England’s King James I described cigar smoking in as “a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.”

Anyone watching the broadcast of the Alabama Tennessee football game would’ve heard ESPN‘s play-by-play commentator Jason Bennetti say, “It looks like fireworks went off here with all the haze, but it’s cigar smoke.”

Images of the parents of one of Alabama’s star players Bryce Young had been frequently shown during the broadcast. Up until the smoke began to fill the stadium they had been beaming with pride. Bryce was born to Julie and Craig Young in Pasadena, California. The countenance of the Californians seemed to shift towards the game’s final minutes.

Perhaps the Youngs had not been familiar with the Alabama football tradition of fans smoking victory cigars every time Bama beats the Volunteers?

CBS/42‘s Tim Reid reported on the “Hate Week” tradition. Reid wrote:

Reagan Starner is the owner of R & R Cigars and says hate week is one of the busiest weeks for business. He says so many Bama fans purchase cigars to smoke after the game and hopes Alabama wins again.

“It is coolest man and there’s nothing like Bryant Denny going up in a cloud of smoke as the clock strikes zero, if you’re in the student section, a little before it strikes zero. But it’s a classy and fun tradition,” said Starner.

USAToday Sport‘s Hannah Stephens wrote about the stinky cigar tradition. She credited Alabama athletic trainer Jim Goostree as the man who initiated the practice of smoking cigars in the locker room. After the victory of Alabama over Tennessee in 1961 Goostree danced naked in the locker room–with a cigar in his mouth.

Stephens reported that, although there had been a “no smoking” rule for the athletes in the locker room, the National Collegiate Athletic Association had made an exception to this rule for the Tennessee rivalry.

Although the University of Alabama had a “smoke free campus,” fans in the stadium had felt free to ignore the smoking ban. The University’s policy states:

The health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is one of the highest priorities for The University of Alabama. As a result, over the past two decades, we have taken steps to help protect the campus community from the dangers of second-hand smoke. Effective Jan. 1, 2015, The University of Alabama will extend its smoke-free policy to include all facilities, grounds and parking areas on the UA campus.

The University’s COVID policy on mask wearing in the stadium reportedly had been ignored as well. Masks had reportedly rarely been seen in the indoor club areas or elevators.

Smokers had altered their smoking habits because of the Covid pandemic, fearing that they would have had a “greater risk for serious complications from COVID-19.” Many fans at Bryant-Denny have seemed to be oblivious to any such dangers.

Due to a federal executive order, as reported by NBC/15‘s Christian Hinkel, the University of Alabama System had required COVID-19 vaccinations for employees. Unlike many other schools, the University had not required that football fans show proof of vaccination. Requiring that masks be worn in indoor stadium areas had been as far the University would go.

Included among the notables who are associated with cigars have been Winston Churchill, Fidel Castro, George Burns and Saddam Hussein. Of course former President Bill Clinton was notorious for his use of a cigar, as reported by the Pew Research Center.

Perhaps someday stinky cigar smoking in Bryant-Denny Stadium would not only be recognized as a health hazard, but would also be considered to be in bad taste.

Sarah Brown in the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about protests over a “a wave of reported sexual assaults, many of them in fraternity houses.” Her article “The Fraternity Dilemma” did not mention the recent protests over alleged rapes by fraternity members at Auburn University that were reported by Maria Carrasco in Inside Higher Education.

Carrasco wrote that, after a female student disclosed to police that she was raped, 500 students were involved in a protest. “During the protest, students circulated a petition asking the university to share more information about the fraternity named in the student’s allegation.”

Rapes at other universities at the time had been in the headlines.

On September 24, 2021, in the Kansas City Star, Katie Moore reported that “a student last weekend was allegedly drugged and raped during a house party at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house.”

Paige Skinner wrote on August 26, 2021 in Buzz Feed News that “thousands of students at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, have been protesting outside the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house after a sexual assault was reported.”

Chris Burt on September 21, 2021 wrote about protests over sexual assault in University Business that “fraternities again are at the center of allegations of violence, backlash across several campuses.”

