The frustration mounts, as government vacillates and shifts its position on how the populace should live its collective life…and where does sports fit in the interim while they figure out what’s best for us, and them.
My phone rang Tuesday evening with a coaching friend on the other end, who…”just wanted to talk”.
“What do you know?” he asked. “Are we ever gonna’ play again? You talk with everyone, so I want to hear what someone says besides those —- — ——s on television. “You believe any of this?”
“Sure,” I answered. “Some of it is very obvious.”
“You believe the government, the president and the governor? I mean, aren’t you tired to being told how to live?”
“From the standpoint of shifting directions to cover their own butts with those daily pressers (press conferences)…yes. It’s very confusing for everyone.”
“You believe this is a Republican/Democrat thing?”
“Of course. Everything is. But if the parties were reversed I don’t think it would be that different. This caught everyone by surprise, and had we closed the borders six months sooner as a precaution there would have been outrage from one party or the other…like there is with anything else. Testing, masks, ventilators…it doesn’t make any difference. Anything goes for the sake of political leverage.”
“Well, what do you think about canceling the spring sports season? Was that necessary?”
“Maybe…probably…and I don’t know. The OHSAA is in a no-win situation, and like any other administrative body whatever they do is open for criticism. Right or wrong, you have to be politically correct…even if it’s over a glass of water.”
“Do you believe the figures over confirmed cases and deaths?” he asked. “They said 2 million would die from this? Now they say it’s on the decline and so far just 42,000 fatalities. Is anyone telling the truth?”
“It’s really hard because of the source, and the spin,” I answered. “We lose almost that many a year to the flu. But the 42,000 is just for one month…and a lot of that comes from New York. Do I believe the 2,000,000? No. But if they can scare people into believing one spin or the other that’s modern media.
“Is anyone telling the truth? You get a version of the truth, because like Jack Nicholson said, the networks can’t really handle the truth if it doesn’t benefit their narrative. Liberal networks are saying ‘they’re trying to kill you, and we’re trying to save your life. Remember that in November. Fox is saying, ‘Take your life in your own hands and make good decisions for yourself while we try to save the economy. Remember that in November.'”
ML Dunn has moved. Check out their new location on West National Road in Englewood.
“You think one size fits all with shutting down the country?” he asked.
“Depends on how scared you are,” I offered.
“I don’t know a sick person, even with a cold,” he said. “Seems like people could work and take care of their own business.”
“Because there’s not that many people where you live.” I said. “I think that’s why there’s no many deaths in New York – population density.”
“Do you believe the science about the antibodies?” he asked.
“It’s nature’s way of protecting any kind of living organism,” I replied. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who have had the virus, recovered, and never knew they had it.”
“You know, I worry about there not being football in the fall, and the Friday predictions on Press Pros. That’s a good read. You got any good predictions about the next six months?”
“How’s this one?” I closed. “Biden chooses Michelle Obama as his running mate, then resigns because of health reasons after a year in office. Perfect gotcha’ for Trump supporters.”
“I’m sorry bothered you,” he said. “But what do you do when you don’t know what you can believe? I think we need to get back to playing sports, because the mental part is worse than the physical. It begins to wear on everyone. You start to worry. You have to have a healthy routine, and sports is part of our routine.”
“Call me anytime,” I assured. “And thanks. I think I can get a column out of this.”
“Hey, what would your psychic friend that you write about say? Why don’t you ask her when, and how this turns out?”
“Psychics tell me they never deal with sports, lotteries, or politics,” I added. “Too many desperate people. And psychics have their standards and reputation, too, you know.”
“That’s why I called you,” he said as he hung up. “I was feeling desperate.”