Reopening Efforts Underway Statewide, Plus Fauci Chimes in on Schools' Immediate Future
Details on Massachusetts’ phased reopening plan, plus Fauci's comments draw Trump's ire and some NFL and NHL preview content to round things out.
You know, I take a week off, I come back and somehow there’s still some sort of crisis going on and I have to do two issues again. Unreal, couldn’t have predicted that.
There’s a lot going on—enough that I can guarantee you’re getting a bonus issue of this newsletter tomorrow, but today we’re going to focus on Massachusetts’ efforts to reopen the economy and the lack of details surrounding what comes next in the state.
After that, we’ll delve into how Anthony Fauci’s comments on showcase the difficulties surrounding opening schools, which will have wide-ranging impacts on the short-term future of higher-ed.
The rest of the newsletter is all sports: a column from me on the unexpected speed bumps leagues are facing regarding reopening, an update to the NHL offseason preview I did on the Bruins a while back, and Stanziale begins his own new preview project for the upcoming NFL season. He’ll be giving out his record predictions for each NFL team, going division by division. This week, he’ll kick it off with the NFC South.
Tomorrow, I’ll be back on my own, and I can guarantee I’ll be getting back to my old roots and covering a bunch of Boston College stories—if my brain isn’t mush after that, maybe I’ll add some more sports content tomorrow too.
Subscribe to the newsletter!
Let’s get started.
Governor Baker Announced a “Phased Reopening” of Massachusetts, but Nobody Really Knows What That Means—Yet
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Monday that “around May 18,” the state economy would begin a slow, phased reopening. He defined four phases—“Start,” “Cautious,” “Vigilant,” and “New Normal.” The first three phases concentrate on reopening more and more businesses as epidemiologists determine it’s safe to do so, while the final phase can only be entered into when either a therapy or vaccine is developed that will give doctors the upper hand on treating the virus and lowering its death rate.
“We have to ensure that when we take one step forward, we do not end up taking two steps back,” Baker said at a press conference, referencing worldwide concerns regarding a second wave of the virus outbreak could take place if social distancing measures are eased too quickly, potentially undoing any mitigating effects current social distancing efforts have made on the current outbreak of the virus.
Baker hasn’t committed to many specific details regarding which sorts of businesses can reopen in each phase, or how as the state progresses through each phase social distancing guidelines would be reduced. He did say that other states have adopted plans where phases last three to four weeks and that Massachusetts would likely follow a “similar model,”—Baker reiterated during the press conference that his administration would continue to work with neighboring states to address broader coronavirus concerns and maintain some form of consistency between different state plans.
Non-essential businesses have been closed since Baker ordered them to do so on March 24. Baker’s orders now won’t be specific to essential/non-essential businesses, but instead will be applied to businesses that can meet safety standards Baker’s office is releasing as each phase begins, according to The Boston Globe.
The Boston Chamber of Commerce released a policy brief on Wednesday, per the Globe, asking specifically that Baker’s administration address whether businesses could open with or without access to virus and antibody tests and specifics regarding how safe public transit is going to be. The chamber is also asking for Baker to release medical benchmarks that need to be reached in order for the state to move into phase two and three.
Fauci Throws Cold Water on Colleges Returning to Normal For Fall Semester, Prompting Trump Backlash—All While Institutions Are Beginning to Make Their Future Plans Public
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious disease, said in congressional testimony given on Wednesday that schools—K-12 and colleges—should be preparing themselves for remote learning in the fall, since the precautionary measures required to return to campuses won’t be available in time for fall semesters.
“The idea of having treatments available, or a vaccine, to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something of a bit of a bridge too far,” Fauci said.
His comments, which are wide ranging enough that they could throw into doubt whether other public activities, such as attending sports events, will be able to take place this fall either (the NFL released its schedule for the fall but officials said they expected to play games with fans in the stands—there’s no way that’s happening if Fauci’s prediction regarding treatments is fulfilled).
Other government officials, such as President Donald Trump and Senator Rand Paul, lambasted Fauci for his statement.
“[Fauci] wants to play all sides of the equation,” Trump said. “I was surprised by his answer. … It’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.
Paul said the idea that schools shouldn’t open in the fall was “kind of ridiculous,” and that not reopening schools once the summer months are over would be a “huge mistake.”
Trump was more critical of Fauci in particular.