On the website Students 4 Social Change, Madeline Gaeta in 2020 wrote:

Although the sense of entitlement that exists among fraternities needs to be addressed, the covering up of rape cases by both fraternities and sororities truly encourages the behavior to continue. When a case of sexual assault arises in Greek life, it’s protocol to keep it hush hush because if news broke out, the social calendar could fall apart. By keeping it a secret, the fraternities are still able to host parties, and the sororities still have events to attend. This presents an utter lack of respect for the issue at hand. Fraternity brothers are consequently taught that they can get away with such behaviors. It also invalidates the victims and says that members of the Greek community don’t care enough to make a change. Sororities hiding reports of sexual assault from their own sisters lead the victims to feel shame in what happened to them, and also creates an aura of fear around coming out and speaking one’s truth if another member of the sorority is sexually assaulted. 

In her article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sarah Brown included statements by Gentry McCreary, “a former director of Greek affairs at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa who now works with fraternities and sororities on risk management.” According to Brown, McCreary was of the opinion that “if students persuade their colleges to abolish the formal Greek-life system, some fraternity members would simply create underground organizations that aren’t subject to institutional oversight. That would make it even harder to prevent sexual misconduct and other criminal behavior.”

The idea that banning the “Greek-life” system would produce rogue frat houses may seem farfetched. But perhaps McCreary, if anyone, would understand the dynamics of Greek life at the University of Alabama.

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), sexual violence on campus is pervasive, with 13% of all students experiencing “rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.”

In June, 2021, the University of Alabama‘s campus newspaper The Crimson White ran a series on the rape culture on campus. Ava Fisher wrote: “In seeking awareness about sexual violence, we must remember to pursue a survivor’s personal narrative, one far more complex than what has been done to them. In doing so, we stop the dehumanization of survivors and instead honor them. As we tell new stories, we set new standards for our society so that all may reclaim their own humanity.”

Greek Life and Rape: A Tale as Old as Time

The Covid virus had been depicted as a round shape but, unlike a basketball, it had been shown with spikes.

What steps would the University of Alabama‘s basketball program have taken to mitigate the transmission of the Coronavirus transmission during the 2021 season?

The Tide Tipoff had been scheduled for October 22.

Masks had been required in indoor areas on campus.

Following guidance from the UA System Health and Safety Task Force, the UA campus requirement for face coverings has been extended through Oct. 29. Face coverings continue to be required inside all non-residential campus buildings, including all classrooms and academic buildings, and on campus transportation. The rule applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

SpectrumNews/1‘s Charles Duncan reported the steps taken by schools in the ACC. “The stakes are high for teams. The Atlantic Coast Conference this year won’t allow teams to reschedule games if too many players test positive for the coronavirus.” He further wrote:

College basketball is big business in North Carolina and around the country. With the countdown on, many fans are waiting to hear how they can finally go see a game in person again. Thousands of screaming fans in an indoor space could be a recipe for more COVID-19 cases on campus.

But with coronavirus case numbers still high, schools are still trying to figure out how they can have thousands of screaming fans in indoor arenas.

Duncan said that masks might be required or attendance limited to fans who had vaccine cards or a negative test. The capacity of an arena might also be restricted.

Associated Press‘s John Seewer reported that, although deaths per day due to Covid had dropped off, if public safety measures were not still maintained that there might be a fifth surge of infections. He wrote: “Despite the encouraging direction in the U.S., health experts say it is no time for people to drop their guard because there are still far too many who are unvaccinated.”

The Crimson White‘s Alex Jobin wrote about Covid mitigation measures at football games. There had been no mask requirement at the University for outdoor events. He wrote:

As far as specific policies are concerned, the University should require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test prior to attending a game. For those who are already vaccinated this would pose no inconvenience; for those who are not, this would allow them to still enjoy the games while minimizing the risk that they might pose to themselves and others. The University would not even be alone in taking this action; other SEC schools such as LSU have instituted a COVID-19 policy since the beginning of the season.

Would the University’s mask requirement be extended after October 29th? Would that apply to fans in Coleman Coliseum and Foster Auditorium? Or would there be the “horrible public health implications” that Alex Jobin opined about in The Crimson White?

