Jim Boeheim: Carrier Dome Mask Mandate Is ‘Crazy’

Syracuse University has yet to receive the message that COVID screening and masks do not stop the spread.

Syracuse requires fans to show their vaccine cards or positive COVID tests before they can enter the Carrier Dome. They also must have a mask on while watching sports (what else would they expect from a left-leaning university in New York). Apparently, the idiotic and unnecessary mandate caught the attention of legendary men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim, who called the requirement “crazy.”

“Hopefully we can be like the rest of the country and come in here without masks Saturday. But I guess we just can’t do that,” Boeheim said. “The whole country, all the students here wear masks to class then they go downtown, they go down to party and have no masks. There’s 400 people in a party. It’s crazy.”

Jim Boeheim speaks out about fans who wear masks at the Carrier Dome. @CNYCentral @TommySladek @MattMulcahy @MichaelBenny pic.twitter.com/jXsEKKTEda

— Jonathan Singh (@Jon_Singh19) February 22, 2022

Boeheim was referring to Saturday’s matchup against archrival Duke, which will likely draw a monstrous crowd. Boeheim noted that COVID seems to only be an issue once you get inside the carrier dome.

While universities obviously have the right to choose how they will implement COVID mandates to “protect” the public, at some point you really begin to question the reasoning capabilities of those making the rules. 

Students can travel around Syracuse in rags, without wearing masks, and still live normal lives. So why does the university keep this facade of protection on one building? Other than the sheer number of students who visit the Carrier dome, what is the most dangerous thing about it? It increases the chance of someone getting COVID. However, that doesn’t mean that hundreds will become sick from watching a basketball match without wearing masks.

It’s time to embrace the fact that fear should not dominate our lives anymore, and that we can do away with the mask mandates.