September 17, 2020

"Today is a great day for Trump and football fans. And a bad day for the Coronabros."

Wrote Jason King at Outbreak yesterday.
Donald Trump’s biggest bet is on masculinity.... Midwest people love football, a sport that rouses feelings of toughness, strength and power.... On Wednesday, the President made sure to remind everyone that two weeks ago he called Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to make the case for the conference to reverse its decision to cancel football season....
There were also "300 phone calls with Big Ten administrators, players, parents and coaches" by "White House representatives."
Almost certainly, Wednesday’s development will impact Trump’s approval rating in the Midwest. The Big Ten includes Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, three states that Trump narrowly won in the 2016 election. Now, during one of the darkest times in recent American history, he’s helped bring back excitement and energy to those states when they needed it most....
ADDED:

Here's that statement from Public Health Madison & Dane County (which doesn't have authority over the UW-Madison campus):

Public Health Madison & Dane County recommends that UW students and people in Dane County do not gather with others to watch Badger football games. The decision to hold the football season right now has wide-reaching impacts beyond athlete and student safety and will impact the health and safety of many people in Dane County. We strongly urge everyone to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all people in their decision-making....

“We’ve already seen a record number of cases from the UW campus just from students moving in,” said Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive. "While we all love our football Saturdays, the festivities that come with them are going to serve as new spreading events within our community. We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives."

Because so many people gather to celebrate and watch Badger games, it is likely that a Badger football season would spread COVID-19 to not only UW-Madison students, but also to people from all over Dane County.

"The increase in cases we are seeing is predominantly due to parties. Adding football parties into this mix is only going to make the situation worse," said Satya Rhodes-Conway, City of Madison Mayor....
So it would be relatively fine to go to the games, but if there are games there are parties... even though if there are no games there are still parties.
We will be continuing to enforce public health orders in partnership with the City of Madison Police Department. We recognize the impact of reduced capacity on the hospitality sector and ask for continued support in adhering to orders so that we can reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission.

145 comments:

Lucid-Ideas said...

"Donald Trump’s biggest bet is on masculinity.... Midwest people love football, a sport that rouses feelings of toughness, strength and power." - Jason Kang

As opposed to fragility, weakness and apathy. Damn. Freud was right.

Readering said...

Maybe helps with Ohio State fans.

Original Mike said...

I looked at the college football rankings last week. Several Big 10 teams were in it (Wisconsin was #12), even though they had declared that their season was cancelled. WTF?

Static Ping said...

He left out Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Curious George said...

"The Big Ten includes Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa,"

It also includes Ohio and PA. Too important swing states.

buzzbuzzbuzzkill said...

Trump won by over 9% in Iowa in 2016, that is not "narrowly won"...

Original Mike said...

Email I got from my alder said there would be no fans at Camp Randall.

rcocean said...

The Pac-12 main restart too, although not many care. And while I'm a big Trump supporter, I think the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 playing had more to do with the Big 10 restart decision. And, of course, the NFL. Its hard for the Big-10 to claim "Health reasons" when everyone else is playing with no bad effects.

Of course, the liberal sports writers are spazzing out. The Big-10 is "Endangering their players for $$" and "They'll be sorry". They all hate Trump and were for shutting down everything because they felt Trump would be hurt. Now, in they're in "fighting retreat" mode.

Michael K said...

The lefty politicians are caught in a squeeze. Football, which they hate anyway, and fans.

traditionalguy said...

Brains uber Alles. Like Julius Caesar, he has the support of the Legions, and nobody in Rome can tactically defeat this deal maker extraordinaire. So they conspired to assassinate him. Time to come to Trump’s support and avoid Civil War.

JohnAnnArbor said...

Email I got from my alder said there would be no fans at Camp Randall.

Very few fans, just relatives of players basically. So that image is misleading. That rule is B1G-wide.

traditionalguy said...

Our nation’s leader did not need to talk the SEC into anything. Southerners aren’t that scared of fake news.

rcocean said...

I'm not sure how long the season is going to last. If they start on Oct 24th, they'll have to end by mid-December. How many games is that, eight? This was Ohio State's schedule in August:

Sept. 3 – at Illinois
Sept. 12 – Rutgers
Sept. 19 – at Purdue
Sept. 26 – Indiana
Oct. 10 – Nebraska
Oct. 17 – at Michigan State
Oct. 24 – Michigan
Oct. 31 – at Maryland
Nov. 7 – at Penn State
Nov. 21 – Iowa

Looks like they'll have to lop off 2 of the ten games.

rcocean said...

Big win for masculinity, which means the Sportswriters are the big losers.

Leland said...

We strongly urge everyone to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all people in their decision-making.

Da, comrade.

D.D. Driver said...

I 100% think the dems should run on a NO MORE PARTIES!!!! platform.

Fun!

J Lee said...

The website is "Outkick" instead of "Outbreak" -- Outbreak is what the people who were opposing the Big 10's return to football due to COVID fears are hoping for, now that the Big 10 is returning to football.

Dan from Madison said...

No fans allowed so that rules that out. More nanny stating.

RigelDog said...

We are a Penn State legacy family. A few weeks ago, our 27 year old son told his sister that he wasn't too crazy about Trump but that he would vote for him "if he brought back Big 10 football." Voila! Just sign me, "Not yet tired of winning."

wildswan said...

