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I was headed to UT/Texas AM to propose during the game... Covid altered that plan.. when I got the news I drove to her house on Tues and did it right then. Still surreal and we are obviously incredibly happy, we announced the news last night on FB.. so I wanted to let you guys know as well... she said YES!

Oh Lord, you’re entitled to your own opinion, you’re not entitled to your own facts. The Covid “policy” was to downplay it and claim it would just go away. Just stop. But I’ll stop too because I gave you an opening to get into politics again.

The “terrible policy” would be at the national level. We literally have a leader who thinks we are “turning the corner,” when it’s clear that cases are increasing at a shocking level. The White House is a f#$cking cesspool of COVID infections and inaction, and there are still - miraculously- people willing to defend our woefully inadequate response. In case people have forgot, we are a nation that historically gets things done. We make shit happen. We put people on the moon and defeat facism across the globe. But now we shrug our shoulders about controlling a pandemic that other countries have already vanquished. We have simply give up. It’s too hard. If this is too political, so be it. I just don’t care anymore. I’m over pandering to people who are too ignorant, insensitive, or impatient to deal with this.

Wait, are you seriously claiming the national media treats all mass gatherings equally in how they portray them regarding covid? Come on now. I love you but come on. And its both sides, to be clear.

I am worried about where we are going. That’s the whole point of why I post on this thread. I am honestly shocked that you have missed that in my replies. First off, neither I or many of the scientists have defended the gathering of the mass gatherings from a COVID stand point. I didn’t and I don’t think it’s wise. Assigning blame to media for not recognizing the risks frequently enough isn’t a green light to do the same. It’s not safe. Period. For one who’s not interested in “assigning blame”, this is a rather hypocritical point you’ve made. But I accept that point because we should learn from it. (It doesn't appear that we are, but we should) That said, I’m not obsessed with assigning blame. I’m obsessed with recognizing the absolutely crappy situation we are in right now and learning from that. We aren’t in this situation as a result of doing a good job. Plain and simple. Call that blame if you want; it’s reality. If you honestly think differently then I have no idea of what to say. I am obsessed with doing more. I am obsessed with learning from successful blueprints and applying that. I am obsessed with not doing the same things that led us back to the position we are in. Isn’t that the definition of insanity? We all love basketball. Do we just accept the fact that we finished in 10th place? Do we not want better? Do we not want the powers that be to improve our program given our standing? Do we look a PSU as a team we want to model our program off of or do we look at MSU? Or do we just say it is what it is? Do we say “well, we got Romeo and TJD......that’s good enough....let’s continue down this path?” Come on, IUFLA....you gave me a Lion King quote “it’s in the past” that contradicted what you quoted 3 paragraphs above: “Those who don’t understand history are bound to repeat it” (which ironically WE LITERALLY JUST DID as a country). Which is it? Given the context of our conversation all my points are in alignment with the latter. You are a self-admitted problem solver, and from my conversations with you, I gather you are a very intelligent man given your profession. Can you just answer this question: Can we do do better? Because you just belittled my desire for this as not being a realist. If your answer really is “no” then we can just end the conversations and agree to disagree. And don’t worry, by answering yes I won’t view that as assigning blame to anyone.

I have a tagline on my email. It's a quote from Henry Ford... "Don't find fault, find a remedy." I try to practice that and believe me, I work in a industry where there's plenty of remedy that needs to be found. You seem obsessed with assessing blame for some reason. I do subscribe to the notion that "those who don't understand history are bound to repeat it" but continually looking to blame doesn't solve anything. It just widens the divide. Understand history, and use the lessons learned... We should have initiated a travel ban right from the start...Oh, wait! We did! And we were widely panned for it. We should have instituted an internal travel ban. The cities with the largest amount of cases should have been shut down, including ALL travel. But while NYC did lockdown, the lack of an internal travel ban has them back in dangerous territory. Who should have invoked that ban? The federal government? State? Local?Well, it never happened, and the contact tracing (get it anonymously? Really? Think that one would pass the Constitutionality test?) hasn't happened on a wide scale. So we are where we are. What did we focus on? Well, martialing resources, both human and supplies, to the right places. Working on vaccines and treatments, and protecting the most vulnerable. As far as the spread goes, how many lives have been sacrificed by the numerous protests/riots/gatherings (including those in DC this weekend) in cities like Minneapolis and Kenosha...two very hot spots right now...was the Constitutional right of those people to assemble more dear than the innocent lives it will without a doubt cost? Should federal/state/local governments moved to shut them down? My point in all of this is, we HAVE to find the balance between this awful pandemic and normal life. I don't think it's fair to compare numbers from countries that aren't even as big as some of our states. I don't play "devil's advocate." I'm a realist who sees the world for what it is. I bring up the situation in Japan because it's relevant and lends to my point about balance and not having the cure be more damaging than the disease. Worry more about where we go from here rather that constantly looking in the rear view mirror... As Rafiki said in "The Lion King" "It's in the past."

Correct. But, the same people/media that are calling for small Thanksgiving gatherings should have been outraged about the large street gatherings all spring and summer. Yet, they never said a word about it. That's my point.

My Family will be respectfully protesting the pilgrims and Native American's first meal together. With a large gathering screaming at a dead bird and all of the food items that go with it. All are welcome to join.

