CmassRHPDad posted:RJM posted:The Michigan governor won’t help with her over the top orders. Her stay at home orders are so rigid a hitter can’t even go to first after he hits the ball.
Michigan has one of the highest confirmed infection and death rates even though they are doing less testing than other states. Be safe out there.
I'm not trying to be a jerk here and I know everyone is beyond stress. I thought I would try to help ease some stress.
Charts can be fun to look at but can easily be misunderstood or misquoted and that just spreads the panic and stress. Main Stream Media is notorious for this. (see didn't get political)
People need to NOT look at just the COUNT of confirmed cases. That means NOTHING mathematically or epidemiologically. Infection or death rates require a denominator, like population.
Great site and visual here: (CDC numbers) https://infection2020.com/ You can even expand and see down to the county level and watch it over time.
Michigan has 9.987 million people so 30791 confirmed/9,987,000 = .0031 = .3% I wouldn't call that "high...."
NJ, which has more cases, has less population at 8.881 million so their infected rate is 81599/8,881,000 = 1% more than 3X that of Michigan.
NY state has 19.45 million citizens with 242,570/19,450,000=1.25%
(yes, NYC is a crazy hot spot based on population density)
It's about population, population density --- denominators!!!
They chart counts here (which looks WAY scarier), but also show infection rates to the population in each county and you can change the legend to just show infection rates.
Also be careful when they post charts/comparisons to average daily deaths like heart disease, cancer, sepsis, or suicide, as those are aged over a year period and Covid has been counted for only 2 months. averaged over the year it will be lower than reported/compared.
Yes, death is bad, but the affects on the economy, herd and individual psyche, economic turmoil, suicide rates, etc are much much much worse. Infection Rates, prevelance, virulence, yeah yeah yeah. But I don't get the continued shutdown with numbers this low.
It sucks for our kids. Texas Govenor shut down the schools for the rest of the academic year, and Texas UIL canceled the rest of the spring sports and seasons. Thankfully, the governor is also opening Texas back up next week to get people back to work. Face cover will be the norm for quite some time, and that isn't a bad thing. Hopefully it works out well and helps boost the economy and morale.
Imagine how much less of this and other diseases spread now that people are covering their face and washing hands (finally)....
I do hope we can get some summer baseball events back. Especially for those kids that are trying to be seen to get to the next level. College kids have already been seen. I'm talking high school kids and staying on topic.
Even if they just did 2020 and 2021 focused ONLY events just to keep the numbers down. I get this was to be the hot summer for 22s, but I think that has shifted, at least this year and they still have next summer. Yes some schools are mostly, if not, full for the 21 class, but A LOT are not (and maybe with the extra class returning and everyone getting a do-over) that would be a good thing. But out of necessity, the 2020s and 2021s need this summer to hopefully find something and somewhere to go, if they can or if they haven't already. No 10-14 year old needs to be out playing or trying to land a scholarship and don't get me started on the 8th grade commits. What a joke. I'm not saying they younger kids don't need to get out, but in a limited capacity or availability, time sensitive nature, the 2020s and 2021s need it the most. 22s are next in line and hopefully have the fall for 2021 and 22 events.
Would be happy to have baseball games with no fans or just family with social distancing, face covers, etc. Would be happy to oblige and sit 6 feet away from others. Stadiums and schools would appreciate the income I'm sure and we could all use a game, even if just televised.
If the distance learning thing takes off I would imagine colleges will be hurting without on campus attendees and boosts to local economies. College is about GOING to college, interacting, experiencing and growing up, not learning on a screen. Yes it can happen and helps when needed and now is that time, but that isn't the college and learning experience we all had and want for our kids. Hopefully we can get back to that sooner.
Additionally, remote college is going to hurt the smaller schools. Why go to school ABC, when I can dial in and attend Harvard, or Stanford. If the price drops on virtual vs physical attendance, budgets and balance sheets are going to be drastically affected.
I feel really badly for the 2020s. No baseball, no prom, no graduation. That totally sucks.
FACT - Only 7ish% of the HS kids go on to play at the college level. So less numbers in college and even less numbers of college seniors. Way more high school seniors affected nationally.
On the bright side, I do think and others have said, the next few years of college baseball are going to be the best competition we will have ever had or seen and that is exciting. More difficult and competitive for the upcoming high schoolers and incoming freshman next and the next few classes, but the college baseball caliber, across ALL divisions, just exploded and will be super exciting to watch when we can get back to the fields.
I think the MLB got their way and shrunk the draft and it won't get back to what it was. Which means less college and high school draftees and more kids in school and that isn't a bad thing. I never understood the 18-22 man signing class of the Vandys, Arks, Tech Tech, Florida International, etc. Those numbers aren't sustainable. Education is important. I'm glad that more kids will be going to college to get an education and to prep for whatever next level they can get to.
OK, rant over. I need more coffee.
Stay safe and wash your hands!
