FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:19:08 AM

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Pat Coleman

Unfortunately, I think that there isn't likely to be a "safe" place where a student-athlete can transfer to and really guarantee they will have fall sports in 2020. Everything will have an element of doubt.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

jamtod

Quote from: Pat Coleman on July 12, 2020, 08:39:33 PM
Unfortunately, I think that there isn't likely to be a "safe" place where a student-athlete can transfer to and really guarantee they will have fall sports in 2020. Everything will have an element of doubt.
I suspect it's less about going somewhere else to play as it is "if I'm not playing football anyway, I would have gone to [OTHER SCHOOL/STATE U]

OzJohnnie

Missed this one a couple days ago.

https://www.sctimes.com/story/sports/college/2020/07/03/uncertainty-builds-fall-sports-miac-nsic-during-pandemic/5372600002/

Quote
"Our efforts at this point are on having a fall season," said Dan McKane, commissioner of the MIAC. "We're very close to finishing our return to athletics plan for the fall."...

The MIAC's athletic directors' council meets Tuesday, and McKane is hopeful it will make a recommendation to the presidents' council, which meets July 15.

"That's our next big hurdle — to get the input from our presidents," he said. "A lot of it is, 'Are we going to be in person, in class, on campus?' Everybody right now is saying at some level they will. That is a good trigger for us.

"Now the question is, 'Can we play all of the sports that we have safely?' Football stands out as breaking all social distancing norms. How do we do that safely?"...

"By early August, we're going to have to have some pretty significant decisions made," said Corey Borchardt, commissioner of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, which includes seven full-time members in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin. He remains cautiously optimistic that his D-III conference will have fall sports.

McKane acknowledged the D-III programs that have canceled fall sports but didn't think that necessarily will happen here.

"They certainly catch our attention," he said. "... But in Minnesota we believe we're in a little different place in terms of the COVID infection right now. We're still in a good place. However, that could turn any minute of any day."

I'm still quite hopeful and optimistic.
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gordonmann

Sorry to be a downer, but it doesn't sound like the MIAC itself is optimistic.

Here's what the Commissioner said in an article that ran in Inside Higher Education today:

Dan McKane, commissioner of the Minnesota conference, said via email, "The MIAC Councils have planned meetings over the next week to review fall athletics. We have built a full plan that allows for competition and addresses if institutions opt to not play this fall. I feel our window to play fall sports is narrowing with the recent NCAA recommendation for weekly testing of high risk sports. Testing is not readily available, test results are slow, and currently tests are costly."

Full article

If the NCAA recommends weekly testing, I think some schools that are holding on -- those who need the enrollment jolt that sports provided for financial reasons -- are going to go the other way.

OzJohnnie

#99664
Quote from: gordonmann on July 13, 2020, 01:01:01 PM
Sorry to be a downer, but it doesn't sound like the MIAC itself is optimistic.

Here's what the Commissioner said in an article that ran in Inside Higher Education today:

Dan McKane, commissioner of the Minnesota conference, said via email, "The MIAC Councils have planned meetings over the next week to review fall athletics. We have built a full plan that allows for competition and addresses if institutions opt to not play this fall. I feel our window to play fall sports is narrowing with the recent NCAA recommendation for weekly testing of high risk sports. Testing is not readily available, test results are slow, and currently tests are costly."

Full article

If the NCAA recommends weekly testing, I think some schools that are holding on -- those who need the enrollment jolt that sports provided for financial reasons -- are going to go the other way.

This outfit in Minnesota provides testing with results in 15 minutes and they offer bulk testing corporate discounts.  Took me one Google search to locate them.  I reckon this is a challenge which can be overcome by the MIAC.

https://www.mnmonitoring.com/covid-19-testing
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jknezek

Quote from: OzJohnnie on July 13, 2020, 04:27:24 PM
Quote from: gordonmann on July 13, 2020, 01:01:01 PM
Sorry to be a downer, but it doesn't sound like the MIAC itself is optimistic.

