Tag: Social distancing

No tailgating, no cash, required masks and social distancing at UF-UGA game this year

The UAA released updated information for fans regarding the Florida-Georgia football game in Jacksonville in response to COVID-19 issues.

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Florida’s game against Georgia is going on as previously planned despite a COVID-19 outbreak taking the Gators out of action the last two weeks.

The UAA released updated information for fans regarding that game in Jacksonville, which is currently scheduled to take place on Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

According to the UAA release, tailgating will not be permitted for fans in the stadium parking lot. Only ticket holders will be allowed in the lots, and the areas will be closely observed for violations.

In addition to limited capacity, fans will be required to wear masks at all times except while actively eating or drinking. Fans who don’t follow these regulations will be subject to disciplinary action, the release said.

There will be signage encouraging physical distancing, such as queue-spacing indicators, as well as over 750 sanitizing stations.

All 88 gates will be open to fans, as well as all restrooms and concession stands. However, all payments at concession stands will be contactless, and paying with cash will not be permitted.

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Seahawks vs. Cardinals game limited to maximum of 1,200 fans

The Seahawks vs. Cardinals game in Week 7 will have a maximum of 1,200 people and the Cardinals issued a list of rules for fans to follow.

The Seattle Seahawks’ Week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals will be limited to 1,200 people to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, with tickets exclusive to season-ticket holders.

The Cardinals organization issued a set of notifications and rules for attendees to follow:

  • Masks will be mandatory. Failure to comply will result in ejection.
  • The 1,200 tickets will be allocated in pods of two on both the east and west sides of the stadium with 600 per side.
  • To allow for social distancing, seats not available will be zip-tied to prevent their use.
  • Tickets and parking are 100% digital and touch-lessly scanned upon entry. Concessions will also be contactless.
  • Additional staff will continuously clean all high-contact surfaces and restrooms.

This will be a pivotal matchup between NFC West rivals with the division up for grabs despite Seattle’s 5-0 record thus far. Arizona looks noticeably better than in years past and divisional games are always unpredictable.

Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PT on Sunday, Oct. 25.

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Notre Dame Had ‘Physical Distance Camera’ at Duke Game

As we all know by now, only Notre Dame students, faculty, staff and family members can attend games this season.

As we all know by now, only Notre Dame students, faculty, staff and family members can attend games this season. Even so, physical distancing remains required, though people who room together are used to each other anyway, so it’s fine if they’re close together. During Saturday’s win over Duke, the game-day staff noticed quite a few people congregating closely. Whether or not groups who did also were roommates is unknown, but that didn’t stop a little piece of fun known as the “Physical Distance Camera”.

While it doesn’t seem much different from the “Bandwagon Camera” we’ve seen with Chicago Cubs and Golden State Warriors fans in recent years, it also highlights the issue of people refusing to stay apart during COVID-19 in spite of guidelines saying we should. The last thing Notre Dame wants is for its football games to turn into super-spreader events and to make its stadium completely empty. That wouldn’t be fair to those at the games who obey the guidelines now, would it?

College football: ACC ups COVID-19 testing ahead of 2020 season

The ACC has upped their COVID-19 testing requirements two weeks before the 2020 season kicks off. Find out details here…

Notre Dame and the ACC are set to start the 2020 college football season the weekend of September 12.  Ahead of that though, all ACC member schools will be required to participate in three COVID-19 tests each week, in order to be able to play.

Any athlete that does test positive for COVID-19 will then undergo a cardiac evaluation before they’re able to return to their normal routines.

In addition to the three tests per week, non-essential personnel will no longer be allowed on the sidelines in any ACC game and those deemed essential will be required to pass temperature screening, symptom checks, practice physical distancing and will required to wear a mask at all times.

Three tests a week falls in line with exactly what the Big 12, SEC and Conference USA have already announced they’ll be doing.

It’s unquestionable that things feel different the later we get into this summer but get ready for college football as we’re now just two weeks away from it kicking off with Notre Dame in the ACC.

