Michigan Football, the 2020 Abbreviated COVID Season

[Whitley]

The MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) follows the "Big Ten Model" and moves Football to the Spring.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/08/14/2020-michigan-high-school-football-spring-mhsaa/5584943002/

The decision comes of course, after the teams have already been working out for nearly 2 weeks. In the article, Mark Uyl, MHSAA President, alludes to the fact that the decision is based more on liability, than virus containment.

But, get this. If your daughter plays volleyball, her season will be played. Tennis, Golf, Cross Country, .. all will be played in the Fall.

I think its going to be amazingly silly to see how football teams manage to practice in late February and March, preparing for a season that begins in April. The ground is either as hard as a rock from the frost every year or muddy up to a person's ankle late in March. Its the WET season in Michigan during that time. Football fields will be mud pits.

I'm glad I'm out of the officiating game now.

Golf, Tennis and Cross Country make sense to me. Golf and tennis are pretty easy to social distance. Cross Country in bigger meets you can minimize social distance issues by doing sending runners off in timed waves (like cycling time trials).

[Whitley]

Contrast this to the FL HS football circumstance .... they will play. Take note that FL's % positivity rates are higher than those of MI's suggesting that community spread in FL is >>> than in MI yet FL plays HS football and MI doesn't. Go figure.

I find this dichotomy reflective of how fucked up our US COVID data is. If it were good and decision makers could rely on it for the purpose of formulating public health policy, we'd probably see some uniformity in policy state to state, county to county. But nooooo. Those making sound decisions about opening schools, playing HS sports and so forth appear to me to be properly contextualizing the data and mostly ignoring the absolute numbers that nay-sayers base their "don't do it" decisions on.

I get it. Medical boards advising official decision makers are comprised of scientists who want hard data. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the data looked at in isolation is flawed.

Well in Florida, schools have to have local health departments say there is a reason they can't reopen. Then the state government of Florida told local health departments that they are not allowed to give a recommendation to open or not. Just to provide the facts of how to safely reopen.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well in Florida, schools have to have local health departments say there is a reason they can't reopen. Then the state government of Florida told local health departments that they are not allowed to give a recommendation to open or not. Just to provide the facts of how to safely reopen.

I'm not sure I get the point of your post in response to my post. My point was that one batch of data, e.g., positivity or R(t), used as single points upon which to base recommendations on mitigation measures, openings or closings is going to produce such recommendations that are inherently flawed. That is because the data itself is flawed..... I think I've made the case that it is flawed.

Officials that are contextualizing the data, making reasonable cost/risk/benefit calculations are much more likely to make sound mitigation, closing or opening recommendations. That appears to be what the FL HS football association did that neither the BT or the MI HS football association did. If FL HS football is played successfully or if the SEC, ACC and Big 12 conferences play successfully that will prove the point.

Be mindful that having a student athlete become infected during the season, even several of them becoming infected, does not define failure. It will be better to look at how the FL HS and the P3 programs manage the outcomes of their decision to move forward and play. There are medical risks. There also benefits. How those risks are managed to obtain those benefits will tell the story.

[Whitley]

I'm not sure I get the point of your post in response to my post. My point was that one batch of data, e.g., positivity or R(t), used as single points upon which to base recommendations on mitigation measures, openings or closings is going to produce such recommendations that are inherently flawed. That is because the data itself is flawed..... I think I've made the case that it is flawed.

Officials that are contextualizing the data, making reasonable cost/risk/benefit calculations are much more likely to make sound mitigation, closing or opening recommendations. That appears to be what the FL HS football association did that neither the BT or the MI HS football association did. If FL HS football is played successfully or if the SEC, ACC and Big 12 conferences play successfully that will prove the point.

Be mindful that having a student athlete become infected during the season, even several of them becoming infected, does not define failure. It will be better to look at how the FL HS and the P3 programs manage the outcomes of their decision to move forward and play. There are medical risks. There also benefits. How those risks are managed to obtain those benefits will tell the story.

Well I was talking about this.....

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ng/3317014001/

[Jeff Buchanan]

I've read the USA TODAY article, Whitely. The question you are apparently posing - what's going on with Desantis "ordering" FL schools to reopen?