“To me, [not reopening schools is] not an acceptable answer,” he said.
“I think you should absolutely open the schools. Our country has got to get back and it’s got to get back as soon as possible, and I don’t consider our country coming back if the schools are closed.”
The bad news for Trump is that some schools and public systems have already pulled the ripcord and committed to remote learning for the fall semester. The Cal State system has committed to remaining online, and Harvard Medical School announced they’d be utilizing remote learning next semester as well.
Northeastern officials have said they’re preparing to bring students back to campus for the fall, though the school’s president told CNN that doing so required that officials “rethink every single aspect of what we do.”
An unknown variable that will no doubt play a part in how schools move forward due to the economic impact is how many international students will be able to either remain stateside or return to American shores for the fall semester. A Boston Globe report noted around 71,000 international students go to college in Massachusetts—over half of Northeastern’s student population is international, and Boston University, Harvard, and MIT all have large international populations as well. Boston College Vice President for University Communication and University Spokesman Jack Dunn said Chestnut Hill won’t be as economically affected by whether or not international students will be able to attend school this fall since only 8 percent of the student population call another country home (BC has half the international population that MIT does, despite having a larger student population).
BC intends to offset potential international enrollment issues by bringing in more American students off the waitlist, Dunn told the Globe. Northeastern opted for a longer waitlist this year during its admissions process, leaving a similar option open, per the Globe.
The Globe report also said schools won’t need to begin making decisions about their respective fall semesters until late June or early July, so it’s not clear how soon further details will emerge regarding students’ education future.
Stanziale: NFL Season Prediction Series: The NFC South Has More Intrigue Than You Could Ever Wish For
By Nicholas Stanziale
Last Thursday, schedules for all 32 NFL teams were—prematurely—released. With questions still swirling around whether there will actually be a season, who knows if this schedule actually means anything. The NFL does have an advantage though: By the time the NFL makes final decisions on how to handle the rest of its season, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League will have either resumed their respective under restrictions or cancelled the remainder of its games. With news coming out recently that MLB players are being told to be ready for July 1, the NHL discussing the possibility of a 24-team-playoff, and the NBA supposedly making their final decision within the next few weeks, it seems as if live sports, and a full picture of how they can be played amid the pandemic, could be right around the corner. Whether there are sports or not, it is nice to take our mind off the stresses of the world and think about new and exciting possibilities, such as how each NFL team will perform this fall if they stick to this version of its schedule. I’ll be covering the whole league, but this week I’ll be sticking specifically with the NFC South.
It’s a solid place to start, since the south is probably going to be the most compelling division in the conference—perhaps the most compelling one in football. Everyone knows that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added the GOAT in Tom Brady and his little buddy who’s also—potentially—the greatest tight end of all time: Rob Gronkowski. The Saints certainly did not get any worse and are coming off a 13-3 record last season—they even used the draft to beef up the front line to give future Hall of Famer Drew Brees even more protection. The Saints and Bucs are without a doubt the two heavy favorites to come out on top in the divisional battle, but, despite the southern star power, if the Atlanta Falcons play their hand right, they could sneak into a wild card spot. The Carolina Panthers may be in for more of an experimental season, but they still have potential down the line with new head coach Matt Rhule. Here’s how I have things panning out:
New Orleans Saints: 12-4
The Saints’ record will be close to what it was last season and just like last season that record may not earn them a playoff bye. The seven team per conference playoff kicks in next season and you need to be almost flawless to obtain that coveted home field advantage and lone bye in the playoffs. The Saints didn’t lose any big names, and I thought they had a very nice, quiet draft. They’re serious contenders for the Lombardi this season.
Breakdown:
I have the Saints undefeated at their bye, which comes in Week 6, and have them undefeated all the way until week 9 where they square off against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. This will be their second matchup of the season, and Brady will get revenge for the Week 1 loss and defeat Brees. A few other moments I think deserve particular attention: In week 10, New Orleans has a rematch against San Francisco. Last year, these two faced off in the regular season and it was a thrilling contest—one where the 49ers won in the final seconds, costing the Saints the overall number one seed for the playoffs. In Week 15, the defending champs come to town: How New Orleans fares against Kansas City could determine what playoff seed the Saints get. Finally, in week 16, the Minnesota Vikings come to town. The Saints lost in the playoffs—again—to the Vikings last year. Three years ago, it was the Diggs miracle in Minneapolis that sent New Orleans home, and last year it was Kyle Rudolph’s heroic third and goal touchdown grab in overtime that knocked the Saints out in the first weekend—at the Superdome, no less. I’m sure the Saints have this matchup circled—they’ll want revenge.
