Dr Fauci Says Sports Can Return Without Fans (2 Viewers)

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If they don't isolate from the outside world from two weeks prior to training camp through the end of the regular season, then there's no way it will work.

One person testing positive would force everyone that person came into contact with and everyone those people came into contact with over the previous two weeks into quarantine for two weeks. That will render at least 5 teams unable to continue playing games for at least two weeks.

Long and short, 1 positive test and the season is over.

The only way to guarantee no positive tests is to quarantine everyone in individual isolation at least two weeks before training camp and then keep them collectively isolated from the outside world for the entire season. I don't think enough players, team staff and game support staff are going to be willing to do that.

Have any players voiced their opinions about playing a season? I haven't heard their thoughts on it and it seems everyone assumes that they will just do whatever the league and fans want them to do.
 
Saint Spud said:
We’re on the same page with all that.

I think you’re going to see attempts by MLB very soon. There will need to be some clear outlines of what happens if someone tests positive.

At this point, I would be pretty surprised if you didn’t see strong attempts by MLB and the NFL. I think NBA will likely try to do playoffs. College sports are too tough, IMO, because they rely a lot more on fans and it’s just too hard and unfair to implement this sort of quarantining for amateur athletes who don’t even have a union to advocate for them.
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Yeah, I think it's unlikely that college sports are resuming this year absent a game-changing breakthrough of some kind. I know we all want to cling to hope for as long as possible, but when you're dealing with a highly transmissible infection with a higher than comparable mortality rate, and the risk of dying without loved ones around, that's a lot of risk to overlook, particularly when talking about young, amateur athletes.

MLB is maybe the best of our major league sports to experiment with and hope to scale up from. If, and this seems far from confirmed, that temperature, humidity, and UV do play significant mitigating roles, then it seems at least theoretically possible to try and play a season in warm weather climates in empty stadiums, and see how it goes. (I'm not advocating for or against that, to be clear.) I also don't think baseball loses much of anything to be played in empty stadiums. ;)

The NFL is going to be more challenging, for reasons already given, and then there are also existing concerns about a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall and into the winter, completely overlapping the season.
 
Selfishly, I want to have football no matter what. Rationally, I feel that having 200+ people gathered together, players flying on the same plane, etc, is a risk during this time. All it will take is one player catching the virus and you could see something similar to the team that got hit by the flu last season. Only, if this virus started going around to players and coaches, it could mean the season comes to a stop at any point. It would be a very tough situation if it were to happen. That said, I don't know the answer. Safety is important, but at some point, we have to realize that we have to continue on somehow. Not just with football, but with living a normal life in general.
 
It's only April 15th, and here we are...Fauci saying something that was unthinkable two weeks ago.

What will next week bring? And the week after that? And even then it will only be the very beginning of May.

This will work itself out, watch and see.

Edit: those liability release waivers are quietly being crafted in the background, too. The dominoes will accelerate rapidly when they start being utilized. We're not quite ready for them just yet, but they're coming...
 
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Mississippi Saints Fan said:
Selfishly, I want to have football no matter what. Rationally, I feel that having 200+ people gathered together, players flying on the same plane, etc, is a risk during this time. All it will take is one player catching the virus and you could see something similar to the team that got hit by the flu last season. Only, if this virus started going around to players and coaches, it could mean the season comes to a stop at any point. It would be a very tough situation if it were to happen. That said, I don't know the answer. Safety is important, but at some point, we have to realize that we have to continue on somehow. Not just with football, but with living a normal life in general.
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Right. I think the biggest issue is we are all making assumptions for September based on where we are in April.

Is it possible some people are being too optimistic? Sure. Is it possible some are being too pessimistic? Sure.

Personally, I don’t see large crowds until there’s a vaccine, which seems a year away. But the brightest minds in the world are also working on treatment options. Plus, you see a ton of motivation to get back to SAFELY playing games for the sake of TV and other revenue streams. There also appears to be a movement from health and other officials to try to find ways to make it all happen.

Combine all that and there seems to be plenty of reasons for optimism that we will see team sports in some form.
 
Fauci knows one thing infectious disease, that's it. He's pretty clueless with regards to professional sports, economics, sociology, etc. The time has come to give his words less and less regard.
If you ask a dermatologist "what's the best way to protect my skin" they would recommend staying out of the sun completely. Sure it may be great for your skin but it doesn't help with every day life. Same goes for Fauci.
 
StudioSaint said:
If they don't isolate from the outside world from two weeks prior to training camp through the end of the regular season, then there's no way it will work.

One person testing positive would force everyone that person came into contact with and everyone those people came into contact with over the previous two weeks into quarantine for two weeks. That will render at least 5 teams unable to continue playing games for at least two weeks.

Long and short, 1 positive test and the season is over.

The only way to guarantee no positive tests is to quarantine everyone in individual isolation at least two weeks before training camp and then keep them collectively isolated from the outside world for the entire season. I don't think enough players, team staff and game support staff are going to be willing to do that.

Have any players voiced their opinions about playing a season? I haven't heard their thoughts on it and it seems everyone assumes that they will just do whatever the league and fans want them to do.
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And then what about the difficulty of brining in free agents to substitute for injured players. A player that can't interact with the team for two weeks to allow for quarantine would be of much decreased value.
 
I’ve only seen that in soccer matches where they had no fans. I couldn’t imagine the dome or Tiger stadium empty with a game going on. One game would be cool just to see it, but not a whole season. Zero home field advantage
 
Made me loose some liquids from my mouth.!
bobad said:
Our DB's did it for years.
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It's a given, that Fauci has been the head of a Government agency since '84. Thru six presidents.
But this is the first time, Politics aside, that a president has just thrown his recommendations to the heap.
We are nowhere's, not even close to 're-opening' this country as usual. Frankly, we might not ever be able to, because of the de-funding from the right of basic health care for all.
If everyone, and that's everyone, not just the super rich, can't get a simple test for this puppy, we won't see any sports gatherings, let alone life as 'normal', for years to come.
Still boggles the mind that corporate interests are above the health and well being of this country. Back in December of last year the warning signs became public of this virus, but yet it was nothing but a hoax, from the head of our democracy.
Blame it on the WHO, the Liberal Media, whomever? Blame is not the answer! Get it so that everyone can be tested and we can move on. But No!
Someone at the top of this Government is keeping that from happening, even with the largest 'bailout' that you and I will be paying for until we die was just approved, with more coming down the pipeline.
To get this cleared up, we have to put pressure on our counties/parishes, state and local reps, and the Federal government to do what's right for all, and not just doners. Again, politics aside!
Longer View- Even professional sports is not an 'essential business' no matter how much I'll miss it!
All the Best, and stay safe!
Brad
 

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