First, and to be clear, he didn't order schools to be open, he directed the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education to determine how reopening will occur. Desantis has made public statements about the state's obligation to offer in person learning in it's school systems. Just Google any FL media outlet and you'll get gobs of reporting on this, most of it taken out of context and incorrectly interpreted...... whatever.

The Commissioner issued guidance for school re-openings on July 6th in DOE ORDER NO. 2020-E0-06 :

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Richard Corcoran, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education (Department), pursuant to the authority granted by Executive Order 20-52, issue this order to accomplish the goals of: 1) reopening brick and mortar schools with the full panoply of services for the benefit of Florida students and families; 2) suspending and adjusting as necessary reporting requirements to ensure appropriate monitoring and financial continuity of the educational process; 3) retaining high-quality school choices for Florida students and families with a focus on eliminating achievement gaps, which may have been exacerbated by the crisis; and 4) maintaining services that are legally required for all students, such as low-income, English language learning, and students with disabilities.

I. Reopening Requirements.

All schools open. Upon reopening in August, all school boards and charter
school governing boards must open brick and mortar schools at least five days per week for all students, subject to advice and orders of the Florida Department of Health, local departments of health, Executive Order 20-149 and subsequent executive orders. Absent these directives, the day-to-day decision to open or close a school must always rest locally with the board or executive most closely associated with a school, the superintendent or school board in the case of a district-run school, the charter governing board in the case of a public charter school or the private school principal, director or governing board in the case of a nonpublic school.

You can read the Commissioner's entire guidance at this link: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse....2020-EO-06.pdf

I read the entire order to make sure I understood it and could respond accurately to your post. The salient point in the Commissioner's DOE ORDER (emboldened above) is that local school boards decide whether or not it is safe to conduct in-person learning during the required 5 days per school week that must be offered. IOW, remote learning is an option that can be locally implemented and that has happened in a number of S. FL school districts without any issues from the Governor's or the DOE Commissioner's office. The order in my opinion offers a lot of flexibility at the local level about choosing in-person or remote learning based on, exactly as it should be, locally gathered COVID data.

The USA Today article also complains that the Governor's office has provided conflicting guidance about the role of county PH departments in advising school boards about the safety of opening schools. To wit, PH departments are not authorized to make recommendations about opening or remaining closed but rather supply COVID data so that school boards can make the decision on offering on-line learning (stay closed) or conducting in-person learning (open) themselves. I don't have a problem with that.

Further more I'll acknowledge that there is similarity between how the FL HS football association decided and how local school boards decide ..... but it is not a similarity in favor of what I believe your view on this is to be but rather in favor of mine ..... to wit, medical boards (or PH authorities) advise, not recommend COAs, HS football associations (or school boards) decide.

[Whitley]

What bothers me is this.

I think I have the timeline down here.....

Gov DeSantis is making a big push to reopen schools

Florida public health director says that brick and motor public schools must be open at least 5 days a week. The only way they can is with a waiver from the local public health. Okay that makes sense those are people on the ground.

Then Florida PH says that local PH can't give a recommendation to the local school district board one way or another but to give on how to safely reopen schools.

If I am a person on the local school board--- I don't know the ins and outs of this virus. Why would I not want to tap to local PH people to tell me what I need to know. But if they can't give a recommendation to close (which is what a waiver would be) then what choice does the local school district but to open (even if it is not safe)

[Jeff Buchanan]

Whitley, I'm fairly tuned in to the school opening debate in S. FL. It's the only place in the state where there has been heated reopening debate. That's because the S. FL tri-county region does have the highest number of COVID cases, highest % + and highest CFR when compared to most other counties in the state. The rest of the state is pretty tame. Most schools in the state where the county's community transmission is low will reopen with in-person learning, outcomes will be appropriately managed.

Public opinion is uniformly split in S. FL between opening with some kind of in-person learning or all-on-line learning. Teachers unions, more active in S. FL than elsewhere in the state, are about 60/40 against restarting and have sued the state on the grounds that in-person learning is unsafe - last week the judge hearing the case ordered parties to mediation to meet this coming week, a semi-win for Desantis who had asked the court to dismiss the suit and an olive branch to the teacher's union but with a warning to both parties to resolve this thing amicably.

