March 11, 2020
Don’t laugh, but with the growing inevitability of professional sports being played in empty stadiums, it’s only a matter of time before someone asks this on a radio show:
Does staying home and not going to the game tonight due to fear of the coronavirus make you less of a fan?
The best thing we can all do right now when it comes to sporting events is to stay home. It’s already happening in the NCAAs, and it should be universal in pro leagues. All games for the foreseeable future should be played without fans.
This isn’t the end of days nor is this the movie “Contagion” happening in real life. What we are dealing with is something new – or novel – that’s spreading but also killing at a rapid rate. This isn’t about anything other than protecting ourselves from ourselves. Stay home. Let this thing ride out, as we have seen before with other forms of a coronavirus.
The very reason why you are told to stay sanitized and keep washing your hands is why I think stadiums should shut out fans now. How much do you trust the other 19,999 people in the arena? Did everyone wash their hands? Did they do it for at least 25 seconds?
It’s not on any team nor the league in which they play to protect us inside an arena. That’s physically impossible. Even if you put in hand sanitizing stations you can’t mandate that everyone has done enough before getting to the stadiums. It’s taken a pandemic to remind half of the world what our parents told us growing up: wash your hands!
We just had a local example of some of the worst kind of irresponsibility featuring a doctor who works with children. After traveling to a country with “known COVID-19 cases but not on the Level 3 travel advisory list as designated by the CDC” he came back and saw patients – children – over four days. This is a person trained (not sure how much he paid attention) in the medical field who saw kids at the CHOP in King of Prussia. Schools were shut down as a result of his irresponsibility. No self-quarantine, he just headed back to work. It only takes one person even less ignorant of public health to infiltrate an arena.
The hysteria and reactions to the spreading of COVID-19 is definitely causing panic, but also a natural opposite reaction. The middle ground is still over 80% of people infected are hit with a mild case of the flu, but both extreme sides have taken over the conversation. One is obvious, the other a little more subtle. It’s the subtlety that causes me to say close the doors.
The “end of days” is an obvious and predictable extreme. Yes, you should be concerned and definitely vigilant in staying sanitized. The other extreme is shockingly the “well, it’s going to blow over, so I don’t need to change anything” POV. That’s the biggest threat to any public gathering, especially sporting events. If Coachella fans can survive without seeing Post Malone, you can sit out a couple of Sixers home games.
Big news in the gaming community as the NFL and 2K had a huge announcement. Madden is to football games as band-aids are to adhesive bandages. I am excited to see what the two sides can bring together in a game, but it might simply be its existence that helps all of us.
New #NFL video games coming soon.
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) March 10, 2020
The NFL & 2K have announced a multi-year partnership encompassing multiple future video games. Specific game titles will be announced at a later date. 2K confirmed the projects are in early development & will launch starting in 2021.
Madden is still fun – I still play it – but it’s become repetitive and stale for obvious reasons; zero competition. The level of complacency in refusing to create or expand on new elements in Madden is maddening. Now? Even if the new NFL2K game is trash, the concept and creation of it should cause Madden to step up their game.
The gameplay and player creation would be the areas most impacted by a competitor. Madden thrives off the Ultimate Team competitions and won’t lose anything there. It’s the people who buy the game, play a season with their favorite team, and realize not much has changed.
2K is going to have a big hill to climb trying to knock off a household name like Madden. NBA Live only lasted so long before having to bow out. My suggestion would be to add a deeper RPG-like element to building a player, then following him in the NFL. I guess they could always bring back NCAA Football. The best explanation came from John on Twitter.
Eytan....I’ve been dying for ncaa football to come back. I loved madden too but there nothing like doing dynasty mode for like 10 seasons and recruiting and dominating ncaa football. I played the shit out of the game every year. I would even get the college basketball game too
— John rooney (@roon3113) March 10, 2020
Man, I miss those days.
It’s Westworld season three with some new faces.
As his former neighbor, I am more than familiar with – and respect – Matt Mullin’s opinions on good TV shows. I’ve binged many Mullin recommendations without any remorse. I also know he’s jacked up for the new season, whereas I am not. I figured I’d lay out my issues and concerns, and even give him the last word.