Surprise Game:
The surprise from the Saints will be the loss in week 12 at Denver. It’ll be the last week of November, andBrees playing in cold weather is not a pretty sight. Less oxygen than usual and cold weather—maybe snow—is the perfect recipe for Denver, who’ll shock New Orleans pull off an upset win. If things play out this way, it’s a tough, late season loss for the Saints that could cost them dearly in the playoff seed picture.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 12-4
Another 12-4 team in the South: I wasn’t about the hype for the Bucs originally, but then I saw their schedule. Brady, Gronk, Evans, and Godwin, along with offensive line help, a pretty good defense, and a proven, brilliant coach is a recipe for serious success despite the tough division. I can see why Brady chose the Bucs, beyond the weather. I expect Tampa to compete for the division title and the one seed.
Breakdown:
The Bucs finished second-to-last in the south last season, easing the difficulty of their schedule this year by giving them favorable matchups against the Giants and the Rams. Brady faces off against his kryptonite, the Giants, but this time, Eli Manning won’t be on the opposing sideline. The Rams game will be a good one as they get a rematch against the quarterback who cost them a Super Bowl in Brady—this time in a different uniform. But the two games that the world is waiting for on Tampa’s schedule comes in weeks 6 and 12. In week 6 we get 12 v. 12: the final chapter of the Rodgers v. Brady trilogy. They’ve split their first two matchups, meaning one of the 12’s will get the upper hand in head-to-head contests at the end of this one. A few weeks later, the defending champs will get their shot at the revamped Bucs, where we’ll once again see Brady and Mahomes square off.
Surprise Game:
In Week 15, the Bucs travel to Atlanta to face off against the Falcons, and I don’t think Tampa leaves with a win. The Falcons tend to play well at home, especially against division opponents. That’s why they are going to upset the Bucs and earn a shot at a wild card spot.
Atlanta Falcons: 8-8
I like the Falcons and they did turn it on at the end of last season. Atlanta has a high-flying offense, especially with the addition of Todd Gurley, but their defense is a problem—the secondary is a particular point of weakness. But despite that, as I previously mentioned, I still think the Falcons could potentially sneak into a wild-card spot at the bottom-end of the relatively weak NFC playoff picture (thanks to the NFC East).
Breakdown:
Atlanta is better than last year’s sub-.500 record would have you believe. The dirty birds won their final four games to close out last season after finally figuring out how they wanted play. Their problem this season is the first six weeks of their schedule: Seattle, Dallas, Green Bay, and Minnesota are all very tough matchups, and I have Atlanta entering week 7 with a record of 2-4. The Falcons are going to have to turn it on late again this season if they want a shot at the 7th seed—wow, that’s weird to say. The first two games of the season could be the difference between Atlanta squeezing into the playoffs or not: Like I said earlier, the Falcons play well at home, and if they can catch Russel Wilson and the Seahawks off-guard, they will start the year 1-0 and have momentum when they go into Dallas. Dallas is a really good football team, but despite the Cowboys having a tremendous draft, this game is winnable for Atlanta. The Dallas secondary is depleted after Byron Jones moved on and the Cowboys aren’t working with much on the defensive front either—when they face the Falcons, it’ll be a high-scoring affair.
Surprise Game:
The Falcons surprise game comes in Week 13: They’re at home against the Saints. The Falcons at home against a divisional opponent is a recipe for an Atlanta win and when New Orleans comes to town, the Falcons will pick up a huge win late in the season for their wild card push.
Carolina Panthers: 4-12
This record doesn’t accurately depict the real state of the Panthers. Unfortunately for Carolina, they are playing in arguably the best division in football. I don’t see them winning a game against division opponents unless they can steal one against Atlanta. Matt Rhule has a lot of work to do moving forward—the Panthers have fallen off a cliff since their 15-1 season and appearance in Super Bowl 50.
