Flu outbreak quarantines a few UA football players Up to 10 University of Alabama football players...

Flu outbreak quarantines a few UA football players

Up to 10 University of Alabama football players have come down with flu-like symptoms and a few have been quarantined to contain the outbreak and protect their teammates.

Comments

I’ve got a feeling H1N1 will have a huge impact on how things turn out this year. When and how severely a team is hit could have huge consequences. Think Florida is all but unbeatable? How about if half their starters miss a particular game? What if it happens to be the LSU or Georgia games? Or even a middle of the pack SEC team? And then what if a guy wants to play sick? We’ve seen several pro athletes play with the flu, Michael Jordan comes to mind. But with this thing, that’s not fair to the opponents or a player’s own teammates. Still, you know some coaches will push the line. And where is the line? How do you know if a guy has a cold or the early symptoms of the flu if he’s not honest about his symptoms? If a player has a cough but claims he feels OK or that it’s allergies or something, do you play it safe and hold him out? Do you hope the guy is being honest and play him? Does it depend on the opponent?

Do you try to reschedule games if it’s affecting a significant portion of the team? That has worked in the past for individual games, but with different teams being hit at different times it will be nearly impossible this year. Do we end up with games simply not being played? Will we end the year with some teams having played 11, 10, or even fewer games?

I think it’s possible that we could end up with some team coming out of left field and winning it all simply because of “illness luck” this year. Say nearly every team is hit with the flu at some point this year, but maybe some good-but-not-great team goes through their rough spot during a bye week and follows that with a game against Northwest Nowhere State while they get healthy. And then maybe they catch a little luck with their toughest opponents being hit at the wrong time, and end up as the only undefeated. It may come down in the end to how much grace the voters show to a team that lost when it was significantly short handed because of the flu vs. one not significantly affected.

by zeke2029 on Aug 27, 2009 10:05 PM CDT reply actions

I'm not convinced that

H1N1 is going to be THAT serious, although it is definitely a concern that may affect a few teams, but as for grace from voters due to illness, I think that’s going to be considered about like injury “luck” or lack thereof. UGA had terrible injury luck last year, and it might have cost them some hardware (though that’s doubtful with Florida being so strong). They didn’t get any grace, nor should they have. Like injuries, sickness, and even small epidemics unfortunately, are a part of life and will affect the game. Let’s just hope no one is seriously affected by this, and the extent of the damage (if there is any) is a ‘L’ in the win / loss column.

I bleed crimson and white...I puke Vol puke orange. RTR

by SugarBowl93 on Aug 27, 2009 10:28 PM CDT up reply actions

They do say it has mild symptoms

Although “mild flu” sounds like an oxymoron to me. I did read however that some estimates are that 30-50% of the population will get this thing before it runs its course. Possibly typical media sensationalism, but then again with something this new nobody really knows exactly what’s going to happen. I guess I’m just letting my mind wander down some what ifs.

From what they say about how long this thing lasts, I do think Cody will be fine by game time. It’s the folks who come down with it next week that we’ll need to be concerned with.

by zeke2029 on Aug 28, 2009 7:12 AM CDT up reply actions

Everybody back up!

Greg McElroy’s walking through….

by NiceLittleSaturday on Aug 28, 2009 8:11 AM CDT up reply actions

worry about the things you can control...

…and deal with the things you can’t when they happen.

by kleph on Aug 27, 2009 10:33 PM CDT reply actions

easier said than done for us A-types. thanks mom.

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on Aug 28, 2009 11:01 AM CDT up reply actions

is this why Cody has been out of practice?

by RammerJammer23 on Aug 28, 2009 8:01 AM CDT reply actions

It appears so . . .

Here is a link to another story about the outbreak.

Singing songs about the Southland

by SweetHomeAla on Aug 28, 2009 10:05 AM CDT up reply actions

i was hoping..

…this was an exaggeration. My youngest told me last week that there was a possiblility of shutting down the entire school and having to cancel the game…

2008 Iron Bowl Bumper Sticker: Shut DOWN, Shut OUT, now SHUT UP!
Alabama 36 - Auburn 0

by LittleSis on Aug 28, 2009 10:39 AM CDT reply actions