Most of us have been WAITING for sports to resume to help us all let off some emotional steam from having to deal with Covid/Life non-stop for months now, and the perfect way to do that is sports. However, we knew as fans, we would not be allowed back in our favorite houses due to health and safety concerns of having, oh, I don't know, thousands of people crammed cheek to cheek all cheering, spitting, screaming, fighting, eating, touching, hugging, and the like in tight quarters.
Let's hear the NBA's plan to keep their players safe
After several corona virus tests marked negative, players will depart from their normal human lives to a checkpoint where they will be temp scanned, and transported on a plane with masks sat six feet apart to what will be known as "The Bubble." Once in the bubble, aka Disney Florida, players will not be able to have contact with anyone outside of the bubble for the duration of the season (roughly 3 months or less depending on how well they play). No family. No friends. No visitors. NO ONE. They will quarantine in their rooms (one player per room) for a total of 48 hours where food will be served to them.
After this period, they must then begin a regimen of doctor/nurse administered corona virus testing daily and self reporting their vitals to an app which will not allow them further congress if it is not done in a timely manner. They must wear a room band, that is tied to their health/app results that will not allow them access to the buildings or their hotel room at all if they test positive or do not self report their daily health reports.
They must wear face masks any time they are not eating (food will only be prepared and served from Disney facilities) or playing basketball anywhere on campus. If a player needs to leave for a family emergency, they must then be quarantined for 10 full days, getting tested all the while, before they will be allowed contact with other persons in the Bubble. During practice, meetings, and official games, players and staff with masks, on the sidelines will be sat 6 feet apart and locker room lockers will also be placed 6 feet apart from other players.
Since the bubble took effect, of 322 players, 2 tested positive in the bubble, but never made it out of quarantine before being sent home to self-isolate.
And now for the MLB's corona virus plans
Here in lies the potentially fatal flaw in baseballs corona virus protocols. Unlike the NBA, there is no bubble and no one central location to play the sport for teams, so teams are having to go state to state, stadium to stadium, sometimes under different local CDC health guidelines in regards to Corona leaving each team open to picking up infection anywhere they go.
The players are being tested frequently just like the NBA players, but they are also interacting with a lot more hotel staff, club attendees, drivers, medical staff, etc---anyone along the way that can infect them. Masks are optional for players during game play, however, because of all outside interaction, this means that players can easily slide into a base, stand up, infect player one, and on and on because there is no essential quarantine from the outside world bringing the virus in.
We are currently only a few days into the shortened season, and 13 players on one team alone have tested positive! forcing cancellations and players to opt out of game play this season. The MLB has so far not cancelled the season but players understandably are starting to worry whether a) they'll ever finish the season and b)if the MLB truly cares about their safety.
So what do you think? Would you play? Which sport would you feel more comfortable following their safety protocols? Do you think the NBA and/or MLB season will make it to the end successfully? Thoughts?
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