At a Tuscaloosa Chamber of Commerce Luncheon Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne let it drop that a couple of tunes frequently played at Bryant-Denny Stadium would be scratched. As Joe Gaither reported in the Tuscaloosa Thread, “Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes and “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 were on the “burn list”.

Lyrics from Fancy Like include:

Yeah, we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night (that’s right)

Got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake (ayy)Get some whipped cream on the top too (gotta add that whipped cream)

Two straws, one check, girl, I got you (girl, I got you)Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam (styrofoam)Squeak-squeakin’ in the truck bed all the way home (all the way home)

Some Alabama-jamma, she my Dixieland delight

Ayy, that’s how we do, how we do, fancy like

My new, clean blue jeans without the holes in ’em Country kisses on my lips without Skoal in ’em

Yeah, she probably gon’ be keeping some Victoria’s Secrets Maybe a little Maybelline but she don’t need it In the kitchen light radio slows down

Boxed wine and her up-do goes down

Moves Like Jagger‘s lyrics include:

Take me by the tongue and I’ll know you Kiss me ’til you’re drunk and I’ll show you

You want the moves like Jagger

I’ve got the moves like Jagger I’ve got the moves, like Jagger

So watch and learn, I won’t show you twice

Head to toe, ooh baby, rub me right

And if I share my secret You’re gonna have to keep it

Nobody else can see this (Ay, ay, ay, ay!)

A common theme in the lyrics is sex under the influence of alcohol. Byrne, in reference to his decision about the songs, said that “we figured those two things out.”

“Moves Like Jagger” and “Fancy Like” may be a far cry from the ever popular “Dixieland Delight” by the group Alabama.

Dixieland Delight‘s lyrics include:

Spend my dollar, parked in a holler,
‘Neath the mountain moonlight.
Hold her up tight, make a little lovin’,
A little turtle dovin’.
On a Mason-Dixon night.
Fits my life, oh so right,
My Dixieland Delight.

There was certainly no mention of booze in “Dixieland Delight” after all.

Maybe a little sober “turtle dovin'” is just fine in Byrne’s book?

The now defunct University of Alabama publication Rammer Jammer featured a kissing couple on the cover of its February 1928 issue.

According to Fan Buzz, football coach Nick Saban‘s “Road Win Celebration Song” is “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones.

Lyrics to Gimme Shelter:

I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

Maybe the message to fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium should just be: “Kiss and drink responsibly.”

There are water tanks shaped like corn cobs, ketchup bottles, coffee pots, Mickey Mouse, peaches, Campbell soup cans, flying saucers and in many other forms. In China and other countries there are many water tanks shaped like round soccer balls. Imaginechina Limited had images of such tanks on residential apartment buildings in Guiyang city.

There is a history of uniquely shaped water tanks, as described in an account by Erin Schmitt in Treatment Plant Operation. Schmitt wrote about tanks that had “conical roofs that resemble the hats worn by sorcerers,” and tanks that looked like coffee pots and flashlights.

Mark Hughes Cobb reported on June 4, 2020, in the Tuscaloosa News that a water tank located near the University of Alabama would be under construction. Many folks in T-Town were looking forward to yet another paean to the National Championship winning Crimson Tide football team. Hughes wrote that the “UA Systems board of trustees” had approved “a design for the prominent spheroid water tower on the north side of campus.”

Hughes wrote: “A lofty souvenir-white football will soar 450 feet above the University of Alabama campus, adorned with a red script A.”

The University of Alabama had released information about the tank. A project summary of the tank in Water Distribution System Enhancements included artist renderings of the tank. The illustrations of the tank’s shape were more elongated than most spheroidal tanks, having a resemblance to the shape of a football.

As the water tank was under construction, it became apparent that the shape of the tank would not conform to that of the publicized design.

On September 24, 2021, Gary Cosby, Jr. reported in the Tuscaloosa News that: “Early drawings made the tank appear to be shaped like a football, but the actual tank is more of a traditional sphere, within viewing distance of fans outside Bryant-Denny Stadium.” Cosby wrote:

The water tower, according to an artist’s rendering presented by Matt Fajack, UA vice-president for financial affairs, at a 2020 Tuscaloosa City Council meeting, depicted the tower painted white with the university’s script “A” logo on the side. Though the tank is not shaped exactly like a football, the paint scheme will give Bama football fans a visual reminder of the popular Alabama football road uniforms.

