Bills will not hold Training Camp at St John Fisher this year; will stay at team facility

[Captain Hindsight]

22 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

yeah, once you start testing, you’ll get all those asymptomatic positives. don’t know what these sports leagues will do. What if after a game, it turns out 20 players test positive on each team? How can they be ready for the next week’s game in less than 7 days when most of the roster is positive? 

Its a mess to be sure. My company finally declared that if you can work from home, you are for the rest of the year. It would be impossible to social distance at my office even if we went half staff. My wife's company is starting to move towards work from home too. Her boss said they would likely have to get more office space for less staff. Whats the point?

 

Hard to imagine how this works in a locker room

[DJB]

Just spoke with Dean. This will greatly impact his training camp reports. Here is what he said:

 

"My direction will be writing about which players are fits at each position. And hope Bills return to Rochester next summer."

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

38 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

Its a mess to be sure. My company finally declared that if you can work from home, you are for the rest of the year. It would be impossible to social distance at my office even if we went half staff. My wife's company is starting to move towards work from home too. Her boss said they would likely have to get more office space for less staff. Whats the point?

 

Hard to imagine how this works in a locker room

 

I already worked from home in buffalo - but my company is located in St. Louis, and they are not planning to open the offices until October at the earliest.  2021 is also a scenario in their mind.  They're more focused on getting all the warehouses, integration centers, etc. 100% opened.  Figured I'd give a "rest of US" update.

Edited June 3, 2020 by dneveu

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 hour ago, Captain Hindsight said:

Its a mess to be sure. My company finally declared that if you can work from home, you are for the rest of the year. It would be impossible to social distance at my office even if we went half staff. My wife's company is starting to move towards work from home too. Her boss said they would likely have to get more office space for less staff. Whats the point?

 

Hard to imagine how this works in a locker room

 

For the NFL and sports leagues, you wonder if it is "better" for them to use training camp and pre-season to basically get the virus and get immunity basically for the rest of the season.

 

I listened to this podcast several weeks ago where the speaker said some people may intentionally try to get the virus such that they can basically have a badge of immunity.  That may also make those individuals more marketable on the job market.  He said that's what happened during smallpox and even polio outbreaks in the past. 

 

[Captain Hindsight]

49 minutes ago, dneveu said:

 

I already worked from home in buffalo - but my company is located in St. Louis, and they are not planning to open the offices until October at the earliest.  2021 is also a scenario in their mind.  They're more focused on getting all the warehouses, integration centers, etc. 100% opened.  Figured I'd give a "rest of US" update.

Thanks for sharing. I'm always curious whats happening around the country with this situation

 

8 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

 

For the NFL and sports leagues, you wonder if it is "better" for them to use training camp and pre-season to basically get the virus and get immunity basically for the rest of the season.

 

I listened to this podcast several weeks ago where the speaker said some people may intentionally try to get the virus such that they can basically have a badge of immunity.  That may also make those individuals more marketable on the job market.  He said that's what happened during smallpox and even polio outbreaks in the past. 

 

Hard to imagine this is a good idea. The professional athletes will probably be fine. I imagine they are strong enough to fight an illness like this, but what if a coach, or family member gets sick and dies? Will it have been worth it?

 

Troubling times for sure

[Hapless Bills Fan]

17 hours ago, Gregthekeg said:

Probably just put them in a hotel all together and bus them there.  That being said, what do other teams that have training camp at their own facilities do?  

 

That's my understanding from reading stuff written by players - teams that have the training camp at their own facilities put the players up in a hotel nearby.

Whether that's "all players" or "just rookies/FA hoping to make the team" I don't know.

 

It seems pretty clear to me that McDermott and co are not really fans of the away-from-home training camp experience anyway - they have been shortening it every year, have they not?  And to some extent, it's logical.  The Pegulas built the Bills a SOFTA training facility in Orchard Park.  Why, then, ask their trainers and their strength-and-conditioning people to work in relatively makeshift, sub-optimal facilities elsewhere while the SOFTA stuff gathers cobwebs.

 

So this will give them an added reason to stay home.

[machine gun kelly]

Hapless and crew, funny you said that.  I used to deliver pizzas as a high school and a college job along with the Buffalo News in college.  My point is I used to deliver pizzas all the time to the McKinley Park Inn to the players when housed there.  I swear and I was a national level power lifter (been around a lot of thick dudes), but House Ballard was one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen.  I delivered a sheet pepperoni like it was yesterday.  He was nice, and asked him, sir are you’re friends coming?  He said no, that’s just for me.  Oh and also deliver3d a bucket of wings.  Of course I said yes sir, and gave me a great tip.

 

Not there, but I bet they sequester these guys somewhere so they can contain things.  It does make sense if they get something it’s controlled in camp.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

 

For the NFL and sports leagues, you wonder if it is "better" for them to use training camp and pre-season to basically get the virus and get immunity basically for the rest of the season.

 

I listened to this podcast several weeks ago where the speaker said some people may intentionally try to get the virus such that they can basically have a badge of immunity.  That may also make those individuals more marketable on the job market.  He said that's what happened during smallpox and even polio outbreaks in the past.

 

I think the podcaster has no freakin' clue what he's talking about with regard to smallpox and polio.  But you are welcome to make an OTW thread to discuss if you wish.

No one set out to deliberately catch a disease with a 30% mortality rate (higher amoung children), which is what Smallpox was. (He may be speaking of variolation, which was a precursor to vaccination and different than deliberately trying to acquire active smallpox infection). 

