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

If teams were actually traveling still, and not just playing on essentially neutral courts, it would be a fascinating case study for the "effect" of a crowd. From some quick Google searching, 538 once looked at home regular season and playoff game advantages in various sports - Regular season, it ranges from 4 to 10 percent for the various sports, vs. 4 to 14 percent for the playoffs. The fact that it is lowest in the MLB and NHL suggests to me that really, crowd noises effects officials - pushing them to make or not make a call - way more than it effects players.

 

Some years ago I read a sports science paper examining Premier League home field advantage and that is exactly the conclusion it drew.

 

I would say in baseball, where "home" mean "we hit last," home field advantage is most easy to measure.

 

In hockey, it's the home team that gets the last line change to rebut anything the visiting coach does, so that's a legit advantage, though it doesn't always translate into success for the home team.

 

OK, so between the two of us we have the rhythm section of the band set. I figure guitar players are a dime a dozen — there’s probably 8 SJ guitarists looking at this post right this very second — and we can probably find a keyboard player here too, but do you think we have enough ex-marching band geeks on this board to get a horn section going?

 

As a whole, parents have done a really shitty job of rounding out neighborhood rock bands. Lots of kids learn to play guitars, but there aren't nearly enough kids playing the drums and the bass at an early age.

 

Damn, I hope so. I would have liked to try the trumpet if I wasn't hooked on drums. Two of my best friends play trumpet and trombone.

 

I mean, I wasn’t playing bass early … but I have heard this story which may be apocryphal.

Kid starts taking bass lessons when he’s 14 years old. Maybe he struggled with fretting a narrow six-string fretboard, maybe it just wasn’t for him. But I digress …

First week he goes to his lessons on Tuesday and Thursday, then practices on his own time like he’s supposed to.
Second week he goes to his lessons on Tuesday and Thursday, then practices on his own time like he’s supposed to.
Third week he goes to his lesson on Tuesday and Thursday, then practices on his own time like he’s supposed to.

Lessons are going well, teacher is impressed with the kid’s progress, &c.

Fourth week the kid doesn’t show up on Tuesday. Then he doesn’t show up on Thursday. Bass teacher calls the kid on Friday, wants to know why he skipped his lessons and lectures him about the importance of discipline. Says the kid: “Last Friday I got asked to be in a band and on Monday I got hired as a session player. On Tuesday I was practicing with the band, and on Wednesday and Thursday I was working a recording session at a studio downtown. On Saturday my band has an afternoon gig and I think the guys I worked with Thursday need a bassist for their gig Saturday night, and I have another recording session Sunday night.”

LESSON: There just ain’t enough decent bassists to go around.

 

We started my 9-year-old on drums this year. He was really interested in it and demonstrated the ability to keep a beat.

I figure 1) Neighborhood band can always use a drummer and 2) The kids who get to play the drums when 7th-Grade Band Class starts are the kids who already know how to play the drums.

He's really loving it. For his birthday, we're probably going to get him a bass drum and a high hat to go with the snare we started him on.


For my own part, I am a low-level campfire guitarist. Just like Guitar George, I know all the chords ...

 

Which is weird, because the NHL has had a ton of No. 1 seeds lose in the first round.

 

The fact that it is lowest in the MLB and NHL suggests to me that really, crowd noises effects officials - pushing them to make or not make a call - way more than it effects players.

Also, a pitcher and a goalie have a much larger effect on the outcome of a game, no matter where it's played, than any one individual in football and basketball, even a quarterback.

 

A 50-game season isn't going to tell us who's the best. I hardly see the point of it.