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Post by hcpride on Dec 30, 2020 8:07:58 GMT -5
The curmudgeon squared now speaks: "Come first week of February, HC will be spending about $300,000 a week on COVID testing. $300,000 a week over a semester = a grand, new videoboard for Fitton, and the Hart as well. "Given the protocols that HC has established requiring staff and faculty who come onto campus to be tested regularly, I expect that officials and others who are involved in some capacity with the game-day experience (e.g., announcers, camera crew) will be tested prior to their entry onto campus. So should people expect HC to allow casual fans, all wearing masks, to wander in from McKeon Rd to watch a game? "This is a campus where all students, staff, and faculty must wear their college ID on a lanyard so it is visible. This indicates that to everyone you meet and see that you were recently tested for the virus and found to be negative. Students from other schools who are taking classes at HC have to be regularly tested at their home institution before their key cards are activated allowing them entry into a HC campus building. "And does anyone think the casual fan will be sitting in the Fitton stands before HC students are allowed to sit there?" At my older daughter’s school the kids (on and off campus) get tested twice a week and can wander around the city, etc. And staff (also tested) makes thousands of trips on and off campus every day. I’d imagine HC will be the same. And gotta agree no casual fans at Hart or Fitton this year given the protocols ( even with a vaccine card and MOPP level IV).
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Post by HC92 on Dec 30, 2020 10:02:25 GMT -5
The curmudgeon squared now speaks: "Come first week of February, HC will be spending about $300,000 a week on COVID testing. $300,000 a week over a semester = a grand, new videoboard for Fitton, and the Hart as well. "Given the protocols that HC has established requiring staff and faculty who come onto campus to be tested regularly, I expect that officials and others who are involved in some capacity with the game-day experience (e.g., announcers, camera crew) will be tested prior to their entry onto campus. So should people expect HC to allow casual fans, all wearing masks, to wander in from McKeon Rd to watch a game? "This is a campus where all students, staff, and faculty must wear their college ID on a lanyard so it is visible. This indicates that to everyone you meet and see that you were recently tested for the virus and found to be negative. Students from other schools who are taking classes at HC have to be regularly tested at their home institution before their key cards are activated allowing them entry into a HC campus building. "And does anyone think the casual fan will be sitting in the Fitton stands before HC students are allowed to sit there?" Are you quoting yourself or someone else here? Tough to follow.
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Post by HC92 on Dec 30, 2020 10:04:45 GMT -5
The curmudgeon squared now speaks: "Come first week of February, HC will be spending about $300,000 a week on COVID testing. $300,000 a week over a semester = a grand, new videoboard for Fitton, and the Hart as well. "Given the protocols that HC has established requiring staff and faculty who come onto campus to be tested regularly, I expect that officials and others who are involved in some capacity with the game-day experience (e.g., announcers, camera crew) will be tested prior to their entry onto campus. So should people expect HC to allow casual fans, all wearing masks, to wander in from McKeon Rd to watch a game? "This is a campus where all students, staff, and faculty must wear their college ID on a lanyard so it is visible. This indicates that to everyone you meet and see that you were recently tested for the virus and found to be negative. Students from other schools who are taking classes at HC have to be regularly tested at their home institution before their key cards are activated allowing them entry into a HC campus building. "And does anyone think the casual fan will be sitting in the Fitton stands before HC students are allowed to sit there?" At my older daughter’s school the kids (on and off campus) get tested twice a week and can wander around the city, etc. And staff (also tested) makes thousands of trips on and off campus every day. I’d imagine HC will be the same. And gotta agree no casual fans at Hart or Fitton this year given the protocols ( even with a vaccine card and MOPP level IV). This raises what I think is the important point. Do we know if HC students are going to be allowed to leave campus and, for example, go to the Wal-Mart down the street?
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Post by hcpride on Dec 30, 2020 10:19:23 GMT -5
At my older daughter’s school the kids (on and off campus) get tested twice a week and can wander around the city, etc. And staff (also tested) makes thousands of trips on and off campus every day. I’d imagine HC will be the same. And gotta agree no casual fans at Hart or Fitton this year given the protocols ( even with a vaccine card and MOPP level IV). This raises what I think is the important point. Do we know if HC students are going to be allowed to leave campus and, for example, go to the Wal-Mart down the street? I'd imagine the hundreds of staffers and off-campus kids going on and off campus each day might make a HC gesture of that sort moot...but you never know...erring-on-the-safe-side...in an abundance of caution...
