Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

I watch some of them. One thing about the 2019 golf tournaments on Golf Channel. If they're not one of the majors, I honestly forgot the whole thing. It's like new to me, at least the Thursday and Friday episodes. Rerun football has one advantage. The games are such an exercise in chaos you can usually find interesting stuff you missed when it was present tense.

 

I wonder if this the beginning of some cultural reset, like some force saw TikTok, Kanye and the Kardasians and decided to shake up the snowglobe to fuck with us.

Like will things be different for a while? After 9/11, some said comedy was over, sports were pointless, etc. Eventually, things got back to normal and culture got even more frivolous and self-involved in the years that followed.

 

Tell that to my co-worker who is spending her work-at-home down time creating and posting 5 or 6 TikTok videos a day.

 

Yep.

Ohio State announces academic plan for summer term

 

Sports may be pointless (as some contend, not me), but they sure as shit beat the other stuff we do when they're not around to watch in person or on TV.

 

It might. It's possible. Depends on how long the virus lasts and how long public health experts are almost solely in charge of the big-picture decision-making, and how long the bulk of the media - as defined by the editors and decision-makers of news organizations - has such a focused priority. I know enough news editors from past lives to know they're ODing on this right now and will for as long as public health says there's a threat. There is always another nursing home outbreak, the looming threat of an overwhelmed hospital, a desperate testimonial from a health care worker behind the wheel of their car.

The NFL appears to be the only league that doesn't much give a shit what the media thinks. (I guess the WWE counts.) But college presidents care deeply. And every other league will, too.

Nothing is more important than a vaccine, for literal reasons, but metaphorical ones, too. COVID-19 has given us license to believe the world is as awful and doomed as we long imagined, in our minds, it being. It will be hard to let go of panic, or anyone in media to even admit they've considered letting go of it.

The longer it lasts, the less sports has a chance.

 

Dabo needs to read that. We now know that there will be no students on campus in early August at Ohio State. That means — or it should mean — that there can be no football practice on campus as originally scheduled. And this ain’t Kent State.

 

I don't believe sports is doomed. I do believe that it will be the last thing allowed to reopen as the virus crisis wanes or is perceived to be waning. As society undergoes a staggered restart, some people who are fans, especially those paying the high freight costs to see sports in person, will discover other things they like to do before sports gets its restart.

 

Blame the messenger.
Do you really think colleges will give up on football revenue simply because the libruhl media tells them to? In other words, if public health experts say it is OK to resume but the libruhl media object, do you think schools will pick the media over the money?
I don’t.
Can you explain why newspaper editors, whose job includes budgetary matters, are giddy that sports are on hold when that suspension has obvious economic impact?
Can you explain how media supposition that sports are jeopardized is merely political in nature when colleges are unwilling and unable to commit to having students back on campus by September?

 

As the social isolation restrictions are lifted, what would you do first (assuming you have the money):

* go out to a bar/restaurant with friends?
* travel to visit family?
* enjoy the beach or other summertime outdoor activity?
* pay for tickets to attend a sporting event?

Sports is last on my list. And summer never has been a time of heavy sports-watching on TV, anyway.

If we get to the fall and football is impacted, I probably would miss that.

 

I would go play golf. A lot of golf. For the record, Trump had a conference call with Manfred, Goodell, Silver and Bettman this afternoon. Urged the NFL to open in September as scheduled. Silver (don't know if he was speaking for the group or himself) said they'd all be delighted to reopen as soon as given clearance by public health authorities. PS: At HIS daily press briefing, Gov. Newsom of Cal. was asked about Trump wanting sports to restart in August-September. "I don't anticipate that happening in my state," Newsom said.

 

Not sure about in the northeast, but here in the Northwest, quite a few golf courses are opening (albeit with COVID-19 limitations and restrictions).