I mean they could at least give Don Garber the respect he so surely wishes he deserved to spell his name correctly. Or is that a schtick? I really have no idea. I surmised a few years ago that hang floats these links he gleaned from Twittet (I am leaving this typo because I laughed when saw the name with t rather than the r.), and that is one reason why they are “news” to me. Similar enough to your Drudge Report link.
Despite appearing in the strangely not-defunct Deadspin, what was wrong with the article? You know, the substance of it?
If the #s are accurate, I think the author answered his own question - they are apprently not doing it for the money or greed as many seem to think. There are other reasons. What are they? Take your own guess. Maintain Relevance? Maybe players actually wanted to play & not miss a year? Maybe they felt the risk was manageable (I know many differ on that idea)? - To Hang's question maybe based on Doc's medical opinion it is a manageable risk and he OK'd it. He is an Ortho - not an infectious disease expert but he likely has a better medical understanding of what is going on that any of us. Everyone can second guess what MLS is trying pull off all they want. For me I'm just hoping it works out OK. I'm rooting for it to succeed. Why would I want to see a sport I enjoy fail at putting on live games? Are people rooting for Premier league to fail? Some of you are just insufferable - but that's a not new revelation - we've known and accepted that about you for years.
Can't speak for my fellow 'insufferables', but as more and more players test positive, and as players like Crew GK Matt Lampson express genuine concern for their own health and safety, I'm opposed to the tournament being played, first off, out of simple human decency, and second, because of my concern for the league's reputation should this turn into the enormous PR disaster I fear it might.
So clearly then you are of the mindset that the risk is too high. That players are in danger. And perhaps moreso than if they were home. I get the Lampson thing - he personally has higher risk and likely so do at least a few other players. But again I think the league, at least some players, and the supporting medical advisors think the risk is manageable. Perhaps they knew full well some would likely still contract the virus. And perhaps they aren't as concerned with implications on the athletes and their ability to deal with virus. That perhaps the impact o their health wasn't of grave concern. I completely understand both views. Shoot the medical community can't seem to agree on the actual severity of the condition. I've been following the docs at UPMC and they have been adamant that this a very manageable virus and the consequences are not as dire as others have suggested.
There are 0 cases from being in the bubble, not sure how that is unsafe or dangerous? The same guys complaining would be in more dangerous situations grocery shopping or eating out in their hometowns.
I love Major League Baseball as well. I am against MLB restarting as well. I don't want MLB to fail. I love bars. I love drinking martinis in bars. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea for indoor bars to open right now. I don't want bars to fail. I love music. I would love to be going to a show this summer. I don't think it's a good idea to hold concerts at this time. I don't want music or the artists to fail. My parents anniversary is later this month. I would love to be throwing a party with extended family and friends. In talking with my siblings about it we decided against that at the time. I feel comfortable speaking for my sisters in suggesting they do not wish my parents marriage to fail. Do I hope the MLS tournament works out? Absolutely. Do I think it's a good idea? No. Not given what we know of the situation in Orlando. And certainly not given what we don't know about the long range impact of the virus on those who have it. Everything I've read and everything I've heard from those in the medical profession speaks to the damage done to the lungs. That seems pretty important to an athlete! So maybe the league has increased "relevance" for a few days. Maybe that's worth it to some people. I've been a fan of the league for over 20 years. It's never really been relevant, and that hasn't stopped me from being a fan. So please stop with the insinuation that some are wishing for the league to fail. It's gross intellectual dishonesty on levels surprising even for this forum.
I see both sides of the argument here--yet Europe seems to be managing it ok with their leagues. I have not heard of many issues, outside of Dynamo Dresden. Mind you, I know part of the issue is travel (easier there without using airplanes), but...
The difference being mostly that the countries where sports have resumed seem to have generally controlled the spread of the virus in the general population already. That is not the case in the USA and especially in Florida at the moment.
But, today is the day. MLS returns tonight at 8pm barring some major catastrophe. Orlando v Miami in the kickoff match of the "MLS is Back (, Baby!) tournament at 8pm on ESPN. MLS is putting betting lines directly on their schedule now, not sure when that started: We're one of the biggest favorites in our opening match. I'm planning to watch tonight on delay after the fam goes to bed. Excited? No. Moderately interested? I guess. Will it be more entertaining than the Aussie Rules Football that I've been taking in for the past couple of weeks, I guess we'll see.
I think the biggest mistake MLS made was to have the tournament in Orlando. The women went to Utah. The NHL dropped Vegas like (I'll let Archer put a witty description here) after the COVID-19 cases spikes in Nevada and went to the safety of Canada. MLS went into the mouth of the lion.
