https://www.mitathletics.com/s...ebl/2020-21/schedule
I see MIT has a schedule. Their first game is on Feb 26th. Nice to see a HA institution not afraid to make a plan.
I'm sure their decision was based upon science!
;-)
I do see their roster is a bit smaller than in past seasons. Perhaps some kids aren't on campus?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
21 on the roster; says "Please note that student-athletes taking a gap year or a leave of absence are not included on this roster."
Would kids going to MIT take a gap year?
@ABSORBER posted:https://www.mitathletics.com/s...ebl/2020-21/schedule
I see MIT has a schedule. Their first game is on Feb 26th. Nice to see a HA institution not afraid to make a plan.
I'm sure their decision was based upon science!
;-)
I do see their roster is a bit smaller than in past seasons. Perhaps some kids aren't on campus?
I don't think the conference has officially agreed to play yet but I would expect them to play. My son's is in that conference so I am following closely. You are right about the roster, it's like 25 kids. VERY small and very odd. I thought maybe they didn't include the first years but they are there....
It's a lot of money to pay for tuition if all you get is online classes, and none of the in-person activities that make the campus experience beneficial. Actually, I think they are having students on-campus, but there was an announcement on Thursday that their spring sports seasons have been cancelled.
Still another domino to fall. I was going to be surprised if MIT played and Harvard didn't. My wife and I were talking that it's so fascinating that all the Ivy league Universities have so many bright researchers who make incredible advances in medicine. Yet they can't figure out a way to have safe protocol to play spring sports. I'm in New England, and saw youth baseball play last summer navigate safe protocols during the pandemic. It can be done.
I am sorry but these schools cancelling baseball due to Covid are making poor decisions. I am 100% with Ripkin fan here. It can be done.... Side note my son's friend who was going to play for NC Central, an HCBU, announced this week that they are playing this season and then dropping the baseball team. Very tough news for the recruit. He will play JUCO.
Well, that sucks! I guess they succumbed to the hype--or it's simply a money issue.
Here's the picture of the country for ILI (influenza-like illnesses) visits per the CDC who has been collecting this data every year for many, many years. It is all available on their site, just as it has been for a very long time. It used to be called "FLUView", but changed to "COVIDView" last March, to reflect the addition of COVID to the list of existing influenza-like illnesses. Of course the new administration decided it wasn't "clear" enough and changed it last week to "COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review" which now seems to be focused on providing a "message" rather than just presenting the data. Fortunately, the past FluView/COVIDView reports for the last decade are all still available.
Here's the last COVIDView (week 5, 2021) before the latest change. Understand it shows ILI visits to providers and hospitals. You may want to point out the disclaimer that states the data may not be as accurate as what each individual state reports but it is what it is... the key-takeaway is that they HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR WELL OVER A DECADE. So if the data is not 100% accurate (what data is) then it has at least been consistent. This is the data used to track the flu-season every year.
Here's week 5 from last year (perhaps Covid-19 arrived much earlier than we thought):
And how about our last big FLU season? (2017-2018) MIT played a FULL SEASON of Spring sports!!!
Here is an interesting graphic from the last COVIDView (week 5, 2021):
Notice the gap between % deaths Due to PIC (Pneumonia, Influenza, Covid) and Influenza-coded deaths during the last bad flu season (2017-2018). Now compare that to COVID-19 coded deaths in 2020-current. Much, much closer. I guess everyone dying of pneumonia must have tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
This graphic also points out flu is virtually non-existent. Of course that's not really possible so what it really shows is nobody is testing for influenza. Of course it must be hard to test for influenza when all testing labs are overwhelmed with COVID-19 tests.
But the real takeaway is: who are these people dying of COVID-19? According to the first graphic I attached they certainly didn't visit their provider or hospital because of ILI! I'm not claiming they didn't have COVID-19, I'm just pointing out they didn't see their physician/hospital provider because they felt the effects of ILI.
Obviously baseball is not hazardous as far as covid goes, that's pretty clear. In many states, high school sports have gone on all year, albeit with disruptions.
Ivy and D3 schools are not losing the money that D1s are from having no fans at money-making sports. These schools are losing all kinds of money because many students are taking gap semesters or years (I haven't seen any numbers, which is pretty telling, but that's what I hear), not to mention having to spend a ton of money on covid prevention when students are coming to campus. They just don't want to spend the small amount of money that spring sports cost, especially when many of the student-athletes are taking the semesters off and the teams are depleted anyway (I notice the MIT roster lists 3 infielders).
