COVID-19 has robbed our young athletes of joys they can never get back

When you become an adult it doesn’t take long to look past the (high school or college) games. The memories become about the locker room, the bus rides, the bench and the road trips. The memories are about the teammates, not the team. Even teams that played can’t get a lot of this back.

I hate to throw a stink bomb into the middle of this thread, but myself and many of my friends got drafted and send to Vietnam, so forgive me if I lack empathy here. But it is a game for God sakes.

@Good Knight posted:

I hate to throw a stink bomb into the middle of this thread, but myself and many of my friends got drafted and send to Vietnam, so forgive me if I lack empathy here. But it is a game for God sakes.

There was a recent article about an 87 year old woman who, when she was 12, spent two years hiding from the Germans in a 4'x5' space in a barn with 8 other people.  She talks about how Covid is taking her elder years. She wrote:

But there is no comparison of anxiety, of the coronavirus, to the terror I felt when I was a child. That was a fear with no boundary. This is going to end, and I am already thinking, planning where I am going first, what I will do first, when this ends."

I am very sad that our kids lost a year of sports and school, and I thought CA way over-reacted in banning even outdoor activities for 12 months.

But, everything in perspective.

Thank you for your service @Good Knight and I completely agree with your take and @DD 2024's post. Three of my kids were impacted, including one who's team had a chance for the deepest NCAA run in their school's history, and all three of them were able to put the COVID restrictions into perspective, put their nose to the grindstone and make something of it. Not having sports wasn't great but our focus should be on people who lost their life, their health or their livelihood. 

@Good Knight posted:

I hate to throw a stink bomb into the middle of this thread, but myself and many of my friends got drafted and send to Vietnam, so forgive me if I lack empathy here. But it is a game for God sakes.

You must have skipped the first paragraph.

@RJM posted:

You must have skipped the first paragraph.

Everything in perspective and then 15 paragraphs about missing sports - ?

Seems like a non sequitur.

I need more time for normalcy before I can lament on our losses.   

Sometimes I wonder if this site is still about baseball...... thanks for sharing RJM.

I heard Texas and Mississippi are going back to business as usual....how is that affecting sports there?

@Shoveit4Ks posted:

I heard Texas and Mississippi are going back to business as usual....how is that affecting sports there?

I don't think it has any major impact outside a few inconveniences at this point.  We are in an adjacent state with some modest restrictions in place, and short of a few masks around, and counting people at the gates (they still haven't turned anybody away), I don't see much of a difference.

@Viking0 posted:

I don't think it has any major impact outside a few inconveniences at this point.  We are in an adjacent state with some modest restrictions in place, and short of a few masks around, and counting people at the gates (they still haven't turned anybody away), I don't see much of a difference.

So Louisiana has not limited the number of fans at athletic events?  The LSU baseball game I watched the other day had very few fans in the stands.  I was wondering the same as ShoveIt4Ks.  We live in Sc and everything is limited and my son has played in TN and GA and both places have been sold out with about 25% capacity.  We had to buy season passes so that our family could watch our son's home games.  I'm hoping SC and Tn follow suit but who knows.  Texas A&M still shows limited seating for their upcoming games.  Anybody know if this will change?

Most schools both college and high school in Texas have not announced the changes they will make yet. I am certainly hoping for some increase in attendance.

Thanks for sharing the article. I think it is crazy to minimize the loss to a lot of these kids.  It isn't a contest.  I have had some pretty big tragedies in life, that doesn't mean that it wasn't painful to see my kid lose a season, a graduation, all sense of normalcy for a year.  There are a lot of kids, that sports are all they have.  Maybe their only way out of a bad situation, or the only chance for college.  We can all compare our hardships in life or just appreciate that everyone's situation was different and this affected them in different ways and it sucked.

@PitchingFan posted:

So Louisiana has not limited the number of fans at athletic events?  The LSU baseball game I watched the other day had very few fans in the stands.  I was wondering the same as ShoveIt4Ks.  We live in Sc and everything is limited and my son has played in TN and GA and both places have been sold out with about 25% capacity.  We had to buy season passes so that our family could watch our son's home games.  I'm hoping SC and Tn follow suit but who knows.  Texas A&M still shows limited seating for their upcoming games.  Anybody know if this will change?