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Post by HC92 on Dec 30, 2020 10:24:15 GMT -5
True, pride. I am all for reasonable restrictions that make sense. If the rationale for not having fans is that HC is essentially like the NBA bubble, that falls apart pretty quickly if hundreds of people are leaving the bubble every day and interacting with thousands of non-bubble people. Even if you had a great bubble system, what would the rationale be for not allowing all HC students to attend football games? They’re all getting tested all the time and they’d be outside and distanced to the extreme in Fitton. Will that be allowed? Of course not. Why? No one knows.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 30, 2020 11:41:49 GMT -5
At my older daughter’s school the kids (on and off campus) get tested twice a week and can wander around the city, etc. And staff (also tested) makes thousands of trips on and off campus every day. I’d imagine HC will be the same. And gotta agree no casual fans at Hart or Fitton this year given the protocols ( even with a vaccine card and MOPP level IV). This raises what I think is the important point. Do we know if HC students are going to be allowed to leave campus and, for example, go to the Wal-Mart down the street? This is the curmudgeon speaking again. There were 500-600 students living off-campus first semester, and even more will be during the second semester. Some even in HC-leased apartments. There are no restrictions, AFAIK, on where HC students go in Worcester. The risk of catching COVID these days at a Massachusetts Wal-Mart, where staff and customers are uniformly masked is very low. This was not the case very early in the pandemic, when the Wal-Mart nearest HC was a hotspot because of the high number of staff infections, the infections resulting from staff-to-staff contact. I think HC expects students to act responsibly, as the 600-700 students who had access to campus did during the first semester. If they do, then the spring semester should be an on-campus semester until classes end. If they don't, ..... Contrast responsible behavior to what happened to the chairman of the Mass GOP. Link is to a Seattle Times reprint of a story first appearing in the Boston Globe and WaPo, both publications probably behind a paywall. www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/massachusetts-gop-leader-says-he-likely-got-covid-19-at-a-white-house-hanukkah-party-im-paying-the-price/See also the aftermath of Notre Dame students rushing the field after the Clemson game. Note that students who were not able to show they had recently tested negative were not admitted to the stadium. www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-covid-19-notre-dame-football-students-20201109-afg44v56i5fppah3ber2t5fbqm-story.html
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Post by timholycross on Dec 30, 2020 11:49:27 GMT -5
The only thing we can agree on is that it's a buyer's market and whoever decides not to go to a game (or is prohibited from going) will have plenty of seats to choose from once he/she decides it's safe to go.
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Post by HC92 on Dec 30, 2020 11:54:35 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, none of the many college and pro football stadia allowing a limited percentage of stadium capacity to be filled with fans have caused a significant Covid outbreak. That’s because they’re outside and masked and distanced which has been the gold standard for mitigation of spread. But not at Fitton or anywhere else in the northeast this Spring where people might be able to do something fun and normal for a few hours.
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Post by thecrossisback on Dec 30, 2020 11:59:36 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, none of the many college and pro football stadia allowing a limited percentage of stadium capacity to be filled with fans have caused a significant Covid outbreak. That’s because they’re outside and masked and distanced which has been the gold standard for mitigation of spread. But not at Fitton or anywhere else in the northeast this Spring where people might be able to do something fun and normal for a few hours. I agree and its like the Northeast thinks they are ahead of this or better with their response than the rest of the country. Let some fans go watch a spring football game socially distanced. I see all these shows and articles written about college football. The Northeast teams never even get a mention! Its like they don't exist to the national media.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Dec 30, 2020 14:25:58 GMT -5
^
What "northeast" CFB squad merits "national attention"?
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 30, 2020 15:33:59 GMT -5
Coincidentally, the holiday guest hosts on WEEI sports talk radio this morning agreed that Jeff Hafley, BC coach and Siena grad is the best interview in town among coaches. But that was also in response to agreement on Belichick's dour personna. With no pro championships recently or expected, if BC can do something in the ACC, they will be relevant.
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Post by hchoops on Dec 30, 2020 16:20:20 GMT -5
If, if, if.. Certainly, let’s hope not.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 30, 2020 17:52:17 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, none of the many college and pro football stadia allowing a limited percentage of stadium capacity to be filled with fans have caused a significant Covid outbreak. That’s because they’re outside and masked and distanced which has been the gold standard for mitigation of spread. But not at Fitton or anywhere else in the northeast this Spring where people might be able to do something fun and normal for a few hours. On the bright side, The Buffalo Bills just announced 6,700 fans will be permitted at their game. Apparently Governor Cuomo sees little risk in outdoor, tested, masked, socially distanced, non-tailgating, contact traceable, fans. Imagine that! www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30625221/buffalo-bills-granted-permission-fans-playoff-game-first-crowd-season
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 30, 2020 18:20:11 GMT -5
Re: fans in the stands for the Bill's game. Before fans can park their fannies they need to show proof of a negative COVID test. That may prove to be a big impediment, given the New Year's holiday.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Dec 30, 2020 19:03:36 GMT -5
Re: fans in the stands for the Bill's game. Before fans can park their fannies they need to show proof of a negative COVID test. That may prove to be a big impediment, given the New Year's holiday. Wut? Bills first playoff game isn't until Jan 9 or 10.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 31, 2020 8:35:54 GMT -5
^^^ Bingo!!!
My bad. My little mind was extrapolating HC's testing schedule to the Bills. HC generally doesn't test on weekends or major holidays.
(HC did about 800 tests during Christmas week, --even doubling up on the students living on campus, that's quite a few tests.)