Here's what the Commissioner said in an article that ran in Inside Higher Education today:

Dan McKane, commissioner of the Minnesota conference, said via email, "The MIAC Councils have planned meetings over the next week to review fall athletics. We have built a full plan that allows for competition and addresses if institutions opt to not play this fall. I feel our window to play fall sports is narrowing with the recent NCAA recommendation for weekly testing of high risk sports. Testing is not readily available, test results are slow, and currently tests are costly."

Full article

If the NCAA recommends weekly testing, I think some schools that are holding on -- those who need the enrollment jolt that sports provided for financial reasons -- are going to go the other way.

Sorry to be an upper, but this outfit in Minnesota provides testing with results in 15 minutes and they offer bulk testing corporate discounts.  Took me one Google search to locate them.  I reckon this is a challenge which can be overcome by the MIAC.

https://www.mnmonitoring.com/covid-19-testing

Nice outfit. Let's assume their test in bulk costs $60, since they are quoting $85 for cash retail. That's a pretty good discount. There are 60 or so members, minimum, of a football team we'd dress, closer to 100 for most teams to practice, but stick with the smaller number. So that's $3600 for one testing one week. For 10 weeks of games, just for football, that's $36,000. Now, because just playing football is probably going to cause some strife on campus, let's add soccer, 30 for men's and women's, cross country, 30 more for both teams, volleyball, another 15, field hockey another 15, am I leaving anyone out? So that's another 90 more. Roughly $54K more for those sports for a 10 week season with 1 test a week. So we are talking $90,000 to test athletes, once a week, for the season. Add probably 10 coaches for those teams, another couple in the Sports Information Department who are in close contact with the coaches and players, 3 or 4 more in the training room staff, and we are at another $9000 or $10,000 for 10 weeks? So a cool $100K for the fall season to test once a week.

Doable I suppose. Of course, now you've set the precedent and it's off to the winter season. Swim and diving teams are pretty large, indoor track and field, wrestling, basketball isn't huge so you catch a break there... but it's a very expensive hole. I doubt it's as expensive as the Fall, but I could be wrong. Hopefully Spring brings relief and a vaccine? Of course, that first batch of vaccine is probably going to at-risk folks, not D3 athletes. So you might have to run the whole program again. 2 Lax teams, baseball, softball, outdoor t&f, maybe some others.

I suppose you could quantify it by saying, hey, if we lose 10 people from our enrollment that's 100K at least for the year. So maybe the threshold is fearing an enrollment drop of 30 to 50 students if you have to keep your testing going for all 3 seasons. Not sure of course, I admit I'm spitballing and people can take issue with the numbers. I won't argue.

Either way, at $60 a pop, it's going to add up quick. Even only testing once a week. Which works ok for football, but less good for teams that have multiple contests in a week.

I've got no dog in this fight, of course. W&L already made their decision. I just find it interesting what the numbers really work out to. It seems doable, but darn expensive, even at $60 a test.

GoldandBlueBU

Quote from: jknezek on July 13, 2020, 04:44:40 PM
Quote from: OzJohnnie on July 13, 2020, 04:27:24 PM
Quote from: gordonmann on July 13, 2020, 01:01:01 PM
Sorry to be a downer, but it doesn't sound like the MIAC itself is optimistic.

Here's what the Commissioner said in an article that ran in Inside Higher Education today:

Dan McKane, commissioner of the Minnesota conference, said via email, "The MIAC Councils have planned meetings over the next week to review fall athletics. We have built a full plan that allows for competition and addresses if institutions opt to not play this fall. I feel our window to play fall sports is narrowing with the recent NCAA recommendation for weekly testing of high risk sports. Testing is not readily available, test results are slow, and currently tests are costly."

Full article

If the NCAA recommends weekly testing, I think some schools that are holding on -- those who need the enrollment jolt that sports provided for financial reasons -- are going to go the other way.