My son took a gap year from Caltech. Simply not worth the full tuition for remote online classes. Learning new computer skills and interning in the meantime. Decision looks smarter and smarter all the time. People never mention the serious long term, perhaps permanent effects of COVID, just the fatality rate. I love sports, but we simply value sports way too much as a society.
@2019&21 Dad posted:My son took a gap year from Caltech. Simply not worth the full tuition for remote online classes. Learning new computer skills and interning in the meantime. Decision looks smarter and smarter all the time. People never mention the serious long term, perhaps permanent effects of COVID, just the fatality rate. I love sports, but we simply value sports way too much as a society.
By "serious long term perhaps permanent effects of COVID", I assume you mean depression, suicide, bankruptcy, failed-marriage, malnutrition, child-abuse, academic failure, lost opportunity, career-path delay, etc..
I am no medical doctor so you can choose to ignore my opinion, but I can GUARANTEE long term COVID effects (of the medical variety) will be NO DIFFERENT than those of influenza.
I view the COVID long term hype the same way as some of our recent (last couple of decades) Gulf War veteran afflictions (Gulf War Syndrome, anthrax vaccinations, health problems related to burn pits, etc.).
Thanks Observer. Not talking about a zero sum gain here. Doesn't have to be one or the other. So, in light of your other views and guarantees, I will choose to ignore your opinion. Thanks.
@2019&21 Dad posted:Thanks Observer. Not talking about a zero sum gain here. Doesn't have to be one or the other. So, in light of your other views and guarantees, I will choose to ignore your opinion. Thanks.
I replied sarcastically, of course. We both know what you meant.
@2019&21 Dad posted:My son took a gap year from Caltech. Simply not worth the full tuition for remote online classes. Learning new computer skills and interning in the meantime. Decision looks smarter and smarter all the time. People never mention the serious long term, perhaps permanent effects of COVID, just the fatality rate. I love sports, but we simply value sports way too much as a society.
We thought very hard about doing this, but in the end decided that he would stay enrolled. As you know, back in late July when we had to make the decision, it seemed reasonable to hope that students would be on campus and there would be baseball in the spring. We were wrong, but I don't think our choice was wrong.
I hope they gave you a better tuition rate for remote learning. How are labs managed remotely?
The only private school I have heard about reducing tuition is Williams. For us, they've been generous with FA so I can't complain, and I also appreciate that up to January, they didn't lay off any staff, and even then laid off very few. Our kid is an econ major so labs are not an issue. He did have a CS class last semester but their labs are always online.
Each situation is unique of course and plays a significant part in our choices. For him and us, it was the right decision on several fronts. For others, maybe not. I know he'd much rather be in warm SoCal right now than bleak, cold, snowy, icy Pennsylvania that's for sure! But all conditions are temporary.
We would all like to be in sunny SoCal right now! The SCIAC hasn't officially cancelled spring sports, nor has the NEWMAC or the Ivy League. Does anyone know why they are dragging their feet? Do they think some schools will actually play?
@anotherparent posted:We would all like to be in sunny SoCal right now! The SCIAC hasn't officially cancelled spring sports, nor has the NEWMAC or the Ivy League. Does anyone know why they are dragging their feet? Do they think some schools will actually play?
The NCAA requires specific covid protocols for all D1 programs, which had to have been approved by both the conference and NCAA. I do not know about D2, D3.
Teams are required to test frequently during the season and it adds on a huge cost to the program, among other things. Plus there had to be a minimum amount of contests presented, and most conferences began preparing schedules last summer/ fall.
Perhaps this was a factor as to no schedules for some conferences. FWIW, B10 doesn't have a schedule yet either, they will play within their conference only, with a later start.
JMO
@anotherparent posted:We would all like to be in sunny SoCal right now! The SCIAC hasn't officially cancelled spring sports, nor has the NEWMAC or the Ivy League. Does anyone know why they are dragging their feet? Do they think some schools will actually play?
I don't know, but my guess regarding the SCIAC is that they are hoping that 2 members will somehow get to play enough games that they will be eligible for whatever the postseason looks like this year.
There are 9 schools in the conference. Of those, 6 are in the hardest hit county in the nation, LA county. The defending and recent champions, Chapman and California Lutheran, are in Orange County and Ventura County, respectively. The way things are trending, it's not too hard to imagine those schools in those counties getting approval for at least some kids back on campus by April. Who they would play and how that would work, I have no idea. All I know is that it can't just be athletes.
Frustrating that some D3s are going ahead with sports (SAA members--Centre, Rhodes, etc), even indoor ones but others won't even let their kids leave campus (looking at you, Amherst).
I do understand each county in the country has different things going on.