The numbers listed above for the three S. FL counties are reported by the state PH department and then broken down and reported by county PH. They tell the school boards all they need to know - there is community spread in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. If, as you say, you are a school board member in one of these counties, you would be working to decide what kind of learning you will offer in your schools between four options

• (1) Remain closed (need approval from the State DOE)
• (2) 5d/w in-person learning
• (3) All on-line, virtual learning
• (4) A mix of hybrid models - part in person, part on-line.

Not that hard and if you are at all tuned into COVID, like you should be as a school board member, you don't have to be an MD or epidemiologist to understand what the numbers mean.

I just checked on each of the tri-county region's school opening plans. To date, none of the schools are opening with in-person learning. DOE approved start dates are as follows:

• Palm Beach Co., August 31st with all on-line learning
• Broward Co. will open on August 19th with all on-line learning
• Miami-Dade Co. will open on August 31st with all on-line learning.

Each county school board where the county itself is still in Phase I (the case for all 3 S. FL counties) will reassess reopening plans every two weeks but in no case (and this is DOE guidelines) will county schools provide in-person learning until that county's % + rate is at or below 5% for 14 consecutive days. How hard is that to understand? ........ and ........

What's the beef here?

Look, one can quote media reports about Desantis "ordering" schools to open, PH departments being "muzzled," confusing and conflicting guidance and what not but the state's own reopeing guidance and DOE's guidance specifically for schools is completely understandable. The COAs being implemented in the tri-county region, in S. FL belies media complaints about confusing guidelines, hand wringing and complaining about "dangerous school reopenings that threaten teachers and our children!!!."

It's a perfect example of how the media distorts the facts and the reality that has to do with anything COVID related. Count me absolutely sick of it but ready at every opportunity to unmask their purposeful deceit. Thanks for the opportunity to do that, Whitley.

[lineygoblue]

Take this for whatever its worth, but there is a rumor out of Ann Arbor that before the season preparations were scaled back, that Joe Milton AND Cade McNamara had both passed Dylan McCaffery at the QB spot.

Also I read today that the Big Ten has been making inquiries at Ford Field, and the indoor stadiums in Indianapolis, Minneapolis (Vikings home) and St Louis (former Rams stadium) regarding availability for a possible "winter" season. I can see it now ... OSU v Maryland at Ford Field ... in January ... lol

[Hannibal]

Take this for whatever its worth, but there is a rumor out of Ann Arbor that before the season preparations were scaled back, that Joe Milton AND Cade McNamara had both passed Dylan McCaffery at the QB spot.

Also I read today that the Big Ten has been making inquiries at Ford Field, and the indoor stadiums in Indianapolis, Minneapolis (Vikings home) and St Louis (former Rams stadium) regarding availability for a possible "winter" season. I can see it now ... OSU v Maryland at Ford Field ... in January ... lol

LOL is right.

[lineygoblue]

Not one Michigan football player tested positive for Corona Virus in August, according to Jim Harbaugh.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2020/08/29/3-positives-um-athletic-departments-latest-round-covid-19-tests/5667707002/

[THE_WIZARD_]

The masks are working!! Hot damn!

[lineygoblue]

The MHSAA released a statement today updating the situation with HS football in Michigan.

Basically they said that they are 'awaiting further instructions from the Governor's office" regarding any decision on when to start the season.

So, in a nutshell, nothing has changed.

[iam416]

I’m convinced that if M was IN that the B10 would have reversed its nonsense. Blood on your hands, motherfuckers.

[Whitley]

The MHSAA released a statement today updating the situation with HS football in Michigan.

Basically they said that they are 'awaiting further instructions from the Governor's office" regarding any decision on when to start the season.

So, in a nutshell, nothing has changed.

HS football is even messier than CFB. And there is barely a plan to get kids back to schools. But some questions that need to be answered.

1) Is there going to be testing for athletes (my guess would be no because of part 2)

1a) If there is going to be.....how often and who pays for it?

[iam416]

There’s no conceivable way anyone can play high school football...except for those that do.