NFL NEEDS TO CHANGE COVID-19 PROTOCOLS TO SAVE SEASON

Sports

Sports Editor: Jeff Hart – J.R.Hart2@iup.edu

The Titans have had 19 players test positive for the virus as of October 5. (nissanstadium.com)

NFL needs to change COVID-19 protocols to save season

AUSTIN SMITH

Staff Writer A.S.Smith7@iup.edu @ThePennIUP

Can they win it all? A team like the Buffalo Bills, who are undefeated, could go all the way this season. Is any team going to make it into the last couple of weeks into the season?

Sports keep on rolling by this year with COVID-19 still lingering and making its presence known. The NFL though has already had games postponed, which is a sign and that is not good for the fans.

The games that have already been postponed were the Tennessee Titans versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City versus New England, which was played Monday. There is huge potential that more and more games could keep getting the cancel button by Roger Goodell since players were testing positive.

I knew that there was a chance that the whole NFL season may not have been able to be played even though other sports like the MLB, NBA and NHL are close to having a champion for the season or already have a champion. "At the end of the day, the safest teams and the healthiest team this year is going to be the one that's going to be playing in January and February. We can only control what we can control," Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard said in August.

Going back to the Titans is a must because they have 19 positive cases already and it is the most out of any NFL team. Not to mention the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs game was delayed because players from both squads, including Cam Newton, have tested positive for COVID-19.

What is the NFL commissioner Goodell doing wrong? Why did the other professional sports organizations have a better finishing season and playoff endings?

It might have something to do that all other sports played in specific locations to finish their seasons. Not to mention some NFL teams have already allowed a specific amount of people to be able to attend the games this season even if it was only a game or two. Teams like the Chiefs, Jaguars, Panthers and Titans have allowed a limited number of fans in attendance.

There are more teams on the list, but with very different situations such as it’s allowing family members only. Either way, lets emphasize it’s the traveling that all NFL teams are doing right now.

Even with no fans in attendance, traveling can still spell disaster with this pandemic going on. With each NFL team traveling to each game, it is affecting them greatly as we are seeing games slowly getting postponed. At this rate, there might not be a Super Bowl champion.

As mentioned earlier, the Tennessee Titans are the hottest team with the most cases. Sure, every team has to travel to get to their game, but are they all wearing their mask and following safe distance protocols as much as they can?

Apparently, Tennessee is not following these protocols to their best extent.

There was a rule put in place that during the bye week this season, no player is permitted to leave their home city. This is a no brainer, because all it takes is one person to get COVID-19. If any player would break this rule, it would lead to a $50,000 fine and some suspension time.

The Titans game against the Steelers has been postponed even later now to the date of Oct. 25, which would be week 7. This will keep happening if Goodell keeps letting fans and travelling occur.

He is the commissioner and has to set the tone for the entire league. How does this make the NFL look? I can tell you if the COVID cases keep climbing, which they most likely will the way they are playing this season. This will put more harm on the potential of next season.

The NFL should really consider doing the following. Eliminating travel to cities and states with the highest COVID rates. They should in their best effort try to mimic the bubble idea from the NHL and NBA. Why?

The NHL finished with zero positive cases at the end of Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup. The NBA is almost close to finishing with zero positive cases already. The NFL is a little different considering the NHL was finishing with less teams playing, so the season was able to finish faster.

“They should look at the NBA and what they did,” said Joey Chrisman (junior, communications). “And they should have stricter COVID-19 regulations and enforce them.”

The NFL could very well extend their season if they had to in order to defeat these upcoming cases. No fans should be allowed the rest of the season.

Like I mentioned, all it takes is one person to start spreading and the Titans have learned the hard way. The NFL has to produce “the bubble effect” or the remaining of the season will be non-existent.

What will it take for the NFL to realize that just postponing games is not going to work? Hopefully it won’t be too late when they do.

Sports October 7, 2020 19 NBA Finals leaving fans unexcited this year

Jeff Hart because of COVID-19. These disSports Editor tracting factors and lack of fans J.R.Hart2@iup.edu really take away from the experi@ThePennIUP ence for the casual NBA fan.

This NBA Finals has been let “The finals are just boring this down in so many ways. This may year,” said Charles Hawn (junior, sound like a hot take, but it is the nursing). “The lack of fans and furthest thing from it. This NBA competitiveness between these Finals has been the culmination teams has just made the series of poor storylines, and a lopsided irrelevant to me.” matchup that should result in a This is a matchup between blowout. arguably the best dynamic duo in

This NBA Finals has been the the league on the Lakers with Anlowest viewed since 2003 where thony Davis and Lebron James. the New Jersey Nets and San Against a Pat Riley Miami Heat Antonio Spurs played each other. squad. What does this NBA Finals have The LA Lakers tower over the in common with the lopsided Heat in every way imaginable. 2003 matchup? More than you They led the Western Confermight think. ence this season with the No. 1

Aside from the obvious basketseed, While Miami came into the ball reasons, which I will get east as the No. 5 seed. into, the current world sitThe Lakers have two uation has played a role in all-star/All-NBA players this. The finals are competand Miami is a young ing with events like the NFL squad being led by a season, MLB postseason, bench all-star in Jimmy and the election. Butler.