Public health here shows that it is making its decisions based on number of cases, not number of advanced cases or number of deaths. Is this a good valid approach now that we know as much as we do about covid-19? New cases among the young/ fairly young healthy are very unlikely to lead to a major respiratory illness or a death. Is the football/ education shutdown and the bar/restaurant shutdown a needed and proportionate response to new cases in this group of young and fairly young people healthy people? Aren't people with underlying conditions well aware of their risk and taking precautions? Isn't public health ignoring the stakeholders? Isn't it burning down the village to save the village?

D.D. Driver said...

At least the mayor is being honest and not repeating the dumb canard that playing football puts these young athletes in serious risk of harm from COVID. Which is darkly hilarious considering just how dangerous a sport football is. COVID is, truly, one of the least serious health concerns football players need to worry about.

"We are cool with you risking your brain, spine, and bones on every play, but we will wet our pants at the prospect of you catching COVID."

rehajm said...

Which one of those is the winning political message? Let me guess...

She's STILL focused on cases???

Dave Begley said...

People in NE are very excited over this, but Trump will win NE by 30-40 points.

What this does is take the panic and fear out of this whole covid thing. We are getting back to normal. The Dems want panic.

Trump wins NE, IA, MN, WI, MI, PA, OH and Indiana. Maybe even NJ.

Kevin said...

Adding football parties into this mix is only going to make the situation worse

Why limit this to football?

Is Madison also cancelling birthdays?

How about Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Paul Zrimsek said...

Not such a great day for those of us who wonder why the buggery fuck the President should have anything at all to say about whether or not there's football.

Kevin said...

Why isn't it a bad day for Biden? He ran all those ads of empty stadiums saying it was Trump's fault.

Is he now saying he was for playing all along?

Or is he for not playing until he can be elected and defeat the virus.

If only a press person were able to put him on the record...

Scott said...

"We recognize the impact of reduced capacity on the hospitality sector " this throw-away line means absolutely nothing. the gov't types are still getting paid. they don't care about private business, and they have zero idea what it takes to run a business.

Scott said...

"We recognize the impact of reduced capacity on the hospitality sector " this throw-away line means absolutely nothing. the gov't types are still getting paid. they don't care about private business, and they have zero idea what it takes to run a business.

mezzrow said...

It'll be interesting to see how the south and the midwest differ in their treatment of college football season this year.

They're playing high school ball down here in northern Florida, and folks are masking up and social distancing in the stands. Attendance is a fraction of what it would be otherwise, because the places I'm familiar with really do fill up the stands for their games in the normal world.

The bands have mask/filter contraptions they put over the bells of their instruments as well. I haven't been to the games, but I've been getting pictures and video from those who have.

robother said...

I'm gonna assume "Outbreak" (rather than Outkick) was a typo, not some cruelly neutral warning about COVID.

jaydub said...

I was wrong about the benefits of the Nazis in city government spending their time investigating someone for using the word "cunt," hence not having time to eff things up further. These cunts are multi-taskers.

FullMoon said...

Gonna be a lot of BS about new cases due to this. Only stats important are hospitilizations and deaths and comorbidities.

Far as I know, still only one confirmed dead from 450,00 bikers having a party in Sturgis.

Yancey Ward said...

What a completely unserious people we have become that whether or not to hold the season was even a fucking question. I bet, in the end, the Big 10 ends up cancelling the games anyway, they just are looking for a better excuse than they had the first time.

madAsHell said...

Obama would have paid for barricades around the stadium.

Trump convinced them to play. That’s leadership!

gilbar said...

WHO would have thought?
Who would have thought, that people would WANT to have football games?
Who would have thought, that football games would mean MONEY for the big-10?
Who would have thought, that people would get sick of cowering in their homes because of the flu?

holdfast said...

Ohio isn’t much of a swing state anymore. If Trump loses Ohio, he’s already lost everywhere else.

I'm Full of Soup said...

It's Outkick not Outbreak Althouse. Is Outbreak one of them fraudian slips?

Jeff Brokaw said...

Should be “Outkick” ...

Clay Travis is the founder of that site and has done amazing work in pushing back against the fear porn and negativity around the virus. Great follow on Twitter, and one of the few people worth paying any attention to on the topic, and he’s a sports guy! Former lawyer too.

Todd said...

If Trump wants them to play, all he has to do is publicly state that they should not and he is against them playing. Then every lefty, politician, and media mook would not only be all for it but would insist on it.

Yancey Ward said...

They should fill the stadiums, but limit entry to those under age 60.

By this point everyone who is actually at risk of dying knows who they are- everyone else can pretty safely catch COVID and survive.

Joe Smith said...

Football is really just war turned into sport.

Lefties and neocons both love war.

What's the problem?

Jeff Brokaw said...

What Yancey said at 12:47. It’s embarrassing. I continue to be amazed at the number of pathologically risk-averse, easily-manipulated people in *leadership* roles. Holy shnikees that is not good.

chuck said...

There has been a spike in cases here after the schools and university opened, but nothing like after the meat packing plant was tested. Deaths haven't budged for a while. The schools are on a split schedule, half in the morning, half in the afternoon.

gbarto said...

We keep hearing how many college kids have gotten coronavirus and the re-working of accommodations to quarantine them. But they never tell us how many kids, if any, have been hospitalized. I can see being nervous about the health of older professors, but that's not where the big numbers are. Not saying, by the way, that the virus doesn't have its dangers or it's no big deal for young people to get it. The problem is we don't actually know because the reporting always emphasizes the most dramatic statistic without really providing a consistent set of standards for understanding this disease's impact across population groups.

Jupiter said...