SHANDER: My biggest concern is the rapid departure from the first two seasons. Leaving the park may have been inevitable, but the means of survival and revolution opened up some larger themes. These discussions about how we act when nobody is watching — or social media in real — will die on the vine of a new season aimed at “de-masking” robots outside of the park. James Delos and his continued attempt of life after death was a true dive into how Silicon Valley is currently catering to the super rich. William (AKA The Man in Black) was barely scratching the surface of what immortality might look like. I wouldn’t reduce the first two seasons into rich tourists raping and killing robots, an awful and necessary part to the backstory, but hardly the main focus of a show meant to go deeper than others. What happened to all the different variations of Westworld?
Then there’s Aaron Paul and Marshawn Lynch. I fear when a show brings in a new main character like Paul it’s to mask a drop in the writing – or even acting. I’m concerned Paul is unnecessary in the truest form of the show. You already have a bunch of characters who need further development, especially since the show has moved to the real world. It’s a smaller level concern with someone like Lynch simply because the show didn’t need it. If all Dolores and Bernard are going to do in the new season is unmask the show’s versions of Trump and Besos – as predictable as it gets – then maybe they do need more help. I hope I’m wrong. Your move, Mullin.
MULLIN: Oh, Eytan. Where do I even begin...
Let’s address your biggest concern first, the fact that they’re leaving the park and likely embarking on a new story. Based on the trailer, it doesn’t seem like the show is leaving the park entirely. There are shots of Maeve running through WW2 Europe, and it looks as if she’s still in the park — if you remember, last season ended with her being discovered on the beach by Felix and Sylvester. There’s also a scene from the trailer of Ashley Stubbs that looks like it could be in the park. But even if the majority of it is set outside the park, that’s fine too. Sometimes shows need change — and after Season 2, this show definitely needed a change.
The first two seasons were dedicated to those themes mentioned above, and while Delos is gone, it appears William (in some form) will be back in the show. This will allow them to continue building on themes like immortality while opening up the world to see how normal people interact with these robots in the real world. After all, the only people we’ve seen so far have been the super rich (and a few people like Felix who simply work there but “can’t afford to go to the park”). I’m really excited to see what’s going on in the real world outside the park — and how the robots fit in (or don’t).
And as for the other iterations of Westworld, it appears as though they’re still running. Delores only has a handful of robots to join her army. Maybe we eventually go back to the park as she tries to recruit some more, although it seems as though most of the woke bots are either with her, de-commissioned, or in the Valley Beyond. This is probably the part where I should mention that “The Wire” — a show that changed themes each season and constantly introduced new characters — is one of Eytan’s favorite shows. I know the subject matter of the shows couldn’t be more different, but it’s just a reminder that shows pivoting, when well thought out, can be for the better.
Finally the Aaron Paul and Marshawn Lynch stuff. First, Paul makes every show he appears on better, so I’m not worried about that. And given the amount of characters killed in the last season, there’s plenty of room for a major addition or two, if we include Vincent Cassel. I’m just going to skip over Marshawn, because I don’t think he’s going to be a major character. Based on the trailer, it looks like he and Lena Waithe (!!) are just going to be supporting characters in Paul’s storyline. And as for Dolores, Bernard and whatever robot is living inside Charlotte Hale’s head, there will definitely be a part of it where they’re trying to “unmask” the big bad (who is probably Cassel), but this isn’t going to be “I, Robot 2.” I think the bigger theme is going to be them trying to figure out their place in this world.
OK, I’ve officially hi-jacked Eytan’s column, so let me wrap up by saying this: I have high expectations for this show in Season 3. Season 2 was a step backwards, largely because the multiple timelines turned it into a hard-to-follow sci-fi “Memento.” Whereas the split timelines in Season 1 served the story and helped with the big reveal at the end, that same thing was their undoing last season. Luckily Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have said that this season is going to be much more linear.
It’s been two years since the last season aired, and I’m ready. You should be too, Eytan.
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You can listen to Eytan during the week on @973espn (Mon.-Fri. from 12-2 p.m.), @foxphlgambler (Mon.-Weds., 6-8 p.m.), and @SBNationRadio on the weekends. You can also catch him on FOX 29 Good Day.
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