Crew’s stadium planned with Nordecke, sound in mind
Drivers traveling east on Interstate 670 or Route 33 toward Downtown can begin to properly see the Crew’s new $300 million, 20,000-seat downtown stadium west of the Arena District that is still on schedule to open in July 2021.
Since May 14, when the first steel beam was placed and dedicated to health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, the foundation of the south end of the stadium has been completed and the east and west ends are being constructed.
Crew chief business officer Steve Lyons said in a virtual town hall on July 21 that more than 1,300 steel beams had been erected, with work on the north end of the stadium scheduled to start later this month and finished by the end of September.
By the end of 2020, he said, the canopy covering every seat at the new stadium would be finished. Construction on the canopy is scheduled to begin after completion of the north end.
Here are further details on the yet-tobe-named downtown soccer stadium.
Nordecke
In the second episode of the Crew’s virtual town hall series, the club released new renderings of the Nordecke section and the 5,600-square foot beer garden behind the stands on the north
that can happen in a return-to-play plan that includes travel and large delegations.”
Cameron is studying the effects of the virus in his lab in Cleveland. Ostensibly, he’s doing his bit to find a vaccine for COVID-19.
He said, “The NFL should be paying particular attention to MLB.”
Last week, more than 20 members of the Miami Marlins’ traveling party — including 18 players — tested positive for the virus. The St. Louis Cardinals have reported 20 positives, including seven players. One week into its once-delayed season, MLB’S porous protocols have forced the league to cut and paste its schedule with postponements.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN’S Karl Ravech that he, Manfred, is not a quitter, and that the situation is manageable. Meanwhile, according to numerous reports, Manfred told the players’ union chief that the season will be in jeopardy if the players don’t stop acting like 20-something millionaires. Good luck with that.
The biggest red flag was waved in Boston, where Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was shelved for the rest of the season due to an inflammation of his heart. This is a case where a young, strong athlete contracted the virus and had more than a cough and a sneeze.
Tests showed that Rodriguez, 27, has myocarditis, which can lead to heart disease or arrhythmia. Some cardiologists think that heart problems linked to the coronavirus might occur in more than 30% of the cases. Nobody is really sure, not yet. Long-term studies of survivors are only just beginning.
From the latest issue of Science magazine: “The list of lingering maladies from COVID-19 is longer and more varied than most doctors could have imagined. Ongoing problems include fatigue, a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, achy joints, foggy thinking, a persistent loss of sense of smell, and damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain. … The sheer breadth of complications linked to COVID-19 is mind-boggling.”
I don’t want to be overly alarmist here. The myriad diseases the virus is spawning are most often seen in only the most acute cases. And the vast majority of people who are stricken recover. Yet, so much is still unknown.
So, let’s watch some hockey! Saturday, the first day of the NHL tournament in the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles, the kids in my house watched hockey from noon until 1 a.m. After nearly five months of pandemic, we crave normalcy, and sports on a 55inch screen is the fire in our hearth.
The “bubble” sports that are semisealed in place appear to have a good chance of succeeding. The NHL gets the highest marks: Its tournament, scheduled to run into October, is being wellrun (solid protocols) in a favorable environment (Canada, where governments have worked to squash the virus). To this point, there have been zero positive tests among players and team personnel in Toronto and Edmonton.
The NWSL, after barring one team from its tournament in Utah, recently crowned a champion, and there wasn’t a glitch. The NWSL also set ratings records, as the WNBA is doing while playing in a bubble in Bradenton, Florida.
The NBA has not avoided issues. Last week, Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams was slapped with a 10day quarantine (suspension?) after he left the Orlando bubble to attend a funeral and went to an Atlanta strip club for dinner. In the pictures that popped up on social media, Williams wore his team-issued mask at the strip club. He said he was there for the chicken wings.
As Cameron mentioned, the MLS tournament, also in Orlando, has overcome a problematic start and is a good bet to conclude, next Tuesday, without further complication.
The virus won’t disappear until we have a vaccine, and use it. Until then, there is a risk to our health, and this goes, too, for our young, strong athletes. Those in a bubble I’m happier to watch. It’s easier on the conscience. marace@dispatch.com @Michaelarace1