"Spectator sports pondering a comeback in the coronavirus era got a harsh reality check in a new poll indicating that most fans will stay away. In a Seton Hall University survey published Thursday, 72% of Americans said they would not attend games until a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is developed. Only 13% said they would feel safe to attend under any circumstances, while 12% would go only if some form of social distancing was practiced".

The average age of our fanbase, certainly TLC members, is over 65. So probably closer to 90% of our fans will not attend until there is a vaccine (I guess you could argue that we could safely social distance at most of our games already). Regardless, with my son's prediction that we are, at least, 2 years from developing a safe vaccine I just don't see much chance that spectator sports will be back to normal for quite some time. While there may be more serious issues, at this time, this is certainly a bummer for all of us on this board. Whether sporting events will actually be held, without fans, is the more immediate question. Pro sports, maybe yes. College sports, I doubt it.

Maybe, as Trump predicted, this will all just "disappear" and things will soon be back to normal. However, I doubt it. So far, my son's predictions have been quite accurate, although it looks like he way overestimated (hopefully so) the death count.

Interestingly season ticket renewals were not sold at our last couple of home games as has typically been the case. At that point, I don't think this had anything to do with the coronavirus, and I surely would have bought them as I always do. However, if I got a renewal form in the mail today I'm not sure what I would do. I'm sure they would come with a money back guarantee if the season is not played. The Arkansas Rep already cancelled the rest of their season and offered refunds. I just donated the cost of the tickets back to the Rep since the money is long gone from my bank account.

I figure the truth, as usual, is between the two extremes. Those who enjoy sports will start going to games as soon as they feel comfortable doing so. (Who can say when that will be?) Those who needed an excuse not to go will use it as an excuse. My main concern is that it allows folks to get into a habit of not going, and habits are hard to break.

Not going to Little Rock sports events has been a year's long habit for folks in this area. It's a habit we have tried to break for decades. It will now be harder than it's ever been.

Going to Little Rock games is one thing. Are folks really going to spend hundreds of dollars to take their families to an NFL or NBA game if there is a perceived risk of serious illness? It becomes an easy decision for people who were questioning whether it was really worth it to spend their hard-earned money for a single sports event. Maybe this will "blow over" in a few months. But, if not, sports are in for some massive changes.

"Perceived" is the key word there. The Powers That Be are going to have to work on that. Right now they are working in the other direction, but the situation won't last forever.

Got no problem renewing my Little Rock Basketball season tickets. No one sits around me so I’m good.


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I don't think fans will stay nearly as much as they say they will. Unless the situation is such that they are truly afraid of catching a serious disease (and I predict that will fade fairly quickly, at least in Arkansas), they will begin to yearn for a return to normality. Now, the unknown factor is the degree to which they get in the habit of watching electronically as opposed to attending. The good news for us is that the two sports that would be operative before November are outdoor sports, and folks are less likely to hesitate to attend in the open air (my prediction). A good deal of this is psychological.

One branch of our far-flung family met at the Charleston city park yesterday for a picnic, just so we could all get out together in the open air. The ladies were having the kids wear plastic gloves and all that. I must admit that I did not feel the least nervousness about anything. I have long been in training for all the bugs that grandchildren pass around. Just wash your hands - frequently.

Now, the wife and I are planning a trip to Florida this spring, and we switched our plans to driving because she was afraid to fly, and I did not disagree, because of the extremely confined environment. I have a little claustrophobia to begin with, and throwing a bug into the mix wouldn't help my state of mind. But, my biggest fear is not catching the virus, but getting quarantined in Florida.

Give it a little more time, and I think folks will be fine about returning to normal activities, if the incessant media noise about it would die down. The best thing that could happen to college sports right now is some other world crisis for the media to focus their attention upon.

(04-11-2020 07:24 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  One branch of our far-flung family met at the Charleston city park yesterday for a picnic, just so we could all get out together in the open air. The ladies were having the kids wear plastic gloves and all that. I must admit that I did not feel the least nervousness about anything. I have long been in training for all the bugs that grandchildren pass around. Just wash your hands - frequently.

