NOT NOW, GUYS — The Weekly Opine

The Chicago Bulls practice facility sits empty. The Bulls should be happy they did not qualify for the NBA bubble in Florida. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Stay on sideline until at least 2021

Imagine this: a family plans a vacation to Disney World. A couple weeks before their trip, a hurricane forms and tracks toward the Southeast Coast. Just days before the family travels, the storm becomes a Category 5 hurricane aimed at the coast of Florida. Does the family plow ahead with their vacation? Or do they cancel the trip?

Such is the dilemma facing the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver. The league, despite the coronavirus catastrophe in Florida, is plowing ahead with plans to restart their season on July 30 in Orlando. (The WNBA will begin in late-July in Bradenton, Florida and Major League Soccer started this week in Orlando.)

Even before Florida erupted into a cesspool of COVID-19 cases, the NBA’s announcement that their suspended 2019-2020 season would restart in Orlando was unsettling.

The plan calls for players to be in a self-contained “bubble.” Games will be played on three courts at a Disney complex, with teams shuttled back and forth from hotels. Multiple teams will stay at the same hotel, which is where players will shower post game, rather than in the locker room after games. Players are expected to remain in their rooms when not participating in games.

The NBA’s plans were finalized about the time Florida’s (R) Gov. Ron DeSantis prematurely reopened his state - which was only slightly shut down in the first place. Despite not achieving Centers for Disease Control and White House guidelines (e.g. cases decreasing for several weeks), DeSantis buckled under his own ignorance and Trump’s pressure and opened-up Florida. The results have been disastrous.

Near daily record-setting new coronavirus cases have Florida in retreat, as Gov. DeSantis offers a combination of denial, hesitation, and incompetence. Like Trump, DeSantis glibly causes unnecessary deaths with little, if any, conscience.

None of which gives you the warm and fuzzies considering the NBA is already struggling with the virus. After teams began working out together in their home cities a few weeks ago, at least 25 players/staff tested positive for coronavirus out of 351 tests. The NBA positivity rate of 7.1% is nearly triple Illinois’ 2.6% rate.

Several star players, led by Kyrie Irving, are questioning the decision to play. It is refreshing to see Irving acknowledge the science-based truth put forth by health experts. Several years ago, Irving went on record saying the Earth may be flat (no kidding) and amazingly doubled down when challenged about his Earth is flat comments.

Six team facilities closed after players and staff tested positive, including the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat, L.A. Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.

The NBA, which led the sports world when they suspended their season on March 11, needs to drop the idea of resuming play in 2020 - in Florida or anyplace else. There should be no assumption that play will resume in early-2021, given warnings from health experts regarding the impending concurrence of traditional flu and COVID-19 this fall and winter.

Growing numbers of faculty and student-athletes are resisting plans to open campus for in-person classes and fall sports. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Ease up?

After a spring and summer of online instruction, 75% of colleges and universities are bringing students to campus this fall. But now positive coronavirus tests are afflicting college football teams, forcing some to shut down training facilities. USA Today reports national champion LSU suffered 30 positive coronavirus tests. Clemson has 37 positive tests (one-third of the team).

Yet big-time football is expected to be played on campuses this season. The big ($$) question for athletic directors is, are fans allowed in-stadium? The big question for many healthcare professionals is, should games be played at all?

Athletes, showing they take the student part seriously, are asking smart questions. At UCLA, football players demand oversight by 3rd-party healthcare officials along with whistle blower protections. They also want their scholarships protected in the event they opt out of playing this year.

College administrators planning in-person instruction this fall also grapple with faculty who want no part of classroom teaching. College faculty over-index, compared with the general workforce, when it comes to workers over the age of 50. The combination of irritated faculty and student-athletes could throw a large wrench into administration plans for a return to campus normalcy in the fall. As reported in the New York Times, Dana Ward, emeritus professor of political science at Pitzer College, says he will not return to campus “until there’s a vaccine.”

A herculean task awaits colleges and universities, implementing and enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and proper hand washing among the student population. Will stringent disinfecting procedures hold up, after a month or two under the weight of the hourly massive movement that occurs when class time periods end, and students scoot about campus?