Breakdown:
There isn’t much to say about this Panther schedule and final record, but I’ll give it a shot: They have 16 tough games, a new roster, and a new head coach. Historically, that sort of setup usually doesn’t bode well for organizations. Carolina is one of those teams where if they finish anywhere from 3-13 and 10-6, I actually wouldn’t be shocked. They will start the season off hot when they defeat Las Vegas at home, but then comes the “L” train. They are going to lose 9 times between weeks 2 and 12—that’ll take them to their week 13 bye with a record of 3-12. Already out of playoff contention and fighting for a better draft pick, they’ll only have enough in the tank to escape with one more win in their final four matchups
Surprise Game:
It’s not easy to have a surprise game when you’re 4-12, but for the Panthers, it comes in Week 1. Las Vegas is going to come to town full of confidence and guns blazing. The Panthers—Christian McCaffrey specifically—are going to have one of their best offensive showings of the season and spoil the first game football game in Las Vegas history. Matt Rhule is going to show everyone new and fun ways McCafrrey will be used.
Nicholas Stanziale is a student at Marist College and a prospective broadcaster and journalist. He lives and dies by sports, especially by how the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees, New Jersey Devils, and Villanova Basketball are doing.
NHL Offseason Previews: A Boston Bruins Update (Thanks Jaroslav)
By Jack Goldman
Well, we’ve been at these NHL previews for a while, but this is the first time something has happened that’s monumentally going to change a team prediction. Jaroslav Halak re-signed with the Bruins at a little over $2 million per year, and I think that’s going to change my projected outlook for the team significantly:
Here’s what I had for the Bruins when I gave this a shot a while back—long story short, I had Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk returning after hitting restricted free agency, plus I signed Zdeno Chara at the same number he made this year to make another cup run. I also had the Bruins failing to bring back Torey Krug due to cap issues created by Halak departing to take a shot at a starting job, leading Boston to re-sign old hand and excellent 1b goaltender Anton Khudobin for a full million more than Halak ended up signing for. I also predicted the Bruins would ship John Moore, a second round pick in 2020, and a third round pick in 2021 for Nathan Gerbe, Columbus’ 2020 fifth rounder, and the Jackets’ 2022 fourth rounder.
Turns out, Halak is back at a manageable number, and all Boston has to do is not overpay anybody and they now have the room to bring Krug, DeBrusk, Grzelcyk, and Chara back with room to spare without moving on from Moore.
On the other hand, the other thing that happened since I wrote that original Bruins piece a couple months ago is that compliance buyouts became a possibility. That opened up the possibility that Moore will be shown the door and his cap hit wiped off the books, opening another couple million for Boston to work with.
That would mean prospects like Zach Senyshyn and Karson Kuhlman could be brought back at low numbers, while Anders Bjork would suddenly be affordable again. So, rather than having to gut their prospect pool so they could continue to pay their seventh defenseman, it seemed like the Bruins might have an avenue for surviving the cap crunch without a serious issue.
But Elliotte Friedman said on a recent 31 Thoughts Podcast that owners aren’t thrilled with the idea of compliance buyouts, so I’ve put together a new version of my Bruins prediction on Cap Friendly, still using Evolving Hockey’s contract predictions, that includes Moore, Krug, Halak, DeBrusk, and Grzelcyk all on the roster. I still think it’s possible Boston buys Moore out the old fashioned way, saving over a million on the cap for three years (two years from now they’d save nearly $2 million) and opening up a similar amount of space to bring back as many of their prospects as possible.
The other option is that they still pull the trigger on a trade for a player like Gerbe while moving back in the draft to salary-dump Moore. My guess is unless the salary cap number comes in at under $81.5 million, the Bruins hold onto Moore because they can be dumb like that sometimes, but it would help their defensive depth—they always have injuries on the back end and Chara isn’t getting any younger, he might need more spells in order to stay fresh in preparation for next year’s playoffs. Moore may not blow you away, but as a spot defenseman he’s relatively effective.
Ultimately, it’s an extremely similar picture to what this year looks like, and though that could mean age related regression pulls Boston off the top of the regular season pyramid, I still think they’ll be a more than formidable contender for the cup in 2021.
Jack Goldman is the publisher of this here newsletter, an independent reporter, and in his free time he goes to Boston College. He’s extremely happy that NASCAR is coming back this weekend, despite how much respect he assumes that sentiment will cost him in the eyes of the general public. We all have our vices—apparently, his is bad taste in “sports.” Subscribe to and share the newsletter!