It is increasingly clear that the various branches of government are using a supposed concern with "public health", a matter about which they know next to nothing, as a pretext to eliminate important constitutional rights of citizens. The idea that healthy people may be prevented from carrying out their normal activities on the grounds that some of them "might" contract an illness is utterly unprecedented. If private business owners wish to close as a precaution, they may do so. If some people wish to refrain from public contact, they are at liberty to do so. The government has no need, and no right, to involve itself in those decisions. If individuals can be shown to be infected, there is precedent for quarantining those individuals. That is the full extent of legitimate government coercion.

BarrySanders20 said...

The pants-shitters are shitting their pants. Same ones who said 2.2 million people in the US were gonna die by June think that allowing young healthy people play sports, outside, is insane. "Best to shit your pants and stay inside," they say.

Here's Christine in today's USA Today (carried by all of the hometown papers they bought like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), tut-tutting the Big Ten's "selling its soul":

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2020/09/16/big-ten-football-decision-marks-darkest-day/5793238002/



Original Mike said...

Blogger Unknown said...""We recognize the impact of reduced capacity on the hospitality sector " this throw-away line means absolutely nothing. the gov't types are still getting paid. they don't care about private business, and they have zero idea what it takes to run a business."

Yeah, that line made me angry.

traditionalguy said...

Big deal for many that Trump saved Justin Fields’ season at his Ohio State second choice after UGA. We still honor him as a Georgia High School super star player.

BarrySanders20 said...

FullMoon said...
Far as I know, still only one confirmed dead from 450,00 bikers having a party in Sturgis.

Wife and I went to Sturgis on August 12. Driving back from Bozeman and it was lunchtime, so we checked it out. The whole thing was really chill. Stayed outside, walked 8-9 blocks, got some food at a vendor, saw the bikes and sights, took a few pics, laughed at some of the t-shirts. AND LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT!

Original Mike said...

"Is Madison also cancelling birthdays?
How about Thanksgiving and Christmas?"


No, but I bet we "cancel" Halloween. Every year I am taken aback when the City of Madison "declares" the night and the hours for Trick-or-Treating. Where the hell do they think they get the authority?

ConradBibby said...

"Not such a great day for those of us who wonder why the buggery fuck the President should have anything at all to say about whether or not there's football."

I'd say that ship sailed at least 100 years ago.

Drago said...

"Donald Trump’s biggest bet is on masculinity."

Wrong.

Donald Trump's biggest bet is on putting America first....and then following through.

Kathryn51 said...

Cases! There are more CASES!

Is the fatality rate increasing in lockstep? Hospitalizations?

Hysteria in WA state among my lib friends because Washington State University - located in the middle of rolling wheat fields - is allowing students back on campus, although most classes continue to be remote. The number of CASES increased - hysteria, panic. And ZERO hospitalizations. And ZERO deaths.

But CASES!

tommyesq said...

“We’ve already seen a record number of cases from the UW campus just from students moving in,”

Of course, the university shut down on March 23rd, well before there was any available testing for any but the sickest of people, and did not have students on campus until now. They will necessarily begin seeing a "record number" of cases now that students are returning, as any cases will result in a "record."

We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms

Of course, when the symptoms run the entire gamut from sore throat, stuffy nose, cough, headache, etc., you will report symptoms if you are sick with COVID, sick with a cold, have seasonal allergies, get a stuffy nose because the dorms are musty from six months of non-use, you are hung over, didn't get enough sleep, are stressed, etc. I would bet that 88% of those who test negative for COVID would "report symptoms," particularly if prompted by a lengthly list of possible symptoms.

tim maguire said...

During the 2nd Punic War, while Hannibal's army was encamped outside Rome, besieging the Roman capital, it happened that the parcel of land that his army was camped on came up for sale at auction in Rome. It fetched the usual price. Having a besieging army living there was seen as a temporary problem.

But then, the Romans were made of sterner stuff than the Public Health Department of Madison and Duane County.

rehajm said...

Nashville's bars are open but furious politicos could only trace 22 cases to the bars. Then they covered up the fact having the bars open wasn't killing people.

I'm SURE Dane County will be much more successful tracing cases to Badger fans watching the game, though...

stevew said...

Many of those that recently tested positive are "showing symptoms"! For God's sake people, THE CHILDREN!!! And don't forget, Flu Season approaches. Wait, did you plan to keep everything closed because of the arrival of Flu Season? That was not the deal we agreed to back in March when you told us we needed to shutdown for two weeks to "flatten the curve". We're nearing the six month anniversary of that and we're still shut down; and the curve was flattened months ago.

I'm thinking maybe you aren't being straight with me...

walter said...

OnePlainGuy2
@Guy2Plain
·
3h
Replying to
@MayorOfMadison
when you endorsed the protests, you lost the ability to suggest people can't gather.
sorry - you can't pick and choose. No one cares what you say

cf said...

It may the cultural anthropologist & newsperson in me -- mulling the Anthropology of the Now -- but one thing I love about being alive is reading sentences I am pretty sure have never been spoken in any language ever in the cosmos, like this one:

Bob Boyd said...
"If there's one thing the trans movement has taught us, it's that a cunt is in the eye of the beholder."

I'm Not Sure said...

"and ask for continued support in adhering to orders so that we can reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission."

I'm so old, I can remember when the risk was "overwhelming the hospitals". But then, seeing as how it's football season, I suppose those goalposts needed moving.

FWBuff said...

Please start up Big 10 Volleyball, too!

Ignorance is Bliss said...


Mayor of Madison
@MayorOfMadison
The decision to hold the football season right now has wide-reaching impacts beyond athlete and student safety and will impact the health and safety of many people in Dane County.

