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Registered: ‎12-16-2013

Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

The NBA has everyone living in a "bubble" in Orlando.  Players can leave the bubble for an extenuating circumstance, but need to quarantine for several days when they return. There have been no COVID cases since they entered the bubble.  

Baseball on the other hand is a different story.  Teams are traveling to play and given more freedom.  Several teams are canceling games because of COVID outbreaks.  

I wish that we could all develop a "bubble" mentality for just a short time.  I think it would make a world of difference.  

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus


@Linmo wrote:

The NBA has everyone living in a "bubble" in Orlando.  Players can leave the bubble for an extenuating circumstance, but need to quarantine for several days when they return. There have been no COVID cases since they entered the bubble.  

Baseball on the other hand is a different story.  Teams are traveling to play and given more freedom.  Several teams are canceling games because of COVID outbreaks.  

I wish that we could all develop a "bubble" mentality for just a short time.  I think it would make a world of difference.  


@Linmo In a perfect world, but people have to work, educate their kids, sometimes travel for work or for family matters.

 

It simply can't be done. Not everybody can afford to not work, to lose a business, etc.  And for some risk groups, it actually is not as huge a risk as other more susceptible people. And some people choose to accept the risk. 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

The bubble concept works for teams with small rosters, but for baseball and football the roster sizes make it impractical. 

 

Viruses have to run their course. In a typical flu season 25 million Americans get the flu despite widespread use of flu vaccines. We're at about 4.75 million Americans who are known to have gotten Covid-19. That's out of about 330 million Americans. The H1N1 virus in 2009 infected about 60 million Americans. The Covid-19 virus has already mutated to a weaker version called G. That's a good omen. Viruses tend to evolve and get weaker and weaker before petering out. 

 

Everyone going into a bubble for weeks/months is impossible. Things happen. If you were in a bubble and your  refrigerator broke, you'd have to break your bubble to get it repaired or replaced. If you fell and broke a bone you'd have to break your bubble to get treatment. Every time a single person broke their bubble the whole process would have to start anew just in case they got infected while outside their bubble. And that would have to occur worldwide. 

 

If you could go back to January and February and ask the experts what they would say if there were only 4.75 million cases by early August, they'd have likely said it was an absurdly optimistic number. Totally unrealistic. (They were projecting 2.2 million deaths back then.) In our best flu year in the last ten we had over nine million cases and we average over 25 million cases of the flu a year. For an airborne virus that's easily spread, only 4.75 million people having it six, seven months in, would be a miracle. But, that's where we are. By and large people are doing the right things and this is as under control as it's possible for it to be. It's just got to run its course and then things will settle back down. 

 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

[ Edited ]

@gardenman According to the CDC, the flu has hospitalized between 140,000 and 810,000 annually since 2010 and has killed between 12,000 and 61,000 per year since that time.  Hospitalizations from COVID so far this year are about 500,000 so not that far off from a flu season, but deaths are at 158,000 right now.  

I hope you're right that it is becoming less potent.  Doctors also seem to have refined the treatment methods so less are dying.  

I chuckled when I read your comment about a refrigerator breaking down and having to leave the bubble.  My refrigerator has not been working for longer than 2 weeks and we're doing fine.  The repair person came today (masks on and distancing) and said they had to order new parts which will mean another couple of weeks at least without the fridge.  At least the freezer is working.   Folks who lose power or access to other services from natural disasters often times have to survive longer than that.

 

@Sooner I think the bubble/pod, whatever you want to call it, would work if only first responders and hospital workers were required to work and got hazard pay for it.  Everyone else would get a paid 2 week vacation courtesy of our government.   The other caveat is that these folks on "vacation" would need to agree to not gather outside of their immediate household.  I do think that many people do not take the virus seriously enough to do that.  If it gets to the point where everyone knows someone who has had serious problems or died from it, maybe that will change.  

 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

Locking down didn't stop this virus. Nothing is going to stop it. It will run it's course. We may get better treatments, we may get a vaccine that MIGHT have some level of efficacy, but won't eradicate it. 

 

The world has to turn, and life has to go on. We cannot all lock down for months, even if it would work. People expect their electric to come on every day all day. They expect to have emergency personnel and hospitals at the ready.They expect food on the grocery shelves from farms, to processing plants to shelves to their car and homes. They expect to order from here or Amazon or Walmart and have it delivered to the door. They expect an endless supply of whatever goods they feel they need or want to be manufactured and at the ready.

 

All that cannot happen in a bubble. 

 

People have to earn a living.  They have to pay the rent or house payment. They have to pay the car payment, the utilities, buy the food, keep the kids in shoes and clothing.Businesses are already dying from restricted type business models to adapt to the virus. What are those owners and employees going to do?

 

The government is trillions of dollars in debt, so who is going to pay for everyone to stay home? 

 

We can slow it, but every time we open up, it will spread again. 

 

We better just get used to the fact that this isn't going anywhere, at least in totality. It's going to be a part of life, maybe forever, but at least for the long term. 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus


@Mominohio wrote:

Locking down didn't stop this virus. Nothing is going to stop it. It will run it's course. We may get better treatments, we may get a vaccine that MIGHT have some level of efficacy, but won't eradicate it. 

