SPOX's Daily Briefing – Sports Changes and the New Normal
Through this terrible time we are finding new things to
do and new ways to do them.
It gives us the opportunity to do some things differently.
For example, sporting events will change, maybe forever.
To start with, No fans. If you want to watch your favorite team or player, your best bet
is TV. Let’s take a look at some of the possible changes.
Baseball
Mound visits will be by cellphone only.
All pine tar and rosin must contain disinfectant.
No physical umpires. Some will be working from home. It
may improve the accuracy.
Three at the plate is considered overcrowding because of
social distancing.
They are still working on the dugout trash issue.
They are considering getting rid of manual scoreboards.
The Cubs and Red Soxs are objecting, of course.
Football
Players must wear helmets at all times.
All Helmets must have plastic shields attached on the
face bars.
No person shall be on the field or the side lines without
a face mask except coaches who can remove theirs to yell at officials.
Surfing
Drones are being used to monitor surfers.
They must stay in the water and practice social
distancing.
Once they are done with a wave they must leave the beach
or stay in the water. No stopping to check out the chicks.
Some states are starting to spray beaches using drones to
prevent the spread of COVID-19. This could help the surfers to get back to
their normal routine. Now if we could get the drones to help with all the
garbage left on the beach that would be great.
One female sunbather at a nude beach in Hawaii commented
on the drones. “They are so cute. I didn’t know the little planes could fly so
slow and that close to the ground.”
Bowling
We’ve had Wii Bowling for a while now. This is the
internet game where people meet in small groups and simulate bowling using a
large monitor and hand device. The bowlers
stand in front of the screen and make a motion toward the computer.
Some even have the sound of pins crashing together but I
would miss the thud of my ball going into the gutter.
Golf is looking into a similar situation.
Just think no lost balls and an automated score card.
You could play on your favorite course whenever you wanted
and have a beer sitting right next to you between shots.
NASCAR
Good news. Racing will begin with limited attendance.
Again, social distancing will prevail. Masks must be worn along with other preventive
gear during the whole event.
For those of you that are lucky enough to get a ticket,
you must pass a temperature check coming into the event and exiting. I don’t
know what that’s all about.
I am sure I’ll be watching this on TV. Networks realize
how difficult it is to watch the streaming cars going by the camera, so they will
add new features like a sound track of the race and the pit crew as well as a
view of all accidents by time of race.
Tennis
One governor setup a set of rules for players as they
come back to the court.
Singles only.
They must keep an empty court in between other matches.
Players must use their own ball.
I don’t know about this one. I would get tired chasing my
ball to the other end of the court.
I will miss the
vendors walking through the stands yelling “cold beer here, cold beer”.
