The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1279712
SEPTEMBER 2020 THE WOLVERINE 19 I thought, 'Oh crap. There goes col- lege athletics in the fall. All of it is going to go away.' And that's exactly what we're seeing." Concerns grew in the days leading up to the decision regarding myocar- ditis, the inflammation of the heart muscle. An ESPN report noted the condition had been discovered in at least five Big Ten athletes and several in other conferences. Myocarditis is caused by a viral in- fection, including ones that cause the common cold. But a higher instance of the condition being associated with COVID-19 caused alarm bells to go off for some. COVID-19 itself has not been shown to severely affect college-age athletes in any significant numbers. Skene noted, though, that the specter of potential litigation if a serious case arose could have played a major role in the decision to cancel football and other sports. "It's the great unknown question, and I think it's a huge part of this deci- sion," Skene said. "But it's one that we're never going to know. We don't have any idea what the risk manage- ment lawyers are telling these presi- dents and these athletic directors. "It's just like the governor of our state. They're saying science and data, science and data, but we don't really know what they're talking about. No one seems to want to explain that." There certainly isn't agreement re- garding the level of risk involved. While the decision makers insist there was too much, Harbaugh made a fact- based presentation of how well Michi- gan had done in containing the virus within his team, which included only 11 positive tests out of 893 adminis- tered during the squad's first eight weeks back on campus (see sidebar). "The facts that he put out in his statement were nothing short of im- pressive," Skene noted. Meanwhile, one of the Skene's U-M teammates, former All-American Chris Hutchinson, works as an emergency room doctor at Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, one of the hot spots for treating patients with the virus over the past several months. Hutchinson knows in- timately how serious the disease can be. He also knows he was ready to see his son, junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, take the field for the Wol- verines this fall. Aidan Hutchinson tweeted out, prior to the decision: "Coach Har- baugh and the staff have implemented the best possible protocols in order for us to stay healthy. The results support my claim. The athletes deserve a voice in this life-changing decision regarding the season. #WEWANTTOPLAY" Dr. Hutchinson followed up with a tweet of his own: "I support Aidan, not only as his father but as an ER doc who had lived through some of the worst COVID in the country. I support them playing as the protocols at the Univer- sity of Michigan have proven to work. I feel my son is in the safest program and conference in the country." Skene acknowledged staying in touch with his old teammate during the summer. "When this thing all started go- i n g s i d e w a y s , I c a l l e d D r. Hutch," Skene said. "He echoed the same things to me that he has said publicly. " T h e s t a t i s - tics say that the medical commu- nity knows that young, strong, healthy people, statistically speak- ing, have very few c o m p l i c a t i o n s o r problems with this vi- rus. He's been consistent about that all along." Skene's own experience with the vi- rus involved a close family friend, a young person who contracted COVID. The individual was sick for 36 hours then fine, he recalled. The former Wolverine noted that's not everyone's experience. It is in the vast majority of cases, he pointed out, if the symptoms show up at all. "If the statistics are what they are, what I don't understand is why these large decisions, even beyond athlet- ics, are being made for the statistical anomalies," he said. "Every case is not the same and some — very, very few young people — have struggled with this virus. "But the statistics of the young people that have struggled versus the young people that have gotten it and are just fine are not even close. So for every decision that comes down the pipe here, it feels like the broad brush is being painted on the basis of the one or two or three or handful of anomaly cases opposed to the mass amount of cases." It comes down to percentages, he noted. "I'm not an immunologist," Skene said. "I'm not a doctor. But if we're playing the averages, the superior vast majority of young people can handle this. I find it to be ridiculous that we're going to shut down all of collegiate athletics for the safety of the players, when that demographic is the most healthy to handle this — if in fact they get it. "Michigan hardly even got it, because they were managing it, doing what they were told to do. I'm frus- Part of an Instagram post from fifth-year senior defensive back Tyler Cochran "Unfortunately, the incompetent presidents of the @bigten decided, despite constant testing and strict protocols, that the voices of the players were irrelevant and canceled the season." Fifth-year senior defensive back Tyler Cochran didn't hold back in expressing his disap- pointment with the decision, noting that this could mean the end of his and several of his teammates' college football careers. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN