What is Going to Happen With Sports?

[garyt]

I saw that--I was afraid this would happen since MLB teams are traveling around the country. I would have thought it would be better for MLB to have all the teams in a "bubble" and play all their games in just a few places like the NBA is doing.

Too many teams and too many players I would think. NBA teams only have 12 players to 25 for MLB and all the NBA teams aren't playing.

 

[Dtail]

I actually don't mind it either. It's basketball like we play it at the Y, below the rim. But the viewership is nil.

Yup used to be that way for me too until tearing the ACL at age 40. Until that time, it was my go to obsessive sport.

 

[SumDay]

My favorite season is Football. High school, college, NFL. I will be verklempt. I'll be even more so if there are sports related casualties due to Covid. It's not looking good.

 

[kcowan]

Changing the subject slightly, DH and I are rewatching the TV series Friday Night Lights, about high school football in Texas. It is a great series for all you sports fans missing games.

and for an encore, try Last Chance U on Netflix.

 

[harllee]

The NBA bubble seems to be working. The players have been in the bubble in Orlando for a couple of weeks and they are reporting zero positive cases. MLB should have tried a bubble. I don't think the NFL has a bubble planned but they should look into it.

I wish there was a way for college football players to be in a bubble. In theory the football players at my alma mater UNC are supposed to have been in a "bubble" (has not worked too well) but classes start August 10 so I am afraid the bubble on campus is going to pop.

 

[Ronstar]

Illinois high school football has just been moved to next spring. I rode by the nearby high school today and there were 2 football fields and 3 baseball diamonds full of kids practicing. At least 100 kids. So the football players put in all of that hard work in the heat recently only to have their season postponed until spring.

 

[audreyh1]

A couple of articles today about pro sports and their challenges:

The NBA and NHL with their strict bubbles, seem to be working. MLB, on the other hand, with their larger teams say they can’t do the bubbles, although a fan editorialized about blatant violations of their own new safety rules on spitting, social distancing and coaches wearing masks in the dugout.

What we can learn from sports about preventing Covid-19 after Marlins outbreak https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/us/covid-19-outbreak-sports-lessons-learned/index.html

Marlins COVID-19 outbreak: Even this baseball super fan knows we need to cancel the season
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...ronavirus-marlins-outbreak-column/5535068002/

Over the rest of the opening weekend, I watched parts of about 10 games from across the country, glad to finally be putting my MLB-TV subscription to use.*Almost immediately, I couldn’t help but worry about the players, coaches, other team employees and their families.*I had read that MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association had agreed to strict safety and health protocols, including things like*no spitting, no high-fives and no celebrations after home runs.*Yet in every game I watched there were blatant violations. *

Again, it seems to come down to how seriously organizations and individuals take this virus.

 

[Chuckanut]

A couple of articles today about pro sports and their challenges:

The NBA and NHL with their strict bubbles, seem to be working. MLB, on the other hand, with their larger teams say they can’t do the bubbles, although a fan editorialized about blatant violations of their own new safety rules on spitting, social distancing and coaches wearing masks in the dugout.

What we can learn from sports about preventing Covid-19 after Marlins outbreak https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/us/covid-19-outbreak-sports-lessons-learned/index.html

Marlins COVID-19 outbreak: Even this baseball super fan knows we need to cancel the season
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...ronavirus-marlins-outbreak-column/5535068002/


Again, it seems to come down to how seriously organizations and individuals take this virus.

First a confession. I do not spend huge amounts of time in front of the TV watching sporting events. I do not have season tickets to any team of any type. IOW, I am not a sports Super Fan. I have no idea if MLB can succeed in what they are doing. But at least they are trying and we can all learn something from their success or failure.

I am getting sick of the professional scolds in the media who watch one of the first games being played, and get all huffy because the players are not perfectly following the safety guidelines. Good grief! It takes time for the new rules to become habits. The players, despite their great skills, are still human beings. They put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us. If two weeks from now we still see blatant disregard for basic safety, then there will be something to write about.

I say this as a person who took 6 months to always remember to bring my own grocery sacks into the store after the disposable sacks were banned by my city. However, those failures on my part did add to my daily step count.

 

[harllee]

These MLB players make very large salaries and they need these games to be played in order to continue to make these salaries. So they need to take responsibility to insure these games are played. I think if my million dollar salary was contingent in me learning not to spit or not to high 5 I believe I could learn that pretty fast. These guys are smart and they are adults they need to get on with it and stop goofing off and do what its right to keep MLB going. I think they can if they work at it.

Now I am not so sure about the college football players. They just might not be mature enough to follow the rules.

 

[Chuckanut]

These MLB players make very large salaries and they need these games to be played in order to continue to make these salaries. So they need to take responsibility to insure these games are played. I think if my million dollar salary was contingent in me learning not to spit or not to high 5 I believe I could learn that pretty fast. These guys are smart and they are adults they need to get on with it and stop goofing off and do what its right to keep MLB going. I think they can if they work at it.

Now I am not so sure about the college football players. They just might not be mature enough to follow the rules.

That's a good point. They have million$ on the line. That is a huge incentive to motivate themselves to be safe and to pressure other players to be safe.

 

[GravitySucks]

What's the point of being a football hero if you can't get along with the beautiful girls?

The NBA bubble seems to be working. The players have been in the bubble in Orlando for a couple of weeks and they are reporting zero positive cases. MLB should have tried a bubble. I don't think the NFL has a bubble planned but they should look into it.

