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DAN SHAUGHNESSY


March 3 at 1:02 PM

Everything must be viewed in perspective, because there has never been a time quite like this. Those blessed with good health, employment, and family support can’t complain or demonstrate impatience. There’s real suffering all around us, so we all need to suck it up and wait for the pandemic to play itself out.


All that said and understood, please allow me a moment to shine a light on COVID-19′s impact on team sports — a small but critical slice of everyday Americana that’s been erased from the lives of so many young people over the last 12 months. Our high school and college juniors and seniors have lost seasons they will never get back.


Mock me if you want, but I remember a time in my life when losing a season of varsity baseball or basketball would have made me feel like my life was ruined. And in these days when we are surrounded by so much real suffering and economic doom, I cannot get the damage done to student-athletes out of my head. I feel for them.


It’s a situation that would have plunged me into teen darkness when I was a high school athlete.


Some scholastic and collegiate programs have come back in revised and limited forms, but it’s not the same. Many of the joys and lifelong memories that come with playing for your school have been lost for these young people.


It’s a small sacrifice when compared with the agony of the death of a loved one, but it is real loss nonetheless. If you played basketball with the same friends from elementary school into high school — and planned on winning a state title this year — that opportunity is gone and it is never coming back.


There were no spring sports for high school or college teams in 2020. The Ivy League has wiped out all of its conference play through the spring of 2021. EMass high school football was erased in the fall of 2020, and now scholastic gridders are practicing — some in snow and ice — for a modified spring season.

Participants in all sports are taking new risks to have any semblance of a season.
Meanwhile, there are no state high school basketball or hockey tournaments — no kids looking forward to going to the Garden for EMass finals next week.


Take away these moments and you take away so much of the exuberance of youth. You have no Glory Days, no Friday Night Lights, no Hoosiers.


Fifty years ago, when I was a bench-warmer for the Groton High boys’ varsity basketball team, we traveled to Westborough to play St. Mary’s of Worcester, needing to win three Central Mass. tourney games to make it to the small-school state championship at the vaunted old Boston Garden.


St. Mary’s was coached by Togo Palazzi, who’d played in the NBA after an All-America career at Holy Cross. Togo was a big, tough guy who had gone toe-to-toe with Wilt Chamberlain.


The thing I remember most about that night was halftime, when we heard Togo screaming at his team through the walls of our locker room. Evidently, Togo was not satisfied with St. Mary’s 4-point lead. I can’t say what impact his fiery speech had on the St. Mary’s players, but I know it scared the hell out of us. St. Mary’s jumped to a 19-point lead in the third quarter and beat us by 5.


Groton didn’t make it to the Garden until 2004, when it lost to Walpole in the Division 2 state championship. On that same day, on the same parquet floor, the Walpole girls won the Division 2 state championship, beating Hampshire. A quick check of the official MIAA program revealed a Thornton on each Walpole squad; siblings Tyler and Molly Thornton each went home with a state championship. Must have been a joyful Sunday night at the Thornton household.


That’s the stuff that happens in high school and college team sports. Wins. Losses. Cheers. Tears. It’s what kept many of us going in some of those difficult years.


And now so much of it is gone: Making signs to paste on the walls at school … looking forward to the game all through the school day … whispering and passing notes in class … locker room banter … bus rides with teammates … cheerleaders … pep rallies … trays of orange slices … team dinners … cups of water from the Gatorade bucket … shared towels on the bench … huddles … your parents and friends watching from the stands … nicknames and inside jokes that only you and your teammates understand … the last time in your life that you seem to be free of real-world concerns.


It’s been a year of tremendous loss, fear, and uncertainty, not all of which can be measured by mortalities, vaccination rates, and economic indexes. Don’t underestimate what’s been taken away from so many of our young people.


** The dream is free. Work ethic sold separately. **

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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.

@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:

"During the war, we didn’t know if we would make a day. I didn’t have any freedom. I couldn’t speak loudly, I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t cry.

But now, I can feel freedom. I stay by the window and look out. The first thing I do in the morning is look out and see the world. I am alive. I have food, I go out, I go for walks, I do some shopping. And I remember: No one wants to kill me. So, still, I read. I cook a little bit. I shop a little bit. I learned the computer. I do puzzles.

I still sometimes feel that I am missing out. A full year is gone. I lost my childhood, I never had my teenage years. And now, in my old age, this is shortening my life by a year. I don’t have that many years left.

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.

Last edited by DD 2024

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. 

@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.

Last edited by Viking0
@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.

Last edited by baseballhs
@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.....).

Last edited by Viking0

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?

Last edited by RJM
@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

Last edited by RJM
@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?

Last edited by RJM

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?

Last edited by TPM

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Last edited by fenwaysouth

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