Remember when

Is anyone dead or been hospitalized?

No, they're world class athletes in peak physical condition.

I wouldnt say it's gone particularly well.

Games have had to be rescheduled, the first four weeks of the season were flat out bad football, outbreaks have happened, injuries are happening at an increased rate, if games arent rescheduled players miss them if they have tested positive, or the next weeks game.

Honestly we arent even watching NFL caliber football most games.

@AGNA - would you say you would have rather them canceled the season?

"Finatik wrote:

@AGNA - would you say you would have rather them canceled the season?

I would have, for sure. Its unnecessary. Better to out everything on ice and try in 2021.

I've got no problem with grown men making business decisions to play football. COVID is an additional risk to their health, but they all know the job is dangerous when they sign up. The athletes are well paid and can stay home when not working, they have world class health care, constant testing and all the advantages and tools to stay healthy or get healthy.

Putting all the support team at risk is a little more concerning but the NFL can afford to do everything to protect them thats possible too.

I totally disagree with college and high school games being played, all sports not just football. Those players and the team around them have nothing personally to gain. The millions all go to the coaches and the schools.

"Puka-head wrote:

I've got no problem with grown men making business decisions to play football. COVID is an additional risk to their health, but they all know the job is dangerous when they sign up. The athletes are well paid and can stay home when not working, they have world class health care, constant testing and all the advantages and tools to stay healthy or get healthy.

Putting all the support team at risk is a little more concerning but the NFL can afford to do everything to protect them thats possible too.

I totally disagree with college and high school games being played, all sports not just football. Those players and the team around them have nothing personally to gain. The millions all go to the coaches and the schools.

You obviously didn't play sports in high school.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

You obviously didn't play sports in high school.

What??? Da??? Does whether I did or did not play sports in High School have to do with anything?

"Puka-head wrote:

What??? Da??? Does whether I did or did not play sports in High School have to do with anything?

Ask a senior in high school who won't get to play his last football game for the rest of his life.

"Finatik wrote:

@AGNA - would you say you would have rather them canceled the season?

I'm not necessarily saying that, but I do think they could have come up with a better plan than "Screw it".

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Ask a senior in high school who won't get to play his last football game for the rest of his life.

And the ripple effect of not having better game tape that catches the eyes of the college scout that in turn leads to a scholarship offering.

"flounder97 wrote:

And the ripple effect of not having better game tape that catches the eyes of the college scout that in turn leads to a scholarship offering.

Add to the aspect of love for the game. For a lot of kids around this country, sports is their only way out of a bad situation. For some people it's a way of life.

"Puka-head wrote:

What??? Da??? Does whether I did or did not play sports in High School have to do with anything?

I don't think you're understanding some of the circumstances surrounding people who play them. For some people, athletics is their only way out of a bad situation...ya know...Kind of career altering and most likely life changing. It's really ignorant on your part to not at least see that. Not everyone can just stay at home in their bathrobe all day and make money on a computer. The whole "well find another way, I did" narrative gets really easy to say with age, but actually understanding that not everything is the same doesn't....It gets harder. So if you disagree that all sports should have been canceled for a year, then yeah...You clearly never partook in them, or were reliant on them...or had any significant amount of love for playing them. So in that aspect, you're a fan of the entertainment, but you don't understand. These are people too just like yourself. Again, careers, lifestyles, and opportunities are being altered because of this virus right now. It's not quite as simple as just stay home, lock down and make money. Some of these kids are living in very unstable homes where the situation can be day to day. Imagine the pressure an 18 year old kid feels whose family is basically relying on him as a way out. A single mother? Grandparents that live with you, a little brother who is handicapped or has medical issues. These situations exist. Sports may very well be their only escape before turning towards a more unfortunate avenue. I think the NFL has done a decent job in their first year handling all of this. Same for the MLB, and the NBA. I like our odds towards figuring out our way around all this as time goes on. I feel like this is our first year with this and it's going to improve over time. I have yet to lose a loved one to this so I can't say how my emotions would shift either way. Of course that fear and empathy exists, i'm just saying that sports are a lot more important than you think. It can sound silly, if you spin it that way, but they really are. A ball, a microphone, a drumset...That shit can take you around the world if you're good enough.

"ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:

Add to the aspect of love for the game. For a lot of kids around this country, sports is their only way out of a bad situation. For some people it's a way of life.

And for the vast majority of those kids who show up for the first day of practice in high school, it is for love of the game only. When you're too slow, too fat, too short, too skinny, too clumsy or any other form of "too" which prevents athletic prowess on the scale that gets one to the next level, yet every practice and every drill and every opportunity to get on the field is a cherished moment... that is love of the game - even if they don't make the team.

"ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:

I don't think you're understanding some of the circumstances surrounding people who play them. For some people, athletics is their only way out of a bad situation...ya know...Kind of career altering and most likely life changing. It's really ignorant on your part to not at least see that. Not everyone can just stay at home in their bathrobe all day and make money on a computer. The whole "well find another way, I did" narrative gets really easy to say with age, but actually understanding that not everything is the same doesn't....It gets harder. So if you disagree that all sports should have been canceled for a year, then yeah...You clearly never partook in them, or were reliant on them...or had any significant amount of love for playing them. So in that aspect, you're a fan of the entertainment, but you don't understand. These are people too just like yourself. Again, careers, lifestyles, and opportunities are being altered because of this virus right now. It's not quite as simple as just stay home, lock down and make money. Some of these kids are living in very unstable homes where the situation can be day to day. Imagine the pressure an 18 year old kid feels whose family is basically relying on him as a way out. A single mother? Grandparents that live with you, a little brother who is handicapped or has medical issues. These situations exist. Sports may very well be their only escape before turning towards a more unfortunate avenue. I think the NFL has done a decent job in their first year handling all of this. Same for the MLB, and the NBA. I like our odds towards figuring out our way around all this as time goes on. I feel like this is our first year with this and it's going to improve over time. I have yet to lose a loved one to this so I can't say how my emotions would shift either way. Of course that fear and empathy exists, i'm just saying that sports are a lot more important than you think. It can sound silly, if you spin it that way, but they really are. A ball, a microphone, a drumset...That **** can take you around the world if you're good enough.

Don't know how you were able to analyze me, my level of understanding or personal experience from what I wrote but OK.
I'm having daily conversations with a young lady whos going thru it right now. College canceled her sport, she rows crew and plays volleyball. There went her scholarship $$$ I'm far from ignorant.
Maybe I'm a little overly paranoid , but I already lost my uncle to this fucking virus, kids are going to die too if we just open it all back up.
I didn't get to play my senior year cuz of a neck injury and a massive concussion, and I wrestled and played golf for my school, just for the record.

The NFL is juggling things and if the Raiders' disdain for the seriousness of the situation is shared by others, the season won't make it to the end. Now that we're into bye weeks, there won't be the opportunity to reschedule games. The next decision will be to allow some teams to play 15 games (or 14) and that should be enough to apply an asterisk to whatever happens afterward. Sean Doolittle had it right.

"Puka-head wrote:

Don't know how you were able to analyze me, my level of understanding or personal experience from what I wrote but OK.
I'm having daily conversations with a young lady whos going thru it right now. College canceled her sport, she rows crew and plays volleyball. There went her scholarship $$$ I'm far from ignorant.
Maybe I'm a little overly paranoid , but I already lost my uncle to this ****ing virus, kids are going to die too if we just open it all back up.
I didn't get to play my senior year cuz of a neck injury and a massive concussion, and I wrestled and played golf for my school, just for the record.

Also, at the end of the day....even if I feel for those kids in HS or college who would could or wont play their final season of sports, that really isnt a factor at all in determining safety or what should be done.

Sometimes life spits in its hand and slaps you straight across the face. That's just the way it is.

