OHSAA to say, “We have no cases. Or we have only had this many cases.” Of course you have no cases. You have teenage kids diagnosing themselves!!! Think about that! If you went to the doctor and a teenager came into your examination room and started to diagnose you, how confident would you be with that diagnoses? There is also the idea that coaches have to take temperatures and make a diagnosis during game week. I really liked my sons football coaches but I WOULD NOT want any of them to be responsible for my son’s medical diagnoses. And what keeps the coach from overlooking the star player’s 101 degree fever for a big game? Especially if that coach is of the belief the virus isn’t real or isn’t a threat to kids. Your kid could be playing with and against multiple players who were diagnosed by a football coach and who might be running “overlooked” fevers or symptoms.

This whole thing has become absurd. Everyone knows what the “right” thing to do is but we have become blinded divided by our political beliefs and by our own personal interests. Unfortunately, we have seen far too often lately that a void of true leadership leads to a division of people who really ultimately want the same thing - kids to be safe and still be physically active. In order for ALL kids to have the same opportunity our leaders need to move the season.
#4 is utterly stupid. Kids have a greater chance of dying of the regular seasonal flu or getting struck by lightning or dying in a car accident. Has that prevented us from letting them live their lives? #1 lacks any scientific basis because actually playing football doesn't result in viral load or "contact".
#2 Better check the CDC's stats on suicides compared to Covid. Far greater!! Mandatory testing is stupid and unrealistic.
RESULT:
Far Far Far greater damage not letting kids play sports!!!!!
 
#4 is utterly stupid. Kids have a greater chance of dying of the regular seasonal flu or getting struck by lightning or dying in a car accident. Has that prevented us from letting them live their lives? #1 lacks any scientific basis because actually playing football doesn't result in viral load or "contact".
#2 Better check the CDC's stats on suicides compared to Covid. Far greater!! Mandatory testing is stupid and unrealistic.
RESULT:
Far Far Far greater damage not letting kids play sports!!!!!
BTW,
Let me know when Jason Lloyd has a degree in epidemiology or infectious disease.
 
BTW,
Let me know when Jason Lloyd has a degree in epidemiology or infectious disease.

It always amazes me how other people “interpret” what we say to make themselves angry.

Jason Lloyd is a respected journalist in Northeast Ohio. He makes a very good point: The same kids who we ask to wear masks all day and stay six feet apart all day, are permitted to smash into each other for a couple hours after school each day. If you don’t see the irony and hypocrisy of that then I’m sorry.

I agree that kids are at very low risk of the virus affecting them. I said as much. BUT there are people who are VERY MUCH at risk and I hope and pray that these kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable who the disease can have very dire consequences for. It’s not utterly stupid. It’s called compassion for others. Especially for those who are in the most danger from the virus. I won’t apologize for compassion and concern for others.

Suicide and mental health issues are very serious concerns. I have been impacted by both. My point was that almost all athletes will have to stop playing their sports at some point and most of them move on and lead good lives with no emotional issues from graduating and not playing sports anymore. If we can return to school that is great and will help kids emotionally. Sports however will eventually come to an end for all high school athletes and kids will be just fine without them. My observation of being around sports for over 40 years is that the parents have a much much harder time dealing with their kids sports ending than kids have being done with sports.
My entire point is that the current plan does not include ALL high school kids. There are many schools that have made the decision to delay or cancel fall sports. The OHSAA has a plan available that would allow ALL kids to play their sports. Why aren’t we using the plan that would allow ALL kids to participate. Unfortunately, I believe it’s because of money and the solvency of OHSAA. Again, just my thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.
 
It always amazes me how other people “interpret” what we say to make themselves angry.

Jason Lloyd is a respected journalist in Northeast Ohio. He makes a very good point: The same kids who we ask to wear masks all day and stay six feet apart all day, are permitted to smash into each other for a couple hours after school each day. If you don’t see the irony and hypocrisy of that then I’m sorry.

