CIAC got it right on football; Lamont, media should just get out of the way
Over the past week, I have read the myriad editorials, written by this paper, screaming at the CIAC to cancel or postpone high school football. Unfortunately, these editorials which were based on half-truths or downright incorrect assumptions, have had their desired effect.
The CIAC’s fall sports plan is the best possible answer and is supported by the facts around us. The CIAC proposed a slow, adjust as they go plan that enabled them to modify or cancel seasons based on any actual results. In support of the CIAC’s plan, I would submit that indoor gyms, read that again indoor gyms, have been open since June with no noticeable impact to the state.
Furthermore, all fall sports athletes — including football — have already been practicing for the better part of a month, again without incident. There have also been numerous indoor basketball leagues and camps without any impact. The CIAC, however, is continuously monitoring results and will make adjustments as needed.
The editors acknowledge that the CIAC made the very difficult decision to cancel winter sports championships and the entire spring sports season, but then claim that this same group who made those tough calls are now “throwing a Hail Mary” because they didn’t make the easy decision to cancel football. They further call the CIAC “tone deaf” because colleges have canceled football. What the editors failed to point out was that colleges have canceled fall sports, not just football. Surely there will be a spate of hysterical editorials calling for the immediate cancellation of soccer, cross country and field hockey?
The editors also failed to highlight why colleges have canceled fall sports — and it has nothing to do with the sport, it is the logistics. College sports are played across state lines — potentially in hot spots, with athletes who are also drawn from across the country. High school sports, on the other hand, draw their athletes from the same town and take place under tightly controlled travel. The two situations are entirely different and the CIAC recognized that. The CIAC also recognized the fallacy of postponing sports until the spring — given the large number of multisport athletes, adding football into the mix in the spring would result in a number of schools being unable to field some combination of football, baseball or lacrosse teams, which obviously creates a scheduling nightmare for those schools that are able to field teams.
The editors close by indicating that parents will get to make the final decision. Wrong again, parents have absolutely no input. Following the media frenzy our governor’s administration, showing a complete lack of leadership, has now weighed in and created a scenario of sheer pandemonium. If the facts in our paper can be relied upon, Connecticut currently has 68 hospitalizations across the entire state and incidence rates that are completely manageable. Despite those facts, the editors have decided that the only answer is to cancel the season — only for football of course, again I can only assume they will be consistent and come for soccer, cross country and field hockey next.
Congratulations, you have succeeded in taking something away from thousands of high school students that can never ever be replaced — and it is totally contrary to the existing facts. While I as a parent have no say in this outcome, it is a small consolation that I can at least make sure the governor who got my vote last time will not the next time around. Same any local Board of Education members who are feeding into this hysteria.