Yesterdays Teleconference

[qcbandits]

Actually I'm not the one suggesting it. I'm discussing the plans being presented to the leaders of the American sports leagues. And I refuse to get drawn into ur bs today... We've had a legit sports conversation today on this topic unlike what you did. So welcome to my ignore list

[qcbandits]

https://sports.yahoo.com/premier-lea...222213175.html

Premier league reportedly starting up in June

[CBeisbol]

It's quite telling that the people who are least open to information that they don't want to hear seem to hold similar opinions on certain subjects

[thehef]

I think that what will ultimately sink any plan that involves quarantining athletes in order to put on a tournament or resume a season is this: If a quarantine is needed and we're not yet ready to fill stadiums, ballparks, and arenas with fans, then that means we're not fully past the pandemic. And in that scenario I predict that most players are not going to want to leave their families to go into quarantine and/or possibly put themselves in danger of contracting the virus. They will want to stay at home like the rest of (the smart ones of) us.

[qcbandits]

Originally Posted by thehef

I think that what will ultimately sink any plan that involves quarantining athletes in order to put on a tournament or resume a season is this: If a quarantine is needed and we're not yet ready to fill stadiums, ballparks, and arenas with fans, then that means we're not fully past the pandemic. And in that scenario I predict that most players are not going to want to leave their families to go into quarantine and/or possibly put themselves in danger of contracting the virus. They will want to stay at home like the rest of (the smart ones of) us.

I don't know how that will work itself out... It was a different kind of scary world for the sports world after 9/11 but the athletes stepped up bc they knew the country needed them to step up and bring some normalcy back

[thehef]

Originally Posted by qcbandits

I don't know how that will work itself out... It was a different kind of scary world for the sports world after 9/11 but the athletes stepped up bc they knew the country needed them to step up and bring some normalcy back

Very true. But it's a different enemy, and a different world in many respects.

[qcbandits]

I totally agree and I've said previously I do think this would be easier for the NBA to pull off since it would be the playoffs for them and more likely to get players involved

[Brad K]

Sports lead the way in realizing the problem and stopping activity. Sports acted against its own financial interest in stopping games. While at the same time the government which should have been at the front leading the people was saying no big deal, just go along as normal blah blah blah.

Sports DID NOT go to the government and ask to start playing again, even though sports is incurring significant financial losses. Instead the government went to sports to encourage sports to reopen. The same government that tried to say none of this was a big deal when it knew better. Or, in the case of some inept people, should have known better.

So who do you trust? Sports, which is willing to take big financial losses through a view its too dangerous to play? Or government which repeatedly and consistently told us there was little or no danger when it wasn't true.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by qcbandits

Actually I'm not the one suggesting it. I'm discussing the plans being presented to the leaders of the American sports leagues. And I refuse to get drawn into ur bs today... We've had a legit sports conversation today on this topic unlike what you did. So welcome to my ignore list

The whole thread from yesterday was deleted. Not just our argument posts. The whole thing. Meaning everything you posted before I participated, from your opening post, was inappropriate.

However, if you put everyone who disagrees with you here on ignore, you're not going to have much to read. So apparently I was selected becauseI am the most effective of your opponents. Thank you.

[slic1149]

FWIW, and in this case it may not be worth much. I just watched Wrestlemania, and I can say with certainty, the wrestling was great, but there wasn't a heck of a lot of mania involved. Sports in an empty stadium is a poor substitute for waiting until it is safe to play in front of fans.

[qcbandits]

Originally Posted by slic1149

FWIW, and in this case it may not be worth much. I just watched Wrestlemania, and I can say with certainty, the wrestling was great, but there wasn't a heck of a lot of mania involved. Sports in an empty stadium is a poor substitute for waiting until it is safe to play in front of fans.

I'd actually heard a lot of good things about wrestlemania..
I'm going to be very interested in seeing the buy rates when they get announced

[qcbandits]

And even tho I don't follow soccer at all... Going to be interested in seeing if the Premier league does in fact star up again in June

Not to even mention, you've got some college in Washington state saying the US peak will be coming up in about 12 days. I haven't read enough on their theory to have any confidence in that but it would definitely be nice if that was true

[slic1149]

Originally Posted by qcbandits

I'd actually heard a lot of good things about wrestlemania..
I'm going to be very interested in seeing the buy rates when they get announced

Under the circumstances they did a great job. OTOH, the circumstances sucked.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Brad K

The whole thread from yesterday was deleted. Not just our argument posts. The whole thing. Meaning everything you posted before I participated, from your opening post, was inappropriate.

However, if you put everyone who disagrees with you here on ignore, you're not going to have much to read. So apparently I was selected becauseI am the most effective of your opponents. Thank you.

It wasn’t deleted, it was moved to OT Debates, aka the kiddie board.

[ohiodevil]

Originally Posted by slic1149

Under the circumstances they did a great job. OTOH, the circumstances sucked.

I 100% agree. I was very skeptical of how it was going to go off but even taped and mostly in the empty arena, the show was very entertaining. It was missing a lot because there were no fans there to get reactions from, but all the wrestlers did an awesome job. I felt the Undertaker/Styles match was fun even though it was like watching a movie, one of my buddies called it the Undertaker Lifetime Special. And the Firefly Funhouse was great, the evolution of Cena and all the digs on both his and Wyatt's old characters was great, we were all laughing out loud. I felt bad for both Stroman and McIntyre for not really getting their "Wrestlemania Moment" because there were no fans there to help the celebration, but like you said they did a great job under these circumstances.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by qcbandits

If sports are played in what amounts to a quarantine bubble, the risk becomes negligible and the reward could be incredible

Who's rewarded? They'd be like gladiators. They'd get in the arena and play their game, then back into the cages until it's time again? What athletes would want to do that?

