Quarentena da COVID-19 no Brasil: necessidade ou política do excesso contra o desconhecido? Uma crítica ao plano brasileiro de contingência, frente às orientações do relatório do Imperial College Team

O ensaio apresenta uma reflexão acerca de variáveis, aparentemente, não valoradas, na luta contra o coronavírus, sem pretender uma resposta definitiva diante da ausência de dados científicos. A discussão foi realizada a partir de informações fornecidas na Internet por especialistas, às quais adicionaram-se os poucos dados científicos existentes sobre a crise atual, discutindo a relação entre o plano nacional brasileiro contra o COVID 19, as informações da OMS e o Relatório do Imperial College. Assim, inferiu-se a necessidade de melhorar informações sobre o contexto brasileiro para melhorar também a política de combate ao COVID-19 em território nacional, sem negligenciar nosso compromisso como nação-membro da comunidade internacional, mas indicando a importância de se contextualizar a política de acordo com as nossas próprias necessidades, em nome da eficiência e da economicidade.

Pipelines on the Gridiron: Player Backgrounds, Opportunity Structures and Racial Stratification in American College Football

Stacking – the tendency of playing positions to be racially segregated in sports – remains prominent in gridiron football. This raises questions of how stacking persists and how opportunities arise for athletes of different races to assume different roles. Demographic data on 41,484 NCAA football players reveal differences in opportunities and playing roles for student-athletes of different races. In concert with previous racial stacking studies, white players continue to be overrepresented in central, leadership positions. Racial minorities are overrepresented in peripheral ‘skill’ positions. Stacking at each playing position is affected differently by the demographics of player high schools and college teams. Players assuming non-stereotypical roles are much more likely to come from a racially homogenous high school or college team. Even though racially homogenous schools provide stereotype-defying opportunities, they also exhibit intense racial stacking. The few white (or black) players on such teams are overwhelmingly slotted into stereotypical positions. Since stereotype-defying opportunities tend to emerge in racially homogenous schools, blacks playing typically white positions come from relatively poor schools. In contrast, whites playing typically black positions are relatively affluent, since such opportunities tend to emerge in whiter, wealthier schools. Implications for student opportunities and talent inculcation beyond the football field are discussed.

Assessment of Dietary Under-Reporting in Italian College Team Sport Athletes

Background: Nutrition is an important factor for sports performance and the assessment of dietary intakes in athletes can correct unhealthy eating habits. However, dietary assessment may be biased due to misreporting. The aim of our study was to investigate the occurrence of misreporting in a sample of collegiate team sport athletes. Methods: A total of 50 athletes participated. Each athlete filled in food records for seven days. Reported energy intake (EI) was considered in relation to the predicted basal metabolic rate (BMR) and expressed as the ratio EI/ BMR. All participants with EI/BMRestd ≤1.23 were classified as “low energy reporters” (LER), and those with an EI/BMRestd ratio >1.23 were classified as “adequate energy reporters” (AER). Results: According to cut-off values for under-reporting, 28 out of 50 athletes (56%) were classified as LER. The LER (16 M/12 F) had significantly higher BMI (23.17 ± 3.46 kg/m2 compared to 21.41 ± 1.91 kg/m2; p = 0.038) than the AER. The EI/kg fat free mass (FFM) was significantly lower in LER than the AER (33.34 ± 6.56 kcal/FFM compared to 48.51 ± 8.59 kcal/FFM, p < 0.0001). Nutrient intake was also significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest that under-reporting of energy intake by collegiate team sport athletes may occur frequently and needs to be taken into consideration in the interpretation of nutrient intake.

Inclusion and Normalization of Queer Identities in Women’s College Sport

While recent studies paint an optimistic picture of acceptance and inclusion of queer athletes, it would be naive to assume homonegativism no longer exists. In this study, we interviewed 13 queer female athletes to understand their college team sport climates and how heteronormativity is reinforced and confronted in women’s college sport. Using a feminist cultural studies approach, two types of team climates emerged from the data: inclusive climates and transitioning climates. On inclusive teams, queer and heterosexual members overtly communicated their norm of inclusion to new teammates, normalized diverse sexualities, and consistently engaged in inclusive behaviors. Transitioning teams were described as neither inclusive nor hostile initially, and, while they did not have a history of inclusion, they transitioned to becoming more outwardly accepting of diverse sexual identities. On transitioning teams, queer athletes surveyed the landscape before sharing their sexual orientation, after which the team evolved to become inclusive. All the athletes talked about awkward moments, occasional incidents of nonsupport, and the benefits of inclusion. These findings reveal emerging cracks in hegemonic heteronormativity in women’s sport, especially among athletes.

Differences in Speed and Power Capacities Between Female National College Team and National Olympic Team Handball Athletes

The aim of this study was to compare and examine differences in several neuromuscular assessments between female national Olympic team (Rio-2016) and national college team handball players (2015-Gwangju Summer Universiade). Twenty-eight elite female handball players of the national Brazilian Olympic (n = 12) and college (n = 16) teams participated in this study. The Olympic and college athletes performed the following speed-power tests assessing mean propulsive power (MPP) in loaded jump squat (JS) and bench press (BP) exercises, unloaded squat and countermovement jumps (SJ and CMJ), sprint performance over 5-, 10-, and 20-m, and change of direction ability in a standard Zig-zag test and a T-Test. The differences between Olympic and college team performances in all variables were analyzed using the magnitude-based inference. The Olympic group presented likely higher performances in the SJ, CMJ, and MPP JS and very likely higher performances in the MPP BP and T-Test than the college group. The differences in the linear sprint velocity in 5-, 10-, and 20-m tests as well as in the Zig-zag test were all rated as unclear. These findings may have substantial implications for the development of effective strength-power training and testing strategies in elite handball. In addition, coaches and researchers can use these data to create efficient talent identification programs for youth handball players.

Emotional Judges and Unlucky Juveniles

Employing the universe of juvenile court decisions in a US state between 1996 and 2012, we analyze the effects of emotional shocks associated with unexpected outcomes of football games played by a prominent college team in the state. We find that unexpected losses increase sentence lengths assigned by judges during the week following the game. Unexpected wins, or losses that were expected to be close contests ex ante have no impact. The effects of these emotional shocks are asymmetrically borne by black defendants. The impact of upset losses on sentence lengths is larger for defendants if their cases are handled by judges who received their bachelor's degrees from the university with which the football team is affiliated. Different falsification tests and a number of auxiliary analyses demonstrate the robustness of the findings. These results provide evidence for the impact of emotions in one domain on decisions in a completely unrelated domain among a uniformly highly educated group of individuals (judges) who make decisions after deliberation that involve high stakes (sentence lengths). They also point to the existence of a subtle and previously unnoticed capricious application of sentencing. (JEL D83, I23, J13, J15, K42, L83, Z21)