FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

I think it is when the plan isn't entirely contingent on circumstances changing.  ND and other schools gravitating toward this August-Thanksgiving fall term are banking on a lot of things changing and going right in the next eight-ten weeks in order to realize these plans.  The infrastructure they need to pull this off doesn't exist currently.

But again, ND can afford a futures bet on all of this panning out exactly the way they've plotted.  Far more schools, including a wide swath of our D-IIIs, cannot afford this particular gambit without more certainty. 

What?  They need to build classrooms?  Buy pens?  Pave extra parking lots?  What sort of infrastructure don't they have?  You don't need to make up problems.

Yes, pens.  That's exactly what we're talking about.  Come on. 

Well, if not pens then I'm genuinely mystified.  What infrastructure is ND missing that is needed to hold classes?

[BDB]

ND has their light bulbs and pens, so they are sorted.   

Damn  I wish I could find that Hitler video. "Hitler wants a Burger King." Classic.

[OzJohnnie]

ND has their light bulbs and pens, so they are sorted.   

Damn  I wish I could find that Hitler video. "Hitler wants a Burger King." Classic.

  I was thinking of you when I typed that. 

[formerd3db]

Pat and all:

I told you I would report back on what I was informed about the recent MIAA meeting.  The Commissioner Penny Allen-Cook met virtually over a week ago with various athletic administrators from the colleges to initiate early planning for potential scenarios as to safety in resuming sports this fall if that occurs.  Following that and currently, head athletic trainers with input from team physicians and others, are putting together some potential guidelines for handling the return of players for all men's and women's sports in August for the pre-season-again, if the decision is made to go forward.  These guidelines are based on recommendations from various national organizations including the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine, the NCAA, CDC, American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine (AOASM), U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, ACHA, AOA and AMA and local and state guidelines. 

Some of the measures being proposed include a self-quarantine period at home for athletes before they arrive on campus for pre-season, limitation of #s in groups during practice with a gradual increase in that depending on temperature monitoring, testing and
symptoms monitoring, etc.  along with other safety protocols including the hand washing, mask wearing support groups, social/physical distancing during workouts, disinfecting protocols after equipment use and in the training rooms, limiting #s of athletes allowed at one time for evaluation or taping, etc. in the training room, just to name a few aspects.  Other aspects will need to be addressed regarding officiating crews, equipment managers, chain marking crew, ball boys/girls, and even press box aspects if the latter is somehow needed even if playing in empty stadiums with no spectators as Major League Baseball is going to do initially.   There are no absolute answers as to what is the best guidelines and extent of those for any specific school and all of this will obviously have to be agreed on and approved by the schools and the league, and...could potentially vary per each school.  Some guidelines might need to be tweaked also as time progresses, which is unpredictable also simply due to how circumstances change almost on a daily basis regarding the coronavirus crisis. 

As everyone here has discussed, likely, the decision to proceed with any fall sports program and these associated decisions with regard to administration/health and safety oversight. will have to be made by the end of June (and, in reality, by the first of July at the latest).  If there is a football (and soccer season), I can easily see only conference games being played as many have suggested here as well as no JV programs for this year and no national championships being played.  At this point, everyone everywhere across the country simply does not know (with the exception of conferences like the California Collegiate Athletic Association's decision to not have a fall sports season for 2020.)  I will provide updates as I become aware of those. 

BTW, Central Michigan University just announced they were dropping men's track and field and Furman just announced they were dropping Baseball/men's lacrosse. Although this is DI, I suspect we'll see some of that at our DIII level (Ohio Wesleyan I'm told just dropped the new women's rowing program.)

[OzJohnnie]

ND has their light bulbs and pens, so they are sorted.   

Damn  I wish I could find that Hitler video. "Hitler wants a Burger King." Classic.

I think this is it, BDB, the only copy I can find anywheres on the internets but it doesn't load.  Just tantalizingly out of reach.  The siren of Downfall parodies.

https://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/hitler-wants-burger-king/80955584/

[BDB]

2020 proves once again to suk as bad as Meatloaf was a rock star.

[OzJohnnie]

@ormerd3db

Thanks for that info.  A good update.  Why do you say no JV?  If anything the senior program will be following what looks more like the JV model.  I would think JV would be the easiest to organise.

Also, that last paragraph.  Why are they dropping programs?  Budget issues?

[OzJohnnie]

2020 proves once again to suk as bad as Meatloaf was a rock star.

You sly dog.  Meatloaf was the halftime show at the 2011 Grand Final and it was a disaster.  So painfully out of tune, old and boring as to be unwatchable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZdiaFXW2U8

In fact, it was so bad (along with his crying fit afterwards that it wasn't his fault) that four years later he issued an apology to the Australian Nation.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/14/meat-loaf-apologises-to-australia-and-the-afl-i-am-truly-sorry

[art76]

2020 proves once again to suk as bad as Meatloaf was a rock star.

