WCQ Away Game Travel

[frattinator]

11 hours ago, tdotflip05 said:

I will be there in Section 303! I live in Nashville, four miles from Nissan Stadium

Okay going to talk with my wife and figure out how best to get there! Looks like we will have at least a few folks there. We'll probably drive down from Pittsburgh super early on the day of the match, stay overnight and then drive back the next day. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

It's official; vs USA @ Nashville can only be done if you fly into the US and not as a roadtrip.

The land border will remain closed.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/us-border-canada-closed-1.6147189

[djcuse]

On 8/17/2021 at 2:32 PM, CanadaFan123 said:

So we're on the same flight. I like this plan.

If you're on the 9:20am Air Canada flight then yes we are!

[Cblake]

5 hours ago, djcuse said:

If you're on the 9:20am Air Canada flight then yes we are!

On the same flight, once we land its off to get our Covid tests first, peace of mind before anything else. The BBQ can wait , at least a little while anyways. 

[tdotflip05]

On 7/22/2021 at 12:06 PM, JamboAl said:

Ticket information for those going to Nashville.  

Here is a direct link that your supporters can use to purchase tickets.  https://am.ticketmaster.com/ussoccer/quickbuy?e=MjFNMDkwNQ==&promoCode=Q0FOU1VQUA==  

The code (CANSUPP) is not required through that link as it has already been loaded in for whomever clicks on it. We have set aside around 70 tickets in Section 303. The price is $48 per ticket and there are not any additional fees/charges added on to that.

Note: 303 is nosebleed territory.

I don't need more tickets, but noticed the link is now dead. Any of the admins know what happened to the link?

[Cblake]

8 minutes ago, tdotflip05 said:

I don't need more tickets, but noticed the link is now dead. Any of the admins know what happened to the link?

The V's section is still greyed out on TM. I would assume It will probably got opened up to general sale at some point, only something like 3 tickets had been sold out of about 70.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/usmnt-v-canada-presented-by-volkswagen-nashville-tennessee-09-05-2021/event/1B005ADB291557A4

The lack of travel is completely understandable during these uncertain times, Tennessee is a covid mess and unfortunately its really hitting the kids now, who at this point can not even get a shot. 

https://wpln.org/post/tennessees-pediatric-covid-cases-are-through-the-roof-and-hospitals-are-feeling-it/

Edited August 24, 2021 by Cblake

[Acid-Tone]

Just booked the hotel for Nashville.  Still considering options for the game itself.   

But I don't think I want to sit in the nosebleeds (303)

[Cblake]

1 hour ago, Acid-Tone said:

Just booked the hotel for Nashville.  Still considering options for the game itself.   

But I don't think I want to sit in the nosebleeds (303)

It’s crazy how little more you have to spend to be far better seats. 

[SpursFlu]

Isn't the truth why there are no tickets sold in the away section the fact that Canadians are literally not allowed in to America right now? Yah  they don't want us there so I guess by the logic and stick up the ass attitude we had for over a year, I guess we're the filthy animals now

[Admin]

8 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

Isn't the truth why there are no tickets sold in the away section the fact that Canadians are literally not allowed in to America right now? Yah  they don't want us there so I guess by the logic and stick up the ass attitude we had for over a year, I guess we're the filthy animals now

Sans covid, I can't even imagine what this away trip would have been like. 

After 25years of keeping a stiff upper lip and all.... we have this team and it's like   "no soup for you"

[JamboAl]

29 minutes ago, admin said:

Sans covid, I can't even imagine what this away trip would have been like. 

After 25years of keeping a stiff upper lip and all.... we have this team and it's like   "no soup for you"

No Covid.  I’m there 100% and I bet hundreds of away supporters would be there too.

[Admin]

6 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

No Covid.  I’m there 100% and I bet hundreds of away supporters would be there too.

And Mexico, and Jamaica and Costa Rica.......

FFS, I want to start morning/day drinking just thinking about the lost opportunity here. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

7 minutes ago, johnyb said:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/mexico-mex/story/4461872/fifa-reduces-mexico-ban-for-anti-gay-chant-to-1-match-wcq-vs-jamaica-sept-2-to-be-played-without-fans

We get Concacafed again!

Ban reduced to one game.

 

 

5 minutes ago, narduch said:

Booo

 

5 hours ago, admin said:

And Mexico...

Mexico away may now be possible!

@narduch Yay?!  