I think some of the College rules are stricter than the statewide ones.  Also, in some away games in certain cities, things are stricter.  Locally, it wasn't as if early HS baseball were packed in years past, so I guess they haven't hit the 50% capacity (I think it will actually go to 75% this weekend).  There is plenty of room for those who don't like sitting near people when watching their kids play (such as me ... I don't even sit with my wife usually, who likes to gab with the other moms.....).

For HS in southeast FL I've seen a wide range of spectator rules from no limits at all to one guest per player. My son's school has increased from 3 to 6. I honestly have no idea how they come up with those numbers. So far only one school has actually verified who you are in attendance to watch.

I know our HS baseball is not limiting in our town because we have a huge hill that people can sit on so our seating capacity is great and we have never filled it.  Some of the teams we play have already set it up to limit seating to only parents.  Which means one night anyone can go and the next night when the same teams play each other it is limited.

UT and GSU both have sold out.  Very limited seating and sad part is there are people who want to get in that can't because the seats are all either family or reserved seating.  The good part for me may be if they keep it up I will definitely get my money back for my reserved seats since we play LSU, Vandy, Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky at home and those seats are selling for $180-250 per seat because the visitors have to buy from season ticket holders to get in unless something changes.

Side note:  Everyone see where Kentucky high schools gave a year back to everyone this year who wants to come back.  Rumor is Tennessee is considering the same thing.

@Viking0 posted:

I think some of the College rules are stricter than the statewide ones.  Also, in some away games in certain cities, things are stricter.  Locally, it wasn't as if early HS baseball were packed in years past, so I guess they haven't hit the 50% capacity (I think it will actually go to 75% this weekend).  There is plenty of room for those who don't like sitting near people when watching their kids play (such as me ... I don't even sit with my wife usually, who likes to gab with the other moms.....).

I can tell you with absolute certainty that at least SOME colleges have tighter rules then the states they reside in.

I think from my perspective this is such a huge loss for a few reasons,

- it effects everyone, all sports, all activities, all lives.

- it is mental, physical and social.

- it is by a large measure self inflicted

I did a quick search, from 1964 to 1973 - 10 years. 2.2 million young men were drafted out of 27 million eligible. I by no means intend to diminish that sacrifice but it doesn't have the impact that the past year has due to sheer number of individuals directly suffering from it.

I didn’t realize there would be a political reaction to this article. The memories do matter. You're an adult for a long time. You’re only a junior and senior once. Kids don’t get to retrace their steps and redo their childhood.

If we want to take a political angle on the story self harm is up 330% among teens in the past year. Overdoses are up 119%. Depression is up 94%. Anxiety is up 84%. If kids had their extra curricular activities from sports to other school activities to after school jobs do you think the numbers would be different?

@PitchingFan posted:

Side note:  Everyone see where Kentucky high schools gave a year back to everyone this year who wants to come back.  Rumor is Tennessee is considering the same thing.

A year back for what?  Just for sports?  That's kind of putting the cart before the horse.  Really, they should allow kids a year extra of school in general, if they were online all year.  That would play havoc with budgets, but think of all the kids who haven't learned much this year.

“…our focus should be on people who lost their life, their health or their livelihood.”

Eh, that sounds good on paper.  It’ll give us warm fuzzies, but people lose their lives, health and livelihood each and every day – pre-Covid, during Covid and they will post-Covid.  Yet do we put on our focus on them?  Nope.  Here and there a little, but for most part, we focus on all the – still very real – struggles and obstacles of our own lives. And our family and friends.  That doesn’t make us bad people.  Nor does focusing more right now on Covid-related loses make us more virtuous.  Is a Covid-related death any more tragic than when my 8 year old niece lost her battle with brain cancer in 2019?  Nope.  Yet no one was out then telling people they should focus more on children who lost their lives, health or livelihood due to brain cancer.  The powers-that-be leverage the massive numbers of Covid deaths in such a way to try to convince us it’s somehow worse than dying from other things.  They prey on and exploit the spectacle of size. Almost 2,000 US children die every year from cancer, so you’ll never hear a peep on any network, in any speech or any platform about them.  Sorry, kids.  You 2,000 precious lives don’t make the cut. Call us when we can politicize you and turn your tragedy into a talking point.  Until then, you're no Covid.

