Coronavirus Safety Protocol - please read and discuss

[Futureshock]

Latest On NFL, COVID-19


June 24th, 2020 at 4:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL has scheduled a conference call with owners Thursday, and the discussion will include plans to reopen team facilities, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Players not rehabbing injuries have been barred from team headquarters throughout the offseason. As discussion between the NFL and NFLPA regarding the navigation of a season amid the COVID-19 pandemic continues, here is the latest from the coronavirus front:

• Multiple teams are proceeding as if they will report to training camp July 28, which is the scheduled start date for most of the NFL, and that there will be no pre-camp conditioning-type period, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com note (via Twitter). This does not appear set in stone, but the NFLPA is not believed to be on board with an earlier report date. Additionally, a shortened preseason is likely following the late-July reporting date, per the NFL.com duo. A truncated exhibition slate has also been a recent topic.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said this week a COVID-19 vaccine surfacing this year is not out of the question. Fauci said he was “cautiously optimistic” a vaccine would be available by the end of 2020 or early in 2021, Steven Nelson of the New York Post writes. Fauci added that vaccine distribution could come around the same time. These developments would obviously be a game-changer as the world grapples with the virus, and sports leagues would benefit immensely from a vaccine being available so soon.
• Although Fauci recommended the NFL reconsider a bubble format — one the league opted against weeks ago — other doctors have pushed back on the idea the league can or should attempt this, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes. While restrictions on players when they are away from team facilities during camp and the regular season are not yet known, multiple experts informed Volin sequestering NFLers for so many months was not exactly feasible.
• Shifting back to the subject of preseason football, the possibility of the Hall of Fame Game not taking place is on the table. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said recently that the game will likely not be played in front of fans and that the Cowboys–Steelers matchup would not take place if it needed to be played at this moment, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic (on Twitter). Cowboys officials have been skeptical for weeks the game will happen, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News tweets. The league could well opt to eliminate the early portion of the preseason schedule in an effort to give players more time to re-acclimate after the virtual offseason.

[Futureshock]

NFL source ‘very certain’ 2020 season will be played

“There’s one person I know, very connected to the NFL, very knowledgeable, and on Thursday night at 8:56 Eastern, as there were some questions and concerns about this, he texted me, I’m going to read you:

‘The NFL is going to play, Adam. I’m very certain of it. Have faith in the league. The process and testing and protocols are exceptional. You should see and hear how much is being done. Daily saliva tests and PCR [Polymerase chain reaction] every three days. Sanitizing everything, including the balls. You can’t believe all that’s being done and prepared.’

[Trickalicious]

"Sanitizing everything, including the balls."

1. And I've only used the sanitizer on my hands and tongue this whole time.
2. And I've only been polishing the knob.
3. QB poll: Centers should have been practicing this all along.
4. Record low offensive sacks this year.

[Futureshock]

I highlighted that part because I knew Trick would be there to hit it out the park!

[Futureshock]

Michigan clears way for pro sports, without fans

Posted by Darin Gantt on June 26, 2020, 8:49 AM EDT

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The Lions have clearance from their state government to proceed, but it’s clear it’s going to be some time before they have an audience.

Via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Thursday that allows the return of professional sports, without a live audience.

“Good news, sports fans,” Whitmer said in a statement. “We are now ready to gradually and safely allow professional sports to resume in Michigan. While this is an encouraging step in the reopening of our economy, it is critical for athletes to continue social distancing and taking precautions to stay safe. We want to keep our momentum going and keep moving forward, so it’s incumbent on everyone doing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

There’s plenty of time for the Lions between now and the regular season (or their Aug. 20 preseason home opener), but at the moment, the likelihood of fans is shrinking. The NFL has already made plans to tarp off the first several rows of seats in every stadium to use for advertising (and also to create a buffer).

Whitmer has said stadiums can’t be filled until there is a COVID-19 vaccine.

“We need a vaccine, and we need mass quantities available to be able to test and acknowledge we have some immunity built up,” Whitmer said in May. “We’re not there yet. Until that happens, I think all the organizers of these leagues understand how important it is that we act responsibly here.”

There have been suggestions that vaccine could come late this year or early next year, but it’s too soon to know whether that will help this season.

[Futureshock]

NFL working with NFLPA on “very ambitious” COVID-19 testing program

Posted by Josh Alper on June 25, 2020, 3:51 PM EDT

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The NFL held a conference call on Thursday to discuss several aspects of their plans for training camp and the regular season, including the testing program for COVID-19.

NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said that the team is still in active discussions about the testing plans with the NFL Players Association. The NFLPA said recently that the plans were for around three tests a week, but Sills didn’t cite a specific number of tests on Thursday’s call.

“We’re setting up a very ambitious testing program,” Sills said.

Sills also said that the league has been tracking positive tests, but declined to say how many there have been to this point.

While the program may be ambitious, Sills added that testing alone isn’t going to be enough to keep everyone healthy. He called it “vitally important” that social distancing is observed and masks are worn around team facilities.

[Futureshock]

Idiot!


Mark Davis: You think I want to sell advertising on Black Hole seats?

Posted by Charean Williams on June 28, 2020, 9:27 PM EDT

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Al Davis surely is smiling.

His son, current Raiders owner Mark Davis, voted against the league’s plan to turn the lower rows of seats closest to the field in every stadium into advertising opportunities. The Raiders were the only team to oppose the measure with Davis expressing his misgivings during the virtual meeting last week.

“I can’t imagine telling one fan they cannot attend the opening game of our inaugural season in Las Vegas at the most magnificent stadium that they helped to build. Let alone tell 3,500 fans that their seats are gone for the entire season,” Davis told Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Those seats in the front rows are some of our most ardent fans, including members of the famed Black Hole. You think I want to sell advertising on their seats?”