[TOCanada115]

Wow, what a complete farce. After this ban, they do exactly the same thing, but to us, and then they decide the punishment is to strong? GTFO

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, TOCanada115 said:

Wow, what a complete farce. After this ban, they do exactly the same thing, but to us, and then they decide the punishment is to strong? GTFO

It's always just been posturing from FIFA. I don't think they actually care about "homophobia". They just pay lip service to the cause. Proof is in the pudding.

[Admin]

That sucks. 

I really think not having fans at Azteca would be good for us.

[Admin]

Keep this in mind, you need a PCR test when coming back, no rapid/antigen tests.

 

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/canadian-travellers-fined-5-700-each-for-getting-wrong-covid-19-test-before-returning-from-u-s-1.5560090

[Obinna]

Just an aside, but why would you get fined that much money for getting the wrong kind of covid test? Seems very weird and very extreme.

Good for you @admin for helping people not get caught up in that, but yeah that's pretty insane.

[Admin]

6 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Just an aside, but why would you get fined that much money for getting the wrong kind of covid test? Seems very weird and very extreme.

Good for you @admin for helping people not get caught up in that, but yeah that's pretty insane.

Because there are a whole host of bullshit fly by night rapid tests.  It's not to say these don't work, many do but they vary tremendously in accuracy, and they also vary in what they actually measure. 

I suspect PHAC or whoever it is decided on PCR as it would come from an accredited lab. 

 

[Obinna]

2 minutes ago, admin said:

Because there are a whole host of bullshit fly by night rapid tests.  It's not to say these don't work, many do but they vary tremendously in accuracy, and they also vary in what they actually measure. 

I suspect PHAC or whoever it is decided on PCR as it would come from an accredited lab. 

 

Yeah, I get how using the same test makes sense for consistency's sake, even thought their chosen test has it's flaws (which will be rectified).

Still seems like a stiff penalty though, at least in my opinion. Punishment doesn't fit the crime and you have to feel for that woman in the story. People have enough stress in their life's as it is. 

[frattinator]

26 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Yeah, I get how using the same test makes sense for consistency's sake, even thought their chosen test has it's flaws (which will be rectified).

Small correction*:

The withdraw of the EUA of the PCR testing protocol from 2020 is not due to its flaws or (as some on the internet claims)  its supposed inability to distinguish between COVID and influenza. Instead, the new protocol allows labs to test for COVID AND influenza at the same time using the same sample, instead of testing them separately using two different samples. As you can imagine this could save time and resources, especially as more and more jurisdictions open up during flu season, so you will have more people presenting with symptoms that are consistent with both the flu AND COVID-19. 

Reuters has a pretty decent fact check here: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid19-pcr-test/fact-check-cdc-lab-update-on-covid-19-pcr-tests-misinterpreted-idUSL1N2P42U5

The broader point about the stiffness of the penalty is still very much valid, and I think the communication of very complex requirements to the public has been bungled repeatedly. 

*I promise I'm not trying to pick on you specifically @Obinna! Honestly just try to get the real information out to folks because this stuff is super hard for everyone to understand and it's really easy to make mistakes, and I'm lucky enough to be married to someone who actually understands this stuff so I thought I can help to help people understand what these very confusing things actually mean.

Edit: Quick caveat because it's important. There is no testing protocol for anything that will be 100% accurate, and false positives AND false negatives will always be possible. The goal here is to understand the relative risks of a false positive (someone doesn't actually have COVID and is now unable to come home) and false negative (someone who actually has COVID is now cleared to board a flight and transmit it to other passengers), and tune the specificity and sensitivity in a way that accounts for those risks.

Edited August 26, 2021 by frattinator

[archer21]

31 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Yeah, I get how using the same test makes sense for consistency's sake, even thought their chosen test has it's flaws (which will be rectified).

Still seems like a stiff penalty though, at least in my opinion. Punishment doesn't fit the crime and you have to feel for that woman in the story. People have enough stress in their life's as it is. 

I agree that the penalty seems very extreme for what is likely an honest mistake. Chances are if they fight the ticket, it’ll be reduced or eliminated, but that’s still annoying that they have to go through the inconvenience.

[Obinna]

56 minutes ago, frattinator said:

Small correction*:

The withdraw of the EUA of the PCR testing protocol from 2020 is not due to its flaws or (as some on the internet claims)  its supposed inability to distinguish between COVID and influenza. Instead, the new protocol allows labs to test for COVID AND influenza at the same time using the same sample, instead of testing them separately using two different samples. As you can imagine this could save time and resources, especially as more and more jurisdictions open up during flu season, so you will have more people presenting with symptoms that are consistent with both the flu AND COVID-19. 