I’ve been saying this since last spring – Covid deaths don’t own a monopoly on tragedy.  Tragedies come in all shapes and sizes and no one gets to say how the other 332 million of us can feel about them.  @Good Knight  I sincerely appreciate and thank you for your service and sacrifice, but being drafted (both my fathers were as well) and sent to Vietnam does not make it any more virtuous in drawing thresholds for empathy for others.  There are hundreds of thousands of Covid deaths here in the US and that’s absolutely horrific by every measure.  But there are also hundreds of millions – likely billions – of other lower-level tragedies and sufferings here each and every day that are very real and very hard for many to ignore/escape from.  Stack up 163 “mini” tragedies over the course of a year and you might find yourself standing on the edge of bridge ready to end it all.  We can’t go up to that person say “dude, it’s just game. Suck it up until you know what real suffering is.”  Perspective is key and wholly virtuous, but it is not some magic wand that simply erases every lesser loss.  It looks like Shaughnessy understands that.

Worse than Covid. But not as newsworthy. People are crazy about masks. But I don’t walk up to people in restaurants and tell them that’s the heart attack special they’re eating. I don’t tell people, “Lose some weight for your own good you lazy, slack ass.”

A person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease. About 655,000 Americans die from heart disease each year.

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

Danj I did not claim any virtue because I have little. What I said was let's not confuse real problems with baseball!

@Good Knight posted:

Danj I did not claim any virtue because I have little. What I said was let's not confuse real problems with baseball!

Is a 334% increase over the past year in teen self abuse a real problem? 119% increase in drug overdoses? 94% increase in depression? 84% increase in anxiety? Do you think there’s any connection between canceling school and extracurricular activities and these numbers?

The logical thing would have been to quarantine the elderly and those in poor health, and let the rest of the population get on with life.  Covid is a non-issue for young people.  What we have done, and continue to do, is ridiculous.

@RJM posted:

I didn’t realize there would be a political reaction to this article.

Sure. Because no other COVID link has ever had a political reaction.

@Smitty28 posted:

The logical thing would have been to quarantine the elderly and those in poor health, and let the rest of the population get on with life.  Covid is a non-issue for young people.  What we have done, and continue to do, is ridiculous.

they couldn’t beat the bad orange man without a crisis.

I am sorry that this has become political. It was inevitable.

I look back daily and wish that we would have known how better to handle the virus.

I am in agreement with anotherparent.  What is more important is the lost education. You dont need sports to compete against the world stage, you need educated individuals. So many lost out this year, there are dozens if not millions of poor households in America that dont have wi fi. How did they expect them to learn. And they lived in places that couldnt give a crap about them.  I think you might find those places with higher youth cases of suicide and crime. JMO

I get it about losing out in sports. Fortunately, after a regroup, sports continued here. My son in law traveled every weekend up north this summer with his son for LaX tournies. Summer baseball was played and HS sports are happening. We are lucky we live in a place where you can be outside.

I have had my vaccination, but still required in my county to wear a mask. In my community you can be fined $25 for no mask.  I have no problem with that. I am happy to see seniors out and about and not afraid to live what life they have left.

Here is my problem in this topic. How the HECK does the greedy SEC get off charging so much money for tickets? $180-250 a seat for visitors? What are regular prices? Student prices?

Are they in financial trouble?  Come on man, this is a time that people need to go out and enjoy themselves and be outdoors. Everyone, not just those with extra bucks.

Most programs have limited seating due to county regulations. Here in Boca Raton, season tickets went quickly. Seperate tickets are sold old immediately each week. They are $10 each no matter where u sit. Players and coaches get 4 free tickets. If they dont use them they share among themselves. Visiting team allowed a certain amount, same price $10. I think students are free but limited. Most students not on campus take virtual classes.

Maybe I am misunderstanding, I know certain teams sell out, but at what price and who are they really hurting?

When weighing the risk of conducting school and school activities versus sheltering and shutting down, I think what has not been considered strongly enough is that the hallway, the cafeteria, and the locker room are nearly as important in the education process as the classroom. One could argue they are more important.

I don't believe the "greedy" SEC, or their member schools, are charging $180-$250 for seats to baseball games.  Season ticket holders may be getting that on StubHub and the like, but the SEC isn't getting that money.  Just regular old supply and demand for people with supply getting what they can from people with demand. 

We prioritized old people ahead of young people.

I'm old.  Most of my old friends seem to think it's good that we prioritized the old ahead of the young.  I don't.

My go-to metric is Total Years of Life Lost; not total fatalities.