I agree that kids are at very low risk of the virus affecting them. I said as much. BUT there are people who are VERY MUCH at risk and I hope and pray that these kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable who the disease can have very dire consequences for. It’s not utterly stupid. It’s called compassion for others. Especially for those who are in the most danger from the virus. I won’t apologize for compassion and concern for others.

Suicide and mental health issues are very serious concerns. I have been impacted by both. My point was that almost all athletes will have to stop playing their sports at some point and most of them move on and lead good lives with no emotional issues from graduating and not playing sports anymore. If we can return to school that is great and will help kids emotionally. Sports however will eventually come to an end for all high school athletes and kids will be just fine without them. My observation of being around sports for over 40 years is that the parents have a much much harder time dealing with their kids sports ending than kids have being done with sports.
My entire point is that the current plan does not include ALL high school kids. There are many schools that have made the decision to delay or cancel fall sports. The OHSAA has a plan available that would allow ALL kids to play their sports. Why aren’t we using the plan that would allow ALL kids to participate. Unfortunately, I believe it’s because of money and the solvency of OHSAA. Again, just my thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.
Being a respected journalist neither makes him an expect nor correct. I always enjoyed his work as a Cavs beat reporter but he's flat wrong here.
THE MAJORITY OF DISTRICTS HAVE GIVEN A CHOICE TO FAMILIES TO HAVE KIDS LEARN ONLINE. This renders his masks in school comparison as baseless. I would suspect if you polled players and parents, THEY WANT TO PLAY AND WILL ASSUME ANY RISK, however infinite it is.
 
Being a respected journalist neither makes him an expect nor correct. I always enjoyed his work as a Cavs beat reporter but he's flat wrong here.
THE MAJORITY OF DISTRICTS HAVE GIVEN A CHOICE TO FAMILIES TO HAVE KIDS LEARN ONLINE. This renders his masks in school comparison as baseless. I would suspect if you polled players and parents, THEY WANT TO PLAY AND WILL ASSUME ANY RISK, however infinite it is.

A poll phrased as, “Willing to assume any risk?” I think you would be surprised by the players responses. Unfortunately you are probably correct on the parent’s being willing to take “ANY RISK” for their kids to play. As disturbing as that may be to most people, you are probably right. Explains why the kids would have anxiety and mental health issues if they can’t play. That’s a lot of pressure for anyone.
 
Thanks for taking the time to write and share this. Responding to a couple points...



It is quite curious that the quoted claim about how 'kids are going to struggle with drug addiction, suicide etc' has only started to come around lately with the threat of no sports. This has always been specious from the get-go, with an even more facile claim. Seriously -- are we led to believe kids are going to develop intractable mental health issues because they missed a football season? Some we'll be bummed, yeah. The rest is hyperbole.



The problem is there's such a wide range of symptoms, with no clear marker as to what could be COVID-19 and what isn't. The best that we understand is if you have a fever of >100.4, self-quarantine and if you have any of the other symptoms then get tested. The other strong indicator is douse a cotton ball with isopropyl alcohol and put it under your nose -- if you can't smell it, get tested. It's becoming clearer that the loss of smell is linked to the relationship between the virus and the ACE-2 presence in your nose.
kids will deal with more mental health issues from social media than they will a lack of sports.. take it to the bank!
 

good read.

a lot of people seem to have the thought "I don't even understand how any of you could think sports are a good idea".
I am not saying you are wrong. I am not trying to change your mind. Just saying not everyone who wants football to go on is a callous, uncaring, idiot who likes sports more than lives. Many of us feel like this article.

I'm quite certain on March 10th, Dr. Osterholm did not expect we would hit 480,000 deaths by January 2021. I'm pretty sure Mike Rowe would stop driving if there were 36,000 accidents in a week.

