The coronavirus edition nobody asked for
Seton Hall-Iona is off due to COVID-19 protocols for the Pirates.
Early this week, in the replies of some Ian Rapoport tweet, I saw someone whining. The gist was, “So much talk about covid and Dan Snyder. Why can’t we just talk about actual football?”
Sorry, bud, but have you noticed the world around you lately? There won’t be any “actual football” to talk about if half the league winds up in COVID-19 protocols.
There’s part of me that thinks people like this are truly selfish, and there’s another part of me that sympathizes with the fatigue. I think we’re all some level of tired. Some folks wanted to pretend the pandemic was over in summer 2020, and I don’t know how they’re continuing to manage now, as Delta and Omicron have made it clear this pandemic is nowhere close to done.
I know you didn’t sign up for this newsletter to read about COVID, nor was it the motivation for me to start writing it. But not only is the pandemic the story of the week inside and outside sports, it hit close to home yesterday when Seton Hall called off its Saturday matchup against Iona at Madison Square Garden because of COVID protocols.
It would have been a great game for the Pirates to wrap up their nonconference schedule, with Kevin Willard coaching against the program he helmed from 2007-2010 and, more to the point, against his former boss in Rick Pitino. Willard spent a decade as one of Pitino’s assistants with the Boston Celtics and Louisville. Iona upset then-No. 10 Alabama last month and would have had a shot to do the same to Hall.
The cancellation was one drop of water in a sea of pandemic issues this week. Saturday college hoops games also canceled Thursday: Ohio State-Kentucky (two ranked teams), DePaul-Northwestern, Penn State-VCU.
NHL: Nearly the entire Calgary Flames roster was in COVID protocol as of Thursday. Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes among teams with a significant number of players unavailable due to positive cases.
NBA: Chicago Bulls have their games temporarily suspended. Sacramento Kings missing four players and the head coach. Some of the biggest names in the sport entered protocols this week – Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Russell Westbrook.
NFL: Every team now has positive cases. The Los Angeles Rams alone have 25. Other huge breakouts in Washington and Cleveland. Monday was the single worst day of the pandemic for the league in terms of reporting positive tests, a harbinger of the week to come.
It shouldn’t be controversial to say that vaccines alone are no longer stopping the spread of this virus. Reports across the sports world have been indicating that vaccinated individuals account for many of the positive tests.
But don’t make the jump from that to “vaccines are totally useless.” It’s not true. Study after study has shown that vaccinations are reducing cases of hospitalization significantly. Things would be so much worse for us without them.
By all accounts, Omicron is spreading faster than previous variants of the virus. If that’s being enhanced by declining vaccine efficacy over time, that’s a worrisome combination. On the brighter side of things, it may end up being much milder than previous variants – hospitalizations in South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, are down 91%.
The smartest people in public health are reminding us that we have not gathered enough information to draw conclusions (like the ones I just hinted at above) one way or another. What happens in South Africa might not be what plays out in the U.S. If nothing else, the week we’ve just had in sports has served to remind us that the pandemic really isn’t over, and whenever games do go off without a hitch, uninterrupted by COVID, we should be grateful to everyone and everything that got us there.
Back to basketball: The New York Post reported that several Seton Hall players are not vaccinated. It’s disappointing to learn this. I truly hope they contain whatever outbreak they are having, hard as that might be with unvaccinated players.
In pure basketball terms, there are consequences if they don’t.
Hall’s next game is supposed to be Monday’s Big East opener against St. John’s. That’s a short window, something Willard aired complaints about long before the Iona game was canceled – having to play two games in three days. If Hall doesn’t have seven players available, meaning not quarantined due to COVID and not injured, Monday’s game will be forfeited. That means a loss for Seton Hall and a win for St. John’s – no rescheduling, no way around it. Hall’s game against DePaul next Thursday also could be in jeopardy if an outbreak among the team goes on long enough.
Imagine having a 9-1 start with some major victories and then doubling or tripling your loss total because of COVID spread.
We’ll have to follow what happens next. But far more important than a basketball season are the health and safety of ourselves and those around us. I wish everyone reading this good health over the holidays and in the new year. Look out for one another. Don’t live your lives in fear, and take joy in the things that make you happy, but please stay vigilant.
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Thank you for reading, as always. I’m sure we’re all hoping that’s the last time I need to write about the pandemic in this newsletter. Let’s clean the glass and kick off this weekend:
I’m officially on Losing Streak Watch for Fairleigh Dickinson, which dropped to 0-9 with an 18-point loss to Fairfield and has a trip to Virginia tomorrow. The Knights have come close to earning a win – just not recently. They’re one of three winless teams remaining in Division I men’s basketball, along with Prairie View A&M and Mississippi Valley State. Can they grab a win before January? Stay tuned. There’s an in-state tilt coming next week at home against Saint Peter’s.
Back to the Big East for a moment. The league has looked especially strong to start the season, maybe excepting Villanova, which has played extremely tough competition. BigEast.com points out that with nonconference play nearly finished, the league’s combined record is 91-24. You know about Seton Hall’s accomplishments, but Xavier has beaten Ohio State; Providence has beaten Texas Tech and Wisconsin; and DePaul, of all schools, has knocked off Louisville (and Rutgers, of course). Seton Hall may be No. 24 in the current NET rankings, but that’s only fourth-best in the league behind Villanova, Xavier and UConn. The Pirates may look great right now, but nothing in this league is going to be guaranteed – to them or anyone else.
My upcoming schedule: Rutgers-Rider on Saturday, Monmouth-Hofstra next Wednesday, then taking off Monday, Dec. 27 for Christmas weekend. I’m continuously grateful for the opportunities to get out to games in person, given everything we just discussed. Catch you next time – the subject matter will be lighter, I promise.