Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Barrister]

The WHL starts, maybe, in early January. Do Midget AAA have the same schedule?

Nobody knows.  It's all controlled by Hockey Alberta.  Supposedly my kids are supposed to start playing meaningful games in November, but is that going to change with increasing numbers?

heh, I just read this earlier today. Sounds related.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/squash-lacrosse-niche-sports-ivy-league-admissions/616474/

Yes, but more no.  Remember hockey is the furthest thing from a niche sport in Canada.  And we're more egalitarian when it comes to universities - no one thinks you have to get into, say, McGill or you'll never get ahead in life.

Somewhere there are well off Canadians sending their kids to Sweden to develop hockey skills, while other talented players have to take the year off because they lack the means. It probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things that NHL players 10 years from now will be from wealthier families than otherwise, or that less covid concerned countries will have an advantage in Olympic sports (as their kids developed while other countries shut it down).

But a year's development for kids is also important for academics and social development. With public school programs cutting back, the same shit is happening on a much broader scale and far beyond just hockey. Welcome to a world with an even greater gap developing between the rich and poor.

Hockey is already a sports where you pretty much need to have wealthy parents to play at a really high level.  We're seeing it with our boys - yes you can put them into the basic hockey program, but the really good kids are all taking power skating, extra ice time, playing spring hockey, doing summer hockey camps - and it can really show in player development.  And it all costs money.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah, that is why soccer and basketball have become so popular.  You need to make a significant financial investment if your kid is going to play hockey at a competitive level.

edit: I remember my dad looking at putting me into hockey - but then he looked at the price of the gear he would have to buy.  Talk of playing hockey ended soon after and I got a basketball for Christmas 

[Barrister]

Yeah, that is why soccer and basketball have become so popular.  You need to make a significant financial investment if your kid is going to play hockey at a competitive level.

edit: I remember my dad looking at putting me into hockey - but then he looked at the price of the gear he would have to buy.  Talk of playing hockey ended soon after and I got a basketball for Christmas 

Pfft - the gear is the least of our worries.  But it helps to have 3 boys in the sport - we just roll the gear from one kid to the next.  We decided Andrew needed bigger skates the other day - so we just pulled Tim's old pair out of the closet.

But I'm almost glad there's no tournaments this year.  With Tim making Tier 1 I'm sure there would have been an extra grand or two to play in out of town tournaments throughout the year.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah, that is why soccer and basketball have become so popular.  You need to make a significant financial investment if your kid is going to play hockey at a competitive level.

edit: I remember my dad looking at putting me into hockey - but then he looked at the price of the gear he would have to buy.  Talk of playing hockey ended soon after and I got a basketball for Christmas 

Pfft - the gear is the least of our worries. 

You make a lot more money than my dad ever did 

[Barrister]

Yeah, that is why soccer and basketball have become so popular.  You need to make a significant financial investment if your kid is going to play hockey at a competitive level.

edit: I remember my dad looking at putting me into hockey - but then he looked at the price of the gear he would have to buy.  Talk of playing hockey ended soon after and I got a basketball for Christmas 

Pfft - the gear is the least of our worries. 

You make a lot more money than my dad ever did 

That reminds me - I need to hit the used gear store to see if I can find new shinpads for Andrew after work.  He needs bigger ones, but Tim is still using his ones from last year.

[mongers]

Damn, a Canuck hockey hijack.

[Barrister]

Damn, a Canuck hockey hijack.

The best kind of hijack, eh.

[Valmy]

Damn, a Canuck hockey hijack.

The best kind of hijack, eh.

No doot aboot it

[crazy canuck]

Damn, a Canuck hockey hijack.

The best kind of hijack, eh.

The fact we let people talk about other things from time to time shows just how understanding and diplomatic we Canadians are. 

[Syt]

After Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Salzburg state is also switching contact tracing to emergency mode. Most clusters are families/households. However, in Vienna at least, contact tracing has been unable to determine for 40% of cases how the first person in those got infected. Fatalities in Austria have risen from 800 to 1000 since 1st October.

[alfred russel]

Hockey is already a sports where you pretty much need to have wealthy parents to play at a really high level.  We're seeing it with our boys - yes you can put them into the basic hockey program, but the really good kids are all taking power skating, extra ice time, playing spring hockey, doing summer hockey camps - and it can really show in player development.  And it all costs money.

In the grand scheme of things, who cares about hockey. Math on the other hand....

[The Brain]

Surely US math labs are still operating?

[Legbiter]

Just got the all clear for my boys. Several teachers and staff were found to be infected on top of those already diagnosed. I'm beginning to like PHD's idea of banning adults from the school ground and having the children teach. 

[Sheilbh]

heh, I just read this earlier today. Sounds related.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/squash-lacrosse-niche-sports-ivy-league-admissions/616474/

I'm obsessed with that article. It'd make an incredible novel. We need some Gilded Age style writers to investigate this.

[Sheilbh]

Just got the all clear for my boys. Several teachers and staff were found to be infected on top of those already diagnosed. I'm beginning to like PHD's idea of banning adults from the school ground and having the children teach. 

Week 2 of the children "teaching":