Sports and The Pandemic

Welp, the NFLPA is now talking about how the NFL is expecting The Corona to bend to football, not football to adapt to reality. https://nflpa.com/posts/prioritizing...

We're 60 days out from the start of the season and the NFL still isn't thinking about a bubble and having teams criss-crossing the country each week.

Was listening to a business show this morning talking about how sports leagues that have adopted the bubble mindset are light years ahead of those (MLB, NFL) that are planning on business as usual. This analyst believes there's no way those leagues are going to be able to play out their seasons and that other sports will pick up new fans.

2 Louisville basketball players tested positive. All team activities suspended for 2 weeks.

Top_Shelf wrote:

Welp, the NFLPA is now talking about how the NFL is expecting The Corona to bend to football, not football to adapt to reality. https://nflpa.com/posts/prioritizing...

We're 60 days out from the start of the season and the NFL still isn't thinking about a bubble and having teams criss-crossing the country each week.

Was listening to a business show this morning talking about how sports leagues that have adopted the bubble mindset are light years ahead of those (MLB, NFL) that are planning on business as usual. This analyst believes there's no way those leagues are going to be able to play out their seasons and that other sports will pick up new fans.

Yeah, the thing is . . . I don't believe the bubble approach is viable, just because it takes one tiny crack in the proverbial wall for everybody to be screwed. Literally one player sneaking out to a bar or to hit a diner at night represents a potentially season-ending catastrophe for a sports league.

But, you know, at least they're trying. It's patently insane to think business as usual has a chance.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Top_Shelf wrote:

Welp, the NFLPA is now talking about how the NFL is expecting The Corona to bend to football, not football to adapt to reality. https://nflpa.com/posts/prioritizing...

We're 60 days out from the start of the season and the NFL still isn't thinking about a bubble and having teams criss-crossing the country each week.

Was listening to a business show this morning talking about how sports leagues that have adopted the bubble mindset are light years ahead of those (MLB, NFL) that are planning on business as usual. This analyst believes there's no way those leagues are going to be able to play out their seasons and that other sports will pick up new fans.

Yeah, the thing is . . . I don't believe the bubble approach is viable, just because it takes one tiny crack in the proverbial wall for everybody to be screwed. Literally one player sneaking out to a bar or to hit a diner at night represents a potentially season-ending catastrophe for a sports league.

But, you know, at least they're trying. It's patently insane to think business as usual has a chance.

I guess the advantage in football from the owners perspective is you can just cut that player.

So there's more money incentive tied to 'don't f*ck this up'.

I was more bullish on a season months ago before certain states threw their hands up and started acting like nothing was actually going on.

Unrelated to the NFL.

Haven't seen this posted about the MLS

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fc-dalla...

Of the 557 players currently in Orlando, 13 total players have been confirmed positive for the coronavirus, 10 of those being FC Dallas players and the remaining three coming from two other clubs.

Curious what other leagues are going to do if 1 team just completely fails.

Even if the NFL does attempt a season you know a bunch of teams are just going to fail this miserably.

jowner wrote:

Even if the NFL does attempt a season you know a bunch of teams are just going to fail this miserably.

Well, it's a good thing the NFL doesn't have any teams in raging hotspots like Florida, Texas, Arizona, or California. That would be bad.

*awkward silence*

I know, right? I think the bubbles are going to crash/burn but at least they are trying to adapt to reality. (FWIW, I think they're going to crash/burn because of the individual selfishness of players who think they're playing on god mode; if people would stop being human and actually, y'know, follow rules, it could work.)

Heard the new Louisville football coach respond to a question about, "If students in the ACC aren't allowed to come to campus, how do you make the case for football to continue?" with a "If we can do it safely, we should" statement.

I appreciate the stated desire to focus on safety, but in what world is it OK for kids to risk illness that could damage them for life so that football coaches can make 6 and 7 figures while the athletes get store credit for education? How do you sleep at night being part of that culture of indentured servitude?

I only learned a couple of days ago that the NFL was still planning on fans in the stadium. I was shocked. I assumed at least every league had bent to the reality of no fans in the stadium.

Can the NFL play 2020 and 2021 in Europe?

