Sporting news

When “catch” isn’t a game

“Part of the challenge is although we are focused on the top-line national numbers in terms of our attention, what we are seeing is 50 different curves and 50 different stories playing out. And what we have seen about covid-19 is that the story and the effect is often very local.”

—Thomas Tsai, Harvard Global Health Institute, on the front page Thursday

UNLIKE a minority of (loud) people in a handful of other states, the catch phrase in Arkansas seems to be Safety First. With the exception of a few concert promoters, folks in Arkansas seem to be taking seriously the warnings of experts and state leaders. The governor of Arkansas and Dr. Nate Smith—this state’s version of Dr. Anthony Fauci—seem to be guiding the rest of us, if not herding the rest of us, in the right direction.

Both Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Dr. Smith have plenty of help. That is, experts with plenty of experience in pandemic response. Next week, the governor is supposed to announce measures on athletics, which is something that a lot of people are curious about. This week, UAMS came out with a list of recommendations for high school team sports, which will gear up soon. (If everything goes as planned.)

These guidelines from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences won’t be easy to meet. But is wearing a mask in a restaurant or barber shop easy? Is keeping six feet away from others at the grocery store easy? Besides, easy is relative. It’s easier to wear a mask than to check into a hospital.

There’s a whole menu of recommendations from UAMS. The DemocratGazette printed them Thursday in the Sports section. We refer you to page 4C. The first emphasis is: If an athlete has symptoms, he should stay home. Then, in a sign of the brutal times, there are mentions of social distancing, hand-washing, etc. But then there are details:

Limit out-of-state travel. Eliminate if possible.

Some of us think that elimination of out-of-state travel is certainly possible. Just cancel the bus reservations. A handful of schools schedule cross-border football games every year, the better to get a certain level of competition. And national exposure. Not to mention playing in a Texas high school football game can be akin to playing at a small college, and that’s a good way to make high school memories. But covid-19 has put a stop to a lot of things this year. Trips to Shreveport or Dallas can be nixed.

Wash helmets with disinfectant before and after practice.

Pole vaults, track batons, basketballs, softballs, baseballs, soccer balls, footballs, mats, bars, gloves and weight equipment should be sanitized often.

Platoon practices. We imagine this means instead of having 100 kids on the field for morning practice, the offense can practice at 7 a.m. and the defense at 9 a.m. Then switch times the next day.

Require student athletes get a flu shot. Which is good advice in normal years.

And no sharing water bottles. There are dozens of other recommendations. Most are general. Some are specific. (Limit time in dugouts.)

Again, the governor is scheduled to make his thoughts public next week. Again, most Arkansans will trust him and his people to make the right calls. Again, there will be mistakes.

But we can ease our way into sports again and still smell … well, not like a rose. But not like a high school locker room, either.

CAUTION: It is not always advisable to talk sense when the topic is high school sports in this small but rabidly Southern state. We’ve seen moms harangue a coach—who was coaching elementary school girls soccer. Doubtless, when summer football practices begin—if they begin—there will be much back-and-forth, litigious arguments and counter-arguments, state and judicial rulings and the usual editorial page ramblings. But something tells us, in the end, Arkansans will still agree:

Safety First.