After the initial public announcement, the internet exploded with jokes about the tower, which appeared in the artist’s renderings to have a shape similar to that of a football. Given its closeness to Bryant-Denny Stadium, some people on social media took the misunderstanding seriously.

After the initial announcement about the water tank, Al.com’s Michael Casagrande wrote about the subsequent jokes on Twitter. “It took just one picture on Twitter to create a debate, a few rebukes and a bunch of Photoshopped alternatives.”

The idea that the tank’s spheroid shape would resemble a football could easily be understood. Certainly throughout the globe, an incredible variety of water tank designs existed. Why shouldn’t T-Town, the home of the Crimson Tide, have a football shaped water tank? Or was it ever intended to have been a football shaped tank? Was the football tank idea fumbled? Probably not. After all, people in T-Town seem to always have footballs on their minds. There was a whole cottage industry that produced football shaped cookies. Every self respecting bakery offered them. Although one such bakery, as Patrick Rupinski reported in the Tuscaloosa News, got into hot water because of the use of the “A” logo. The bakery then got a reprieve, as reported by Al.com‘s Ben Flanagan.

Although the new water tank may never have been intended to be built as a football shaped tank, it would definitely be the source of the hot water that many people shower with in T-Town.

Pre-pandemic football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium

The first home game weekend for the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2021 would be conducted in a way that was almost the same as games that occurred before the Covid pandemic.

As Ken Roberts reported in the Tuscaloosa News:

The most notable new thing inside Bryant-Denny Stadium this season will be the return of something old: a full capacity of fans after crowd limits last season because of COVID-19.  The stadium capacity is 100,077. 

Masks will not be required for fans in the seats or concourse area, unlike last season. However, fans inside the stadium’s enclosed club areas or on elevators will be expected to wear masks. The mask rule is also in effect for fans who take a shuttle bus to the stadium.

“Tailgating” on the Quad would return. No mask wearing would be required in the tents on the university’s quadrangle.

On September 2, 2021 he University of Alabama (U of A) had extended its indoor mask rule until October 1, 2021. The university’s sports site RollTide.com posted the new stadium face coverings policy:

Face coverings are now required inside all non-residential campus buildings in addition to on campus transportation. The rule applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status. With that, masks will be required in elevators and internal club spaces of Bryant-Denny Stadium, regardless of distancing, unless actively eating or drinking. Masks will not be mandated in any of the outdoor/open-air seating space or concourse space.

Fans who paid for the premium Field Suites and even the Club, Zone and Skybox accommodations would seemingly be more constrained than fans sitting in the open. A Loge Box owner would pay a $150,000 “capitol gift” and have a five year commitment of $16,000 each year.

One fan who had been in the more restricted areas in 2020 said that university employees held signs to remind people that masks were required.

Of course many in the indoor areas had always been “actively eating or drinking.” Permitted consumption of alcoholic beverages, in fact, was limited to those areas in the stadium.

In addition to the mask requirements for indoor areas on campus at the U of A, in other areas in T-Town masking was required. The Tuscaloosa City Board of Education had mandated that students, staff and guests wear masks or face coverings. The wearing of masks in Tuscaloosa‘s Municipal Court and City Hall was required as well.

Employees at Tuscaloosa‘s City Hall on August 30, 2020, were notified that “team members” should “wear a mask if they are in close contact with each other and/or the public.” In office settings a mask would not be required if six feet of social distancing was possible.

The Tuscaloosa City Council attempted to abide with the mask wearing requirement, although not all Council members routinely wore masks during Council meetings. Whether six feet of distancing was always maintained seemed to be a subjective matter.

In T-Town‘s bars, restaurants and other public areas, there had been no such mask wearing requirement. CBS/42‘s Tim Reid wrote that restaurants and bar owners were eagerly awaiting large football gameday crowds. On the streets and in bars near the university, where fans would be packed like sardines, no mask wearing or social distancing would be required.

