Of course there is more “bring sports back” coverage than there are investigative pieces like USA Today’s expose on teams not following through to pay stadium employees. The sports media business is facing an existential threat. Broadcasters and leagues are in it together.
You are unlikely to see a debate show featuring several people who are against playing games, one taking a practical and another an ethical angle. The existence of those shows, broadcasters and sections is predicated on getting sports back as soon as possible.
The evidence coming out of South Korea and China on transmission is devastating for indoor sports and the concept of spectators. And the same for contact sports. It is also bad for a living arrangement like a baseball quarantine hotel. There is far less room for optimism.
If you have an NFL offensive line and defensive line breathing at each other for two hours, it will transmit virus. Think of those old NFL Films tapes of cold weather games and the player breath hanging in the air.
Given the level of effort it takes to play a pro game, masks would have to be radically engineered to allow maximum flow of air in, but limited droplet transfer out. Is that innovation happening? Would it even be ethical to devote the rest volume to athletes over symptomatics?
The discussion of sports during a pandemic is an ethical one in addition to people wanting sports back. We want a lot of things back. But how can we do that responsibly and without further taxing society during a crisis? The answer might be no, or no for now.
We need to see how these leagues abroad handle it, understanding that they are ramping up in a region where there is far less transmission in the wild. Any US league would be bringing in players from all over the country. Asymptomatic transmission is a potentially chaotic factor.
Also, is it responsible to model behavior at a time when the rest of us can’t participate. You’d have medically privileged athletes tackling and physically behaving in a way we just can’t. No kids on fields, hoops bricked on playgrounds, but the pros get a pass. It’s a debate.
In one way, it could be a reminder of what we can do physically, and what we can do again. On the other hand, it might make people think it’s ok to do that themselves and spark another outbreak.
I do worry it’s difficult to have this debate because so many jobs are dependent on having games and sports in some way. And I don’t want colleagues to lose jobs, and we know sports will be back. But the discussion of when can’t be forced by economics over health/ethics.
You can follow @janesports.
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