Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I really hate social media...
Parth Tweets out that PSU medical director Sebastianelli claims 35% of B1G athletes who had Covid now have myocarditis. (Orange Asperger Man has his wet dream.)

Sebastianelli comes out later to say that's not right he was referencing a paper that has since retracted its theoretical numbers down to 15%. (OAM and other doom slayers still liking the negative news.)

Sebastianelli next reports that actual numbers are in fact zero. That's quite the jump from 1/3 of the athletes, to none of the athletes. But too late social media doom slayers all over that first number.

It's an interesting case. Here's the thing Penn State's director of athletic medicine said. 

“When we looked at our COVID-positive athletes, whether they were symptomatic or not, 30 to roughly 35 percent of their heart muscles (were) inflamed,” Sebastianelli said. “And we really just don’t know what to do with it right now. It’s still very early in the infection. Some of that has led to the Pac-12 and the Big Ten’s decision to sort of put a hiatus on what’s happening.”

“You could have a very high-level athlete who’s got a very superior VO2 max and cardiac output who gets infected with COVID and can drop his or her VO2 max and cardiac output just by 10 percent, and that could make them go from elite status to average status,” Sebastianelli said. “We don’t know that. We don’t know how long that’s going to last. What we have seen when people have been studied with cardiac MRI scans — symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID infections — is a level of inflammation in cardiac muscle that just is alarming.”

“I have had no direct conversation with (Penn State) President (Eric) Barron on this topic,” Sebastianelli told the CDT in an email, “but needless to say we all have concerns for the health and safety of every PSU student-athlete, as well as those at every level of competition; this is a public health issue.”

And then he confirmed all that to the newspaper. The school and conference didn't return comment. And for a bit it was a big dumb kerfuffle until the school and whatnot were forced to speak up in the midst of the uproar. 

I mean, the guy said the thing on Monday night. I can't exactly find when it was first published, but it took till Thursday afternoon for the school to make that clarification clear. It's a weird case indeed. 

Looks like Michigan might be the biggest problem with the Big ten starting back up

https://www.si.com/college/michigan/football/michigan-football-wolverines-mark-schlissel-stands-in-the-way-big-ten-football-2020-season-jim-harbaugh

https://www.worldtribune.com/report-michigans-whitmer-the-one-roadblock-holding-up-big-ten-football-season/

https://www.kshb.com/news/coronavirus/research-raises-concerns-of-covid-19-link-to-myocarditis

Adjusted down to 15%, still a very scary figure.

https://www.kshb.com/news/coronavirus/research-raises-concerns-of-covid-19-link-to-myocarditis

Adjusted down to 15%, still a very scary figure.

Myocarditis has been linked to viruses/infections for decades.

The question is, how long does the damage last?  In most infection/virus cases, it has been temporary, at least for those that didn't already have heart conditions before.  The heart is a rapidly healing organ within the human body and can repair a lot of damage naturally.

So before anyone panics about the myocarditis occurring in some people as a result of COVID infection, we need to understand if it's acting the same way it has for other viruses, or if there is something new or unique to COVID that's never happened before with other viruses and infections,that would make it more serious.

However, I certainly agree with the suggestion for anyone that has tested positive for infection or antibodies, and/or experienced symptoms, and especially athletes, to be tested for myocarditis and respond with appropriate care if it's found to be present.

Well, we ARE having a "season" already, of sorts, so the question is answered, at least partially.

Is there any clear indication that SEC et al. will NOT start their season on schedule?

Can't speak for the SEC.

B12 starts this weekend with a single non-con game for each team, although two of the B12 non-con opening games are already canceled due to corona issues on one team or the other.

Texas isn't one of those two teams that won't play and is scheduled to play UTEP on Saturday in Austin and, barring something unforeseen, that game should occur as scheduled.  So far 25% capacity for fans is still the plan for that game too.  I guess we'll see how it goes.

Political leaders from six states sent a letter Tuesday to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and the league's presidents and chancellors, urging the conference to reconsider its postponement of the 2020 football season.

Lee Chatfield, speaker of Michigan's House of Representatives, wrote the letter, which is signed by nine other senate and house leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. All 10 lawmakers who signed the letter are Republicans, and the six states they represent include seven Big Ten schools. The Big Ten announced Aug. 11 that it would postpone the fall sports season, including football, because of concerns around the coronavirus pandemic. The league's council of presidents/chancellors voted 11-3 to postpone, with only Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa electing to proceed with the fall season, sources told ESPN.

Why didn't Nebraska sign it?