PSAC Spring Football ???

[Horror Child]

It's shortsighted to think that since the athletes were granted an additional year of eligibility that they will automatically return. Most PSAC student-athletes are paying for a majority of their education, that is, they are not on much of a scholarship. Paying for an additional year is not trivial for most.

[Fightingscot82]

I'm okay with Edinboro not playing any football this spring. I agree with others that this spring season was somewhat masturbatory and any results would likely have an asterisk. Plus, every PASSHE school is slated for a deficit this year. No need to spend money for the sake of things feeling normal. Its the same reason I don't pay much attention to Spring Training baseball.

[Horror Child]

Good question. WV overall appears be doing great with vaccines and the state has opened more than most. Not sure that has anything to do with the game. There is a contingency of Shepherd fans going to the game and folks seem to be very excited.

Yet Wheeling University, less than 5 miles from the site of the Mercyhurst-Shepherd contest, is not permitting visiting fans or the public fr their game versus Notre Dame.

[iupgroundhog]

Seems that fans of teams that are not having spring games ask WHY.

I think that's a misconception on your part. I wouldn't expect IUP to try to play actual games this spring.

If you look over the posts on the topic (at least for the PSAC) I think that is the prevailing attitude.

[Sec10-A-14]

Seems that fans of teams that are not having spring games ask WHY.
Fans of teams having games say its a good look at how the newbies perform.
At Gannon they have testing at their own labs right on campus and have results the next day.
GU was never closed and had students on campus all yr.
Student enrollment on campus even with the Covid-19 virus is only down 193 students.

[Horror Child]

For swimming, I would worry about free transfer of the virus in the water. But what do I know? That's an interesting commentary on football player transmission. I wonder if they've ever tracked how it spread on teams.

No need to worry.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...ic-venues.html

CDC is not aware of any scientific reports of the virus that causes COVID-19 spreading to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, water playgrounds, or other treated aquatic venues.

[Fightingscot82]

I think it helped make the game happen. Wheeling is *somewhat* equidistant for the two schools. Wheeling is about 3 hours for Mercyhurst and 3 hours, 45 minutes for Shepherd. It's a long day but neither team has to overnight.

[shipfbfan1]

Good question. WV overall appears be doing great with vaccines and the state has opened more than most. Not sure that has anything to do with the game. There is a contingency of Shepherd fans going to the game and folks seem to be very excited.

I understand Mercyhurst not being able to host due to their stadium configuration but with WV's numbers I thought it would be possible to have a game at Shepherd with some fans in attendance as well of course spaced out.

[Ramhead]

Good question. WV overall appears be doing great with vaccines and the state has opened more than most. Not sure that has anything to do with the game. There is a contingency of Shepherd fans going to the game and folks seem to be very excited.

[shipfbfan1]

https://shepherdrams.com/news/2021/4...-april-10.aspx

So I'm confused both schools wanted to play this game obviously, they're offering free admission to fans and yet playing at a neutral site where both teams have to pay for transportation/food. Why play a game that you're losing money with no kind of money coming in???? They're probably paying a few grand to use Wheeling's stadium.

[Fightingscot82]

Swimming? No contact, not even in relay races. What about lacrosse? And the batter is close to the catcher in both baseball and softball.

Also - https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/pra...-players-staff

For swimming, I would worry about free transfer of the virus in the water. But what do I know? That's an interesting commentary on football player transmission. I wonder if they've ever tracked how it spread on teams.

[Horror Child]

I think it was too soon for sports that have regular contact: football, basketball, wrestling, etc. Wrestling and swimming really surprised me.

Swimming? No contact, not even in relay races. What about lacrosse? And the batter is close to the catcher in both baseball and softball.

Also - https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/pra...-players-staff

And one of the first key lessons that helped the NFL drive forward? Officials learned playing football itself did not spread COVID-19.

"There is no evidence that the virus crossed the line of scrimmage, so to speak," said Allen Sills, M.D., the NFL's chief medical officer, during a call with reporters Monday.

Despite the close physical contact during a football game, genomic epidemiology data analyzed by the NFL indicate there was no on-field transmission of the virus during the league's games, Christina Mack, M.D., an IQVIA epidemiologist and adviser to the NFL, said during the press call.

[iupgroundhog]

I think it was too soon for sports that have regular contact: football, basketball, wrestling, etc. Wrestling and swimming really surprised me.

Wrestling did have some built-in controls because there are only two wrestlers at a time plus the referee. For multi-mat formats in tournaments, they had to get really creative by having a small number of mats in use at a time, splitting up weight classes into different sessions, etc. They took a lot of measures regarding protocols. Some caused a lot of criticism e.g. you could wrestle a full match but couldn't shake hands afterward.

In the PIAA postseason wrestlers "on deck" had to warm up outside the gym in the hallway, etc. HS made it through but college had a lot of problems. Penn State got shut down 2x due to the Big 10 rules.

[Fightingscot82]

Just football? Or all spring sports that are in full competition?

I think it was too soon for sports that have regular contact: football, basketball, wrestling, etc. Wrestling and swimming really surprised me.

[Horror Child]

https://hurstathletics.com/news/2021...-schedule.aspx

https://shepherdrams.com/news/2021/4...-april-10.aspx

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va.