Now you got it right! 😁

The moon landing keeps coming to mind when people keep dismissing that we couldn’t have possibly done a better job to combat the virus. It’d be like NASA scrapping the mission after realizing the Apollo 11 was too big and heavy to land on the moon. Of course they didn’t do that - they problem solved and invented the lunar module. We honestly can’t find an effective way to contact trace like other countries did? Everything starts with a plan....the first step is having the desire to even create a plan. That is not happening at a national level - the only level with the money and resources to make it happen. Don’t we still pride ourselves on American ingenuity?

It's too bad the Mayans were wrong about Covid ending on November 3rd.

Not only the media but certain classes of people, who should be leading by example, seem all to willing to ignore these precautions. And to your point, makes no sense why larges churches have to be closed or are severely limited when stores (liquor? mattress? pot?) and even strip clubs can remain open. You keep binging up politics in a round about way. You may think it is an indisputable fact there was a terrible policy. I don't agree so, I'd argue, that makes it your opinion- not an indisputable fact. If there was terrible policy- was that at the local, state or national level? Where in the Constitution does it say the federal government should regulate a health crisis? Even states have such varied areas that unilateral measures often make no sense but the states at least have a health infrastucture/ agencies in place. To use your language, I'd say its an indisputable fact some states had terrible, moronic policies and it would be stupid and moronic to argue otherwise.

Congrats but don't ask 5fouls for marriage advice LOL!

Good thoughts. He seems sincerely intrigued by IU. The reason I say that is that his quotes aren’t just fluff. You know when a kid has been trained to say vague positive things about a school, it looks good until you break down what he says, which is essentially nothing. But, here, he put some meat on the bones with good reasons he likes IU. My sense is this a kid to go all out for because it may be mutual interest. And I like that he’s smart and knows the game.

Comparing outdoor gatherings with mostly masked attendees and indoor gatherings is ridiculous. We know it’s much more problematic to have indoor gatherings with eating/drinking involved. Our Thanksgiving is just my wife and her parents, but it’s not happening this year. Sure, we would probably be fine, but if everyone says that and thinks that they should be the exception, then we will have a huge spike in cases.

Hope your friends and family get well soon.

Not sure what planet you're living on Fouls lol. There were all kinds of repeated "media" statements, you know since we're inclined to bash the "media" generally, repeatedly noting that large social gatherings / protests could spur the Virus and pointing out gatherings / protests where people were wearing masks, as opposed to those large "gatherings" when people weren't.

Going back to the crutch argument. We aren’t doing a good job. We didn’t do a good job. And it seems like we have no plans to do a good job. I think it’s as clear as day when comparing us to other countries and looking at the position we are in right now. Yes, those countries have their problems too. But in many aspects of this pandemic, we rate as one of the worst countries, whether it’s based on total numbers oR per capita. Regarding contact tracing, this is true, but as i posted a few times, many pages back, there are ways to contact trace anomalously. The main obstacle is starting in area where cases are low, but we keep on missing the boat on that. We missed the boat in rural areas this past spring and summer. The rest of the states missed the boat in the summer. And we are going to miss the boat if we come down from this spike because no plan is in place. Do you not think this is a problematic trend? I mean the results speak for themselves. You always seem to pluck one small reason or one objection In an argument that isn’t significant enough to change the desired outcome. You’ve stated: about Australia: Melbourne had to shut down. So what? So did we, but it worked for them. about Japan: They had high cases of mental depression. So what? So do we, but it worked for them. about contact tracing: African Americans and Latinos are distrustful. So let’s not consider the plan that has proof of working???? About China: who can believe them? Why are we looking for excuses to not be successful? Not sure if that’s your intention but to me it seems like you’re being a devil’s advocate just for the sake of being a devil’s advocate to support the belief that “we’ve done all we can” - I can’t accept that; I think accepting that is giving up when giving up is not an option.

Congratulations!

Congratulations. Very happy for you!!

When you say large street gatherings are you speaking of the protests or street parties? Just curious. 😊

Just in my little corner of the world. 6 friends/family members all in Chicagoland tested positive in the last 24 hours. All have been flying around, doing small get togethers, etc... All I can say gang is be safe. Just like with any virus. It travels.

Hope you get good results

Congrats. Really happy for you guys. May you have a long and happy marriage. You know what’s on deck, now? Lol

Congrats

Absolutely. I wasn't going to mess this up 🤣🤣🤷‍♂️

Per capita, which is really the only fair way to look at it, that's not true. As for the raw numbers, maybe we test more and are reporting more truthfully (or over reporting the deaths by attributing the death of a person with other health issues to COVID), than other countries. No one really knows. But I've said this before and I'll say it now. Mother Nature is going to get hers. We can take precautions, sure, but the death toll in the US is a far cry from the initial forecast. We have no real idea what the numbers would be if we'd done nothing or if we'd effected a total lockdown, so, at least to me, lamenting or downplaying the numbers is simply shouting at the sky. I wear a mask at indoor places. I try to social distance. But I'm not going to stop doing what I do. We go out. We shop. We eat. We see our family. Portraying COVID-19 as a death sentence is inaccurate, and, to me, a despicable scare tactic. I'm not saying you're doing that, @Hoosierhoopster, but it is being done in the media. The number of people who die solely from COVID is minute. People who are vulnerable should take extra precautions. But the mental health toll on the physically healthy is already monumental and growing. Were NOT going to "beat" this. Doesn't work that way. We try to stem the tide without too much daily disruption until a vaccine is widely available. That's all we can do...

On this day 50 years ago everyone on the Marshall football team chartered airplane died in a crash! May they all Rest In Peace! Also pray for the few who were supposed to be on the plane and weren’t! And yet look where Marshall is today, big call out to Marshall!!