We haven’t done For sports to return, we first need to
It has been a delightfully familiar distraction to see Major League Baseball and its players grappling to reach a financial agreement, and it has been cheering to watch leagues develop return-to-play schemes as though the world really were righting itself. But actually tipping off during a pandemic that is currently raging across the United States? That seems increasingly foolish.
“Until we get to the point where we have protocols in place and until we get to a place as a country that feel safe doing it, we have to realize football is a nonessential business,” NFL safety Malcolm Jenkins said on CNN this morning. “And so we don't need to do it. And so the risk has to really be eliminated before I would feel comfortable going back.”
On Wednesday, the US had its highest number of coronavirus cases diagnosed, back to the national peaks in April.
And with that, you can add baseball, tennis and basketball to the list of nonessential businesses. It's not that we don't want sports back, but what are we willing to do to get them?
Will Americans wear a mask for football? Avoid crowded indoor events for baseball? Download an app to assist in contact tracing should they become ill, for basketball?
Seems like a lot of work. We want sports back, but as a society we aren't willing to do what is necessary in order to get them back.
We have a president who won't wear a mask because it makes his ego look tiny, and sycophants who follow him make all sorts of convoluted excuses for why they can't do the thing that would let many of us go about our business. Without a full-court press on the public health front, it's going to be tough to get transmission down to a level where cities can entertain team play.
The NFL cancelled the Hall of Fame game on Thursday as the logistics of actually hosting a sporting event became clearer in a pandemic. Novak Djokovic and two other tennis players at the ill-fated Adria Tour event in Croatia tested positive for the coronavirus and the games came to an end. And as college football and baseball players head to facilities to work out, so many are getting sick that it's sending optimistic plans for a safe return to sports off the rail.
Sure, the NBA, WNBA and MLS are planning for a short season in Florida, where the virus is surging and Gov. Ron DeSantis has been accused of fudging numbers to make the state appear healthier. The Orlando Pride had to withdraw from the NWSL's Challenge Cup after six players and four staffers tested positive for the coronavirus after a night out at a local bar.
Clemson football was just holding “voluntary” workouts when 28 players tested positive. A shirtless, partying Djokovic and the Pride players are not outliers. When a league has rules for players and coaches, there will be rulebreakers. The NFL is planning to start training