There was no decision to "hold" football season "right now". Football season is right now. The only decision is whether to hold games now. And someone who does not understand that it is football season should have no say in that decision.

RK said...

The pandemic has a learning curve, but the leadership of Madison is about two months behind.

Francisco D said...

Clay Travis (Outkick the Coverage) coined the term "Corona Bros." He was also instrumental (probably the only sports writer) in putting pressure on the Big Ten to play football. Parents and players joined in.

The Trump administration reached out to the Big 10 Commissioner and offered help to get the season going with extra tests, etc. Trump said he was motivated to help because the Biden campaign was running ads blaming him for the cancelled Big Ten season.

Jim at said...

I've abandoned watching all sports thanks to their non-stop assholery on BLM. But Outkick has become a regular stop. Jason Whitlock has been killing it since he signed on.

Jim in St Louis said...

Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive sez:
"We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives."

I call Bullshit on that statement.

Howard said...

I pray for lots of kneeling...

Vance said...

I’m hoping that Ann will post about the fun little surprise Princeton just got in the mail… guaranteed that her prior employer is screaming in potential agony right about now.

Seems that Princeton’s president was out there proclaiming how racist Princeton was, doing the usual leftist virtue signalling thing. He said Princeton had always been racist, words to that effect. Standard leftist university babble right now.

The Federal Department of Education sent a nice little letter to Princeton, saying that in 2013, in order to qualify for federal loans, Princeton certified it was not racist and was equal opportunity, blah blah. So: the Department of Education is opening an investigation into Princeton to see if Princeton was lying then or is lying now.

Every other university run by woke leftists, which is practically all of them, is now suddenly screaming in terror. I imagine University of Wisconsin is one of them. Think of all the class action lawsuits coming!

Howard said...

Blogger Lucid-Ideas said...

"Donald Trump’s biggest bet is on masculinity.... Midwest people love football, a sport that rouses feelings of toughness, strength and power." - Jason Kang

As opposed to fragility, weakness and apathy. Damn. Freud was right.


Exactamundo. Black football lives matter to obese Trumper's "masculinity" by proxy.

Wilbur said...

Paul Zrimsek said...
Not such a great day for those of us who wonder why the buggery fuck the President should have anything at all to say about whether or not there's football.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

He shouldn't, in normal circumstances. But I appreciate that he's fighting these battles in the social and political arena for his supporters, somewhat as their proxy.

Yancey Ward said...

Looks like the federal government is taking at face value some university presidents' admissions about their institutions' inherent racism at face value and asking them to demonstrate why they shouldn't, firstly, lose federal funding going forward and, secondly, not have to pay restitution and penalties for lying about not being racist in the past.

Sebastian said...

"increase in cases"

So?

What if the MSM reported every flu death, including hundreds of kids every single year, the way we treat WuFlu?

Curious George said...

"Maybe even NJ."

No one gives a shit about Rutgers football. It's not really even football.

Gk1 said...

Trump is actively engaged on the cultural war front from opening up football to going after Princeton which has declares itself irredeemably racist and is now under investigation for "racism" by the DOE.

This all seems right to me. We now have 7 months of empirical data on how dangerous covid is, who is most at risk etc. and should stop pretending like its early March before we knew anything. Someone needs to set up a "Move On.org" for covid. It's over folks, stop pretending. It's over.

Temujin said...

Yes, the website is Outkick and it is the only sports media center that is not currently in a fetal position, thumbs in mouth, crying for us all to just stay home. The rest of the sports media are actually cheerleaders for the Wuhan virus. Outkick is the opposite of that. I've been listening for months. And something else- you can easily guess which states are pro-continuing with life and sports and which states are not, simply by the 'D' or 'R' next to their Governor's name.

For instance, I live in Florida where, while still being very careful, we're proceeding on with life, a bit more every few weeks, and yes- we're delighted that SEC Football is taking place. We never had a doubt that they would. Because the attitude in the South is one of independence, freedom, and positive attitude. Maybe it's the sun. I don't know, but in the South, people just seem happier.

I stream a Detroit sports radio station, because growing up there, I am a lifelong fan (yes- it's embarrassing to be a Lions fan for more than 2 years). But the former great sports media up there became whiny, hand-wringing, worrying stay-at-home pleaders since March. It has not abated. Even today, when they should be delighted at the NFL playing and Michigan State & Michigan playing? Nope. Hand-wringing negativity. They are all but saying it's an end-of-world scenario. One would think they're part of the Gretchen Whitmer press corp. If the Big Ten faces some major Wuhan virus issues, they'll be jumping up and down shouting See! See! See!, instead of figuring out how to work around it, past it, and how to move forward.

I visited Detroit to see family and friends about a month ago. The difference in feel there, the look on people's faces, the overall atmosphere there was heavy, depressing, somber. It was so different than what I find down here. We all have the same Wuhan virus situation folks. But some of us prefer to look at how to move past it, how to manipulate our lives to make it work, how to move forward, and how to stay positive. The others- the Democrat run states? They are looking to control their populace with fear. Nothing less. And it is working, from what I can see and hear.

I grew up a Michigander, but the people I see in Michigan now are a scared bunch compared to the people I left there years ago.

Dan from Madison said...

In the Mayor's twitter thread one person said it right. When the mayor openly endorsed the protests/riots, she lost the ability to suggest that people can't gather.

Anonymous said...

>Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa,

In fairness, Michigan fans might prefer that the season stay cancelled.

MadisonMan said...

I think my reaction to COVID -- trying to get through life -- is a lot more in line with the President's. It seems like Democrats want to hide until it goes away. That's just not practical.