Now, the wife and I are planning a trip to Florida this spring, and we switched our plans to driving because she was afraid to fly, and I did not disagree, because of the extremely confined environment. I have a little claustrophobia to begin with, and throwing a bug into the mix wouldn't help my state of mind. But, my biggest fear is not catching the virus, but getting quarantined in Florida.

Give it a little more time, and I think folks will be fine about returning to normal activities, if the incessant media noise about it would die down. The best thing that could happen to college sports right now is some other world crisis for the media to focus their attention upon.

We also have a trip to Florida scheduled for late May. We haven't officially cancelled but I don't think there is much of a chance that we will go. I haven't checked, but I doubt the resort we are supposed to stay at is open. The beaches are closed. Restaurants are closed. Tourist destinations are closed. Florida has not yet hit it's peak. What are we going to do there? A lot has to change before we even consider going. I am holding out hope for our scheduled trip to Oregon, in August, but I tend to doubt that will happen either.

(04-11-2020 11:19 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 07:24 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  One branch of our far-flung family met at the Charleston city park yesterday for a picnic, just so we could all get out together in the open air. The ladies were having the kids wear plastic gloves and all that. I must admit that I did not feel the least nervousness about anything. I have long been in training for all the bugs that grandchildren pass around. Just wash your hands - frequently.

Now, the wife and I are planning a trip to Florida this spring, and we switched our plans to driving because she was afraid to fly, and I did not disagree, because of the extremely confined environment. I have a little claustrophobia to begin with, and throwing a bug into the mix wouldn't help my state of mind. But, my biggest fear is not catching the virus, but getting quarantined in Florida.

Give it a little more time, and I think folks will be fine about returning to normal activities, if the incessant media noise about it would die down. The best thing that could happen to college sports right now is some other world crisis for the media to focus their attention upon.

We also have a trip to Florida scheduled for late May. We haven't officially cancelled but I don't think there is much of a chance that we will go. I haven't checked, but I doubt the resort we are supposed to stay at is open. The beaches are closed. Restaurants are closed. Tourist destinations are closed. Florida has not yet hit it's peak. What are we going to do there? A lot has to change before we even consider going. I am holding out hope for our scheduled trip to Oregon, in August, but I tend to doubt that will happen either.

We were supposed to be headed back over to N.C. next week for the birth of our second grandchild. Obviously that’s not happening. We are hoping by mid May or so it will be possible to head over there, with stops at relatives’ houses on the way so we don’t have to stay in commercial hotels and worry about who has been handling the TV remotes, etc. And once we get there, we have our kids places, and then our own place. However, right now, only permanent residents are being allowed to not be in a strict 14 day quarantine on our island, so until that opens up to at least second home property owners without strict quarantine, even that’s out.

I think you are giving good advice to Michaelspappy about the Florida trip idea. Not only will there be none of the usual tourist options available, Florida is one of the worst States for the virus infection at this point and has not peaked. If our leaders use good sense and don’t try to have everybody try to resume normal activity too soon, I bet you will be fine for an August Oregon trip. But if Trump tries to pressure the country to resume activity before this thing is actually done, we will have a resurgence and be right back where we started.

Congrats in advance PTJR. We haven't gotten to see our newborn granddaughter in Indianapolis yet. Were planning on driving straight from New Orleans, after the Sun Belt tourney, but that didn't work out.

At the moment, I'm not optimistic about our Oregon vacation. I also can't see college sports back on track in the Fall. 100K filling the stadium in Michigan? 100 football players cramped in a locker room? Just can't see it. I guess, first, we'll get to see what Pro sports leagues do, but paid adults are still different than college kids.

(04-14-2020 01:49 PM)mjs Wrote:  Congrats in advance PTJR. We haven't gotten to see our newborn granddaughter in Indianapolis yet. Were planning on driving straight from New Orleans, after the Sun Belt tourney, but that didn't work out.

At the moment, I'm not optimistic about our Oregon vacation. I also can't see college sports back on track in the Fall. 100K filling the stadium in Michigan? 100 football players cramped in a locker room? Just can't see it. I guess, first, we'll get to see what Pro sports leagues do, but paid adults are still different than college kids.

Congrats on your new grandchild too! Hope we can both get a chance to see new additions in a few weeks or so.

The college football season will almost certainly be screwed if things are rushed to go back to “normal” too soon.