[Goose]

BC, I agree with you 100% on this issue except for the part about "but we want to do our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19; consequently we are stopping all intercollegiate competitions until the order is lifted." The problem there is it begs for special pleading. The advocates can say "Football isn't causing the spread of COVID-19. Show me proof that it is."
The thing our society just doesn't get is that once Dr. Cody speaks, that's it. Santa Clara County must comply. We can complain, protest, file lawsuits, etc. but in the meantime, we must comply. The problem is that really nobody knows what is driving the spread. What we do know is that staying home stops it. We need to do that. Traveling across the West looking for a home is not doing that. Yes, it may not matter, but since we really don't have an answer, it may. Staying home and avoiding other people works. We have yet to find a mix of not doing that that reliably does. That is just a fact. Given that, we need to follow the regulations even if we think they are in part unjustified.

Perhaps the teams in SCC would feel better about following the directive of the Health Officer if it were consistent with other counties . . . you know . . . so that they might feel that "we are all in this together."  As it is, I suspect Stanford athletes believe "we are being singled out for punishment due to the vagaries of the Health Officer in charge of our county, who has decided to prohibit sporting activities and travel when other counties have not."  And you know what?  They're correct.

I don't know if it's feasible for the Road Show to continue - I kind of doubt it.  But I do not blame the Stanford teams (and SJSU and 'Niners) for giving it a go.  And I'll go one step further and say that Stanford is playing "in the belly of the beast" (as BC termed it) precisely because of the order precluding games on Stanford campus (which is WAY safer than other places in the country from an infection standpoint).

But maybe the other counties in CA will "see the light" of the SCC Health Officer.  If so, at least then there might be a sense for the competitors of being in this together.

I understand the point that not all the county health officers saw it the same way. One can argue the merits of playing in a controlled environment vs letting the team disperse to their homes. What Stanford did was "legal". It didn't violate any regulations because it left the jurisdiction where the regulations were at issue. However, that is exactly the problem, IMHO. The virus is not a legalistic entity. The intent of the county order was clear. Leaving the jurisdiction clearly involved doing exactly what the order was designed to prevent, i.e. travel away from home for any reason that was "unnecessary". SAH means exactly that.

The unevenness of regulation is understandable in this context because nobody knows exactly what is the "right" mix of lockdown and allowed activity. It is entirely possible that the level of disease we have right now in SCC was driven by people who were not actually violating the letter any of the regulations in effect when this third wave started. We just don't know. However, it is clear that Stanford's actions did circumvent the intent of Dr, Cody's order. If the public spends it's time trying to figure out ways around the rules rather than how to make the rules work to defeat the virus, we are going to continue to lose this fight to control the spread.

[Goose]

BC, I agree with you 100% on this issue except for the part about "but we want to do our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19; consequently we are stopping all intercollegiate competitions until the order is lifted." The problem there is it begs for special pleading. The advocates can say "Football isn't causing the spread of COVID-19. Show me proof that it is."
The thing our society just doesn't get is that once Dr. Cody speaks, that's it. Santa Clara County must comply. We can complain, protest, file lawsuits, etc. but in the meantime, we must comply. The problem is that really nobody knows what is driving the spread. What we do know is that staying home stops it. We need to do that. Traveling across the West looking for a home is not doing that. Yes, it may not matter, but since we really don't have an answer, it may. Staying home and avoiding other people works. We have yet to find a mix of not doing that that reliably does. That is just a fact. Given that, we need to follow the regulations even if we think they are in part unjustified.

Perhaps the teams in SCC would feel better about following the directive of the Health Officer if it were consistent with other counties . . . you know . . . so that they might feel that "we are all in this together."  As it is, I suspect Stanford athletes believe "we are being singled out for punishment due to the vagaries of the Health Officer in charge of our county, who has decided to prohibit sporting activities and travel when other counties have not."  And you know what?  They're correct.

I don't know if it's feasible for the Road Show to continue - I kind of doubt it.  But I do not blame the Stanford teams (and SJSU and 'Niners) for giving it a go.  And I'll go one step further and say that Stanford is playing "in the belly of the beast" (as BC termed it) precisely because of the order precluding games on Stanford campus (which is WAY safer than other places in the country from an infection standpoint).

But maybe the other counties in CA will "see the light" of the SCC Health Officer.  If so, at least then there might be a sense for the competitors of being in this together.

I understand the point that not all the county health officers saw it the same way. One can argue the merits of playing in a controlled environment vs letting the team disperse to their homes. What Stanford did was "legal". It didn't violate any regulations because it left the jurisdiction where the regulations were at issue. However, that is exactly the problem, IMHO. The virus is not a legalistic entity. The intent of the county order was clear. Leaving the jurisdiction clearly involved doing exactly what the order was designed to prevent, i.e. travel away from home for any reason that was "unnecessary". SAH means exactly that.

The unevenness of regulation is understandable in this context because nobody knows exactly what is the "right" mix of lockdown and allowed activity. It is entirely possible that the level of disease we have right now in SCC was driven by people who were not actually violating the letter any of the regulations in effect when this third wave started. We just don't know. However, it is clear that Stanford's actions did circumvent the intent of Dr, Cody's order. If the public spends it's time trying to figure out ways around the rules rather than how to make the rules work to defeat the virus, we are going to continue to lose this fight to control the spread.