Kate said...

"...this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives."

Well, now would be a good time to knock out some covid cases. Hospitals aren't overwhelmed, herd immunity is increased before winter. That was a truly ridiculous statement.

Matt said...

According to CDC stats, out of the more than 182,000 deaths from COVID this year, less than 400 were of people under the age of 25. That's .0002% for those of you keeping track at home.

Even going up to age 64, all those age groups account for ~21% of COVID deaths.

I mean, call me crazy but I think the athletes and teams will be fine. And even the majority of fans if they were to attend in person.

bleh said...

Most of us are over it. I can understand old Boomers feeling nervous about case numbers and positivity rates and community spread and so on. But, I'm sorry to say, the rest of us have been asked to sacrifice sooooooo much since mid-March for the sake of those Boomers. Who are, by the way, the whiniest and most entitled generation in American history.

It's time to renegotiate the deal. It's time for the Boomers to sacrifice more than the rest of us. Finally.

Let the college kids have fun. Let football happen. Fill the stadiums. Open restaurants and bars. Let people live their lives.

Boomers, if this scares you, you'll just have to be mindful of what's happening. Take care of yourselves for a few weeks or months, even if it means confining yourselves indoors and subsisting on canned foods or whatever. It's not a big sacrifice compared to what everyone else has done to keep you safe.

Todd said...

Jim in St Louis said...

Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive sez:
"We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives."

I call Bullshit on that statement.

9/17/20, 2:09 PM


Left unsaid was that the reported symptoms included:

- pain while urinating
- itching in "private" areas
- soreness walking
...

Big Mike said...

@Vance, Betsy DeVos for President of the Effing WORLD!

Robt C said...

The reported "daily new cases" number is bullshit. It's the number of people who tested positive for the virus. It's been shown time and again that 90% of those who test positive don't have COVID, or have such a low level of it that they don't get sick and can't pass it on. The predominant testing method shows "positive" for absolutely miniscule virus counts or even debris/fragments of the virus. "Testing positive" is a TERRIBLE metric to use and the powers that be must know it. Tracking hospitalizations and deaths is what matters, and both are down to below pandemic levels. But the beat goes on. And on. And on.

Big Mike said...

@Paul Zrimsek, Trump is scoring points off the people who are using coronavirus as a club to beat on people. Nothing wrong with doing that.

bleh said...

Politically, yes. I see the value in this for Trump. Being seen as the savior of Big 10 football should win him some brownie points. Of course, you can expect Democrats to spread fear and panic. To overhype all the Covid-19 downsides to playing football. That's their political play.

A number of states in the Big 10 could swing the election: Iowa (lean R), Michigan (lean D), Ohio (lean R), Pennsylvania (lean D), Wisconsin (lean D), Minnesota (lean D). That's a lot of electoral votes. The rest (New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Indiana) are pretty reliably red or blue, so this won't make a difference for them either way.

RMc said...

The decision to hold the football season right now has wide-reaching impacts beyond athlete and student safety and will impact the health and safety of many people in Dane County.

Hey, Ms. Mayor, you know what else impacts the health and safety of many people in Dane County? LETTING THUGS BURN IT TO THE EFFING GROUND!

Moron.

5M - Eckstine said...

At some point the virus has to be partied out.

It shouldn't be a problem to test every football players every day for the virus. Then contact trace any of them. Wake up. Get tested. Results good. Go to practice.

bleh said...

At the same time, a lot of football fans hate the intrusion of politics. They get annoyed by kneeling and so on. Football is an escape and they want politics to stay the hell away from it. So this could backfire on Trump if he pushes too hard for credit. He could be seen as politicizing college football.

ObeliskToucher said...

“We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives.”

Feeling a bit headachy is a symptom, losing senses of taste and/or smell are symptoms, life-threatening pneumonia is also a symptom.

A bit more detail on the range and distribution of the symptoms would be useful...

n.n said...

2020-09-17 - SCAMDEMIC Exposed; Governments CAUGHT

The likely explanation of majority infections traced to long-term care and construction sites is the mischaracterization of transmission modes. Not to mention inclusion in warm, humid regions is that the primary transmission mode is fecal (a la HIV). Wash your hands and limit contact with black holes. The causes of excess deaths are Planned Parent and social contagion that stigmatized early treatment. The masks were either ineffective or counterproductive as viral collectors and intuitive placebos.

Yancey Ward said...

"It's Outkick not Outbreak Althouse"

Mmmmmmm.....steak and Bloomin Onion!

5M - Eckstine said...

" Paul Zrimsek said...
Not such a great day for those of us who wonder why the buggery fuck the President should have anything at all to say about whether or not there's football."

Take off the bow tie. Sorry couldn't help myself.

Chick said...

At this point what difference does it make?

Michael K said...

Exactamundo. Black football lives matter to obese Trumper's "masculinity" by proxy.

Blacks, you probably know but ignore, see sports, football and basketball, as a key to riches. The NFL is playing with fire because 75% of players are black. College football has a similar distribution racially. The mortality rate from the Wuhan Flu in those under 25 is approximately zero. The left hates football because of delusions, like the one you just voiced, about masculinity. That is why the NFL is so foolish to adopt this Marxist theme about "Black Lives." We all know it is bullshit but they could give the radical left the switch to turn off the sport they depend on for riches.

Craig said...

Is it just me, or does Satya's Twitter avatar look like that of an evil villain?