The University of Southern California steps back from its prior announcement of in-person instruction and now plans mostly remote learning this fall. It is unclear what becomes of USC’s football season. If athletes are students, as goes the argument against paying them, even as they generate tens of millions of dollars for their school, then athletes should not be expected on campus. An environment deemed unsafe for all other students is unsafe for student-athletes as well.

University of Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler tweeted, “My teammates and I want to play. But schools are showing a blatant disregard for student athletes.”

At the professional level the NFL, hellbent on starting their season on time in September with fans in attendance, blinked nonetheless and cancelled two of four preseason games. Players want the entire preseason scrapped. The NFL union has advised players not to workout together. Discordant describes the relationship between players and ownership (in all sports) as they contemplate their seasons, yet NFL brass presents a buoyant attitude.

A few weeks ago, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, expressed serious doubt saying, “football may not happen this year” during an interview with CNN.

Players and staff from at least four teams have tested positive during the informal workout period, including the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans. Formal training camps open for all teams later this month.

This year’s Ryder Cup was just cancelled. Will the PGA’s restarted season suffer the same fate? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

On shaky ground

Golf and motor sports are open for business. NASCAR and IndyCar have raced the past month while the PGA tour has played a handful of tournaments. No fans. But the competition is admittedly fun to watch. Being individual team sports (driver plus crew; golfer plus caddie) played in warm weather gives golf and motor sports an edge.

However, already a big name in each sport has been sidelined. Brooks Koepka self-quarantined after his caddie tested positive a couple of weeks ago. NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson tested positive last weekend and missed the Brickyard 400.

Undeterred, PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said, “We feel a great responsibility to inspire people.” Even as case numbers rise on tour. Even as this year’s Ryder Cup was just cancelled.

Top tennis player Novak Djokovic, shown here preparing to serve at the 2012 U.S. Open, tested positive for coronavirus in June. The U.S. Open is scheduled to take place in late-summer, without fans. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Roger Penske is rolling the dice inviting 150,000 fans to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month. On those cable news maps showing how states are faring managing the virus spread, Indiana shows up reasonably well, better than most states, but seeing an uptick in virus cases, nonetheless. Not sure why Gov. (R) Holcomb or Indy Mayor Hogsett would allow fans at the Indy 500 and risk undoing the good work Hoosiers have done fighting the virus.

The thrill I had for baseball, wrecked during the steroid era, is now diminished. No sport, at least perceptually, is filled with as much greed as major league baseball. “We’ve seen from the owners they are not afraid to put anyone at risk, especially if it makes them money,” said veteran pitcher Jeff Samardzija.

Consistent with the rising theme in professional and college sports, some baseball players question the level-headedness of playing this summer. Spring training was recently temporarily shuttered after 40 players and staff tested positive. California Angel Mike Trout, the game’s best player, is uncertain he will play; his wife is due to deliver a baby in August. The season is slated to begin July 23.

Emory University epidemiologist Zach Binney told the Sports Business Journal MLB may start the season, but he has “grave concerns about them being able to finish it.”

The NFL should not kick-off their season this fall. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Just say no

No games. Not with fans, not without fans. No NBA or WNBA. No NHL. No MLB. No NFL. No soccer. No NCAA. No high school sports. Leagues that recently activated, such as motor sports and golf, should immediately shut down if positive cases surge among their athletes.

Yesterday, the Ivy League announced all fall sports are cancelled. Even though Ivy League schools are not as financially dependent on money from football, this is still significant. A decision about winter sports, and whether football will return in spring or wait until fall 2021, will be announced later this month by the Ivy League.

Other sports leaders should admit it is unrealistic to compete right now, with the virus out-of-control in the U.S. Do not allow a desire to salvage TV revenue drive your decision-making. Odds are probably 50-50 that if you start up, you will end up shutting down.

When should games begin again? Well, a new presidential administration will need a few months to reverse our current kamikaze plight. Maybe sports can return in summer/fall 2021. Depends on either developing real testing and contact tracing capability or a legit vaccine. Probably need both.

Sorry, but a delay until 2022 is not out of the question.

Related Article

Sports should not resume in 2020: theweeklyopine.com/sports/2020/4/16/dont-do-it