You sly dog.  Meatloaf was the halftime show at the 2011 Grand Final and it was a disaster.  So painfully out of tune, old and boring as to be unwatchable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZdiaFXW2U8

In fact, it was so bad (along with his crying fit afterwards that it wasn't his fault) that four years later he issued an apology to the Australian Nation.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/14/meat-loaf-apologises-to-australia-and-the-afl-i-am-truly-sorry

Oh my, not the Meatloaf I saw as a youngster - wow! That was a bad, bad set. As Kenny Rogers has opined, "you gotta know when to walk away..."

[Texas Ole]

Do not knock Meatloaf!  His old high school was destroyed by a tornado that actually improved the building.  (I've worked at that school, and it was a mess.)  I think he was honored at a ceremony there a few years ago, and I am pretty sure he went unrecognized by almost everyone at the school.  I am still trying to find the one thing he would not do for love.  Also good to see Hitler parody videos are enjoyed by others.

In Texas we have been progressing toward sports even with our crazy AG.  In order to fight the virus and allow hockey to resume he has suggested that we speed up the Zamboni since that is the only reason the hockey game stops.  He had some other fun thoughts that are worth researching if you like a laugh.  One of the radio stations voiced a concern that he might eliminate cow bingo fundraisers for high school football games.  Day care facilities are open.  Youth camps can resume next week.  Youth sports can begin practices next week with games beginning soon after.  There are preparations for summer strength and conditioning programs for high school athletes to begin in June.  I guess you really don't mess with football in Texas.

[BDB]

Do not knock Meatloaf!  His old high school was destroyed by a tornado that actually improved the building.  (I've worked at that school, and it was a mess.)  I think he was honored at a ceremony there a few years ago, and I am pretty sure he went unrecognized by almost everyone at the school.  I am still trying to find the one thing he would not do for love.

Hilarious TO!

[formerd3db]

Texas Ole:

That is good that your state is restarting some activities
However, what can you share with us regarding what type of safety procedures these sports leagues and high school programs are putting in place to protect the participants and coaches, etc.?

Our idiot governor here in Michigan just reversed her decision to allow some, but not all, northern Michigan businesses to open. This, about just over a week after she extended the lockdown statewide- I do not know what changes occurred in one week that made her decide, because nothing really changed. Perhaps she is afraid of more protests, although I will say that the protesters have not been very smart in that they have utterly forgone any safety protocols ( no distancing, no masks, etc. ). The other problem is that while some restaurants and some retail businesses can open up on northern Michigan, it won't help those folks that much right now, especially for this upcoming Memorial weekend as motels are not open, state parks not open, no attractions/ historic sites open, Mackinac Island is not open. Tourists won't have any place to stay unless they have a cottage or a trailer, but again , there is no place to park the latter. A mess.

As far as sports here, I previously posted what is in the works for potential safe planning for resuming programs in August at the small college level of that is allowed/decided on. Good luck to your state- I hope the people will be smart about returning to activities- including sports as those resume. If they act like some people here in Michigan, Wisconsin, and other states, there could be some reocurrances of spikes in the virus, which would be unfortunate and that could be their own fault if common sense protocols are not followed. I hope and pray that doesn't occur for anyone.

[jknezek]

I'll put this out there though it's not exactly analogous. Down here in AL a week ago Monday we reopened the martial arts studio my family attends/works at. We had been doing Zoom and online only lessons for March and April. Here are the steps we've taken.

1) No contact. No sparring at all. That will probably stay in place through the summer, perhaps the end of the year. And yes, this sucks. Sparring is the most fun part of taekwondo to most of us. Nothing like putting on gear and hitting each other. But I'm completely on board. I love sparring, but I have no desire to be sweating, breathing, hitting and being hit by someone else.

2) Everyone must stay 6 feet apart at all times. We have spots marked on the mats where people must stay. When doing forms, we also stay apart so sometimes you have to pause while someone completes some movements.

3) Everyone must sign up for classes so we don't max out the room. 12 students max plus 2 instructors. No parents are allowed to stay in the facility. They can sit outside and watch through the windows, sitting 6 feet apart, or they can wait in their cars. We marked the distances in front of the window and parents often bring lawn chairs and watch.

4) No shared equipment. Everyone brings their own target pad and breakable board. We are assigned a heavy bag that only one person uses in each class and, if there are less than 8 students in the class and we do bar work, everyone is assigned a section of a bar that is 6 feet apart. We don't have enough bar space for more than 8 students. For board breaking, we have 8 stations, so again, only 8 student classes can break boards.

5) Classes are 45 minutes long instead of 60. The extra 15 minutes allows the two instructors to clean everything, I mean everything, between classes. Any equipment that is used is disinfected with 10:1 bleach solution. Same with the bars, floor spots, door handles, bathrooms, everything that might have been touched or sweated on by anyone. That 15 minutes sucks big time for my wife and I, the assistant instructors, as we are moving like crazy to get it all done.