Watch: Panthers share a look at new socially-distanced locker rooms

Watch: Carolina Panthers share a look at new socially-distanced locker rooms.

NFL teams face an unprecedented challenge this year. In addition to all the work that goes into preparing for a grueling season, teams now have to take extra precautions to avoid outbreaks of COVID-19. The league has instituted a number of new rules aimed at discouraging the spread, including a ban on post-game jersey swaps.

Everybody involved needs to take this seriously and adjust their behavior so the season has every chance at success. As for the Carolina Panthers, they were one of the first teams to get their emergency response plan approved by the NFLPA. They also have remodeled their locker rooms with both social distancing and the depth chart in mind.

In this video, you can see they have abandoned grouping players by position and instead have scattered everyone around. The idea is that one infected player can’t be sitting next to another guy who plays his spot and possibly putting the whole position group at risk. Watch.

Interesting stuff. Hopefully all of this works out and the season can finish on time. If it doesn’t, the NFL may have no choice but to embrace the bubble model that is working so well for the NBA and NHL.

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How do the Texans enforce social distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic?

The Houston Texans are using a special tracking device that players and staff must wear to enforce social distancing guidelines at team facilities.

Six feet apart: it’s the new athletic stance.

Social distancing is one of the ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, and health officials recommend at least six feet of distance between individuals. The objective is obtainable in regular life, but is a challenge in the NFL.

As pro football bends itself around a pandemic, the league has determined ways to come up with enforcing social distancing. For the Houston Texans, the answer lies in a proximity device called Kinexon, which weighs about half an ounce and can be worn on the wrist or around the neck.

“For each person, when they come in, they get their tracking device and it’s handed to them upon arrival right after they test,” executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby said. “They wear them all day. They wear them in their jerseys. They wear them around their necks, depending on where they want for comfort.”

The devices help keep players, coaches, and “really essential people to our operation,” out of the mix with individuals whose jobs aren’t yet critical to the business of football.

“If you get too close, they beep, which is really cool because it gives you an awareness of other people that may be around you,” said Easterby. “Also, if we do get a situation where we have an outbreak, we understand that it tracks who overlaps with who, so that we know specifically who we would have to quarantine.

“It’s an educational device. It’s also a warning device. It doubles as both of those things. So far it’s been working really well for us.”

The Texans do not have any positive COVID-19 cases on their roster as of July 31, and part of the reason has been because of the measures the club has taken inside their own facilities. As the old football adage goes: control what you can control.

See the NBA’s new in-game social distancing policies

This is ridiculous.

NBA basketball is officially back. There will be games — albeit meaningless ones — played for the first time on Wednesday since March when team scrimmages begin at 3 p.m. ET.

Along with those games come new social distancing guidelines the NBA is having its follow do while playing games.

The NBA is letting these teams play against one another on the court, but when it comes to being on the bench and huddling during timeouts? They can’t be within six feet of each other.

The league is spreading out the chairs around the bench area to make sure they aren’t.

That’s not all, though. They’re also having players and coaches huddle up with “timeout chairs” when there’s a timeout called. These are moveable chairs players can stand around or sit on when timeouts are called.

And they’re cleaned after each and every timeout.

Generally speaking, these are all fine measures to take. But right here they feel useless.

These players will be sweaty and bumping into each other for 48 minutes. Keeping them spaced out in chairs on the bench does absolutely nothing in the way of true social distancing.

It’s understandable that the league would want to limit player contact, but the only way to do that is by not actually playing the games and that’s clearly not going to happen.

It’s cool that basketball is back. The league is right to try and keep their players as safe as possible.

But these policies tell us the NBA doesn’t believe it’s safe for these players to sit next to each other, but at the same time it’s safe for them to play full games against one another. And that’s totally ridiculous.

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Yellowstone tries humor to warn against dangerous critters

Yellowstone National Park asks tourists to maintain a safe distance from other tourists and – as always – potentially dangerous animals.