Here's Dr. Osterholm's podcast transcript from July 16th. The whole thing is pretty level headed.

whereas other countries have demonstrated needs to be done in order to hold this virus activity at bay with testing and contact tracing once you get it to a certain minimal level. I think the state of New York surely has continued to be our model in that regard in the United States, they seem to be doing it as well as anyone. We'll learn from them over the days ahead, you know, just how well it can be contained by trying to keep the foot on the brake, sometimes applying a little bit harder, sometimes taking it off, but not this idea that the entire house is on fire. So we'll have to see, and I think that at this point if we don't see one unified approach from around the country, it's going to make it more difficult for state by state efforts to accomplish the reduction of cases, and then to make certain that new cases don't come in to the state at large numbers. I thought it was quite interesting today. I never ever thought about this

My own state of Minnesota was added to the quarantine list for the state of New York, and we now are not able to go out there without a 14 day quarantine. I never thought I'd see the day where that would happen. Right in our own country. Now whether it's effective or not, or can be effective, is a whole other discussion, but the bottom line is that the message is there, and so I can only hope that we have national leadership that will come together and say, "We need a national policy. We need a national approach, and it can be targeted. It can be tailor-made for locals, but with the overarching indication of what we're trying to do." We're trying to knock this virus down to a point where we can then control it with testing and tracing. It has been done successfully in other countries, and if we don't learn from those, I don't know if we'll ever have a third chance.

I think that it's going to be a situation where the number of cases will only continue to increase, and I fear that we're going to get closer and closer that herd immunity number of 50-70%, but not because of a vaccine, but because we got there the most painful and deadly way possible and that was not controlling this pandemic. One day, I am certain, as much as I dedicated this podcast to the kids, those kids, when they're adults, are going to be look back and saying, "What did my parents and grandparents do? Why did they let this happen?" We will be written up in history for what we do and don't do over the weeks ahead, and I can only imagine the number of cases and the number of deaths if we don't do something different and how that will play out in history. It will be cruel, and so, surely not meaning hyperbole here, I can't emphasize enough how critical I think this issue is right now where we have to lock down, and I for one, and again I've said this before, I'm not an economist,


....

I have talked to many teachers who want desperately to get back in the classroom. They miss their kids. They just miss their kids, and when you think about what they're up against, 57% of school teachers in this country in public schools are over age 40. 59% of private school teachers are over age 40, and a recent survey that just came out showed that up to 1/4 of those may be at increased risk for having a serious illness, once infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus, and predisposed to dying. Now, obviously we've had a number of essential works who had to deal with this everyday. People who had to go to work, they had no other choices, it was their livelihood. They were having all kinds of contact with the public, and we know they paid a price. We know our healthcare workers have paid a price. I've talked about that many times on this podcast, and I still, am torn desperately when I hear about healthcare workers dying, so the challenge though if I'm a school teacher, I want to be with my kids, but I'm afraid to be with them. We have to acknowledge that. We have to understand that. It doesn't do any good to ignore it and say, "suck it up." That's not right.

Follow up episode:
 
It always amazes me how other people “interpret” what we say to make themselves angry.

Jason Lloyd is a respected journalist in Northeast Ohio. He makes a very good point: The same kids who we ask to wear masks all day and stay six feet apart all day, are permitted to smash into each other for a couple hours after school each day. If you don’t see the irony and hypocrisy of that then I’m sorry.

I agree that kids are at very low risk of the virus affecting them. I said as much. BUT there are people who are VERY MUCH at risk and I hope and pray that these kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable who the disease can have very dire consequences for. It’s not utterly stupid. It’s called compassion for others. Especially for those who are in the most danger from the virus. I won’t apologize for compassion and concern for others.