Jon Ericson said...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7562525/Killing-badgers-cut-tuberculosis-rates-cows-66-cent.html

Here's what I suggest: end the madness
cause some of my best friends are badgers


(any excuse)

Jon Ericson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael said...

Get back in your storm cellars, Wisconsin. There were 4 C19 death yesterday. Hide.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives."

Ah, do some of your "students" have the sniffles? Poor babies.

Actually, they have my sympathy. Being sick sucks.

But, how many have been hospitalized? How many are in ICUs? How many are dead?
0, 0, 0?

Are the hospitals being overwhelmed? no?

Then I guess we've flattened the curve, which is all we can reasonably do. So how about you STFU, buttercup?

roesch/voltaire said...

So far only one or two UW students admitted to the hospital, that I know of but the core of this issue is summed up Olivia Troye:We knew that there were going to be increasing cases, we knew that people were going to die," said Troye, who left the White House in late July. "But the President didn't want to hear that, because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year, and how was this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success?"

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Yancey Ward said...
Looks like the federal government is taking at face value some university presidents' admissions about their institutions' inherent racism at face value and asking them to demonstrate why they shouldn't, firstly, lose federal funding going forward and, secondly, not have to pay restitution and penalties for lying about not being racist in the past.

This is glorious. Next they have to send a letter to Columbia about the Columbia Band and its history of racism.

I wonder how many companies that accept Federal funds have signed similar declarations? Can you get whistleblower money & protection for reporting them to the Feds?

Anthony said...

I may not even watch. I've been watching a few of the games in conferences that weren't delayed -- the Fl.St-GaTech game was a good one! -- but may skip the asshat late-to-the-party conferences altogether. And I have been a college football fanatic for decades. Piss on 'em. I can skip a year of the Big10, Pac-whatever. I urge everyone to do the same.

Original Mike said...

"I think my reaction to COVID -- trying to get through life -- is a lot more in line with the President's. It seems like Democrats want to hide until it goes away. That's just not practical."

I wouldn't mind if democrats hid. Really, I wouldn't. It's their insistence, compelled by force, that everybody else hide too that rankles me.

Howard said...

Doc Mike: I'm sure the NFL has calculated fewer fan losses from increasing woke-ness as compared with having players in open rebellion. Football is a blue collar trade with very high wages. If you are like me, you indubitably support the men who do the dirty work, not the billionaires who own them or the impotent slobs that get off on violence voyeurism.

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Michael said...

Is the two weeks up yet?

n.n said...

The mortality rate from the Wuhan Flu in those under 25 is approximately zero.

This is reminiscent of polio, which was better managed by the very young.

The latest information from Kansas... I believe it was Kansas, is that the disease can be traced to long-term care facilities and construction sites. That, plus its viability in hot, humid regions, implies a fecal transmission mode. I think I got that right. The droplets increase in volume thus shortening their travel distance. Aerosols are not blocked by the masks.

2020-09-17 - SCAMDEMIC Exposed; Governments CAUGHT

wbfjrr2 said...

Health officials at all levels have proven themselves to be incompetent hacks regarding China virus. They’ve caused great harm to the country by ignoring the actual facts about the people at serious risk, once we knew almost 6 months ago how the virus works.

Democrat mayors and governors have proven themselves to be stupid cowards who think they are smart and love being in control.

Anybody ever know a stupid person who knew they were stupid? The mayor of Madison is an example—stupid, but convinced she knows what’s right for us in her infinite wisdom.

Lifelong Notre Dame fan, I watched the ND-Duke game and almost turned it off in disgust. Every Duke player had the BLM black fist logo on the back of their helmets. All the coaches and referees wore masks. The 15,000 mostly students let into a 100,000 capacity stadium wore masks.

Know who didn’t wear masks? The players. Can you imagine the robust breathing going on in the huddle by the strenuously exercised players on the field?

The entire scene was one of mind boggling lack of common sense and of virtue signaling. The announcers kept complimenting the people in the stands for their “discipline”. I thought to myself “SHEEPLE!” I wonder if they’d wear a yellow star on their shirts if the government told them to?

All this to prevent very healthy young people from getting the sniffles.

And don’t get me started on the tributes to BLM by the network, advertisers and selected player-leaders. Made me want to puke.

Don’t think I’ll watch any more sports until the moron coefficient goes back to normal.

Michael said...

Per Worldometer there are 61,214 serious/critical cases of Covid. Worldwide. That is .002% of the total number of cases worldwide.

mbd said...

How the conference call went:

eddie willers said...

Boomers, if this scares you, you'll just have to be mindful of what's happening. Take care of yourselves for a few weeks or months, even if it means confining yourselves indoors and subsisting on canned foods or whatever. It's not a big sacrifice compared to what everyone else has done to keep you safe.

Your memory seems to be worse than many of us Boomers.

Lt Gov. Dan Patrick, Meade, myself and many others said exactly what you said in your last paragraph at a very early point in the pandemic.

We said the youth has always been asked to sacrifice and it was time for us to do the same. We all said things like "if we catch it and die, we've had a pretty good run already. Please go about your lives and we will deal with what comes".

And if we HAD done that, I believe we would have reached herd immunity long ago instead of doling it out bit by bit.


iowan2 said...

The local radio morning guy,WHO radio, talked about the President working with the B1G to play football. Some little tidbit he found, was the White House offered to supply all the testing needed for the team and support staff. The B1G decided to source their own testing. The stumbling block was the Dean/Presidents (the boss of the B1G commissioner) could not abide by accepting help from the President. Leftist are all about the symbols, hidden messages, dog whistles, etc. They will harm themselves, fail in achieving their goal, all for a symbol. Stupid is as stupid does

As almost everyone has noted, deaths are decreasing, not increasing. That is every state in the union, decreasing deaths. The state goal of all the mitigation strategy was never to reduce death, but to spread deaths out so as not to overwhelm hospitals.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I'll start worrying when players in NBA, MLB, NFL start dropping like flies.