Reuters has a pretty decent fact check here: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid19-pcr-test/fact-check-cdc-lab-update-on-covid-19-pcr-tests-misinterpreted-idUSL1N2P42U5

The broader point about the stiffness of the penalty is still very much valid, and I think the communication of very complex requirements to the public has been bungled repeatedly. 

*I promise I'm not trying to pick on you specifically @Obinna! Honestly just try to get the real information out to folks because this stuff is super hard for everyone to understand and it's really easy to make mistakes, and I'm lucky enough to be married to someone who actually understands this stuff so I thought I can help to help people understand what these very confusing things actually mean.

Oh yeah no problem! Appreciate you saying that, even though I never got the impression your intention was to pick on me.

I understand the tests are being changed to a multi-plex method (coronavirus and flu instead of one or the other), and will also give the ability to detect between different strains of sars-cov-2 with the same sample.

I also understand (could be wrong) that PCR tests (up until now) are calibrated to one virus (or strain) per sample, meaning they do not and cannot distinguish between flu vs coronavirus, or flu vs flu, or coronavirus vs coronavirus, etc., which seems to be consistent with what you are saying here.

However, (and please correct me if I am wrong) wouldn't this mean that when you test for covid, you are only testing for one strain? Shouldn't you theoretically need multiple tests before boarding a plane? Otherwise, couldn't you test negative for delta but still harbor the original strain (or any other variant for that matter)?

This is what I meant by flaw. Never meant to imply the PCR tests don't work, I meant there's a flaw in our approach and how we are using them (which at least is going to be rectified)

And considering those flaws (assuming I am not out to lunch), it makes those fines especially egregious, no?

I mean, if our current solution has been imperfect anyways, why are we fining people thousands of dollars?

Thanks!

Edited August 26, 2021 by Obinna

[frattinator]

43 minutes ago, Obinna said:

However, (and please correct me if I am wrong) wouldn't this mean that when you test for covid, you are only testing for one strain? Shouldn't you theoretically need multiple tests before boarding a plane? Otherwise, couldn't you test negative for delta but still harbor the original strain (or any other variant for that matter)?

That's a really good question, and I'll trying to paraphrase what my wife explained to me once when I had a similar question. When you are testing for COVID you are actually testing for the presence of any viral genetic material (reversed from RNA to DNA) of the SARS-Cov2 virus. A PCR test does not distinguish between the strains because different strains (Delta vs Alpha for example) share very similar genetic material. If the strains have enough genetic difference to escape the calibration of the test, it would be treated as a completely new virus instead of a strain (and we would know that through both disease surveillance and lab sample testing). If you test positive, your sample is then sent to a genomic sequencing lab for them to do further analysis to determine the type of strain (Delta vs. Alpha in our example). 

She basically said to think of the PCR test as like a pregnancy test, it can tell you whether there is a baby in you because it's tuned to that, but it won't tell you anything more about the baby (sex, eye color etc.). 

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, frattinator said:

That's a really good question, and I'll trying to paraphrase what my wife explained to me once when I had a similar question. When you are testing for COVID you are actually testing for the presence of any viral genetic material (reversed from RNA to DNA) of the SARS-Cov2 virus. A PCR test does not distinguish between the strains because different strains (Delta vs Alpha for example) share very similar genetic material. If the strains have enough genetic difference to escape the calibration of the test, it would be treated as a completely new virus instead of a strain (and we would know that through both disease surveillance and lab sample testing). If you test positive, your sample is then sent to a genomic sequencing lab for them to do further analysis to determine the type of strain (Delta vs. Alpha in our example). 

She basically said to think of the PCR test as like a pregnancy test, it can tell you whether there is a baby in you because it's tuned to that, but it won't tell you anything more about the baby (sex, eye color etc.). 

Thank you for explaining this. I really appreciate that. You're a good resource on this stuff.

That puts to bed the criticism I have heard that PCR tests are picking up the flu, since influenza would have enough genetic difference to fall outside the calibration. 

Something I have wondered (if you don't mind) is how the PCR test distinguishes between dead and live genetic material? 

Another question I have (if I may) is that when you say the testing picks up the "presence of any viral genetic material (reversed from RNA to DNA) of the SARS-Cov2 virus", does this mean the virus has to be "fully intact" to be detected?

Edited August 26, 2021 by Obinna