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Who's rewarded? They'd be like gladiators. They'd get in the arena and play their game, then back into the cages until it's time again? What athletes would want to do that?

But they'd get PAID. That makes it all better! And I needs me baseballs!

[CBeisbol]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Who's rewarded? They'd be like gladiators. They'd get in the arena and play their game, then back into the cages until it's time again? What athletes would want to do that?

Right

As I said earlier

All the fans at home bored out of their minds in quarantine are so eager for athletes to go into a stricter quarantine so they, the fans, can be (are you not) entertained.

[actionjackson]

I am absolutely stunned that a thread like this exists. I understand that we're all missing our sports and entertainment, but c'mon people!

Canada and the U.S. are nowhere near testing all of their citizens. In fact, if I had to guess, I would say possibly 25% of their citizens may have been tested, and that figure might be too high.

A vaccine for the disease is nowhere in sight. PPE is running short all over the world. Canada makes the materials for the N-95 mask, and 3-M manufactures the actual masks themselves in the U.S., and the two countries can't figure out how to divvy them up properly. Ventilators are running short. Pretty sure hospital beds are running short. Entire hospitals are being converted into COVID-19 only hospitals, as is the navy hospital in New York.

Doctors and nurses are exhausted. Hospitals are way overcrowded. Police, fire, ambulance, and the paramedics in those ambulances are stretched to the limit, and all are at great risk for getting sick, which would put a further strain on the system. I see where a hospital has set up in Central Park. You've got navy ship hospitals in L.A. and New York (and maybe more). Convention centres in large urban centres are being converted into hospitals, possibly here in Toronto as well, I'm not sure. I saw on TV that the army was putting up a field hospital in my city (Toronto). Now it's starting to hit rural communities on both sides of the border. Those rural communities have neither the ICU beds, nor the supplies and staff to handle any kind of outbreak, and if there's one thing this illness has demonstrated, it's that outbreaks can happen anywhere. It doesn't care if it's goddamn inconvenient for your little community to get slammed with it all at once, it's just looking for as many hosts as possible to spread to.

It's like Crash Davis says in the mound visit scene from the 1988 classic "Bull Durham"..."We're dealing with a lot of sh!t here!". I've heard that South Korea and Hong Kong (and perhaps other countries that were hit first) have seen an increase in cases, after lifting the strict measures too early. The lesson from that is that you'd better be goddamned sure that this thing is gone before you start up again, and when you do start up, it'd be better to do it slowly rather than all at once. Binary decision making will not work with this thing. You can't go from a complete shutdown to business as usual on a dime. You're practically guaranteeing a return, and that return could be more virulent than the first wave.

Given all that, we're demanding that athletes get back to playing sports (which are games people...games...not life...games) post haste, tout de suite, because some of us are bored, and can't find other things to do while we wait? Seriously? We're asking athletes to put themselves in harm's way, which also affects their families, and basically the lives of every citizen if this pandemic gets cranked up again? I'm quite sure that the doctors, nurses, hospital cleaning, and other staff, police, firemen, paramedics etc on the front lines would like to punch anyone that holds this view right between the eyes, and I wouldn't blame them if they did. In fact, I might join them. They're dying on their feet exhausted, and you're asking them for more? This is the height of selfishness and brazen entitlement. Suck it up buttercups.

You just got OOTP21. FHM is out there. If you haven't got them, put some money in Markus' pockets, and get creating your universes. Go for a walk, but maintain that six foot distance at all costs. Go get groceries, which has become quite the adventure in case you haven't noticed. There are tons of TV shows and movies out there, and there is no way you've watched all of the good ones, let alone the trashy guilty pleasures that you know you can't help watching. Catch up on the good ones that you missed the first time around. If you enjoy gardening, do that. If you like working around the house, or tinkering in the garage, go for it. Maybe there's a small way you can help people that are in need out, without putting your health or their health at risk. Instead of focusing on how pissed you are about the lack of sports and entertainment going on right now, focus on how goddamned lucky you are that you're not dealing with the illness, or how goddamned lucky you are that you live in a part of the world that actually has resources and infrastructure. Think about those that are dealing with it. Hell, if you're dealing with it, I'll put you in my thoughts. But for goodness sake, stop demanding things that may worsen this crisis if they're done too soon because you're bleepin' bored! "A dull mind gets bored easily. A curious mind expands forever." - Maxime Lagace

I know for a fact that the population of dull minds on these boards is extremely low because dull minds do not gravitate towards OOTP. Use those curious minds of yours, with the knowledge that sports will not be gone forever. They're only gone for now. Please. Please. Please. Have some perspective.

Lives are at stake here. Like my near 90 year old mother, and my 92 year old aunt, stuck in their apartments in their long term care homes. My mom's at her breaking point because she can't get out for groceries, and has to rely on the home to provide her meals. She has no memory whatsoever, so she often gets missed because she has to remember to fill out the menu to have a tray brought up to her. She has to rely on me (I don't have a car, and it's not walkable, and public transit and taxis/uber aren't the most safe, sanitary options right now) or one of her friends (with cars, but who are all getting up there in age) to get her groceries, and bring them to a dropoff point at one of the entrances of the home. My aunt is stuck in quarantine, climbing the walls. I'm absolutely goddamned sure that you can think of people you know and love, that are in the same boat. Please show some patience for their sakes, and the sake of individuals in high risk categories. It's an oft repeated cliche right now, but it's true. We'll get through this. /end of rant

[RchW]

Well said!