Happy October! We seem to have now reached the uncanny valley of the epidemic, where some things are returning to almost normal — or even hyper-normal, as in the case of the baseball postseason having expanded to include so many teams I keep expecting the Sugar Land Skeeters to show up — while other things remain sadly unchanged. I guess if there’s a silver lining it’s that the resumption of some normal things hasn’t caused the pandemic to worsen perceptibly (yet), but that’s what people were saying about the Netherlands back in June and that didn’t work out well at all. Just wear your masks, people, and don’t take them off to eat or talk on the phone or talk to the president, and let’s hope for the best.
- The owners of the Utah Warriors pro rugby team want to built a 10,000-seat stadium for (duh) rugby and also maybe another pro sports team and also provide “not only the high school kids but also community leaders, citizens within this community a venue where they can do something unique and fun and interesting but not have to look at a three-quarters empty stadium and not really be able to have that experience because of it.” (Typical attendance at Warriors games: about 3,000, which, true enough, would only be a seven-tenths empty stadium!) No word yet about specific financing plans other than “investors” will help pay for it, because what savvy money manager can resist the lure of pro rugby?
- More on what the Phoenix Suns are building with their $168 million in public renovation money in addition to new furniture: a two-story kitchen! If that doesn’t foster downtown development and economic growth, I don’t know what will.
- If you were wondering whether MLB is still moving ahead with plans to kill 40 minor-league teams, hell yeah they are. Some teams will be replaced by teams of college players who won’t have to be paid, though, so fans can now enjoy crappier baseball and witnessing the growth of the exposure economy all at once! It’s educational!
- The New York Islanders have announced they’re definitely playing next season at the Nassau Coliseum despite the Coliseum not actually having an operator at present, that won’t be a problem, surely.
- San Diego’s ballot proposal to lift height limits on waterfront development to allow for a new sports arena: necessary to revitalize a community or power grab by developers, you make the call!
- There have been so many articles about NFL teams buying virus-fighting robots to disinfect their stadiums, even though you’re extremely less likely to get sick from touching a stadium than by sitting near a live breathing person. But people love robots, and journalists especially love writing articles about robots, and sports teams love journalists writing articles about them doing good things for fans (with robots!), so robot stories it is!
- The University of Florida is having trouble selling out even a reduced-capacity stadium for its home football opener tomorrow, and its coach has been pleading with fans to turn out, which maybe is not the best public health policy? Or the best fan relations policy, if fans are staying home because they don’t want to risk getting themselves and their families sick?
- This is not a good headline, given that the Los Angeles Angels weren’t moving anywhere and the city of Anaheim isn’t actually getting $320 million.
- This is a good headline. And a good article.
I see that the linked article about the Lightning uses the phrase “new deaths,” as do most stories about Covid. Can anyone explain what an “old death” would be? Or perhaps the opposite would be “used death” or “pre-experienced” death?
I think it’s legit, though “recent deaths” or “additional deaths” might be more accurate. It’s important to distinguish the current death rate from the overall, or else it’s hard to tell what’s people dying now and what’s people dying back in April.
Neil: According to Ballpark Digest it looks like the Hartford Yard Goats project is finally underway.