Bad news says return of sports in jeopardy
There’s still a way to play. Part of me still wants them to play. But man, some days make you wonder if it’s worth the trouble.
If it’s remotely rational, even.
Tuesday might have been sports’ worst day since Rudy Gobert (who’s still experiencing side effects) stopped time with a positive test. It produced one ludicrous headline after another, any one of which could have served as a moment of clarity for the “nothing to see here” crowd.
Are we going to witness even a single live event among the four major sports in 2020?
Tuesday cast doubt. Tuesday was not a good day.
By the end of it, I felt like Herb Brooks after somebody asked him to appraise that five-overtime loss to the Flyers.
“Where do you start?” Herbie said. “And where do you finish?”
I suppose we should start with the fact that both Allegheny County and the United States of America recorded their highest COVID-19 case totals Tuesday.
Increased testing is a factor, obviously, and moving to the green phase was bound to spike local cases. But the positivity rates were shooting up, as well, as were hospitalizations in hot spots around the country.
Florida has more new cases than all of Europe combined.
Meanwhile, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony “Bad News” Fauci raised the possibility of soon seeing 100,000 new cases per day. And if that’s not depressing enough, he spoke of U.S. health officials monitoring a new situation of major concern: pigs in China carrying a new strain of flu that has characteristics of the 2009 H1N1 virus and the 1918 flu pandemic.
Couldn’t it have characteristics of just one of those? Of course not. It’s 2020. Oh well, at least we’ll have sports. Or not. The pursuit reached tragicomic proportions Tuesday, leaving any clear-thinking individual to wonder how on earth any of this is going to happen and if any of it is justified.
Among the storylines:
• “Adam Silver says NBA may abandon postseason if there’s a large outbreak.”
The NBA is set to bubble up in Orange County, Fla., which has been described as an “infection hotbed.”
Did I mention Florida has more new cases than ALL OF EUROPE? Or that Europe has around 740 million people while Florida has fewer than 22 million?
If the players stay bubblebound, it can work. But a baseball-related headline could prove instructive ...
• “Almost no one in baseball truly believes players will be able to stick to a strict quarantine.”
Who is “Almost,” and what are they smoking?
• “NFL teams consider flying to and from road games on the day of the game.”
Nothing to see here, right?
I’m guessing Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu spoke for most players when he reacted to the news with this tweet: “Hell Nah.”
• “New York governor orders 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling in from 16 surging states.”
This is happening with NFL camps just ahead. Tweet from The Athletic’s Tim Graham: “This would impact 60 of 88 Buffalo Bills under contract, based on their hometowns.”
There is little doubt teams across sports will need special dispensation from certain states merely to gather as a group without quarantining.
• “Las Vegas out as potential NHL hub city?”
We’re about three weeks away from teams allegedly reporting to the two hub cities. Wherever they are. Las Vegas was considered a lock until ... well, as hockey reporter Kurt Leavins tweeted:
“I love Las Vegas. But the science says: 734 new cases, highest infection rate among the 50 states, 34th out of 50 states in terms of testing. What I don’t think the science says: NHL HUB.”
Not that anyone believes in science anymore. But still. We might be looking at both hub cities in Canada, where, as you might imagine, some aren’t thrilled at the prospect of welcoming traveling parties from, say, Arizona or Florida.
Did I mention that Florida has more new cases than all of Europe?
• “Minnesota Twins’ older coaches will miss season amid coronavirus fears.”
Nothing to see here. Just a team deeming the entire enterprise too dangerous for men in their 60s but safe enough for men in their 50s, 40s, 30s and 20s.
• “More than 300 youth volleyball teams from 27 states headed to Florida for tournament.”
Headed to the aforementioned “infection hotbed” of Orange County, no less. This event was postponed in mid-June out of “an abundance of caution,” USA Today reports. There were 1,615 recorded cases of COVID-19 in Orange County then. There were 4,700-plus in the past week alone.
So yes, by all means, let’s hop on a plane and head to Orange County to play volleyball.
Nothing to see here.