Perhaps this is just me, what really would be the point to this for your average fan? How many of us are really clamoring to watch hockey in your house, during July/August with the Flames playing "home games" in Edmonton with no crowd? We won't be able to enjoy this in a bar with friends, drinks and a cool atmosphere!! I get why the league and a lot of players want this, but we are talking about cheapening the product and grasping at straws.
This whole thing also has the potential to go completely and utterly sideways really really quickly. Players who may even exhibit specific symptoms may need to be quarantined for 2 weeks. They may need to be tested several times a week for Covid in order to not have players slip through the crack if they are showing symptoms. Imagine the uproar if medical testing supplies that could be going to the poor in places like the US are instead being used on NHL and NBA athletes that can make upwards of $30 million a year.
What would happen if a few players on a team show symptoms, how can you realistically not quarantine their opponents for two weeks? What happens if star players are infected by another teams 4th liner?
We literally have the brightest minds in medicine, government agencies, governments at all levels and a whole host of people getting this entire pandemic wrong on a whole host of levels. I don't know why the sports leagues would take this level of risk with their players, fans, and businesses when the chance for a complete and utter nightmare scenario developing.
I am about as hardcore a hockey fan as any, a die hard Flames fan since I was born. I really don't see the huge desire for regular and potential playoff hockey for the Flames in my basement, alone, in the summer. Even if some bars and larger gatherings are allowed, will it really be any good if you have to "social distance"?
I like the A for effort but I have a feeling this may just be a pipe dream or a public relations disaster.
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