Jayhawker wrote:

Can the NFL play 2020 and 2021 in Europe?

That actually wouldn't be a bad plan. And really f*cking hilarious for Americans to be deprived of the income that would normally come from the gate receipts and all the other economic activity. We don't deserve to have sports.

Jayhawker wrote:

Can the NFL play 2020 and 2021 in Europe?

Europe won't let them in.

Jayhawker wrote:

Can the NFL play 2020 and 2021 in Europe?

"Everyone who's ready to get back on the plane and return to America, take a step forward."

"Not so fast, Jags."

It would be so 2020 for the NFL to play a season where the only team with more than 50% of their staters healthy is the Patriots because the players know to isolate themselves for fear of being cut and Cam gets a SB win.

TheGameguru wrote:

It would be so 2020 for the NFL to play a season where the only team with more than 50% of their staters healthy is the Patriots because the players know to isolate themselves for fear of being cut and Cam gets a SB win.

I'd give an outside chance to the Packers because assuming once in Greenbay they are pretty much isolated by definition.

This then falls apart week 6 away to Tampa Bay.

Doing a little math for the NFL.

There are 53 players on the active rosters of all 32 teams. Not counting practice team or injured reserve players, that is 1696 players. With no ability to mask or social distance, let's assume a covid transmission rate of 80%. That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

When was the last time we had an NFL season where four players on active rosters died of ANYTHING?

And now Ivy League is out for all fall sports.

"Ha ha, nerds!" and all but still it's D1.

This is going to increase pressure on the Big 5 academic leaders (provosts, chancellors, boards of governor's, etc) to have to defend to their elite peers, "No, we will keep sports." I think that will be hard to do.

Ivy League institutions have a TON of soft power influence on other colleges.

Paleocon wrote:

That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

Are there any numbers on the rate of serious lung damage among patients? I think the prospect of that's going to scare a lot of athletes into sitting this one out.

Rat Boy wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

Are there any numbers on the rate of serious lung damage among patients? I think the prospect of that's going to scare a lot of athletes into sitting this one out.

Also, the NFL is what, 60-70% black? And COVID-19 has been repeatedly shown to be more dangerous for African-Americans? (Although that could be due to the higher incidences of hypertension and diabetes in our community, which NFL players are ostensibly less prone to, I haven't done the research.)

Rat Boy wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

Are there any numbers on the rate of serious lung damage among patients? I think the prospect of that's going to scare a lot of athletes into sitting this one out.

I’ve thought that all along.

Prederick wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

Are there any numbers on the rate of serious lung damage among patients? I think the prospect of that's going to scare a lot of athletes into sitting this one out.

Also, the NFL is what, 60-70% black? And COVID-19 has been repeatedly shown to be more dangerous for African-Americans? (Although that could be due to the higher incidences of hypertension and diabetes in our community, which NFL players are ostensibly less prone to, I haven't done the research.)

There is a cleat association, but I don’t think there is a causation proven yet. It has more to do with all disadvantages systemic racism creates. The virus will hammer communities in urban areas where healthcare is limited.

Jayhawker wrote:
Prederick wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

That would mean 1357 players get it. They are young and healthy, so let's say the death rate is .3%. That is still four players dying of this thing.

Are there any numbers on the rate of serious lung damage among patients? I think the prospect of that's going to scare a lot of athletes into sitting this one out.

Also, the NFL is what, 60-70% black? And COVID-19 has been repeatedly shown to be more dangerous for African-Americans? (Although that could be due to the higher incidences of hypertension and diabetes in our community, which NFL players are ostensibly less prone to, I haven't done the research.)

There is a cleat association, but I don’t think there is a causation proven yet. It has more to do with all disadvantages systemic racism creates. The virus will hammer communities in urban areas where healthcare is limited.

The The Daily went into this today with a NYT's reporter that has been looking at the data.

It's not just urban areas, the same trend exist in suburban and rural area and seems to be related to the disproportionate percentage of black and brown folks who are working in essential services compared to white people.

So people of color are exposed to it much more often which is then compounded by racial inequalities in health care, etc.

Top_Shelf wrote:

And now Ivy League is out for all fall sports.

