We were working with clay in Vancouver with Seth Rogen and just lost track of time. Is the pandemic still going? The Las Vegas strip lit up a few weeks ago like nothing happened, so who knew. Social distancing is complicated with table games and alcohol. The casinos need games of chance and the influence booze has on their prized customer’s judgement. The two sins together form a petri dish of uncertainty. Gamblers by nature take risks and COVID-19 is just another one in their daily decision tree of life. Unfortunately, we are all at risk for the risk’s others take.
The virulent response to the demands for people to wear masks in public is comical if not frightening. The anti-mask movement has some maniacal postings on You Tube. It seems a bit over the top for a rather innocuous request. People are citing their constitutional rights in their refusal to wear. Public shaming for non-masked is also on the uptick. People, we are all in this together. Wearing a mask can help slow the spread of COVID. That is a fact. As fellow citizens, we should be doing everything in our power towards that goal. You are not being asked to fight a war just wear a mask. It is not about you; it is about those who maybe did fight in a war. You are protecting them.
Sports can potentially be the elixir that heals our nation. Or maybe the cauldron that sinks us. At the Yard, hope springs eternal. The NBA and the NHL are going with the bubble wrap plan. Lebron, G-Freak and company will move into Disney World and play out the season. The Yard likes Lebron and his Lake show in this moment. After Kobe’s death, Lebron told a grieving Laker nation that God gave him broad shoulders for times like these. James has been one of the more vocal athletes regarding BLM and civil protest. He has seethed on the quarantined sidelines. He is not content to just win; he wants to transform. These are moments when kings rise and lead. The Lakers are looking to ride King James’ cape to their 18th NBA title. Florida is starting to pay for their sins of disinterest in the early days of COVID-19 with cases spiking in Florida. The NBA season might get airballed before the first tip.
Historically, Major League baseball has helped our nation to heal our collective anxiety. During WW2 and following 9/11, baseball provided an escape from the daily horrors of war and terrorism. With 30 million Americans unemployed, the very public money spat between the owners and the players was tone deaf. The players and owners were disputing the economic toll of billionaire owners paying players to play in front of no one. They haggled over the players pro-rated millions based on number of games played. The owners relented on the no fan in stands salary clip. The players agreed to skinny the season down to sixty games and mitigate the lost game day revenues. Neither side was happy with the outcome with pending labor unrest in 2021. Play ball!
History Rewritten The national unrest that has ignited across this nation has exposed the deep wounds from our nation’s creation and history. Our history has revealed that all men were not treated equally as demanded in our hallowed Declaration of Independence. The first significant Civil Rights legislation passed by government was in 1968, 200 years after the Civil War. Protestors and municipalities are removing statues that recognize great Southern War heroes. In this age, to have memorials for people who fought to maintain slavery is abhorrent. For the state of Mississippi to have the Confederate Flag embedded in their state flag after all these years is repulsive. It is the very least that can be done to heal these centuries of embedded racism. Just as the Nazi swastika has been a symbol of racism, so is the Confederate flag. There are no WWII monuments in Germany, just Concentration Camps.
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