The shutdown cure has been way worse than the disease.

Kai Akker said...

@gbarto:
---We keep hearing how many college kids have gotten coronavirus and the re-working of accommodations to quarantine them. But they never tell us how many kids, if any, have been hospitalized.


A Brown University epidemiologist found 26,000 positives at a group of 29+ universities. He found no evidence of ANY hospitalizations. Just in the news, you can find the link easily.

Milwaukie guy said...

I'm not much of an NFL fan unless the Bears are not sucking. [Just like Cubbies, I know.]

I'm turning on Thursday Night football tonight just so I can shut it off when the first pearl of bullshit drops.

Milwaukie guy said...

Reminds me of Whiskey & Co., a Portland-based country band, I think. "It's getting hard to separate the bullshit from the horseshit, it's a long way down."

Derve Swanson said...

Know who didn’t wear masks? The players. Can you imagine the robust breathing going on in the huddle by the strenuously exercised players on the field?

The entire scene was one of mind boggling lack of common sense and of virtue signaling. The announcers kept complimenting the people in the stands for their “discipline”. I thought to myself “SHEEPLE!” I wonder if they’d wear a yellow star on their shirts if the government told them to?
--------------

Suspect you were not once a ND student...
They started out with partiers in their midst. They got to have football, and attend the games, and go to classes IRL because of that newfound "discipline".

What kind of "sheeple" ALMOST turns off a game in disgust? Go Irish.

Francisco D said...

Howard said...
I pray for lots of kneeling...

I guess that is why you are happy with the Kamala Harris pick., but then she already has your vote.

bagoh20 said...

Hey, all these facts don't really matter. What really matters is that R/V heard from someone that somebody said that someone heard Trump say something that some could interpret as bad. It could even be interpreted as a President running for reelection was concerned about public perceptions in an election year. That's not just bad. It's unprecedented! Only the Orange Man would go there.

bagoh20 said...

Whether via vaccine or exposure, we are counting on herd immunity, because that's what always saves the population in a widespread epidemic. You can't get herd immunity if you don't let the herd herd. I don't even like people, but I'm 100% down with the risk of getting Covid for nothing more than the right to assemble, but when you throw right to work, vote, and live a normal life worthy of being born, I'm absolutely begging to get it. I now know dozens of people who have had it - people from 19 years old to 69. Only one went to the hospital. She was the youngest, but also had pneumonia. She recovered just fine. All the others, including one with HIV never got more than cold symptoms. I know even more people who thought they had it, and had symptoms, but tested negative.

We are living through the most expensive human error in history, short of world war. A lot of people took it hook, line, and sinker, with no skepticism at all, and then many refused to learn the truth if it countered that first lunge. It proves us to be a very vulnerable species, maybe more vulnerable than ever, but not vulnerable to disease, rather completely defenseless against bullshit.

Big Mike said...

I can’t help but notice that the Democrats are saying that rioting is perfectly okay but partying is bad. The Republicans are saying the opposite: riots are very bad but parties are okay if you take some reasonable precautions.

iowan2 said...

“We have a lot of sick UW students right now - 88% of those who have tested positive are reporting symptoms - and this is before the weather gets colder and flu season arrives.”

67% of my grand kids are reporting symptoms. 0% are testing positive.

This is a great example of statistics 100% accurate and 999% worthless

steve uhr said...

The notion that but for Trump there would be no B1G football season is laughable. Everyone could see this coming and trump inserted himself where he wasn’t wanted or needed.

rehajm said...

Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin
I came to win, battle me that's a sin
I won't ever slack up, punk you better back up
Try and play the role and yo the whole crew'll act up
Get up, stand up (c'mon!) see'mon throw your hands up
If you've got the feeling, jump across the ceiling
Muggs lifts a funk flow, someone's talking junk
Yo I bust him in the eye, and then I'll take the punk's hoe
Feelin', funkin', amps in the trunk and I got more rhymes
Than there's cops at a Dunkin' Donuts shop
Sho' nuff, I got props
From the kids on the hill plus my mom and my pops
I came to get down, I came to get down

Birkel said...

Football?
No, that's not a sport I'll be watching anytime soon.
Maybe I will catch a grandkid's high school game.
Or a high school reunion game.

When the players told me what they think of me, I listened.
Now I think the same about them.

roesch/voltaire said...

So far at least 700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19

I'm Not Sure said...

According to the CDC, the 2018-2019 flu season was 21 weeks long. 477 people under 17 died.

I'm Not Sure said...

Forgot to add... 2,450 people between 18 and 49 died in the 2018-2019 flu season.

Original Mike said...

"So far at least 700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19"

In what population?

Francisco D said...

roesch/voltaire said...
So far at least 700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19

And how many have died from car accidents, drug overdoses, suicide, household accidents snd other normal causes of death?

I am sure that you have the numbers at hand, so please let us know.

Michael K said...

R/V It looks to me those are totals including Covid and pneumonia from other causes.

PackerBronco said...

Dane County just got its butt kicked when it tried to shut down a bunch of small private schools, and now they want to take on the Big Ten?

bagoh20 said...

"So far at least 700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19"

That's a lie.

