Florida Men
Did you know that, as of yesterday, Florida accounts for 1.5% of global COVID cases? 1.78 millions cases have been reported in Florida, out of 107m cases in the whole world. The population of Florida is 21.48 million, by the way, which is about 0.25% of the population of the world.
Why do I choose Florida? No reason, really, although a group of men from Florida all watched the Super Bowl in one room and even though they were all wearing masks in the photograph, I, a well-known football fan, am very much aware that these games go on for, approximately, one eternity. With the best will in the world, spending an eternity in one room with about thirty other guys from a COVID hotspot is risky behaviour. Not according to the NHL COVID rules though!
Capital Punishment
You might remember that the Washington Capitals were fined because four players hung out in a hotel room together. Ovechkin and Orlov had already had COVID in the summer and were, presumably, still immune. The other two, Kuznetsov and Samsonov, both subsequently tested positive for COVID and Samsonov – who is only twenty-three years old – reported feeling very ill, breathless and unable to walk.
The Washington Capitals certainly broke the NHL COVID rules and, as such, the fine was justified. However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the COVID rules themselves are insufficient. The law-abiding Minnesota Wild currently have twelve players on the list, while the rule-following New Jersey Devils have nineteen players on the list. A couple of officials have tested positive for COVID. In total, there are six teams currently affected.
It’s long past time to admit that the experiment to hold a normal, if shortened, NHL season has failed. Some of the concepts were pretty sound, like restricting travel within divisions. Some of the other rules were baffling, particularly the rules surrounding conduct on team planes and buses.
After the resounding success of the post-season bubbles in Canada, these arbitrary rules are not working and they are not keeping players or associated staff safe. The United States of America has some of the worst COVID statistics in the world and it is futile to play a contact sport, with heavy breathing, shouting, collisions and spitting (though no licking; Brad Marchand seems to have outgrown that), and expect the virus not to spread. In fact, anything less than a strict bubble, with isolation and regular testing, will not work. Of note, the NWHL’s season at Lake Placid unravelled very quickly indeed, precisely because it was not a bubble.
At this point, the options are, apparently
- to continue headlong into sure disaster and more games postponed than not.
- to pause the season for at least two weeks to allow for a re-set, and somehow reconfigure or reduce the remaining games.
- to cancel the season.
For what it’s worth, I reckon that canceling the season is the only safe option and anyone who’s not a Leafs fan must surely see the funny side of calling it all off after the Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of their best starts to a season in years.
whelmed.blog 