How to spread a virus
Notre Dame shows the way
Did you see all the Notre Dame students carefully social distance after the Irish’s doubleovertime upset of No. 1 Clemson in football at South Bend on Saturday? Not.
It looked like almost all of the 11,000 fans, mostly students, jumped over the barricades and rushed the field, surrounding the Notre Dame players.
The players had been warned before the game to get off the field as soon as possible in the event of a victory. Some did, others were seen continuing to celebrate with the students. And once they were surrounded by them, they had little choice.
Most of the students were wearing masks. Many were not.
Like the South Bend region and much of the country, Notre Dame has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The university reported 17 cases on Friday, with 220 active cases overall. Notre Dame has reported 1,345 total positive cases since the start of the fall semester.
The university this season has restricted seating at games to 20 percent capacity, with tickets sold only to students, faculty, staff and families of players. They are supposed to follow several protocols, including wear masks and “practice social distancing.”
Good luck with that last one. The coaches of the respective
teams seemed to have no problem with it.
“When they stormed the field you got a sense of a special moment at Notre Dame,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said.
“It was an epic game, emotional game,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. “They were excited for their team.”
However, as Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports pointed out, “The coronavirus doesn’t care that they had reason to be excited. It remains dangerous, a virus that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and continues to spread at record rates…. Hopefully, Saturday’s game won’t be seen as a super-spreader event, but the field-stormers at Notre Dame — as well as the school administrators that allowed them into the stadium with no evident plan to stop them from crowding — certainly seem to have done the best they can to create one.”
He’s right about no plan. Notre Dame’s Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said the only plan for a last-minute victory that he knew would cause the students to rush the field was to get the players off the field as quickly as possible.
The end of the game couldn’t have been more dramatic, with Notre Dame securing its first victory over a No. 1 team since 1993.
“If this happens,” Swarbrick said, “you get this mass incoming, you have to let people come or you’re going to have broken bones and other problems.”
So, instead of broken bones, we get potential mass exposure to a deadly virus. Pick your poison.
LeBron James scratched his head at the logic of letting 11,000 fans into the game in the first place.
“So it’s OK for fans to storm the field but not OK at the same time to have fans???” he tweeted. “I’m confused.”
This wasn’t a funny situation, but some tweets were hilarious.
Rapper Wale: “They gon need the luck of the Irish for real.”
ESPN’S Myron Medcalf: “Is Justin Turner Notre Dame’s crowd consultant?”
College football writer Holly Anderson: “Catholics for Contagion” Indianapolis sports broadcaster Jake Query: “Notre Dame wins, and covers the super spread.”
Even funnier — or more ironic— was to hear the pronouncement of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins: “As exciting as last night’s victory against Clemson was, it was very disappointing to see evidence of widespread disregard of our health protocols at many gatherings over the weekend.”
Jenkins, you might recall, tested positive for COVID-19 after he attended an event at the White House for Justice Amy Coney Barrett during which he didn’t wear a mask.
As Nick Bromberg wrote for Yahoo Sports, “Given Jenkins’ leadership failure, Notre Dame should probably have chosen another person to deliver this message to students. It can be hard to take directives from people whose actions don’t match their words.”
Some tweeters were appalled about Saturday night.
Rodger Sherman, staff writer for The Ringer: “The best college football player (Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence) missed the biggest game of the season because he got COVID and when his team lost, all the fans of the other team swarmed their own team’s players while not wearing masks.”
Basketball reporter
Kim Adams: “Oh no. Thousands of fans storming the field at Notre Dame as the US sets new Covid case records for the 4th straight day. Disastrous.”
Football reporter Michael Niziolek: “The ACC has to fine Notre Dame right? Fans storming the field with players still out there amidst the pandemic, great win, but pretty gross scene after the game.”
Maybe instead someone needs to fine the ACC for allowing fans in the stands in the first place.
Only family members of participating players are allowed in the stands at Big Ten games. Same with Pac12, at least until January.
Can you imagine anyone keeping the students from rushing the field if Stanford and Cal have another Big Game ending like The Play of 1982?
Fans are going to do that. During a pandemic, college football can’t have it both ways.