1) They died, and they tested positive for Covid-19. The two are not cause and effect.
2) There is no such standard being recorded as "died from". It's all "died with".
3) The CDC reports that only 6% of deaths "with Covid" could be attributed to Covid alone".
4) The tests are inaccurate as well. "A recent BMJ review reported that the specificity of PCR tests could be as low as 95 per cent".

So with all that, imagine how many actually "died from Covid". Likely very few.
But even if we inexplicably ignore all that, which you will need to explain why you do, your, irresponsible, unsupportable, fear mongering number is still so low, it proves the pointlessness of the restrictions. 700 out out of tens of millions? More die from drinking, drugs, and violence associated with sports events - every single year.

Danno said...

Temujin said..."I visited Detroit to see family and friends about a month ago. The difference in feel there, the look on people's faces, the overall atmosphere there was heavy, depressing, somber. It was so different than what I find down here. We all have the same Wuhan virus situation folks. But some of us prefer to look at how to move past it, how to manipulate our lives to make it work, how to move forward, and how to stay positive. The others- the Democrat run states? They are looking to control their populace with fear. Nothing less. And it is working, from what I can see and hear. I grew up a Michigander, but the people I see in Michigan now are a scared bunch compared to the people I left there years ago.

Same here. I am now in Panhandle (Bay County) and spend part of the summer in St. Paul and Minnesota. There are so many miserable people in the Twin Cities that maybe masks should be mandatory outdoors permanently up there.

walter said...

R/V of or with?
At face value, vs flu for that age?

walter said...

Maybe Satya can hit the field in full Hazmat gear to toss out the first football.

Phil 314 said...

“So far at least 700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19”

And what’s the denominator?

Phil 314 said...

“In 2017, 2,364 teens in the United States aged 16-19 were killed, and about 300,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes”

If we REALLY cared we’d make the speed limit 5 mph

stlcdr said...

While the answer may seem obvious, what situation is going to be worse?

The fact that people want to gather and socialize in various ways, and are doing so, demonstrates how clueless the ‘people in charge’ are. You cannot stop this from happening, so manage the situation!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

oesch/voltaire said...
So far only one or two UW students admitted to the hospital, that I know of but the core of this issue is summed up Olivia Troye:We knew that there were going to be increasing cases, we knew that people were going to die," said Troye, who left the White House in late July. "But the President didn't want to hear that, because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year, and how was this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success?"

Why yes, people are going to die

3 million Americans die every year. Unemployment kills. Having your business destroyed kills. Having your access to medicine blocked by lockdown restrictions kills.

If you think you can stop all death by doing just this one trick, you are a moron.

A functional life is about balancing competing goals. If "no one should ever die of Covid" is your only goal, you are a screwed up individual, and not worth listening to.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Howard said...
Doc Mike: I'm sure the NFL has calculated fewer fan losses from increasing woke-ness as compared with having players in open rebellion. Football is a blue collar trade with very high wages. If you are like me, you indubitably support the men who do the dirty work, not the billionaires who own them or the impotent slobs that get off on violence voyeurism.

If a plumber came to my home and started blabbing pro_BLM / Antifa / Biden BS, I'd fire him. Work is not the place to bring your politics.

So if I were an NFL owner I'd tell any player who wanted to bring his left-wing politics to work that there's a dozen people just about as good as he is who would love to play w/o pissing off 1/2+ of my fans, so he can either STFU about his politics on work time, or he can find another job.

Apparently the owners are just as left wing as the players, though, so I've fired them, and I no longer watch or follow any pro sports.

How much pro football do you watch? NBA? You making up for all the people they're driving away?

mtrobertslaw said...

"And what's the denominator?" That is a cheap shot question. The poor guy who posted "700 folks under 25 have died from COVID-19" never got far enough in math to know what denominator is.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

steve uhr said...
The notion that but for Trump there would be no B1G football season is laughable. Everyone could see this coming and trump inserted himself where he wasn’t wanted or needed.

yeah, that's right!

And Trump had nothing to do with the UAE & Bahraine signing peace deals with Israel! That totally would have happened no matter who was President!

Same with Serbia and Montenegro's trade deal!

And all that economic growth for 2017 - 2019, that was totally unlike the growth of the Obama years? That was totally because of Obama, not Trump!

/sarc

Brian said...

I had a bar tab bet with some friends some time back about whether college football would happen this year.

I took the side that there would be a football "season" (although potentially abbreviated) this year, despite CoVid. My friends took the opposite side.

They felt that once they started playing, that players would get sick, their moms would make them stop playing football, and the games would have to be canceled.

I, however, understood something else. There is a whole economy around college football. Outside of just fans in the stands. There are hotel rooms, there are venues, and most importantly there is revenue to the schools athletic programs. There is also revenue in the form of student tuition and alumni giving. Nobody goes to Harvard for their football team. And they have an endowment big enough they could collect 0 revenue and still stay in business. Not so for the University of Missouri.

That revenue pays for things like scholarships for the girls golf team, or lacrosse, or volleyball, etc. Sports that don't bring in money. Without football those multi-million dollar athletic budgets go away. This means there is intense pressure to resume play. More so than professional sports. The pro's can re-negotiate contracts and sit out a year.

Finally the risk to college age players to playing is minimal. Their chances of dying from CoVid is minimal. They have a low risk of even being hospitalized. The risk to not playing is huge. They have limited playing time. They are auditioning for multi-million dollar paydays in 2 or 3 years.

University Presidents (and the Blue-state governors that were in their ears) thought they could play politics by stopping football, and then blaming it on Trump. (See for example this ad).

I plan to enjoy my bar winnings, come December time-frame.