A staff report in the Tuscaloosa News covered arrests that had occurred on The Strip on the Labor Day weekend before the September 11, 2021 Crimson Tide football season opener. Doubtlessly anticipating the huge influx of fans, the Tuscaloosa Police Department (TPD) had more aggressively patrolled the areas near the campus. The article reported that the “TPD said their beefed-up presence will continue on the Strip, an area with bars and restaurants near the University of Alabama campus.”

Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Jenny Jarvie wrote in the Los Angeles Times that “COVID-19 still complicates game day, nowhere more than in the South. COVID-19 vaccination rates have lagged and hospitalizations have surged, filling intensive care units in Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and other states that are home to powerhouse college football teams.” They reported that in “Alabama, where less than 39% of residents are fully vaccinated and many hospitals are overwhelmed” that tailgating had resumed. Unlike Oregon, Oregon State and Louisiana State universities, no proof of vaccination for football fans would be required.

USAToday‘s Jorge L. Ortiz, John Bacon and Christal Hayes reported on September 7, 2021, that “on the same day the U.S. reached 650,000 COVID-19 deaths — the world’s highest reported total — the country also registered more cases in 2021 than the previous year.”

AL.com‘s Leada Gore reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President, had trepidations about packed football stadiums. He said, “I don’t think it’s smart. Outdoors is always better than indoors, but even when you have such a congregate setting of people close together, you should be vaccinated. And when you do have congregate settings, particularly indoors, you should be wearing a mask.”

To many residents of T-Town, the first Crimson Tide football weekend of 2021 was not just another gameday. Whether it would be a “superspreader” event or not was a question that lingered in their minds.

On November 10, 2020, Tuscaloosa‘s City Council approved the special events license for the University of Alabama‘s Kappa Delta sorority’s Farm Party. A last minute cancellation of the party due to concerns over health and safety was reported internationally.

The application for the Farm Party‘s party’s license had been made by Downtown Entertainment LLC.

An application for another such party came before the Council on August 24, 2021. The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority’s “Back to School Party” would take place at the same pastoral location as had been planned for the Farm Party. Once again Downtown Entertainment LLC had applied for the license.

As explained in the Franklin Stove Blog on November 11th, 2020, Downtown Entertainment LLC is part of “a cottage industry in T-Town that has served the University’s Greek community. It has involved everything from custom tee-shirts for parties to providing alcohol for events. In the case of the Farm Party it almost seemed as if the event was organized with a one-stop shopping service.”

In 2020, state, city and University of Alabama Covid orders mandated mask wearing, social distancing and occupancy limits.

By the summer of 2021, things had changed completely.

On May 3, 2021, Alabama‘s Governor Kay Ivy had announced the end of the latest COVID-19 public health order. She said that “Alabama is open, and we are moving forward.”

Al.com‘s Kyle Whitmire wrote that in August, 2021, Ivy had bemoaned the low rate of vaccinations in Alabama. But at the same time, he wrote, “the governor dismissed other measures she could take to slow the spread of the disease — incentive programs for new vaccinations, renewed mask mandates or social distancing requirements in public places. With an election less than a year away, Ivey seems more worried about opposition in the Republican primary than she is about the health and safety of her constituents.”

In August, 2021, the University of Alabama, in response to alarming, rising Covid infection numbers, required that face coverings be worn “indoors on campus, where and when distancing is not possible, regardless of vaccination status.” Covid vaccinations for University students were not mandatory. There was no such state or local mask mandate.

The idea that any kind of requirement of mask wearing and for vaccinations would absolutely prevent the community spread of Covid may have seemed questionable after a significant outbreak of Covid cases involving vaccinated students at Duke University took place in August, as reported by WRAL‘s Maggie Brown. The cases had been traced back to bars, restaurants and private homes. Whether masks were worn by the vaccinated students was not clear. But the Center for Disease Control and Prevention was of the opinion that “vaccination may make illness less severe for those who are vaccinated and still get sick.”

According to FOXNews‘ Ryan Gaydos, Louisiana State University (LSU) football fans will need to provide proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to attend a game in Baton Rouge. If vaccinated LSU students were to have had bayou parties, might they have be safer than unvaccinated University of Alabama students who were in a pasture near Tuscaloosa?

