March Madness and Covid-19

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Don't know how to link tweets but Shams Charania tweeted the the NBA sent a memo to all teams saying they should prepare to play games without fans in attendance
 
Max Power said:
Don't know how to link tweets but Shams Charania tweeted the the NBA sent a memo to all teams saying they should prepare to play games without fans in attendance
Click to expand...

His tweets are in the bleacher report article linked in post #59 above.
 
Max Power said:
Don't know how to link tweets but Shams Charania tweeted the the NBA sent a memo to all teams saying they should prepare to play games without fans in attendance
Click to expand...

Those tweets are in the bleacher report article linked in post #59 above.
 
I think the NBA could reasonably pull it off for a short period of time. It’s March, it’s the dog days of the season... they need these games to be played to keep the integrity of the season intact, but none of these games are SO important that you can’t get by w/o fans. Teams travel on private/charter, so they can get around without much exposure. And I am sure the teams are ensuring hotel rooms are throughly blasted before checking in. So the teams themselves can actually travel in relative safety— especially if the players don’t venture out much. What isn’t clear in the article is if broadcasts would continue. I would hope so. If not, then they should probably just cancel. Assuming the games would be aired, that could actually be a boom for the league. People would watch for the novelty of it plus it also likely means more and more people are staying home and looking for things to do/watch.

NCAA Tourney is different. No fans in stands just wouldn’t seem right. And travel is more difficult for the teams. But there would be immense pressure to get the games played as it is a huge TV and gambling event.
 
The NCAA tourney should be played without ku. It’s only fair.
 
OUSKINS said:
My take on this:

1. The level of misinformation and fact vs. fiction on this thing is insane. I am not an expert in any sense and only trying to listen to the various "experts" and apply basic logic. And depending on which "expert" you choose or which news source you choose, the answers are wildly different. It does appear clear that this is FAR more dangerous to the elderly and those that are already ill. The reports are also clear that less than 2% of the cases in China involve children and those affected have very mild symptoms-- that seems to be something everyone agrees on.

2. At some point we have to decide what we want to do-- arbitrarily closing stuff doesn't make much sense. Closing schools and then sending kids to daycare or the local park makes no sense. We aren't China. We don't have an authoritarian/Communist gov't that has the ability to lock EVERYONE down (even healthy people) in a situation like this. The only way we can probably truly get this thing to "go away" or be highly manageable is if we all stop human interaction and stay in our homes for the next 6-12 months. This is here to stay now a lot like H1N1 and other things that come along. It's not like if we shut down OKC for three weeks and then open it back up that we will have magically defeated the disease. And if we do go on longterm lockdown, the negative effects of that are likely to be greater than the virus itself. The economy would crumble-- there would be mass lay-offs and income would totally dry up for many, many people. That all might be worth it if this was a highly fatal disease or if it has crippling effects for the majority who caught it. But I think it's more likely this is just a new thing we have to learn to deal with and mitigate.

3. If the NCAA says no fans at game, they should just cancel the Tournament altogether. It would be totally lame and again, a little arbitrary. Teams would still be traveling on plane and in airports, staying in hotels, etc. And unless all of the fans stay locked at home instead of going to the arena, they will likely go out in the community and do other things. At an arena you are most likely to get infected by a sick person sitting very close to you-- not some guy in the upper level. So the risk isn't necessarily that much greater than if you ride the subway or take an uber or go to a restaurant. I understand the CYA nature of this and how no business/entity wants to be the one to hold an event and then find out someone sick attended/possibly spread it at said event.

4. I'm already a germaphobe and wash my hands raw daily; I also routinely wipe down tables and such when we go out to eat... so none of that is a big deal to me. I don't fear getting the virus either-- the science indicates to that myself and my immediate family would not suffer much more than a cold if we were to catch it-- I do fear for the elderly as this appears to be very tough on them. But mostly I fear the fear and what the "shutdown" mentality might inadvertently lead to.
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A voice of reason with a few others sprinkled throughout I didn't mention. It'a a cold.

Some of you guys need to turn the TV off and turn the radio on to find your information.

Put your hands down people. The sky is not falling.
 
paboomersooner said:
A voice of reason with a few others sprinkled throughout I didn't mention. It'a a cold.

Some of you guys need to turn the TV off and turn the radio on to find your information.

Put your hands down people. The sky is not falling.
Click to expand...

A cold that kills people and spreads like wildfire. By the way, the VA has instituted screening at ALL it’s facilities, do they do that for the cold? What radio shows are you getting “information” from anyway? Wow...
 
paboomersooner said:
A voice of reason with a few others sprinkled throughout I didn't mention. It'a a cold.

Some of you guys need to turn the TV off and turn the radio on to find your information.

Put your hands down people. The sky is not falling.
Click to expand...

Couldn’t agree more.
 