"Ha ha, nerds!" and all but still it's D1.

This is going to increase pressure on the Big 5 academic leaders (provosts, chancellors, boards of governor's, etc) to have to defend to their elite peers, "No, we will keep sports." I think that will be hard to do.

Ivy League institutions have a TON of soft power influence on other colleges.

The Ivy League was also the first conference to cancel the remainder of the winter sport season and the spring season a few months back. They got a lot of flack at the time but I remember an interview with the Executive Director of the Ivy League where she was basically like "we have campuses full of virologists, infectious disease experts, immunologists etc etc...after consulting experts this is the ONLY choice."

If colleges can't keep athletes covid-free in non-contact, quarantined environments (like we've seen), I don't understand how contact sports like football and basketball can expect to play.

Edit: something else I just thought of is the honesty angle. We've seen athletes, coaches and doctors lie about concussions to stay on the field, we're gonna see the same thing with covid.

ACC delays fall sports starting any games before Sept 1.

Trying to give themselves more time. But come on, 2 member schools in Florida isn't looking good.

Stele wrote:

ACC delays fall sports starting any games before Sept 1.

Trying to give themselves more time. But come on, 2 member schools in Florida isn't looking good.

The text of the announcement doesn't include football:

"The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that each of its fall Olympic Sports will delay the start of competition until at least September 1. The decision allows each campus to further focus on ensuring return to competition protocols are in place to facilitate the resocialization process.

The delay in competition includes all exhibition and non-conference games in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball."

I mean, we just crossed 60k new cases just yesterday in the US. I know I'm less pessimistic than everyone else here regarding pro sports, but how any other level could be considering playing baffles me.

As a society, we're careening towards 100k new cases a day and showing little will to stop it. If anything, political leadership is pushing to open up more. Colleges, high schools, don't have the capacity of pro sports to create sustainable models that would allow for safe competition and travel. I could see certain sports (tennis, golf, etc.) working, but football, basketball? I don't see how you can do it at the amateur level in current and near future circumstances.

We might not have sports in 2021.

The reality is that until Trump is no longer president we won’t even get *started* on solving the Covid crisis here.

In Australia the V8 Supercars teams based in the state of Victoria had a midnight exodus to get their personnel and equipment out of the state before it locked down, so that they could continue to race in the recently re-started Supercars season.

Victoria has returned to a stricter lockdown phase with restrictions for even leaving the house because they've seen "unsustainably high numbers of new cases" of a couple hundred a day.

Meanwhile the virus is the US is going to just disappear. Any day now...

In related news, if anyone likes tintop motor-racing and hasn't seen Supercars you should check it out. The three races they had at Sydney Motorsports Park as the first event for the new season were all really good.

mindset.threat wrote:
Stele wrote:

ACC delays fall sports starting any games before Sept 1.

Trying to give themselves more time. But come on, 2 member schools in Florida isn't looking good.

The text of the announcement doesn't include football:

"The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that each of its fall Olympic Sports will delay the start of competition until at least September 1. The decision allows each campus to further focus on ensuring return to competition protocols are in place to facilitate the resocialization process.

The delay in competition includes all exhibition and non-conference games in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball."

Yeah because the first football games are not until Sept 2 or 3, going into labor day weekend.

I want to see how ACC AD's pass the straight face test telling parents of dozens of football players that their kid has to risk infection when the other kids do not.

And let's just recognize the demographics at play here in which college sports got cancelled because "safety" versus which sport has to go ahead.

Do these institutions value the safety of some students more than others? Because it sure looks that way to me.

Top_Shelf wrote:

Do these institutions value the safety of some students more than others?

When you replace "student-athlete" with "unpaid employee", you get your answer.

Athletes should take universities trying to put them back on the field as the final push to go through with unionizing instead.

Top_Shelf wrote:

Do these institutions value the safety of some students more than others? Because it sure looks that way to me.

FSU already sent out notice to faculty and staff that they couldn't watch their kids anymore while working at home starting in Aug. They apparently don't give a sh*t about anyone equally.

So it's your job or your family, can't have both even if day care or K-12 school isn't open.