I wish there was a way for college football players to be in a bubble. In theory the football players at my alma mater UNC are supposed to have been in a "bubble" (has not worked too well) but classes start August 10 so I am afraid the bubble on campus is going to pop.

 

[timo2]

I wish there was a way for college football players to be in a bubble. In theory the football players at my alma mater UNC are supposed to have been in a "bubble" (has not worked too well) but classes start August 10 so I am afraid the bubble on campus is going to pop.

Maybe if the college players were paid a salary the bubble could be done.

 

[JoeWras]

The NHL bubble seems to be going well. Exhibition games are in progress and games that count start on Saturday.

They have rules about masks off the ice. On the ice and behind the bench, players and coaches can be unmasked and do whatever they do. This includes spitting, which always drives me crazy. Spitting right there in the box or bench. And on the ice.

Support personnel (timekeeper, announcer, penalty box official) are wearing masks as an extra measure, even though they are in the bubble too.

 

[audreyh1]

That's a good point. They have million$ on the line. That is a huge incentive to motivate themselves to be safe and to pressure other players to be safe.

That to me is the “taking it seriously” part. More than habit, they may not really believe those behavior changes are necessary and unfortunately then have to learn the hard way.

Of course, if they are regularly exposed outside of MLB and keep coming together, even curtailing those habits may not be enough. It’s a real challenge to keep sports safe and requires quite a bit of personal sacrifice and everyone complying.

 

[Mark1]

I noted that some NFL players are opting out this season for a fraction of their potential contract amount.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-out-tracker-coronavirus-covid-19/5527864002/

I'm not sure how their contracts are written, but I suspect if the season is a bust after one or two weekends of football, they will only collect 1/16th or 1/8th of their contract amount anyway. These seems like a reasonable decision to me. If I have lots of money (e.g. tens of millions), taking the risk of getting the virus and bringing it home to my family is not worth the risk of losing the opportunity of making an extra million, or two in pay this year.

 

[Rianne]

The NBA playing in Orlando under strict rules. I’m trying to figure out who those fans are sitting in the bleachers. They look like fake people. Can you Zoom in on a game and watch it semi live?

 

[explanade]

I think they choose some of these fans and then combine their video feeds in the virtual stands.

 

[harllee]

I have been following the NBA--they are in a bubble in Orlando and are doing much better with Covid that MLB is. Most of the NBA games have been great. One interesting tidbit --
The NBA players are shooting better from the free throw line (about 4% better) and better from the corner 3 point line (about 3 % better). Players are saying that they are less distracted on their shots with no fans. Early on some NBA players said they did not think they would like playing without fans but actually some players are playing better without fan distractions.

 

[garyt]

The NBA bubble seems to be working. The players have been in the bubble in Orlando for a couple of weeks and they are reporting zero positive cases. MLB should have tried a bubble. I don't think the NFL has a bubble planned but they should look into it.

I wish there was a way for college football players to be in a bubble. In theory the football players at my alma mater UNC are supposed to have been in a "bubble" (has not worked too well) but classes start August 10 so I am afraid the bubble on campus is going to pop.

Too many players per team for baseball and football to have a bubble. NBA only has 12 players per team and not all the teams are playing . Not sure how many teams are playing but let's say 16 teams at 12 players is192 players. 30 NFL teams at 55 players is 1650 players who

 

[garyt]

That to me is the “taking it seriously” part. More than habit, they may not really believe those behavior changes are necessary and unfortunately then have to learn the hard way.

Of course, if they are regularly exposed outside of MLB and keep coming together, even curtailing those habits may not be enough. It’s a real challenge to keep sports safe and requires quite a bit of personal sacrifice and everyone complying.

There will always be some idiots out there. Already one NBA player got to leave the bubble for a funeral and then was seen at a strip club. And 2 St Louis Cardinals players went to the casino and got the virus and now 14 Cardinals have it

 

[garyt]

Yup used to be that way for me too until tearing the ACL at age 40. Until that time, it was my go to obsessive sport.

I played till 43 and just picked it up again at 63 playing in a50 and over league. Once a gym rat always a gym rat

 

[Rianne]

There will always be some idiots out there. Already one NBA player got to leave the bubble for a funeral and then was seen at a strip club. And 2 St Louis Cardinals players went to the casino and got the virus and now 14 Cardinals have it

Looks like 2 bad apples spoil the whole bunch. DH went into a mini depression, almost cried.

 

[audreyh1]

There will always be some idiots out there. Already one NBA player got to leave the bubble for a funeral and then was seen at a strip club. And 2 St Louis Cardinals players went to the casino and got the virus and now 14 Cardinals have it

Jeez - I guess these people just can’t help themselves! Terrible about the spread inside the Cardinals, but baseball has been having a really tough time containing the virus.

Cardinals deny the casino rumor:

John Mozeliak, the St. Louis Cardinals' president of baseball operations, told reporters there is no proof that anyone went to a casino.
"I have no factual reason to believe that is true, and I have not seen any proof of that," Mozeliak said. "If someone was at a casino, though, that would be disappointing."

 

[harllee]

And to think these pro players are paid big bucks and they can't follow the rules for a few months. No wonder the average person on the street can't follow the rules and stay safe.
Americans have no self control.

 

[timo2]

Jeez - I guess these people just can’t help themselves! Terrible about the spread inside the Cardinals, but baseball has been having a really tough time containing the virus.

Cardinals deny the casino rumor:

Noting that some MLB teams have no issues, and some have many covid issues, I think we can surmise that team managers executives are part of the problem with some teams.