6) Students must come dressed and ready to go except for mat shoes. Mat shoes must be put on in the academy and taken off immediately after class. They are not to be worn off the mats. Typically mat shoes can be worn anywhere in the academy, but we only mop the non-mat section of the floor nightly and the less contact people have between mat and non-mat floors with mat shoes the better.

7) Students enter and leave one at a time. Both through the front door and in and out of the exercise floor. They are lined up on the dots so that the first person in goes to the farthest dot. So the first one in is also the last one dismissed keeping the 6 foot rule. The instructors try and always man the doors so students don't have to touch the handles but with kids it gets tough.

8) No equipment bags at all allowed. No extra gear. Students get hand sanitizer at the beginning and end of each class before entering and leaving the floor. The water fountain is turned off. Bring your own bottles only.

9) Instructors must wash hands thoroughly after every cleaning and use hand sanitizer after every time we touch equipment (when we pass things out or set things up for students. Especially when moving the heavy bags).

10) All hard surfaces are disinfected and mopped at the end of the night or the next day before class. So mats and floors are mopped and windows and walls are wiped. It takes about an hour.

There are probably a few more that I'm forgetting off the top of my head. It's a ton of work. We submitted the plan to our town and county prior to reopening and were given approval to open. We definitely have policemen coming by every day to watch. They stop their cruisers right outside the big window for a few minutes a couple of times each afternoon and evening on their rounds. They have yet to say anything, so I don't know if they are just curious or are actually inspecting what we are doing.

I have no idea how a football team could really follow these rules. No tackling, no shared ball drills, no equipment that couldn't be sanitized between users... it would be conditioning only. I suspect, Alabama being Alabama, our rules will be relaxed prior to the start of summer practices in July for h.s. football. We will see. At that point we might lighten up on some of our rules, but I don't think our owner/instructor will be ready to going to full contact sparring or person to person contact any time soon.

[formerd3db]

jknezek:

I am in agreement with you. It will be extremely difficult and time consuming for football (although perhaps sloghy easier fir soccer and volley ball teams) to follow the protocols on the field, let alone those for the locker rooms and training rooms. The preseason conditioning safety protocols you outline are similar to the ones we our head athletic trainer and others of us) have been discussing for our MIAA in general, which will work for the initial smaller groups. However, as that expands, it will be more difficult.
Certainly, when it comes time for full team practices and contact, even more so. Obviously, with contact, impossible to eliminate the risk, however, with continuing all the other safety protocols (disinfecting, handwashing, distancing for seating, temp checks, no shared equipment, etc.) for team meetings, dining room, training room, it will at keastinimize risk to some degree as much as is possible. However, the logistics and time involved in all that will be a nightmare as you have mentioned in your situation ( at least until people get used to the system after a while- perhaps similar in a sense like it was for airport security protocols immediately after 911). Anyway, time will tell as you noted.

BTW, I didn't realize you were in Alabama? I thought you were up north in the east or mid- Atlantic area.🙂 Good luck with your moving forward with your program and protocols.

[jknezek]

jknezek:

I am in agreement with you. It will be extremely difficult and time consuming for football (although perhaps sloghy easier fir soccer and volley ball teams) to follow the protocols on the field, let alone those for the locker rooms and training rooms. The preseason conditioning safety protocols you outline are similar to the ones we our head athletic trainer and others of us) have been discussing for our MIAA in general, which will work for the initial smaller groups. However, as that expands, it will be more difficult.
Certainly, when it comes time for full team practices and contact, even more so. Obviously, with contact, impossible to eliminate the risk, however, with continuing all the other safety protocols (disinfecting, handwashing, distancing for seating, temp checks, no shared equipment, etc.) for team meetings, dining room, training room, it will at keastinimize risk to some degree as much as is possible. However, the logistics and time involved in all that will be a nightmare as you have mentioned in your situation ( at least until people get used to the system after a while- perhaps similar in a sense like it was for airport security protocols immediately after 911). Anyway, time will tell as you noted.

BTW, I didn't realize you were in Alabama? I thought you were up north in the east or mid- Atlantic area.🙂 Good luck with your moving forward with your program and protocols.

The one question the city asked us was our lack of temp checks. We replied we weren't medically capable of assessing whether something was a fever, or exertion, or someone just running hot. We also pointed out that someone sitting in their car with the AC on full blast for a few minutes would lower skin temperature for at least a few minutes, so a no-touch temp gun shot after they got out of the car, administered by amateurs and interpreted by people with no business doing so, was unlikely to be anything more than show. We did say we would do it if they wanted, but we didn't think it would be effective for us.

We have repeatedly asked students not to show up if participants are at all under the weather. We have had many apologies from students who don't show and blame allergies and an abundance of caution for which we invariably tell them no apology is necessary and we appreciate their caution.

And yes, I've lived in the south for over 15 years, though about 5 of those were spent in South Florida which might as well be NY. I've been in the Birmingham AL area for over a decade. I grew up in NJ and lived in NJ and NYC for a while after college though.