The Raiders are sold out for the entire season with no other seats to accommodate displaced fans, if the team will be allowed to have a full stadium. So the eight-row buffer zone, sold as a way to further protect players, coaches and team staff from COVID-19 exposure, could become a problem.

Davis said the league has time to come up with a better alternative.

“Creativity will be necessary,” Davis said. “One of our executives came up with a solution, one in which Las Vegas will be familiar, but the league shot it down dismissively. But we’re not ready to give up yet. We will do everything we can to see that all our fans are able to attend every game this season.”

The league will allow fan attendance based on state and local regulations of each of its 32 teams. That makes it possible that one team could play in a full stadium and another in front of no fans.

The Raiders await word from Nevada leaders.

“Unfortunately, a league that operated the entire offseason on the basis of equity, whether it be the draft or team facility access, has completely dropped the ball on uniform attendance procedures,” Davis said. “We have potentially 32 different capacities and seating formations. Where is the equity in that?”

If the Raiders can’t have a full stadium, Davis wonders whether it would be best to have no fans.

“Maybe it’s all or none, because I’d hate to have to tell any of our fans they can’t go to some or any Raiders games,” Davis said.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________________

I had plans to go to a Vegas game, but it isn't THAT dam important.

[Futureshock]

KC company offering “Keep Patrick Mahomes Safe” masks

Posted by Darin Gantt on June 30, 2020, 6:55 AM EDT

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The whole point of wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic is that you’re not just protecting yourself, but all the people around you.

And one Kansas City company is appealing to the civic duty of keeping the star quarterback well.

Via Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star, a company there is selling masks with the simple message: “Help Keep Patrick Mahomes Safe: Wear A Mask.”



The company called Raygun is donating a portion of the proceeds to local food banks, which also helps, and they said they’ve sold well.

“We started selling them on [June] 23rd and they have been one of our best selling masks since then — we had a bit over 300 sold in our first week,” the company said in a message.

Kansas City has a mandate, effective Monday, that required masks while out in public. That should help everyone there, not just the quarterback.

[Futureshock]

NFLPA requires agents to advise players on risks of COVID-19

Posted by Mike Florio on June 29, 2020, 3:50 PM EDT

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The NFL Players Association has tried to get the message directly to all players about the risks of working out during a pandemic. It didn’t take.

Now, the NFLPA wants the agents to hammer home a much broader point: They each need to talk to their doctors about the risks of playing in a pandemic.

To that end, the union has directed all agents “to provide each of your clients with important risk factor information provided by the Centers for Disease Control . . . and by mid-July, you must engage each of your clients in a conversation about the vital importance of carefully reviewing this information with their personal physician,” via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.

The union also wants agents to advise players to discuss risk factors in light of their personal medical history and their employment with their own physicians, and with team doctors.

“We want each player to be fully informed about his personal medical information as he makes decisions about returning to play in the league and throughout the course of the season; proactive engagement in this matter will help players achieve that goal,” the memo explains.

This implies that players will indeed have the ability to opt out for COVID-19 reasons. It’s a necessary, albeit unprecedented, step.

[Marko69]

The company could only shift 300 Mahomes novelty masks in the first week? 300? That’s shit. I would’ve thought with them being SB Champs, it’d be 50,000 in the first week.

Yes, I know there is a shortage of masks in your healthcare system and our NHS, but fk it, ..... novelty sportswear masks are way more important.

[TheLondonLion]

Unless the Trump administration gets a grip of this, we won’t be worrying about a second wave in September, the first wave will still be at epidemic proportions.

Horrific handling. Ours hasn’t been much better but having a cretin boasting about closing the border with China as if that was mission accomplished in February presiding over this clusterfuck, while tweeting out white supremacist videos like it isn’t happening is awful to see.

[Forsh]

http://globalnews.ca/news/7127951/us-remdesivir-supply-coronavirus/

[chemiclord]

Congratulations on giving the inevitable Chinese knock-off a global market, I guess...

[Futureshock]

Adam Silver won’t guarantee that NBA season will be concluded

Posted by Mike Florio on July 1, 2020, 9:46 AM EDT

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The NFL has been waiting and waiting and waiting (and waiting) to see how other sports operate in a pandemic. Meanwhile, none of the other major American sports have returned to play.

On Tuesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver declined to guarantee that his league will successfully complete its 2019-20 season via the “bubble” approach in Orlando.

“[It’s] never ‘full steam no matter what,'” Silver said during a TIME100 Talks discussion. “One thing we’re learning about this virus is that much is unpredictable.”

Nine days ago, as positive coronavirus cases spiked in Florida, Silver reportedly was “resolute but somber” when discussing the ability of the NBA to accomplish its Orlando objective.

Silver added that, even if the season resumes in the Orlando bubble, a “significant spread” of the virus at the Disney World complex could spark cancellation of the balance of the season.

Silver also was asked to identify what would qualify as a “significant spread.”

“Honestly,” Silver said. “I’m not sure,. We have a panel of scientists, doctors, experts that are working with us. We’re going to see as we go. . . . Certainly, if we have a lot of cases, we’re going to stop. You cannot run from this virus. I am absolutely convinced that it will be safer on this campus than off this campus, because there aren’t many other situations I’m aware of where there’s mass testing of asymptomatic employees. So in some ways this is maybe a model for how other industries ultimately open.”

We’re going to see as we go. Get used to that vibe, because it feels like that’s exactly what the NFL is doing. Which means that the specter of an abruptly pulled plug will hover over football season from this moment through the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl.

[edindetroit]

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer orders indoor bar service closed throughout lower Michigan

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/gov...lower-michigan

A little late now that the Spartys have tried to restart the pandemic single-handedly.