"AGuyNamedAlex wrote:

Also, at the end of the day....even if I feel for those kids in HS or college who would could or wont play their final season of sports, that really isnt a factor at all in determining safety or what should be done.

Sometimes life spits in its hand and slaps you straight across the face. That's just the way it is.

Truth. No ones high school sports experience is worth some ones else's life. That's the issue with COVID. Just because you're one of the majority of people who don't/won't have serious issues with the disease doesn't mean you won't help spread it to someone who will. It's too communicable, and too deadly for too many.

That said, so far the NFL has done better than I expected. We are about to enter the second wave though. We don't really know what that will look like. Hopefully, lessons have been learned. There are going to be events chained together. For example, the hospital system I work for in Portland has informed us that Idaho is running out of COVID beds, (they obviously have to be safely segregated) and Portland is going to be the overflow area if needed.

I'm not a medical professional, (IT) but the expectation i have been told is that the second wave will be larger in numbers and broader in scope than the first. Proper safety measures will mitigate this, but you have to have buy in for that to work. The NFL hasn't pushed it enough publicly IMO. Penalties for non compliance should be harsher and more public. I love football. I love the Dolphins. I really hope the NFL as a whole takes it seriously and protects the vulnerable populations working for them. Lot of old dudes not on the field, or on the field in stripes. I don't want my love of something to contribute to deaths. The whole CTE thing is already a conflict for me.

We just have to find a way to live with the virus. It can't be controlled. It can't be contained. We can't spend our lives not living because were scared of it. The people who are going to get it and die are going to get it and die. That's harsh but life is harsh sometimes. Or we can all just live in our basements cowering in fear waiting for the virus to magically go away. I never will live life that way. For those that want to play, let them. For those that are afeared, don't play, stay home and you do you. But someone else's fears should not impact everyone else lives who want to continue living.

"Finatik wrote:

We just have to find a way to live with the virus. It can't be controlled. It can't be contained.

I disagree...masks, distancing and great hygiene go a very long way in beating this. But at least in my area, I see people in every single store where masks are required- they're not distancing, not wearing masks and they seem to be unfazed by mandates. We can't just say "you do you" with something viral and share the same real estate for shopping, working, etc. I personally do not trust my family's life to people who don't think basic rules need to be followed.

By the way, it's flu season....but where is the flu? Plain and simple, the COVID protocols have largely stopped it in it's tracks worldwide. COVID is more infectious though and it takes a higher level of participation than we're seeing. What really bugs me about this is that if this was ebola or something much more deadly, we'd be absolutely screwed as a country. So while I agree that you have to "live your life", you have to do it in a way that lets other people live theirs as well.

I'm not pointing fingers here at anyone in particular...I'm just so over these conversations where people say it's their right to never wash their hands, stand right on top of you in a checkout line without a mask, etc. It's their right to get sick and die, but it's not their right to put others in danger by their arrogance and/or stupidity.

"KeyFin wrote:

It's their right to get sick and die, but it's not their right to put others in danger by their arrogance and/or stupidity.

The human race has been dealing with this since Ugg found out that a tree limb of a certain size would shut Bog's mouth forever, and if Bog didn't behave............. The never ending struggle between absolute freedom and absolute safety has never ended, and never will as long as one human does not want another to dictate how life shall be lived. But, it has been tried, and tried, and tried, and tried, and usually failed.

The other way to put it, for pessimists, is that every birth is an absolute death sentence.

It will have to come to a point where people that want to live their lives can live their lives and the people who are scared can take precautions and never leave their home again.

Masks don't work. Study after study show that they might help slow it a little but when the bug is .1 micron you're mask isn't going to stop it unless its an N95. And that's only 95% effective. Hence the name. No one said stop wearing the mask, or distance or wash your hands. I wear it when its dictated to wear it. But that is not going to STOP this. So I live my life. If someone stands too close, I say back off. If I'm in a situation I'm not comfortable in I leave the situation. But you don't shut down life is the point and you don't mandate other to do it. MAybe a better way to say this is - You do your risk tolerance.