 

The world has to turn, and life has to go on. We cannot all lock down for months, even if it would work. People expect their electric to come on every day all day. They expect to have emergency personnel and hospitals at the ready.They expect food on the grocery shelves from farms, to processing plants to shelves to their car and homes. They expect to order from here or Amazon or Walmart and have it delivered to the door. They expect an endless supply of whatever goods they feel they need or want to be manufactured and at the ready.

 

All that cannot happen in a bubble. 

 

People have to earn a living.  They have to pay the rent or house payment. They have to pay the car payment, the utilities, buy the food, keep the kids in shoes and clothing.Businesses are already dying from restricted type business models to adapt to the virus. What are those owners and employees going to do?

 

The government is trillions of dollars in debt, so who is going to pay for everyone to stay home? 

 

We can slow it, but every time we open up, it will spread again. 

 

We better just get used to the fact that this isn't going anywhere, at least in totality. It's going to be a part of life, maybe forever, but at least for the long term. 


Sometimes I think that maybe the bandaid should just be ripped off.

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus


@gardenman wrote:

The bubble concept works for teams with small rosters, but for baseball and football the roster sizes make it impractical. 

 

Viruses have to run their course. In a typical flu season 25 million Americans get the flu despite widespread use of flu vaccines. We're at about 4.75 million Americans who are known to have gotten Covid-19. That's out of about 330 million Americans. The H1N1 virus in 2009 infected about 60 million Americans. The Covid-19 virus has already mutated to a weaker version called G. That's a good omen. Viruses tend to evolve and get weaker and weaker before petering out. 

 

Everyone going into a bubble for weeks/months is impossible. Things happen. If you were in a bubble and your  refrigerator broke, you'd have to break your bubble to get it repaired or replaced. If you fell and broke a bone you'd have to break your bubble to get treatment. Every time a single person broke their bubble the whole process would have to start anew just in case they got infected while outside their bubble. And that would have to occur worldwide. 

 

If you could go back to January and February and ask the experts what they would say if there were only 4.75 million cases by early August, they'd have likely said it was an absurdly optimistic number. Totally unrealistic. (They were projecting 2.2 million deaths back then.) In our best flu year in the last ten we had over nine million cases and we average over 25 million cases of the flu a year. For an airborne virus that's easily spread, only 4.75 million people having it six, seven months in, would be a miracle. But, that's where we are. By and large people are doing the right things and this is as under control as it's possible for it to be. It's just got to run its course and then things will settle back down. 

 


This is NOT like the flu in any way, shape, or form, as reliable health officials will tell you, as those on the frontline will tell you.

 

This is not yet under control. And no, we cannot rely on its just running its course. That could be catastrophic.

 

We are working on a vaccine and on therapeutics. But our main approach should have been and still should be an actual unified strategy that would have limited and could limit the suffering and the deaths.


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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

Well those of you who are demanding the right to put everyone at risk, you're getting your wish. Masks visibly optional and no social distancing at the first day of school in GA. According to ya'll, this is going to turn out just fine.

 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus

Some people will just never give up the flu thing. I'm not going to tell that 17 year old boy in GA who lost both his parents in a week that this virus just has to "run it's course". Nope.

 

Baseball does not have more freedom, they are not supposed to leave their hotel rooms and there are rules. Derek Jeter denies it, but Marlins  players allegedly went to a strip club. And Cardinals players allegedly went to a casino. The positives on the Phillies, I don't know what caused that. I believe they did play the Marlins.

 

The rest of baseball is doing well right now. 

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Re: Just Look at the Way that Different Sports Leagues are Handling the Virus


@Linmo wrote:

The NBA has everyone living in a "bubble" in Orlando.  Players can leave the bubble for an extenuating circumstance, but need to quarantine for several days when they return. There have been no COVID cases since they entered the bubble.  

Baseball on the other hand is a different story.  Teams are traveling to play and given more freedom.  Several teams are canceling games because of COVID outbreaks.  

I wish that we could all develop a "bubble" mentality for just a short time.  I think it would make a world of difference.  


I certainly don’t know what the answers are, but I do have a lot of questions. To me, major sports venues are not important to me at this time, and while the wealthy will be okay, I worry about the men and women who rely on working 40 hrs a week. They are the ones who may be living paycheck to paycheck, with bills to pay and little mouths to feed. 

It may be easy if one is retired or already wealthy to look at people and say stay home. For some it’s not that easy. What about the people who are not “essential” workers? They will still have to pay their bills and feed their families. 

I am not talking about people who are gathering in large groups for whatever reason, I am only worried about people who need to work and take care of their families. One way of dealing with this virus will work for some, but not for everyone. If one can stay home and order everything to come to their door, that’s great, but like I said, that’s not what all of us can do. 

I work in the public school system and I hear many people say that school can and should be done virtually. Again, that may work for some but not for everyone. There are a lot of places in this country that still have no cell service and really slow or no internet. I do worry about my job as I’m not a teacher. Drawing unemployment will not pay my bills, so I am concerned. I just try to do what I’m ask and supposed to do and will wait to see what happens in the next few weeks. 

I do feel that people who are very well off can’t really understand that not everyone has bank accounts with millions. Like I said, I’m not worrried about sports and whether they cancel the season. I am worried about the little man though. I don’t know what the answers are, I just have to live one day at a time. My hope is that we be more kind to our fellow man. 🙂