If you have been paying any sort of attention to the world around you for the last month and a half, you know that Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the top expert advising the federal government when it comes to what’s happening, what we should be trying to do, and how to go about doing those things with regards to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic that’s plaguing the world. Yesterday he was on Good Luck America and shared his ideas about how we could go about getting sports back in the country this year.
There’s a little bit of crazy stuff at the start of the video before he gets into the sports side of things. But once we get into that, Dr. Fauci points out that there’s a way of doing that. Unfortunately, like we’ve been hearing all along, it’s going to be done without fans in the stands.
“Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled, have them tested every week. Make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out. People say well you can’t play without spectators…. well, I think you probably get enough buy in from people that are dying to see a baseball game. ”
Right now, at least in Ohio, testing is incredibly limited. And until we can truly test just about everyone who needs to be tested, it seems unlikely we start up sports. It would just be a bad look that athletes can be tested weekly (or more) if sick people still can’t get tested at their doctor’s office or the hospital. But if and when we can reach a point where there are enough tests, this plan seems to be the one that sounds the most reasonable to get back to playing Cincinnati Reds baseball – even if it’s going to be some weird, hopefully 2020 only, Cincinnati Reds baseball.
If we can’t have baseball, football, etc. with fans in the stands like normal, why can’t we wait until 2021?
I believe we can survive without sports
Some would argue that “we” can’t wait because that TV money is very important to the survival of the sports.
I just don’t see a major push by the players to get back to playing. I have said it before, we treat our favorite ball players at heroes but they are really not. they are just regular people with a great athletic gift. they don’t have the same mentality as our soldiers, or emts, nurses, doctors on the front lines.
it does make me think though about the guys from the big red machine era like pete rose. I think those players would risk their lives to play more than the guys today. just my opinion.
Rose once said “I would walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball” or words to that effect.
Doug, how do the players get paid in all of the scenarios around: no season, half season, maybe 100 games, etc. I know they will all still get the full year of service time.
Yeah, all the advice/precautions were to delay cases until the hospitals could get ready.
The virus will still run through most of the population.
Like everyone that reads and posts here I love the Reds and watched nearly every game for years.
I thought I would miss the Reds horribly. Strangely enough I have not missed it that bad.
I am far more worried about the nation and the health of my family, myself and everyone out there. This really puts sports way down the list of things that I care about right now.
I found that to be true (not missing baseball as much as I thought I would) during the 1981 strike that was smack dab in the middle of the season and lasted two months. Then the 1994 strike that ended the season with no playoffs or world series just reaffirmed that much as I like baseball and sports in general, I can live without them. At age 65, and a season ticket holder to FC Cincinnati, I’m having serious doubts that I will be setting foot in any stadium this year, whether or not they are opened back up for people to attend.
this is absolutely correct. Just like the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus hitting in 2009, we all had to get exposed to it and build up an immunity to it. Now it didn’t cause the same type of damage to the lungs that COVID19 does to certain individuals but we will eventually enough of us have to get exposed to it so that the “herd immunity” develops in the population.
The key is not all of us getting exposed within the same few weeks which can totally overwhelm a regional hospital network. Most of us will get it and adapt to it just fine.
I gave up on the NBA (Bulls) around 2000. I gave up on NCAA basketball (UK) the second year Calipari coached. I never cared for NCAA football, and gave up on the NFL (Bengals) 3 seasons ago. I don’t think I will lose my love for the MLB (Reds), but I’ve found with the others, the longer I’ve not watched, the less they mattered to me.
Spot on! Flatten the curve, so hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, which we are doing or in some areas have done. Most of us will get this no matter what we do.