In August, 2021, the Patch‘s Ryan Grim reported that T-Town had seen the most Covid hospitalizations since January. Grim added, “But the speed and scope of transmission stands out as the most worrisome statistic, as Tuscaloosa went from nine total COVID-19 hospitalizations on July 14 to Monday’s 149. In the previous major surge, numbers show that it took DCH roughly eight months to match the same progression — from April 2020 to the following December.”

In August, 2021, the Associated Press ranked Alabama as fourth in the nation for new Covid cases.

The Thread‘s Meg Summers‘ reported on a local petition to Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and the City Council to “enact a city-wide mask mandate as hospitalizations and deaths from the Delta variant continue to climb.” Summers wrote:

Mayor Walt Maddox recently expressed his reticence to issue a mask mandate for the city, as enforcement of any mandate could prove difficult for local authorities.

“Can you imagine trying to enforce a mask ordinance and putting law enforcement in that extremely difficult position? There’s nothing but bad things that can happen,” Maddox said.

During the city of Tuscaloosa‘s Pre-Council meeting on August 24, 2021, there was very little discussion over the proposed Back to School Party.

That was in dramatic contrast to the lengthy discussion that had occurred concerning last year’s Farm Party.

Vincent Brown, Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer of the city’s Accounting and Finance Department, introduced the item about the Kappa Alpha Theta party that had been scheduled for the evening’s Council meeting. The gist of the discussion during the Pre-Council meeting over the granting of the license was essentially that having the party out on Joe Mallisham Parkway was preferable to the party being held in town.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley said that having the party in a pasture was better than it being held in Tuscaloosa’s Historic District. Council member Lee Busby, who represents the Historic District agreed, saying, “On balance, it’s probably a good thing.”

By the time of the Council meeting a few hours later, the applicant had asked that the the application for the special events license be withdrawn and the Council voted affirmatively on a motion doing so.

Resolution that was never voted on

The University of Alabama‘s Vice President for Student Life Myron Pope later made a statement that the off-campus event had not been sanctioned by the university.

The applicant’s request may have been related to this.

There are several more license requests involving Greek events, many of them on football weekends, that will be forthcoming, according to Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer Vincent Brown.

“God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America.”

~ Otto von Bismarck

Bismarck may have borrowed from the Frenchman Abbé Correa for his epigram on providence.

Only time will tell if citizens of the United States and Alabama are under some sort of divine providence, that would uniquely protect people from the consequences of potentially unsafe and unhealthy behavior during the Covid pandemic.

Many of the people in the United States who refused to be vaccinated for Covid-19 or to wear masks were certainly not idiots or drunkards. Some were sober as a judge and highly intelligent to boot. Any suggestion that anti-vaxxers were “idiots” often resulted in an accusation of “shaming.”

The outspoken basketball legend Charles Barkley expressed his incredulity over such behavior, as reported by AL.com‘s Dennis Pillion:

“Most of the fun places are locked down because of COVID,” Barkley said. “And you’ve got these idiots out here who don’t want to take the vaccine and who don’t want to wear a mask, and they’re out here getting people sick and killing people all over the country, and some of these countries won’t let you go there.”

Jay Reeves in the Washington Post reported on the Gulf Coast‘s “Redneck Riviera,” which was considered a “virus hot spot.” Reeves wrote that, regardless of the area’s high Covid infection rate, both servers and tourists were dancing on the tables at a restaurant located on the Gulf, “where beaches, bars and stores are packed.”

Eric Fleischauer in The Decatur Daily wrote that a health official in Cullman, Alabama, was concerned about the outcome of the potential COVID “superspreader” Rock the South event where thousands gathered on August 13 and 14th, 2021. He wrote:

“We are absolutely shivering in our boots,” Judy Smith, administrator of the Alabama Department of Public Health Northern District, said Monday. “We have great concern.”

A huge Trump Rally in Cullman was scheduled for the Saturday after Rock The South. Tyler Hanes in The Cullman Times wrote about the measures that were planned as a consequence of the rally. The Cullman City Council passed an state of emergency declaration, because of the overcrowding at Cullman Regional that was a result of the pandemic. The declaration “allowed the city to provide the additional personnel and equipment for this weekend’s political rally after it was requested by Cullman Regional.”