Suicide and mental health issues are very serious concerns. I have been impacted by both. My point was that almost all athletes will have to stop playing their sports at some point and most of them move on and lead good lives with no emotional issues from graduating and not playing sports anymore. If we can return to school that is great and will help kids emotionally. Sports however will eventually come to an end for all high school athletes and kids will be just fine without them. My observation of being around sports for over 40 years is that the parents have a much much harder time dealing with their kids sports ending than kids have being done with sports.
My entire point is that the current plan does not include ALL high school kids. There are many schools that have made the decision to delay or cancel fall sports. The OHSAA has a plan available that would allow ALL kids to play their sports. Why aren’t we using the plan that would allow ALL kids to participate. Unfortunately, I believe it’s because of money and the solvency of OHSAA. Again, just my thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.
It's not just shutdown from sports, it's shutdown in general. And it's all people, not just athletes that mentally effected by the shutdowns. See the CDC reports about nutrition and mental health services provided at school. And yes, all people need to be careful around the elderly. It definitely sucks for older people to be even more isolated, but we can work around that without shutting everything down for political gains.
 
We are still learning the long term effects of this virus and how it possibly harms mild and asymptomatic people.

Look at the German study and heart studies. Look at the Korean study showing kids 10-19 pass this virus just the same as adults. Look at 150,000 dead. Look at MLB. But darn we need football. Let's see what happens when a 1000 kids and staff are crammed in a closed environment.
 
It always amazes me how other people “interpret” what we say to make themselves angry.

Jason Lloyd is a respected journalist in Northeast Ohio. He makes a very good point: The same kids who we ask to wear masks all day and stay six feet apart all day, are permitted to smash into each other for a couple hours after school each day. If you don’t see the irony and hypocrisy of that then I’m sorry.

I agree that kids are at very low risk of the virus affecting them. I said as much. BUT there are people who are VERY MUCH at risk and I hope and pray that these kids stay away from the elderly and vulnerable who the disease can have very dire consequences for. It’s not utterly stupid. It’s called compassion for others. Especially for those who are in the most danger from the virus. I won’t apologize for compassion and concern for others.

Suicide and mental health issues are very serious concerns. I have been impacted by both. My point was that almost all athletes will have to stop playing their sports at some point and most of them move on and lead good lives with no emotional issues from graduating and not playing sports anymore. If we can return to school that is great and will help kids emotionally. Sports however will eventually come to an end for all high school athletes and kids will be just fine without them. My observation of being around sports for over 40 years is that the parents have a much much harder time dealing with their kids sports ending than kids have being done with sports.
My entire point is that the current plan does not include ALL high school kids. There are many schools that have made the decision to delay or cancel fall sports. The OHSAA has a plan available that would allow ALL kids to play their sports. Why aren’t we using the plan that would allow ALL kids to participate. Unfortunately, I believe it’s because of money and the solvency of OHSAA. Again, just my thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.

Here's a quote from the director of CDC. Highschoolers have effectively zero chance of dying from this and are actually at greater health risk from school shutdowns. So Jason Llyod wrote a guilt-trip piece to suit his politcal preference, he's a lefty hack.

"But there has been another cost that we’ve seen, particularly in high schools," Redfield said. "We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID. So this is why I keep coming back for the overall social being of individuals, is let’s all work together and find out how we can find common ground to get these schools open in a way that people are comfortable and their safe."
 
"...common ground to get these schools open in a way that people are comfortable and their safe."

"... their safe"? Obviously, in-person schooling didn't help him, unless he is speaking of the place where people store their money in their houses.

Despite the lack of grammar skills, he is correct in saying that we should all work together to find common ground. He did not say we need to open contrary to local boards of health recommendations.
 
Here's a quote from the director of CDC. Highschoolers have effectively zero chance of dying from this and are actually at greater health risk from school shutdowns. So Jason Llyod wrote a guilt-trip piece to suit his politcal preference, he's a lefty hack.

"But there has been another cost that we’ve seen, particularly in high schools," Redfield said. "We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID. So this is why I keep coming back for the overall social being of individuals, is let’s all work together and find out how we can find common ground to get these schools open in a way that people are comfortable and their safe."

Back to in-person schooling for kids? 100% YES!
Non-contact sports? Yes.
Football? Wrestling? No.
Suicide and mental health issues have not been linked to a lack of football. Except of course for vicarious parents who lose all self-worth without their kid playing football.
 
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