Fans will have to adapt when the games resume
Much of our lives right now are dominated by maybes, we’ll sees, ifs and fornows. We’re nostalgic for the old normal and some are wary of even peeking out the shutters to see what the new one might look like.
What is clear is we will have to continue coping with new and unforeseen circumstances. That’s true for sports fans, too. When, or if, competition resumes, the changes will be startling. Here are some things we might have to get used to:
A player, manager or coach testing positive for COVID-19. A few weeks ago, the conventional wisdom was that one positive test would bring the sport to a halt. That thinking was flawed, because it’s inevitable that someone involved will contract COVID-19. If one positive test is going to shut down a league, then don’t play.
Indirectly, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that in an interview last week with CNN by saying an individual who tests positive would be quarantined until testing negative twice within a 24-hour period. Those who were in contact with the person will be tested
immediately.
Meanwhile, the games go on. Gambling, owning fantasy teams will be perilous. This is always so, but it will be especially true in 2020.
What if Kyler Murray runs a fever the morning of a game? Any other year, he’d pop a couple Advil and play. In 2020, that would be irresponsible.
If Murray’s your starting fantasy quarterback, or if you’ve bet the over based because Murray was playing, do not take to Twitter to lament that life is unfair.
It is, but not in this case.
Tests and rapid results will be readily available for athletes and coaches, but not the rest of us. Frequent testing is the key element in a league being able to restart, Manfred said. MLB is partnering with the Utah lab that the league uses for performance-enhancing drug testing.
The plan is for players and others to be tested multiple times a week, and results would be available within 24 hours.
Other leagues would have similar programs.
That level of testing and the ability to get rapid results probably won’t be available to those of us watching from our couches.
But professional athletes have always received preferential treatment in the health-care system. An NFL player who sprains a knee in practice at 11 a.m. has an MRI within a few hours.
The rest of us might have to wait a couple weeks and hope that we’ve met our medical plan’s deductible for the year.
Your team sharing a stadium. States are re-opening on different schedules. Some aren’t re-opening at all.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's stay-athome order was lifted Friday, which means teams can resume training at their facilities once the leagues say it's OK.
California’s restrictions remain in place, and the 49ers reportedly are looking at sites out of state to possibly hold training camp this summer.
It’s also curious that the 49ers and Cardinals are not scheduled to have home games on the same day this season.
Could the 49ers play their “home” games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale? It’s unlikely, but then a lot of unlikely things already have happened in 2020.
Owners, commissioners and players saying the occasional dumb things. This happens in non-pandemic times, of course, but we might notice it more in 2020.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this month by playing this fall “we can help our country heal.”
And last week, Rays pitcher Blake Snell took to social media to say he wasn’t taking less money in 2020.
“Like, I’m sorry you guys think differently,” he said, “but the risk is way the hell higher and the amount of money I’m making is way lower. Why would I think about doing that?”
We all know why leagues and owners want to play in 2020. Making money is the priority, and there is nothing wrong with that. Just don’t tell us that the greater good is your primary goal.
As for Snell, it’s as if someone handed him a list of idiotic talking points and said, “Hey, broadcast these. The 15 percent of Americans who are unemployed will understand.”
If a baseball player is fearful of playing sports in a pandemic, I have no problem with that. Don’t play.
But those who do choose to play should acknowledge that the season will be shortened. Fewer games mean less money for everyone. There is a reasonable middle ground between players and owners. If they can’t find it, fans will gladly point it out to them.