Normally the finals have These teams are comlittle competition to draw in pletely different in their viewers because they occur play styles. in the first half of June, but The Lakers are led this is not the case this year (Pinterest) primarily in the scoring

column and production by their two All-NBA players in Davis and James. They lead their times averaging a combined 52 points for their squad. They rely heavily on their star power and have varying support from their role players.

Miami is on the other end of the spectrum as an entire team effort. They have had emerging stars like Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro come onto the scene this season. While both have had moments of shine, like Herro’s 37-point performance in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

While showing gleams of potential, these players are not ready to take up the mantle right now. This team has had success with their tricky zone defense (Sports Media Watch) this season and have nice players averaging over eight points in the regular season.

While a solid and well-rounded team, Miami is devoid of having the size to guard players like Davis and Lebron. Their biggest player is Bam Adebayo at 6’9.” Before diving into the lack-luster competition that one might expect from this finals so far, let us get into the lack of storylines.

The only storyline between those two times that I and many members of the media can find is Pat Riley going up against his former player James. These teams have had very different paths to the finals. The expectation for any Lebron James led squad is always a title.

Miami came into the season with little expectation and has exceeded many fans expectations by making it this far. They upset a No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks squad, that has now come up short in the past three postseasons. There are no expectations for this squad.

“They are playing with house money,” according to Stephen A. Smith. On top of having no expectations, there is no obvious rivalry from any members of each team. This Finals is devoid of any major storylines. Much like the 2003 finals.

Most people think Miami should not even be there. Many analysts like Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe thought that this NBA Finals would end in a sweep after game 1. Former student and active member of the U.S. Air Force Hunter Mitchell said, “I think Anthony Davis and Lebron are hungrier for the title. Jimmy Butler is not enough to beat this squad.”

Maybe that Hunger isn’t strong enough after their loss in game 3.

Story continued on page 20

20 October 7, 2020 Sports Boring Finals could have big consequences

story continued from page 19

With all this in mind, this brings me to my next point of disgust with this finals, the Lebron being the greatest of all-time narrative (GOAT). An anonymous member of Lebron’s camps said that if he wins this finals, this will make him the GOAT.

No doubt James’ 10 finals appearances are impressive, the six losses stand out as an eyesore to many purists like me. I also find it to be unfounded for Lebron fans to make a big deal of this finals that they should win because of the lack of expectations for the Heat.

This is a squad that has no business being in the finals, and you should easily handle your business with the star power and experience that the Lakers have. But, as per usual, Lebron fans are making a big deal out of something that many would think is unwarranted.

Much like one would expect, the first two games were won rather easily by LA with the first one the Lakers winning by 18 and game two by 10. Things were looking even bleaker for Miami after losing Bam Adebayo to a shoulder injury and Goran Dragic to a torn plantar in game one..

With all of this in mind, the sweep looked inevitable. Jimmy Butler had other plans in mind for this series. In game 3, Butler took over and became the only player in NBA history to put up a triple double in a finals victory.

Butler was unstoppable and put up 40 against this Lakers squad where he was primarily guarded by James. Butler willed this team to victory and did it all while talking trash to Lebron. Like I have seen from countless occasions from Lebron, he showed his weak mentality by leaving the court before the game clock was out due to Butler’s dominance.

This will create the false narratives that I have referred to in past articles with Lebron. It will set the stage for him to dominate in game 4 where he will show that his reaction to game 3 was an anomaly and fool fans into forgetting about his “poor sportsmanship and weak overall performance,” as described by Hawn.

In what should have been an easy sweep, Lebron has allowed this Miami squad to steal a win. This could potentially be disastrous because it allows this squad to build confidence and experience on the biggest stage in basketball.

If the Heat even manage to push this series to six or seven games, I think it would be a disgrace to Lebron and his legacy. If a team that had no evident superstar manages to push the best dynamic duo we have seen arguably since Kobe and Shaq to six games, it will be a disappointment in my eyes for Lebron.

If this does happen, it will be exciting for the NBA fans out there so we can have a competitive series that will draw in more fans. Hopefully, the Heat and Butler can play out-of-their-minds and manage to steal a few more from the Lakers.

If they cannot, this could quite possibly end up being the most flatline and boring finals since 2003. The effects could have a bad affect on the league in ways that may not seem obvious.

The NBA is a league that has slowly grown in popularity in its worldwide appeal in markets like Australia, China, and the U.S.

After their recent fallout earlier this year with China in regard to Daryl Morrey’s controversial tweet, the NBA can’t afford to lose fans.

As it stands, fans are not happy with the product being put forward this year. This may cause some of the newcomers or more casual fans to not feel driven to watch future games.

The association has been losing viewership for quite some time now. Since 2016, ratings have been going down for a variety of reasons.

Some are valid like lack of competition in the case of the Golden State dynasty. Others are not very fair because of fallout due to the increased social justice protesting in the NBA, which I am a huge advocate for.

Regardless of the reason, viewership has been on a steady decline over the past few seasons. The league cannot afford to keep losing viewers.

A lack-luster finals could possibly be the worst thing that could happen for the league right now.

There are a plethora of people like Hawn who have become uninterested in watching much basketball at all because of the lack of competition in the finals.

For the sake of the league, I hope this finals can pick up some competition. There is more at stake than some may realize. (ESPN.com) Butler looks to lead his squad back from a 2-0 deficit and make history with his new team.