Seems you might not be reading everything. I'd offer that you may want to look into what the UPMC docs have been saying. It's a bit different that the snippets the general media have been offering. Not quite so doom and gloom. Also why the intense focus on # of positive cases? It's almost irrelevant to compare daily #s because availability of testing has ramped up so drastically. Why is there little focus on seriousness/fatality of it? How many people are being hospitalized? In ICU? Those are things that to me if I should be afraid. Who's right? I have no effing idea. And I fully support every individual's personal concerns and value the various medical opinions. But for me, I'm not scared, I'm taking precautions (I'm tired of sitting in my basement all day but it's a good risk mitigator), and I have a hopeful and positive attitude about how things will ultimately play out. I'm most certainly in the camp of those that won't let this paralyze me and am not willing to let it destroy me financially, emotionally or physically. Even if it does the latter, so be it - it's been a good run. That's how I view life in general. I've been a risk taker my whole life and I'm always willing to accept the consequences. That said I don't ever want my actions to harm others. So again, I'm taking the recommended precautions of wearing a mask - without throwing a fit, using copious amt of hand sanitizer & clorox wipes, and keeping my distance from others when I do have to venture out. Not for my safety but for theirs.
But when MLS started figuring out how/where to do this, FL wasn't necessary a problem. Further I think they felt Disney was a good spot because it had been effectively shut down and therefore hopefully virus free. And it is a pretty well controlled environment with ease of restricted access. So what is happening elsewhere in FL may not be happening within the resort area. But with hotel employees coming an going from the flare up areas that can easily change - especially as park does open back up and outsiders get closer to the "bubble". What I'm continually saying is MLS (league, owners, & players) very likely thought it was all manageable. Aside from FCD and possibly Nashvegas it seems to be the case so far. They weighed the risk and were willing to take it. It just might blow up - but I'm hoping it doesn't.
I don't say this to in any way imply that COVID is like the flu. I only post it because I was wondering about whether there are unusual complications associated with influeza. And indeed there are: My point here is that we hear a lot about damage to the lungs; about children to develop Kawasaki Disease Shock Syndrome-like issues associated with COVID; about people who are sick for months, and no one really knows why; about how the disease might attack the heart as well as the lungs. And so on. And I'm sure all of the above is true. I just wonder if - just like influenza and, I'm sure, many other diseases - the complications that can happen due to COVID are getting a disproportionate level of attention now, because it's so new, the media likes to write about this kind of stuff, and people are scared. I mean, when's the last time anyone told you about the the risk of having a heart attack due to influenza?
With all due respect with my wife being a nurse in one of the hardest hit initial areas of the country, and still coming home each day exhausted, and having now seen 3 staff from her hospital die of Covid, I'm pretty comfortable saying that I am appropriately focused on the seriousness of the virus. And despite your ridiculously disrespectful insinuations in the previous post it's those concerns about the seriousness of the virus, not some anti-MLS or anti-Crew bias, that drives my concerns about the tournament and my wishes that it not be played. YMMV. Thank you for wearing a mask.
Yeah, I saw a discussion of the covid risk to children if all schools went to onsite teaching. It was mentioned that flu has killed 100 children age 15 or under so far this year in the US compared to 29 killed by covid.
Pretty widely known and accepted for a long time that most people who die from flu don't die from flu itself but rather the complications such as Pneumonia. Same holds true here and what much of the early debate was on. Did someone die from Corona virus or was it some other actual cause of death and Covid contributed? Hence a serious need to protect those who are most vulnerable but otherwise it just might not be that bad.
I actually have compiled data on a two week basis since late April. This data comes from covidtracking.org if you'd like to take a look at the numbers yourself. The total for the USA includes all states, DC and Puerto Rico (for personal reasons). Not all states report hospitalizations. Cases: April 27 - 981,960 May 11 - 1,341,011 (+37%) May 25 - 1,654,572 (+23%) June 8 - 1,952,123 (+18%) June 22 - 2,297,053 (+18%) July 6 - 2,927,954 (+27%) We were doing well in slowly managing it after the initial peak and now we've reversed the trend. Most of these new cases are younger people as the initial testing was limited to nursing homes, medical facilities and prisons in most states. Hospitalizations (not all states report): April 27 - 116,708 May 11 - 145,981 (+25%) May 25 - 189,915 (+30%) June 8 - 217,581 (+15%) June 22 - 233,099 (+7%) July 6 - 249,591 (+7%) Hospitalizations trail by some time after the increase in cases. I expect the percentage growth to go back into double digits in the next two weeks. Deaths (I'm not sure why there's a difference in numbers from Johns Hopkins - over 130,000 deaths - and this database which pulls directly from the state dashboards). April 27 - 50,343 May 11 - 75,095 (+49%) May 25 - 92,207 (+23%) June 8 - 104,774 (+14%) June 22 - 113,803 (+9%) July 6 - 122,906 (+8%) I expect a slight uptick in percentage growth of deaths over the next few weeks as ICU's become full in a few states but with now mostly younger people becoming infected, the death rate should remain comparatively low. Again, the death rate is not the only thing that matters as "recovered" patients of COVID-19 have indicated. It's nasty to go through it, it has lasting effects for many even after being declared cured, and no one knows what the health outlook is for these patients in the next years.
I think the biggest thing people forget when they talk about opening the schools for on-site classes is that it's not just about children. They're not there in a vacuum. There are teachers, maintenance staff, parent volunteers, lunch staff and bus drivers - all of them with a different set of risk factors. Quite a number of bus drivers that I've seen are retirees who enjoy this part time work.