Amtrak cancelled its DC to New York train until late May, I’m sure they don’t mind losing a few million bucks for “the cold.” You guys keep your heads buried in the sand though.
 
steverocks35 said:
Amtrak cancelled its DC to New York train until late May, I’m sure they don’t mind losing a few million bucks for “the cold.” You guys keep your heads buried in the sand though.
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H1N1 in 2009 infected somewhere between 700M-1.2 billion people worldwide— and it started right here in the US. Deaths were somewhere between 250,000-550,000 depending on what you read/believe. It also hit kids much harder than this one is hitting and didn’t seem to hit the elderly as hard. It was a pandemic— the biggest one since the Spanish Flu. But society chugged along and there wasn’t nearly the level of panic we see now. I think this is mostly social media fueled. I do not think the virus itself is “fake news.” It’s here, it’s spreading, and it will continue to do so. My question is what do you think we as a society should do? Most epedimiaolgists seem to think this will have a peak life of 6-12 months before it can be really scaled back. Do we all bunker down for next year gloabally? I mean, that’s World War Z stuff right there.

I think the answer is we accept what this is and go about our lives. If you think you are at a higher risk, then maybe you stay home or avoid certain situations. But this notion that everyone can stay home with their three week supply of toilet paper and granola bars and then emerge in early April to a germ-free world is totally illogical.
 
I wonder what affect, if at all, the warmer weather will help to contain the spread of the virus.


And Lebron has stated if there are no fans "he ain't playing."
 
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OUSKINS said:
H1N1 in 2009 infected somewhere between 700M-1.2 billion people worldwide— and it started right here in the US. Deaths were somewhere between 250,000-550,000 depending on what you read/believe. It also hit kids much harder than this one is hitting and didn’t seem to hit the elderly as hard. It was a pandemic— the biggest one since the Spanish Flu. But society chugged along and there wasn’t nearly the level of panic we see now. I think this is mostly social media fueled. I do not think the virus itself is “fake news.” It’s here, it’s spreading, and it will continue to do so. My question is what do you think we as a society should do? Most epedimiaolgists seem to think this will have a peak life of 6-12 months before it can be really scaled back. Do we all bunker down for next year gloabally? I mean, that’s World War Z stuff right there.

I think the answer is we accept what this is and go about our lives. If you think you are at a higher risk, then maybe you stay home or avoid certain situations. But this notion that everyone can stay home with their three week supply of toilet paper and granola bars and then emerge in early April to a germ-free world is totally illogical.
Click to expand...

You're right, the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 killed thousands. Pretty horrific, right? Well guess what, the reason governments and corporations are spending billions gearing up for Covid-19 is because it's orders of magnitude more deadly than H1N1! Governments and corporations don't normally spend billions to address social media rumors so that doesn't really make a lot of sense either.

That being said, what do we do? Your straw argument that people shouldn't sit at home 3 weeks because they won't emerge into a sterile world is ridiculous. Nobody has said or even suggested that. Nobody suggested quarantine for anyone that isn't infected with the virus either. I have never said we should panic. We should all take precautions though, wash your hands, sterilize your home as much as possible, avoid crowds, try to avoid touching your face, stay as healthy as possible, etc.

The reason I started this thread was to discuss the possibility that tournament games could be cancelled or played in empty arenas because of the virus and it looks like that possibility is becoming all the more real. Usually the NCAA follows the lead of the NBA, and the NBA is now signalling they will play games in empty arenas.

As for the virus slacking off in the summer, it's a possibility, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 abated somewhat in the summer months but came back with a vengeance in the fall. I'm not sure that will happen with Covid-19, it is not a seasonal flu and Florida is a hotspot and it's plenty warm there.

(Fun fact, the Spanish Flu originated on a pig farm in Kansas, was spread to an army base there and then to all points of the globe as our soldiers went off to fight World War I. One more reason to hate Kansas! haha)
 
NCAA announced today no plans to alter schedule or play games minus fans. Could change of course, but that was their statement today.
 
It's already here, and it's going to do what it's going to do whether we lose our **** or carry on responsibly.

I had nothing to do with this thing starting and I'll have nothing to do with its conclusion. All I can control is the level head on my shoulders.
 
steverocks35 said:
As for the virus slacking off in the summer, it's a possibility, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 abated somewhat in the summer months but came back with a vengeance in the fall. I'm not sure that will happen with Covid-19, it is not a seasonal flu and Florida is a hotspot and it's plenty warm there.

(Fun fact, the Spanish Flu originated on a pig farm in Kansas, was spread to an army base there and then to all points of the globe as our soldiers went off to fight World War I. One more reason to hate Kansas! haha)
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Contributing factors could be Florida is a go to destination thus many people with the virus are visiting the state. Secondly, Florida is a port of call thus ships docking filled vacationers were then offloaded before the impact of the virus truly became known. Thirdly, Florida is a densely populated state which increases person to person interaction.
 
sheepdogs1 said:
Contributing factors could be Florida is a go to destination thus many people with the virus are visiting the state. Secondly, Florida is a port of call thus ships docking filled vacationers were then offloaded before the impact of the virus truly became known. Thirdly, Florida is a densely populated state which increases person to person interaction.
Click to expand...

Of course, all those things are true, but it's also true that we don't know yet. We will have to wait and see.
 
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