Yellowstone National Park asks tourists to maintain a safe distance from other tourists and – as always – potentially dangerous animals.

On Friday the park unveiled a clever graphic intended to drive home its message. The chart shows a tourist standing and waving next to other tourists in a “wrong” manner, and six feet away in a “right” manner. It then shows the same figure standing next to a bear (wrong) and 100 yards from a bear (right), and next to a moose (wrong) and 25 yards from a moose (right).

The final portion of the graphic, however, is the punch line. It shows the waving figure standing next to a bison in one frame (wrong) and running from three charging bison in the next frame, beneath the heading,“Good luck,” and above the sub-heading: “Shouldn’t have been waving….”

This comes in the aftermath of a late-June incident involving a 72-year-old woman who was gored after violating park guidelines and repeatedly approaching within 10 feet of a bison. In May a woman was rammed by a bison after she violated the park’s 25-yard distance regulation.

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A video on Yellowstone’s website shows a tourist being flung into tree branches by a bison that felt threatened. Last July, a bison charged a 9-year-old girl who was among several tourists who were too close, and flung her into the air.

Because of incidents such as these, almost always the result of tourists violating the park’s 25-yard distance guideline, bison are Yellowstone’s most dangerous animal. The iconic beasts, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, are especially dangerous during their seasonal rut in July and August.

Tourists should not approach them, should not wave their hands at them, and could not in their wildest dreams outrun them. Despite being the largest land-dwelling mammal in North America, bison are surprisingly agile and can run in bursts of more than 30 mph.

So good luck, indeed, to visitors who fail to give them space.

–Graphic courtesy of Yellowstone National Park/National Park Service. Yellowstone bison images by ©Pete Thomas

Report: Extra locker room space part of Jets’ plan to comply with NFL social distancing guidelines

Extra locker room space will play a part in New York’s plans for social distancing in training camp.

When the Jets report to training camp beginning this week, their locker room at One Jets Drive will not be as crowded as it normally is during the summer.

In order to meet the NFL’s guidelines for social distancing issued last month, New York will use trailers set up outside of team facilities as extra locker room space, according to the New York Post’s Brian Costello. The NFL is requiring 6 feet of space between lockers, which is not possible to do in the Jets’ regular locker room with a 90-man training camp roster. New York is also not able to use MetLife Stadium, as the Giants are holding their training camp there.

Jets players will begin reporting to training camp on Tuesday with the rookies being the first to head back to team facilities. Quarterbacks and injured players will report on Thursday, while the remainder of the team is set to return on July 28. Head coach Adam Gase returned last week. The rest of his coaching staff is scheduled to report on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Despite the NFL’s social distancing guidelines, there are still many unknowns about training camp, preseason and what kind of precautions the league is taking to ensure player safety. The NFL is still negotiating details such as testing frequency and the number of preseason games that will be played, leaving plenty up in the air as rookies from the Chiefs and Texans are set to be the first to report for camp beginning on Monday.

Richard Sherman rightly points out the hypocrisy in the NFL’s new jersey swap policy

This makes zero sense.

Richard Sherman just keeps nailing down the NFL on their troubling policies and actions.

First, he pointed out the fact that Cam Newton — a former league MVP — was signed by the Patriots to a veteran minimum deal while far worst quarterbacks were getting paid much more.

Now, he’s taking the NFL to task on their latest social distancing policy.

The league is implementing a new rule prohibiting players from holding post game interactions within six feet of each other and banning jersey swaps between players for the 2020 season, the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports. It’s all part of the league’s new COVID-19 look.

 

This policy is ridiculous. It’s apparently fine to run into each other at full speed on literally every single play of a game, but jersey swaps? Nah, none of that, fam.

It’s all silly. Richard Sherman rightly pointed it all on in a tweet.

The rest of Twitter was on board with Sherman.

The NFL might want to reconsider this one. If they don’t feel it’s safe to do something as simple as swapping jerseys, then it’s definitely not safe enough for these players to actually be playing.