Thank you 9and7dad.  It is called supply and demand.  When the big boys come to town and can't get tickets to see a ballgame people are willing to pay.  it is happening all over.  I looked at several mid-major schools and their bigger archrival games are getting similar prices for tickets.  The season tickets cost the same as always but the supply and demand process has kicked in and if you are wanting to go watch a game then you will have to pay that amount to get in.  I bought mine to make sure that my son's family and friends could come watch him but have almost made my money back on the first few weeks because we sold the ones that we were not using for $30 a seat which was the cheapest of anyone.  Sold two days last weekend to fans of our opponent that live in Knoxville.

The midweek game this week for UT is not doing a pass list and there are no tickets available.  I reckon I will just hope that he does good this weekend and does not travel for the midweek game.

@9and7dad posted:

I don't believe the "greedy" SEC, or their member schools, are charging $180-$250 for seats to baseball games.  Season ticket holders may be getting that on StubHub and the like, but the SEC isn't getting that money.  Just regular old supply and demand for people with supply getting what they can from people with demand.

Well ticketmaster, stubb hub etc make money from service charges.  But that was not what was stated.

I guess the ticket holders are doing quite well.

I hope it's not an impermissible benefit.

So I took two SEC programs with availability at both stadiums, same section. One was UF, home game, 80 dollars less in a brand new stadium, then the other stadium they would be playing a few weeks later.

Bringing this back to the OG's post, Covid was, and is a political football used for control. For the most part, a population was controlled with F.U.D. and that was leveraged to win an election.

Not to worry, Team Vaccine is here to save us.

@Go44dad posted:

Not to worry, Team Vaccine is here to save us.

Thank goodness!

Lol

Per @TPM What is more important is the lost education. You dont need sports to compete against the world stage, you need educated individuals. So many lost out this year, there are dozens if not millions of poor households in America that dont have wi fi. How did they expect them to learn. And they lived in places that couldnt give a crap about them.  I think you might find those places with higher youth cases of suicide and crime.

I will respectfully disagree with you here.  Education comes in MANY forms.  Some of the most educated and truly smart people don't have diplomas hanging on their walls.  Yes, for many (and thank God), sports help educate lots and lots of people.  Real world usable skills are developed and honed in sports and they aren't skills associated with exit velos and spin rates.  Ask any adult who participated in athletics which was more important to their success post-high school: calculus and knowing the 50 state capitals or experience working with different personalities and overcoming adversity.  Baseball IS a game.  But it is SO much more.  For anyone who honestly believes activities like sports are simply frosting, you're missing so much.  Too much.  The game IS a just a game.  The experience, however, is worthy of a diploma/degree itself.  And it's not just baseball/sports.

While I appreciate the problems associated with poor households not having access to wifi/education, ask those who were fortunate enough to be able to learn remotely.  While it's better than nothing, it's just slightly.  I have a 17 year senior boy and a 14 year old 8th grade girl.  Their district has lots of money, so each kid 7th-12th gets issued an Apple laptop every year.  The money and technology is there and both my kids are candid in saying they're receiving not education.  These are regular kids with access to some things that a lot are not, yet they'll look you right in the eye and tell you it's garbage.  What kind of 14 and 17 year old has the wherewithal at those ages to recognize that their education over the last year has been a joke?  I wasn't able to reflect back on the quality of my high school education until I was in my late 20s.  Because I didn't have 2 items to compare.  But these kids have had front row seats to pre-Covid and present-Covid education.  My kids have told me that cheating is now so easy that everyone is doing it.  Even the smart kids.  Think about that for a moment.  My kids have been back full time at school since January and the education is no better.  Because about 20% of the student population has elected to still remote learn.  It turns my stomach, but my senior son has something very close to no real education for the 2nd half of his junior and 100% of his senior year.  It's the easiest thing in the world to say that "it's better than nothing," but if you dig into it all and really inspect what is going on, you'll see that those getting it and those unable to are almost equally handcuffed by what we've done.

Well, this was my point.  Instead of giving only athletes back a year, to make up for the time that was lost, they should offer ALL students back a year, to make up for the education that was lost.

Per @TPM What is more important is the lost education. You dont need sports to compete against the world stage, you need educated individuals. So many lost out this year, there are dozens if not millions of poor households in America that dont have wi fi. How did they expect them to learn. And they lived in places that couldnt give a crap about them.  I think you might find those places with higher youth cases of suicide and crime.

Danj,

I will respectfully disagree with you.  In short, lost education means lost employable skills in a global market place.  Our country continues to fall behind in education and technical skills around the world.   Baseball and athletics employ very talented few in the world.  Education is the big picture.