Random thoughts and musings.....

Sports in the U.S.

Gotta say, I love this one. And I am sad about this one too.

What will sports look like in a month? Two months? Six months?

I’m hearing the NFL is considering playing games without fans – so I wonder if that means they will have to add more broadcasts?

I’m wondering if we will get MLB at all this season.

I don’t care for the NBA, so no loss to me.

Twitter wins again!

Are there protests in England? I was wondering this and then I say this pop up in my Twitter feed. We are clearly a different society than we were in 1940. People were much more willing to sacrifice for the greater good. I get it – small businesses are hurting. There is hunger and unemployment out there.

I just thought of an interesting scenario – let’s reopen everything. Business as usual. And the virus takes hold. I mean, c’mon, it’s proven that already.

And deaths begin to increase.

Still no response from any level of government. Business as usual.

But as deaths increase, what happens to business? I’d argue that some people will self-quarantine. Others will limit their trips. Still others will increase online purchases. I’m thinking that self-quarantine and online purchases might be a break-even scenario?

As more and more people die – I mean, since we are business as usual doesn’t that mean presumably healthy people who are carriers only (PROVEN FACT ALREADY) going out to eat, getting haircuts, and all those things – aren’t they simply transmitting the virus? Herd immunity!! Right? Well, for some, yes, that will work. But what about our elderly? Will their immune systems cope and adapt? Can their immune systems do that?  Some say yes, some say no. Others say that losing 2-3% of our population is not a bad tradeoff for business as usual.

So as people get sick, and some die, what happens to business? Do the sick and dead continue to purchase cheeseburgers and pizzas? Does a photographer get business from weddings that include sick, dying and dead people?

Herd immunity!! More exposure means people develop antibodies and their immune systems deal with COVID-19. What about COVID-20? COVID-21? This little virus has already mutated twice – that’s what I’ve read from reputable sources. That’s what viruses do. There’s no endgame for a virus except to destroy its host – and even when the host succumbs, the virus is still looking for the next victim. Doubt that? Wonder why they could be burying the dead as quickly as possible in public parks in New York?

As the death toll rises, I would expect more people to self-quarantine. Of course, in this scenario, there is still no response from the government – any level. What happens to businesses as more and more people self-quarantine?

Finally, some rational thought hits the governments. Maybe there is a problem. Of course, just in the United States there are now over 1 million deaths – look it up! Some models have a “no-response” model pushing 40 million deaths worldwide. What does that do for the small business owner? Will business be booming?

Of course, for some, these deaths are meaningless. It’s the old, the already sick, the homeless, that are paying the price. That’s ok for some. These people are already a burden – best to be rid of them. Darwinism at work, right?

Of course, our governments have taken steps. And the death toll is still 42,000+. Social distancing and stay-at-home orders be damned – it’s time to reopen this country, right?  

Republicans then….now

I used to be a Republican. Back in the days of Reagan. And even Daddy Bush. I noticed a change then. Granted, it was just a slip, but the conservative movement had been taking on a darker and more menacing tone through the 90’s. And that slip started to be a tumble, then a fall, then an avalanche. Right-wing extremism was becoming the norm. We had the Ruby Ridge incident. Then the Branch Davidians in Waco. We had Timothy McVeigh. We had this thing called the “Patriot Movement.” The Republicans did nothing to distance themselves from any of this. I won’t get into all the politics surrounding these events, but it did cause me to reconsider my involvement.

Obama came along at a moment in my life when I was more willing, and able, to listen to a more liberal presentation. I did not like baby Bush. I thought he was a bad president, and in my mind was reinforced by Cheney. Rumsfeld was a joke and the wars we fight in Iraq and Afghanistan were awful. I get the “why” piece but don’t understand the rationale. 9/11 was an awful day, and as all Americans did (well, most) I threw my support in behind the military in the quest to rid the world of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. I was always a little curious about the why’s regarding the Taliban, but figured it made sense since they were sheltering worse elements.

Then Obama was elected. And we saw the Tea Party spring into existence in 2009. It seemed like everything Obama wanted to get done was stalled or obstructed in Congress after those first 2 years. Those first 2 years were epic. A healthcare package. The economic package that reversed the recession. But there seemed to be something missing – unity. And blasting forward to today, I’d argue that we are more divided now than we ever have been as a nation.

The picture below is a clear indication of where we are. It’s sad, it really is.  

I will never understand why we got to where we are today, but I am hoping that maybe the moderates in this country can stand up and take it over. Both sides have extremists that need to go away. I am hoping they do.