 

Prior to widespread serology testing, no one could even tell when most people had polio, it is an asymptomatic disease in ~70% of those who contract it and pretty much indistinguishable from a cold/flu type illness (fever, sore throat, sometimes headache) in another 25%.  AFAIK, serology testing and a bunch of diagnostic testing was not practical until the development of the RIA (radioimmunoassay) in the 1950s

 

Suggest getting info from a different podcast, going forward.

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Don Otreply]

9 hours ago, nucci said:

Most NFL teams are doing this

Yup, Most teams don’t do away training camps, the Bills and like nine ish other teams have been doing it, that’s why I said what I posted. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[HOUSE]

If they wear out the stadium turf I will really be pissed

 

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

7 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think the podcaster has no freakin' clue what he's talking about with regard to smallpox and polio.  But you are welcome to make an OTW thread to discuss if you wish.

No one set out to deliberately catch a disease with a 30% mortality rate (higher amoung children), which is what Smallpox was. (He may be speaking of variolation, which was a precursor to vaccination and different than deliberately trying to acquire active smallpox infection). 

 

Prior to widespread serology testing, no one could even tell when most people had polio, it is an asymptomatic disease in ~70% of those who contract it and pretty much indistinguishable from a cold/flu type illness (fever, sore throat, sometimes headache) in another 25%.  AFAIK, serology testing and a bunch of diagnostic testing was not practical until the development of the RIA (radioimmunoassay) in the 1950s

 

Suggest getting info from a different podcast, going forward.

 

 

I actually may have misspoken about polio (would not be the first time!) but the reporter said that in the 1800s parents would take the pus from the scabs of smallpox and put it on their kids noses to give them a small dose. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. It was the NYT Daily podcast and the reporter was Don McNeil, who I think is their health and science reporter. I don’t usually listen to that podcast, but someone sent it to me and I found it to be interesting. 
 

anyway, that’s all besides my original point, and I didn’t mean to derail that. Just color me worried about what happens when the players  start testing positive— I just hope the NFL has some plans in place. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

42 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

I actually may have misspoken about polio (would not be the first time!) but the reporter said that in the 1800s parents would take the pus from the scabs of smallpox and put it on their kids noses to give them a small dose. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. It was the NYT Daily podcast and the reporter was Don McNeil, who I think is their health and science reporter. I don’t usually listen to that podcast, but someone sent it to me and I found it to be interesting.

 

Yes, he's talking about variolation, which you can read about here if interested.  The practice actually dates back to China in the 16th century and was used in India and the Ottoman Empire and brought to England by Lady Montague.  It was introduced into colonial America by variolated African slaves.

It's an idea similar to the process by which Pasteur produced the first rabies vaccine, in attenuating live virus to make it less infectious (first by choosing a recovering person with a mild case, then by various attenuation strategies).  In Europe the most common version usually involved a shallow scratch in the arm but the Chinese method was to partially dry scabs and blow the powder up the nose so that could have been used in the 1800s here.  Variolation could have a pretty high death rate ~1% or 2%  - but 1-2% is much better than 15-30% that the practice became quite widespread.

The point is, it wasn't "hey, Joey has Smallpox, let's send our kids to play with him and catch small pox disease", it was actually an early form of vaccination that was known to be dangerous, but considered less dangerous than the disease.

 

Obviously talking about this stuff for me is like showing a cat a pile of catnip, so PM if you want to know more or we can make an OTW thread.

[simpleman]

While it might be nice for those who live in the TC area,  it was simply a marketing gimmick when they started it. Hoping to build excitement and expand their home region eastward to sell more seats. The same kind of marketing / sales decision as was made to build excitement and expand their home region into Canada by having games in Toronto.

 I'm not sure how effective it  ever was doing so, or if the current ownership even feels it is worth the problems and expense it is to hold it at the college.  If the cost is > the benefit, or not. I think it was more an echo of a bygone past that Pegula had already decided to just quietly let it fade away, rather than risk stirring up bad feelings by suddenly ending it. No idea about the ownership's true feelings, but that makes more logical and business sense.

Edited June 4, 2020 by simpleman

[corta765]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:08 AM, simpleman said:

While it might be nice for those who live in the TC area,  it was simply a marketing gimmick when they started it. Hoping to build excitement and expand their home region eastward to sell more seats. The same kind of marketing / sales decision as was made to build excitement and expand their home region into Canada by having games in Toronto.

 I'm not sure how effective it  ever was doing so, or if the current ownership even feels it is worth the problems and expense it is to hold it at the college.  If the cost is > the benefit, or not. I think it was more an echo of a bygone past that Pegula had already decided to just quietly let it fade away, rather than risk stirring up bad feelings by suddenly ending it. No idea about the ownership's true feelings, but that makes more logical and business sense.

33% of the season ticket base is from Rochester. It wasn’t just a gimic and without regionalizing the team they would’ve moved.

 

also something everyone is forgetting with the whole “move them back to Buffalo for good” idea is how training camp is the last free thing fans can see where you can get within feet of your favorite players. For fans who can’t afford to take their family this gives them an experience that their kids and themselves can enjoy. The NFL monetizes everything training camp is the one nice thing that isn’t 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

So is this COVID related or because the Pats**** cheat?

 

[Warcodered]

2 minutes ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

So is this COVID related or because the Pats**** cheat?

 

Bound to be Covid the less people they have around and the less people they have to have around to deal with those people the better right now.

 

I'm sure they don't mind keeping things closer to the chest though.

[Penfield45]

On 6/2/2020 at 4:53 PM, YoloinOhio said:

I wonder if this Bills regime secretly prefers this 

 

Easily, training camps are a logistics nightmare. they literally exist please the fans since the NFL offseason is so absurdly long. 

 

coaches probably love staying at home base with everything they need. 

[GunnerBill]

When does camp start and is pre-season officially cancelled?