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[ESPN] MLB suspends spring training, delays Opening Day at least two weeks

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by RKREBORN, Mar 12, 2020.

  1. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    Having baseball (and football and basketball) teams fly city to city to play their games in stadiums full of people? How could that end badly?

    Until we can do 100x more testing and have a reasonable therapeutic that works for most, I do not see stadium sports coming back.
     
  2. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    So we will never have pro sports again
     
  3. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    MLB has already admitted that when they begin, it will be with empty stadiums

    Japan is a couple of weeks away from having exhibition games with no fans, Korea is making preparations for the same

    I'll also say this, up to this point most people have been kind of bummed out because we can't watch sports, can't go to the bar for some drinks, can't go eat at our favorite restaurants

    Beginning today people are going to begin to realize the seriousness of the shut down (in addition to the seriousness of people dying). For a large majority of the nation rent/mortgage is due on the 1st. Personally i'm lucky to be in the profession that I am in because my job is probably as safe as most. My wife still has a job (for now anyway) also. For millions they don't have work anymore and the big bills are coming due. Decisions are going to have to be made now to either pay rent/mortgage knowing you won't have much money to eat on and buy necessities, or don't pay rent/mortgage so you do have money for that, and be stressed over what is going to happen about not paying their rent/mortgage. I think the government will be able to keep the nation under their control for another month, but if it goes much longer than that you will start seeing some legitimate rebellion.

    So for those who legitimately think this is going to go into July or beyond, if that happens, no sports will be the least of societies problems, hell Covid-19 won't be at the top of the list of people's problems either
     
  4. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    Being a tad dramatic?

    If there is a cancellation of all pro sports for just the 2020 season, I don't see it as a total disaster. These leagues will survive, unlike a lot of small businesses, restaurants. They will not need bailouts like the airlines, hotels, or travel industry. There won't be intermittent starting/stopping which really doesn't help anything. There won't be tainted champions or questionable results.

    Yes, it is a welcome distraction... but overall health of the players (and society) comes first. Keeping the viral spread to a minimum comes first. If a single player tests positive, either now or during the potential going back to train period, the league will shut down again... because you just simply can't prevent the spread amongst these sizable groups of people that are involved with the day-to-day operations with sports teams without simply keeping everybody separate and keeping facilities closed. Having real proven treatments in place (even before a vaccine) changes things... but we are still more than months away from even that.

    Also, even completely empty stadiums require resources that may not be obvious. Police presence. Medical staff. Hotel accommodations. large busses for transporting the teams that usually have a police escort... and then the other plane/security issues that come with further travel.

    Dr. James Andrews finally stopped performing elective surgeries this week. Other orthopedic surgeons to athletes are following. Players like Verlander and Syndegaard ended up being fortunate that they had their procedures before things got further restricted.

    We're also going to need to see other leagues really go back to work and stay back... like was mentioned earlier, China has had to postpone (again) going back for their basketball league due to remaining concerns of asymptomatic carriers. Those other leagues you mentioned happen to be in areas where the curve was significantly flattened/controlled almost immediately. The US is definitely more on the China timeline, with potential worse areas.
     
  5. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    That will make MLB games kinda like college games (maybe D3 more than tier one D1) ;)

    I am surprised though. A team will not know it visited a CV hotspot until 2 weeks, 10 games down the road.
     
  6. htwnbandit

    htwnbandit Member

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    I keep forgetting about the Washington Nationals winning the WS. Heck I just keep forgetting about the Washington Nationals lmfao
     
  7. msn

    msn Member

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    But you don't forget that Soto was 20.
     
    htwnbandit, RKREBORN and ROCKSS like this.
  8. CinematicFusion

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    What happens with tickets we have purchased for postponed games that have already passed... like the Angels series for example in March?

    Has MLB rules on this? Do we just eat the ticket?
     
  9. texans1095

    texans1095 Member

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    Purchased Opening Day tickets on Seat Geek. They said since technically the season is just postponed right now, we still have tickets for that game whenever it happens. Not exactly sure they’re gonna work all the logistics of that. I imagine MLB is doing something similar.
     
  10. CinematicFusion

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    I bought tickets on stubhub for March Angels series. Went to the site for an update and they wanted to know if I enjoyed the game. Hope I get a refund or a chance to get a voucher to purchase similar seats. Guess we will find out once a clearer picture on the season is presented.
     
  11. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    I might bet on Tampa to win the series

    they are used to playing without fans
     
    No Worries likes this.
  12. John Harvey

    John Harvey Member

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    They should go straight to playoffs. 1 game elimination. hehe
     
  13. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    While I expect the first wave to mostly be over by July 1st, I do worry about a second wave if social distancing practices aren't maintained. Until herd immunity is reached or a vaccine comes out, the US is going to have to learn to do things/work in a way that prevent transmission. Every business should be planning on how to maintain social distancing after July 1st if they plan to have people in the office (granted, most plans will fall through, but businesses should be coming up with options).

    I'm much more optimistic about social distancing actually working (i.e., herd immunity not reached for a long time in Texas) than I was a week ago.
     
  14. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    Not Stros but I was supposed to go to Twins' Home Opener... So much for that.
    [​IMG]
     
    awc713 likes this.
  15. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    If you are saying the social “shut down” will last until July 1, I honestly think you would see people rebel well before that. We can all have our beliefs on how this virus will play out, but if they try to keep 30% or so of the nation unemployed that long and just find things by printing money, they won’t come anywhere close to keeping society intact that long in my opinion
     
  16. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    They won’t get back to playing till hotspots are on the downswing... and hospitals aren’t desperate. It’s April 3rd and we’re still not sure if we should be shutting down states or wearing masks on a daily basis. It’s at least another 6 weeks of things getting worse before they can get better.

    The rest of essential society can slowly start to heal while those things are occurring... namely the travel industry, education, restaurants, banking.... but the reality is that sports is going to be one of the last things to come back online.
     
  17. msn

    msn Member

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    It's a shame, because sports in empty stadiums on over-the-air network television as a temporary solution would be amazing for the country's morale.
     
  18. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    What if it was in spring training stadiums... and not televised.

    The logistics of getting production crews and reporters there adds at least 50-100 people (more if each team has their own, which is normally the case).
     
  19. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    I've been listening to discussion of just playing games to empty stadiums. The NCAA was going to do that with March Madness until Duke and Kansas pulled out. The NFL has been exploring that idea too. Even with an empty stadium there are still a lot of people, the teams, the coaches, assistants, referees, score keepers, trainers and etc.. Also with players testing positive it makes it harder to stop the spread of the virus even without fans.
     
  20. AB423

    AB423 Member

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    The only way I see sports ever coming back is when they start making the 5 minute covid tests available.
     

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