Sorry to be an upper, but this outfit in Minnesota provides testing with results in 15 minutes and they offer bulk testing corporate discounts.  Took me one Google search to locate them.  I reckon this is a challenge which can be overcome by the MIAC.

https://www.mnmonitoring.com/covid-19-testing

Nice outfit. Let's assume their test in bulk costs $60, since they are quoting $85 for cash retail. That's a pretty good discount. There are 60 or so members, minimum, of a football team we'd dress, closer to 100 for most teams to practice, but stick with the smaller number. So that's $3600 for one testing one week. For 10 weeks of games, just for football, that's $36,000. Now, because just playing football is probably going to cause some strife on campus, let's add soccer, 30 for men's and women's, cross country, 30 more for both teams, volleyball, another 15, field hockey another 15, am I leaving anyone out? So that's another 90 more. Roughly $54K more for those sports for a 10 week season with 1 test a week. So we are talking $90,000 to test athletes, once a week, for the season. Add probably 10 coaches for those teams, another couple in the Sports Information Department who are in close contact with the coaches and players, 3 or 4 more in the training room staff, and we are at another $9000 or $10,000 for 10 weeks? So a cool $100K for the fall season to test once a week.

Doable I suppose. Of course, now you've set the precedent and it's off to the winter season. Swim and diving teams are pretty large, indoor track and field, wrestling, basketball isn't huge so you catch a break there... but it's a very expensive hole. I doubt it's as expensive as the Fall, but I could be wrong. Hopefully Spring brings relief and a vaccine? Of course, that first batch of vaccine is probably going to at-risk folks, not D3 athletes. So you might have to run the whole program again. 2 Lax teams, baseball, softball, outdoor t&f, maybe some others.

I suppose you could quantify it by saying, hey, if we lose 10 people from our enrollment that's 100K at least for the year. So maybe the threshold is fearing an enrollment drop of 30 to 50 students if you have to keep your testing going for all 3 seasons. Not sure of course, I admit I'm spitballing and people can take issue with the numbers. I won't argue.

Either way, at $60 a pop, it's going to add up quick. Even only testing once a week. Which works ok for football, but less good for teams that have multiple contests in a week.

I've got no dog in this fight, of course. W&L already made their decision. I just find it interesting what the numbers really work out to. It seems doable, but darn expensive, even at $60 a test.

Testing is one side, but even if you overcome that hurdle, how viable is the season going to be when teams are having to cancel games due to large chunks of their player headcount having to quarantine due to exposure? 

jamtod

I don't understand why the MIAC isn't just hiring Dr Oz as a consultant. He seems to have all the answers.

There have been concerns about the reliability of the rapid tests. This MN Monitoring outfit has only been doing antibody testing and it looks like their active infection testing begins tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what their scalability is, as testing and supplies (agents) have been a bottle neck here.

I looked into getting a rapid test last week before coming down to visit my parents. Urgency Room was about the only place offering it, and the rapid testing appointments they had were gone both days before I looked at 7:30am. If this can pickup and return times for lab testing improves, that will be good, but we've been observing these same testing issues for months.

art76

Throwing my two pennies into the fray - I get my second knee replacement tomorrow morning. A precursor was the joy of having an 18 inch probe inserted up into my sinus cavity (not all the way, even if it felt like it) to get the swab necessary this past Thursday. Results posted to my on-line health chart by Saturday morning. While not an "instant test", the following holds true: all testing picks a random moment in time when you either have what they're testing for, or you don't. Once you leave the testing station, all bets are off. But I want my health provider to help defray the costs of this knee replacement, so I will figuratively jump through any hoop they place in front of me. After leaving the clinic I stayed isolated, and when out doing shopping I had my mask on and kept my distance. Generally speaking, the general population is fairly insulated against the virus now, but once we move back indoors, the numbers are going to climb, without much doubt. I wonder how reasonable it will be to get the required 5 or 6 games in for post season play. There could be a rogue champion crowned for the Walnut and Bronze in Texas this Winter, a team that was fairly good and got lucky enough to be able to play through the season without much quarantining. It's going to be interesting if there isn't an all-out cancelling of intercollegiate sports by all schools, that's for sure.
You don't have a soul. You are a soul.
You have a body. - C.S. Lewis