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Post by hcpride on Dec 31, 2020 10:07:19 GMT -5
/\ The Covid testing component of the outdoor, tested, masked, socially distanced, non-tailgating, contact traceable, fan attendance is described on the Billswire website (https://billswire.usatoday.com/2020/12/30/ticket-covid-test-details-buffalo-bills-upcoming-2020-playoff-game/):
- Fans will be required to cover the cost of testing via Bioreference Laboratories, who has handled New York State’s COVID-19 testing since the start of the pandemic. Other test results will not be accepted. - Fans attending the game must test negative for COVID-19 at least 72 hours (2-3 days) prior to the game. - PCR or “rapid” COVID-19 tests will be the type conducted. That will cost a non-refundable $62. Following a positive test, tickets will be refundable, though. - As part of COVID-19 safety protocols, post-game contract tracing will be conducted. The season-ticket holder purchasing the tickets must have legal names, days of birth, and contact information for all attending the game in their group. - Testing will be performed at the parking lot of Bills Stadium in Lot 4. Government ID is required for a test. - Bioreference Laboratories will supply fans with a mobile screen shot as proof of negative test result.
IMHO the entire fan attendance procedure for this particular game is somewhere between needlessly byzantine, 'erring on the safe side', and cockamamie. (No doubt others may be horrified football, even worse fan attendance, is taking place at all.)
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Dec 31, 2020 10:28:56 GMT -5
Is Cuomo mandating this kind of stringent testing at the Target down the road from Buffalo's stadium?
Surely thousands of people going in and out of a busy store around the holidays need to be tested and screened like this, if 6,000 fans sitting in an open air stadium are jumping through these hoops.
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Post by alum on Dec 31, 2020 11:13:16 GMT -5
Is Cuomo mandating this kind of stringent testing at the Target down the road from Buffalo's stadium? Surely thousands of people going in and out of a busy store around the holidays need to be tested and screened like this, if 6,000 fans sitting in an open air stadium are jumping through these hoops. You got any new material?
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Post by hcpride on Dec 31, 2020 11:33:08 GMT -5
Is Cuomo mandating this kind of stringent testing at the Target down the road from Buffalo's stadium? Surely thousands of people going in and out of a busy store around the holidays need to be tested and screened like this, if 6,000 fans sitting in an open air stadium are jumping through these hoops. I did use the terms 'needlessly byzantine, 'erring on the safe side', and cockamamie' to describe the outdoor, tested, masked, socially distanced, non-tailgating, contact traceable, fan attendance plan. I'd go with cockamamie in light of your apt observation. But I'm open to 'byzantine' and 'erring on the safe side'.
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Post by HC92 on Dec 31, 2020 14:25:43 GMT -5
All sorts of additional red tape that isn’t actually going to prevent the spread. If a family of 4 diehard Bills fans want to go to the game, that’s an additional $248 when there are countless free tests everywhere. Are they worried about fraud and think using one vendor will reduce that? How hard is it to take a screen shot of someone’s negative test result and flash it on someone else’s phone to stadium security? If someone who tests positive or who hasn’t tested wants to enter, they can. You would hope no one would do that but making everyone take one test for $62 so there’s a uniform visual of the test result seems stupid. But that’s what you get when a bunch of bureaucrats making decisions on matters that don’t directly impact them in any way.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Dec 31, 2020 14:46:34 GMT -5
COVID-19 outbreak at Washington state Costco leaves 145 workers infected komonews.com/news/local/145-workers-infected-in-covid-outbreak-at-yakima-co-costco-storenypost.com/2020/12/31/covid-19-outbreak-at-washington-state-costco-leaves-145-workers-infected/Good Point regarding Target.....They and other major big box stores should be testing their employees on a regular basis considering the outbreak at the Costco in Yakima WA. You may see it differently, but going to a football,or baseball game as a fan, is not seen as essential in a pandemic. The games go on whether or not there are people in the stadium seats. A consumer going to Target, Costco, Stop and Shop, etc., can limit their exposure by curb side pickup, or following CDC guidelines. It is the employees who are jeopardized while working 8 or more hours to fulfill orders. Sitting in a stadium for two to three hours, also provides an extended period of time for personal exposure. I do not understand the persistent drum beat by some to sit in a venue, when they can see the same event remotely and probably in a more comfortable environment.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Dec 31, 2020 15:00:10 GMT -5
Some people probably don’t see it as much of a risk sitting in a stadium that is 10% of capacity. Some people also want to live their lives and not let a virus dictate what they can and cannot do. The good thing is that we all have choices and those who wish to remain indoors are able to do so.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Dec 31, 2020 15:15:07 GMT -5
Luke Letlow’s family probably wishes he made other choices during the last month. He lived his life, and now it is over because he did not take adequate safeguards.
In the battle with the virus, it is the virus that dictates what you can or cannot do. It is like going to Foxwoods. Some times you win, but the odds are against you.
Stay well!
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Post by hcpride on Dec 31, 2020 16:08:37 GMT -5
Some people probably don’t see it as much of a risk sitting in a stadium that is 10% of capacity. Some people also want to live their lives and not let a virus dictate what they can and cannot do. The good thing is that we all have choices and those who wish to remain indoors are able to do so. There will always be folks horrified that kids are on campus or college athletes are playing sports or members of the general public might attend outdoor sporting contests during a pandemic.
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