NEWSLETTER
One of the things that makes talking about the pandemic so difficult is that, because of the huge volume of unknowns, you can pretty much find news and data to make you feel any kind of way at any given time. Want to feel positive and hopeful? There are trends and heartwarming stories for that! Want to feel worried and angry? There are decisions and research for that!
I have to keep reminding myself of this reality so that I don’t let myself go too far down wormholes in one direction or the other. I’m sure a lot of us are constantly doing that flipping back and forth between optimism and despair. That alone is having a negative impact on my psyche, let alone the times I settle into the despair half …
Arizona Opening Up to Professional Sports
Although Arizona is projected to have peaked in infections somewhere around a week or two ago, its actual confirmed infections continue to rise significantly (though much of that is likely attributable to dramatically increased testing in the month of May). Like I said in the intro, you can play with that information mentally to take you wherever you want to go.
In any case, against that backdrop, Arizona has taken the particularly aggressive posture of opening virtually everything earlier this week, and they will continue that process this weekend, permitting professional sports to resume operating in the state.
Obviously that is a significant news item for Major League Baseball, for which half of its teams have training facilities in the state. If MLB’s plan goes through, it may very well need those facilities open for a number of teams as soon as mid-June.
Going further than that, though: by state permission now, those teams – which includes the Cubs in Mesa – could resume training activities this weekend, subject to the state’s guidance for such facilities. (Ditto for teams in Florida, whose Governor is extremely wide open for sports to come to his state whenever they want.)
HOWEVER, the reality of MLB teams having players train at their facilities is going to be guided by league decisions, not just the state’s permission. Spring Training facilities are currently closed in parallel with the CDC’s ban on large gatherings (the original edict also expires this weekend), and permission on allowing players to train at team facilities is going to have to come from MLB, in coordination with state and national health officials. That is to say, just because Arizona has deemed it all right doesn’t mean that Cubs players can head down to Arizona to start doing work on their own.
Even as MLB and the players negotiate a resumption plan for the season, there are certainly going to be a number of players who would prefer to do their own training work at a team facility if at all possible (we’ve seen NBA teams open up facilities to individual work where states permit). I wonder, then, if we are soon going to hear guidance from the league about how teams can permit players to train in Arizona and Florida, if they don’t have access to their own training facilities. You can’t necessarily let players/teams get willy-nilly about that stuff just because a state opened things up. Player safety – not only from COVID-19, but also from training injuries – needs to be considered before the doors open up.
Meanwhile, eventually, Arizona’s openness may impact actual gameplay, as areas of California – for one example – are increasingly hinting that they will not be open for things like fan-free sporting activities for several more months. That is to say, if there is a season, a team like the Dodgers might find its “home” park at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.
Governor Walks It Back
It seems Illinois’s governor heard very quickly about how off-base his comments were about players “holding out” for more money:
Gov. J.B. Pritzker apologizes for his criticism of MLB players yesterday regarding labor talks.
"I absolutely support that right, and I should have made that more clear," Pritzker says of players' ability to bargain in labor talks.— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) May 13, 2020
It’s also worth a reminder of what this looks like from the players’ side. They really are being asked to risk a lot physically in this moment, yet they’re being asked to share in the revenue loss:
#Rays Snell says he's it's not worth risking his life to play this season for reduced pay, and shares other thoughts during a Twitch session on why MLB's plan to start the season is not a good idea https://t.co/wIDwx109jg— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 14, 2020
Baseball in Asia
Taiwan’s progress in incorporating fans at games takes its next step forward:
#CPBL ANNOUNCEMENT:
Our proposal to increase fans access to stadiums has been approved! Starting this Friday (May 15th), we can allow up to 2000 fans into the stadiums!
Stadiums will be selling food such as bentos. And family members can sit next to each other.#CPBLwithFans pic.twitter.com/AgIDgsCC9X— CPBL 中華職棒 (@CPBL) May 14, 2020
College Sports Perspective
Useful to consider a range of perspectives. I don’t know that I agree with all of this, but there are elements that got me thinking a little more deeply on the discourse surrounding athletics (and about the financial needs of universities, and those university operations’ importance in the lives of so many young people). Mostly, I agree that we have to figure out a way to have these conversations openly without ripping each other to shreds:
First and foremost, a resumption of sports would be huge for our national psyche. It will give us some semblance of normalcy. Even though we can't go to the games, their return to our TV screens would be a major boost to national morale. Which we need!— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) May 13, 2020
I hope we can give some more latitude to the leaders in college sports as well. They are afraid to say anything because they don't want to be painted incorrectly as valuing money over player safety. It's not a binary choice. They/we want both. Safety first!— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) May 13, 2020
I'm not saying it's easy. Frankly I'm skeptical it can be done. But if testing/tracing/treatment protocols are in place, then colleges should have fb games without fans and without other students on campus. Not to mention you can't play a fb game on Zoom.— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) May 13, 2020
And I don't want colleges to be boxed in and have to say that unless other students are on campus, the games can't/shouldn't happen. I don't believe that, and neither do they. I want them to be able to say what they believe and discuss how it might work. -30-— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) May 13, 2020
NFL Staying Virtual
No huge surprise here:
NFL informed teams today that its virtual offseason now will be extended through end of May, per source. Initially, the virtual offseason went through May 15th, now through end of May.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2020
Team OTAs typically begin in late May, with minicamps in June. The Bears have already been conducting the start to their offseason program virtually, and that is likely to continue on into June. Comments from the State of Illinois have suggested it is possible that training-type activities could take place in June if the Northeast Region of Illinois enters into the next phase of its reopening (non-contact drills, I’d guess), but it seems far from certain at this point. The NFL is going to have to deal with, and figure out, the possibility that some teams will be able to begin training locally in the coming weeks and other teams will not.
Speaking of virtual NFL:
Joe Buck Says Fox Sports Will Pipe in Fake Crowd Noise and Put Virtual Fans in the Stands for Broadcasts https://t.co/3qLFg4Rxmb— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) May 14, 2020
