PHILADELPHIA _ Exciting, isn't it? Sports is charging back: NASCAR in May, golf in June, pucks and hoops in July, the NFL by midsummer.
Scary, isn't it? Empty stadiums and vacant arenas suddenly populated with players and coaches, colliding and sweating and breathing on each other. Eventually we will be there with them: the fans and the press and the cooks and the janitors.
Will we all be completely safe? Of course not. No one is immune to the coronavirus that has infected more than 1.7 million people in the United States, has killed more than 100,000 Americans, and has claimed more than 1,000 lives per day over the last two weeks, even as states begin to relax their pandemic restrictions.
But maybe if we're smart, we'll have sports back sooner than later. Troy Vincent, the NFL's football operations executive vice president, appeared on a radio show last week on The Team 980 in Washington that the league is "planning to have full stadiums" when the season starts in September. That might sound crazy, since most states still strictly restrict the size of public gatherings.
But Dr. Glenn F. Rall says it's not crazy at all. Not as long as people act responsibly. A virologist, professor, and the chief academic officer at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Rall says sports can resume if we're not reckless. Just cover your face, wash your hands, and don't pick your nose.
"If the 65,000 fans in a stadium are all playing by the same rules," Rall said. "A really well-behaving 65,000 people who understand the rules but who want to see a game _ I can imagine that being a relatively safe behavior at some point fairly soon."
The rules aren't hard. If you have a fever or a cough or diarrhea, keep it in-house.
"Number one: You don't go out if you're feeling sick, even if you're not sure if it's COVID," Rall said. "Just stay the hell home."
If you go out, be careful and considerate.
"Number Two: Wear a mask," Rall said. "And wear it all the time."
That would mean no eating or drinking in the stands; rather, food could be consumed in areas of the stadiums where social distancing is possible.
Can passionate fans be trusted to control themselves? Rall isn't sure.
"I'm nervous about this," he admitted. "When you put people in arenas, when they're yelling and screaming _ this is going to release lots of virus particles, especially if people are not masking or are sloppy in their masking habits. That's a recipe for real problems."
So keep it on, and keep it tight. Masks not only mitigate your inhalations and expectorations, they also keep your grimy little fingers from touching your orifices. Your nostrils and mouth are prime viral gateways, and, Rall said, even as adults we can't seem to keep our hands off them.
Rall is a coauthor of the text Principles of Virology; so yes, he literally wrote the book. He realizes that his outlook might be startling, since we've still got to stand 6 feet behind the person ahead of us at the grocery store, and you can't get a haircut or go to the gym. But he's convinced the coronavirus roller-coaster ride has peaked, and three months from now, when most governors have released their states from virtually all restrictions _ restrictions Rall has staunchly supported, and still does _ Americans will be ready to be trusted to act wisely.
"That's weird for me to say, because I don't want that to happen. It sounds cavalier," Rall said. "But the truth is, when I walk over to our ICU, I'm around actively infected individuals. I was not scared because I have confidence in knowing how humans get infected."
And, more important, how they don't.