MUC57


art76

If there IS a walnut and bronze presentation this year, it won't be in Texas. It will be at The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I feel certain that you knew that. I just mention it for others who might see that.
Stay safe and stay well!  ;D
I'm old! I get mixed up and I forget things! Go Everybody! 🏈 ☠

OzJohnnie

Quote from: jamtod on July 13, 2020, 05:31:33 PM
I don't understand why the MIAC isn't just hiring Dr Oz as a consultant. He seems to have all the answers.

There have been concerns about the reliability of the rapid tests. This MN Monitoring outfit has only been doing antibody testing and it looks like their active infection testing begins tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what their scalability is, as testing and supplies (agents) have been a bottle neck here.

I looked into getting a rapid test last week before coming down to visit my parents. Urgency Room was about the only place offering it, and the rapid testing appointments they had were gone both days before I looked at 7:30am. If this can pickup and return times for lab testing improves, that will be good, but we've been observing these same testing issues for months.

Getting personal, eh?  Too much optimism and positive thinking for your taste?  Five months ago this virus didn't exist as far as anyone knew.  Four months ago testing started in the US at 10k a day and over a week to get results.  Just two months ago tests were only running at 25k a day and five or six days for results. Today in excess of 600k tests are performed daily in the US with results in one or two days.  So the fact that labs are just starting mass scale instant testing services does not strike me as a problem, I see it more akin to a miracle.

I think this virus is utterly beatable.  In the list of challenges to face the human race this virus doesn't even make the first page.  The reaction to it is entirely something else, but I'm hoping and believe the MIAC will rise above that reaction and continue on with life rather than indulgently (yes, indulgently) waste an entire year of the best years of this new generation's life by encouraging them to stay home, locked inside playing xbox and stewing in a pervading sense of doom.  That is the challenge.  The one we have created.  The virus is nothing compared to that challenge.
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OzJohnnie

And speaking of optimism, University of Houston researchers have created an air filter which can be fitted to existing air conditioning systems and that kills 99.8% of airborne CV instantaneously.  It also kills 99.9% of airborne anthrax, the other silent killer.  More development required, etc, etc, but offices and schools and hospitals and the like can be fitted with air filtration systems.  I have little doubt that good ol' human ingenuity will so quickly overcome this viral challenge that we'll be standing around wondering what happened before long.

https://uh.edu/news-events/stories/july-2020/07072020ren-coronavirus-filter.php

Quote
“This novel biodefense indoor air protection technology offers the first-in-line prevention against environmentally mediated transmission of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and will be on the forefront of technologies available to combat the current pandemic and any future airborne biothreats in indoor environments,"  Cheema said.

Hourani and Peel have called for a phased roll-out of the device, “beginning with high-priority venues, where essential workers are at elevated risk of exposure (particularly schools, hospitals and health care facilities, as well as public transit environs such as airplanes).”

That will both improve safety for frontline workers in essential industries and allow nonessential workers to return to public work spaces, they said.
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BDB

#99672
Hey art76, best to you on the knee replacement tomorrow. We will be looking for an update. 

art76

Quote from: MUC57 on July 13, 2020, 06:38:03 PM

art76

If there IS a walnut and bronze presentation this year, it won't be in Texas. It will be at The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I feel certain that you knew that. I just mention it for others who might see that.
Stay safe and stay well!  ;D

I'll claim too much on my mind today for the slip, but you are correct MUC57!
You don't have a soul. You are a soul.
You have a body. - C.S. Lewis

art76

Quote from: BDB on July 13, 2020, 08:02:09 PM
Hey art76, best to you on the knee replacement tomorrow. We will be looking for an update.

Will do!
You don't have a soul. You are a soul.
You have a body. - C.S. Lewis