AL.com‘s Ramsey Archibald wrote on August 18, 2021, that Alabama was approaching all-time high for COVID hospitalizations.

AL.com‘s Leada Gore reported on August 19, 2021 that Alabama had overtaken Florida for the highest rate of children who had been hospitalized for Covid-19.

A revised estimate of hospitalizations had been made by the University of Alabama at Birmingham‘s professor of public health Suzanne Judd , as reported AL.com‘s Sarah Whites-Koditschek on August 19, 2021. Judd‘s earlier estimation of 7,800 hospitalizations by the end of the month had changed. “Alabama’s delta surge could peak in mid-September with 5,000 hospitalizations.”

Whites-Koditschek wrote:

UAB’s Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo said on CNN that 5,000 hospitalizations is a “potentially apocalyptic” scenario for the state, since about a third of unvaccinated patients hospitalized with the delta variant are requiring ICU beds. Already there are not enough available.

ICU beds in many Alabama hospitals are already full and hospitalizations are nearing last winter’s peak of 3,084. As of Wednesday, there were 2,723 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alabama, overwhelming the state’s hospitals.

Al.com‘s Ben Flanagan interviewed sports writer Joseph Goodman for the podcast Outbreak Alabama. Goodman said:

“It is not your right to be able to walk into a stadium without a vaccine and endanger other people. That is not your right. That is not what civil liberties include. And I don’t care what silly state law Alabama politicians decide to pass so they can shill for votes in the upcoming election. The responsible thing to do is get a vaccine. And it is a privilege to go to a football game. It is not a right. In my opinion, if push comes to shove, the [SEC] schools should implement these vaccine passports.”

Goodman said that the requiring of such a vaccine passport would be unlikely. Perhaps having over a hundred thousand fans packed into Bryant Denny Stadium in T-Town for Crimson Tide home football games will be protected by divine providence?

• 

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

– William Shakespeare

As summer ends in T-Town, will an ominous Fall be portended?

One thing was certain. Reports of increased Covid woes abounded.

Melissa Brown in the Montgomery Advertiser wrote that Alabama’s hospitals were at their ICU capacity.

AL.com‘s Leada Gore reported that one Alabama doctor would no longer see unvaccinated patients. Mobile, Alabama’s Dr. Jason Valentine explained his decision: “If they asked why, I told them COVID is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that.”

Justin Weinberg of The Daily Nous reported that a University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) professor resigned in protest over his school’s Covid policies. Jeremy Fischer, a tenured associate professor of philosophy, said that the public health’s was at risk because of a state law that prohibited state-funded schools from requiring students to be COVID-vaccinated.

CBS/42‘s Tim Reid reported that Tuscaloosa physician Phillip Bobo believed that the University of Alabama should require that face masks be worn by fans during every home game to protect them from COVID-19. (No such plans had been made for the first Crimson Tide home game on September 11th.)

WRAL‘s Maggie Brown wrote that at Duke University there had been a significant outbreak of Covid cases involving vaccinated students. Duke had both a mask and vaccination mandate for its students. Brown reported that Duke‘s Vice President for Public Affairs Michael Schoenfeld had said “the cases were traced back to various indoor events in Durham. At least one was at a bar or restaurant, and others were in private homes.” Whether masks were being worn by the vaccinated students was not reported.

At the University of Alabama, where student vaccinations were not required, there was a mask mandate. While students were required to wear mask indoors, it was obvious that masks were not worn outdoors by the thousands of students celebrating the end of the sorority recruitment week on campus. Images of unmasked students were included with the Tuscaloosa New‘s account “Bid Day 2021: The University of Alabama is open for Bid-ness.”

T-Town‘s Mayor Walt Maddox discussed at two City Council Finance Committee meetings offering bonuses as a reward to city employees for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. In an article by Jason Morton in the Tuscaloosa News, the possibility of offering $250 incentive payments to the 43% of municipal employees who had not been vaccinated was reported. Council member Lee Busby at both meetings expressed reluctance to incentivize vaccinations, saying, “I do think this is one of those issues that we’re going to have to socialize out in our districts. We have people with varied positions on both sides of that.” Busby at the second meeting said that, depending on what channel he turned to, he had received conflicting information about Covid.

