1-Man’s Opinion on Sports–Thursday “Sports–Starting Up-Problems Everywhere”

Posted by on May 14th, 2020  •  0 Comments  • 

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“Topics on a Thursday”

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Here-there-everywhere.
Some opinions about everything I pay attention to.

MLB-UNION…Everything about baseball is about money.  So the latest discussion about how to reopen the game safely for everyone, how to do it in empty stadiums, and how to handle it financially.  Owners need the games to be played.  Players need the games to be played to be paid.  Give me 3-weeks of negotiations and this will get done.  Now whether the Virus-Crisis will let the games to be played it another issue out of our control.  They are talking 50-players per team to restart spring training, so you have the clubhouse issues, the dugout issues, and the number of people it would still take to put games on at Dodgers Stadium, Angels Stadium, Petco Park.  Significant risk.

NFL…With rumblings there will be another outbreak of the virus..the NFL is about to feel the pain everyone else is going to feel.  Luckily for them, they still have time on their side for camps won’t open till August or even September, and a September opening could be moved back to October and a Super Bowl to be played February 28th is still a possibility.  But you have 90-players in training camp, and the huge staff to tend to those players.  Keeping everyone healthy is a huge challenge considering how many people it takes to operate a pro football team.

NBA…Play in a bubble, go to the postseason when you restart, games without fans, seems fairly reasonable.  A lot easier to keep an NBA team healthy and in lockdown than a baseball or football team.  Only 15-players and a staff to be concerned about.  A basketball, two hoops and a game staff all you need.

NHL..The real challenge will be conditioning and playing without getting all your players hurt, if hockey rolls out the postseason.  A 30-man roster is likely, with 4-cities hosting games, without fans.  It might be doable, but the wear and tear factor is going to be a problem.  You got a lot of practice time to get teams ready, working in close proximity to each other.  And the added issue, bringing players back from Canada and Europe, and the whole border crossing issue, and quarantine once they get here.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL….If campuses are not safe to be open for students, how can campuses be then opened to college football teams for practices.  Huge number of players and staff members practicing in 6-weeks of camp, then playing games.  This issue is not about on-line courses in the fall, it’s about being on the field and in meeting rooms.  Their problems are as great if not more than NFL teams.

GOLF…Players, caddies, open spaces, golf courses.  This might be the easiest of all to start, because there won’t be fans in the galleries, and golf is such an isolated stand alone game.

NASCAR-INDY CAR-FORMULA 1….Lots of race teams, together, in close quarters, and then the personnel it takes to put on a race even with no fans in the stands.  We find out May 17th at Darlington, whether this can really be done.  43-NASCAR teams head to South Carolina.  All those racing personnel for each team.  It’s not just about the car and the driver is it?

SOCCER…Everyone from MLS to the EPL (England) are pushing to start.  Again, a large group of players, quartered together, training together, then playing against each other, even with stadiums in lockdown.  Add in the foreign element, of all these players returning to their teams from their home countries, where health is an issue still.  There is danger at every turn..

Just think about how complex all this is.
And start the discussion with ‘testing’ daily or weekly.
Continue the discussion with ‘what if’ someone tests positive.
How do you handle sudden ‘outbreaks-hot spots’.
Easy to say junk the seasons and come back next year.
Full cancellation would likely be followed by teams’ bankruptcies.

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