Will community health suffer in T-Town because of low vaccination rates for residents and university students, as was the concern of former UAH professor Jeremy Fisher?

Yeah, sometimes I wonder what I’m gonna do
‘Cause there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues
No, there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues

~ Eddie Cochran in Summertime Blues

On August 2, 2021, Al.com‘s Tandra Smith reported that masks would be required on the campus of Auburn University.

It was reported that the University of Alabama (UofA) might as well be requiring masks on campus. Zach Johnson, in UofA‘s student newspaper The Crimson White, wrote on August 4, 2021, that UofA Provost James Dalton had said that a campus-wide mask mandate for the fall semester would be likely. Johnson wrote, “Dalton said at least 70% of faculty and staff have reported COVID-19 vaccinations. The University has not released an official report, but about 10% of students had uploaded proof of vaccination by July 30, according to Senior Associate Vice President of Student Life Steven Hood.”

Students at the the UofA had begun returning to the campus in early August, many of whom would participate in the Greek community’s recruitment week.

An alarming story by WVUA/23 “Students heading back to school amid COVID surge” pointed out that T-Town had been experiencing increased hospitalizations due to the Covid virus.

As Meg Summers had reported in the Tuscaloosa Thread, “the Alabama Department of Public Health is […] urging residents to only visit hospital emergency rooms in times of true emergency in an effort to reduce the strain placed upon doctors and nurses.” She also wrote that the “DCH Regional Health System is expanding its inpatient wards to prepare for the surge of inpatients as the Delta variant spreads rapidly in West Alabama.”

Staff at the Patch reported on August, 4, 2021 that “Tuscaloosa County has a ‘high’ level of coronavirus transmission, […] according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The Patch article continued, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public if they live in an area with ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ transmission levels. Those who aren’t fully vaccinated are urged to wear masks in those settings, regardless of transmission level.”

The Patch‘s Ryan Phillips wrote that the Kentuck Art Center in Northport would be closed because an employee had tested positive the Coronavirus. And the city of Northport had “reimplemented social distancing guidelines for visitors to City Hall, in addition to temperature checks for those coming inside to attend Council meetings.”

Cecil Hurt reported in the Tuscaloosa News that UofA Athletic Director Greg Byrne had commented on plans for football games at Bryant Denny Stadium. “We have not had any serious discussions about reducing capacity, and we’d like to keep it that way. I know our team and our fans are looking forward to a full stadium again, so we are asking people to do their part.” As far as mask requirements were concerned Byrne said, “That would have to be discussed at the university administration or the UA system level.”

Will Sentell in the Advocate reported that Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards had said that as soon as the the U. S. Food and Drug Administration would give final approval to COVID-19 vaccines, there could be mandatory vaccinations of Louisiana State University students.

As reported by Reuters, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is aiming to give full approval for the Pfizer (PFE.N) COVID vaccine by early September.” Of course it would take two weeks after anyone who was fully vaccinated for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19.

The importance of vaccinating younger adults was reported by Roni Caryn Rabin in the New York Times. She wrote, “Physicians working in Covid hot spots across the nation say that the patients in their hospitals are not like the patients they saw last year. Almost always unvaccinated, the new arrivals tend to be younger, many in their 20s or 30s. And they seem sicker than younger patients were last year, deteriorating more rapidly.”

A workaround of Alabama‘s new law against vaccination mandates at Birmingham Southern University had been challenged by the state’s Attorney General Steve Marshall according a report by ABC/33-40‘s Stephen Quinn. Birmingham Southern’s plan had been to charge its students a $500 fee offset continual weekly antigen testing and quarantining. Students who had been vaccinated would have received a full rebate. Al.com‘s Kyle Whitmire wrote a column suggesting that Alabama’s vaccine passport ban be challenged in court.

T-Town‘s city government had not been as proactive as its sister city Northport and the UofA seemed to be behind its sister state institution Auburn in taking measures to address the high transmission of the coronavirus. On September 11, 2021, when the UofA‘s football stadium was expected to be packed with fans, would T-Town’s Covid-19 peril have only increased?