hogan873

Outdoor seating at restaurants (with adequate spacing, of course) will likely be included in Phase 3 of the Illinois reopening plan. Expected to start on June 1. That's encouraging news. Hopefully the restaurants and customers will respect the rules so we don't take a step back.

Die hard fans, no, they won't go away. But they'll lose plenty of casual fans. I lost interest in baseball after the stoppage in '93. Granted, I was a Pirates fan at the time so I had other reasons to lose interest in baseball. It took moving to IL and having my wife be a Sox fan to get me back into baseball. Hockey lost a lot of fans after the 2004-2005 season was cancelled over a labor dispute. They had to change their game, rules and all, to get fans back. I know, baseball isn't hockey, but if a season is cancelled over money, casual fans will lose interest.

I've been washing mine down with bleach.

We were told it would get ugly, and it has. I still think both sides have too much to lose by not working out a deal and playing baseball. I understand that there will be significant losses for 2020 if the entire season is played without fans, but the losses will most likely be much more significant long-term if they end up cancelling over money. Both sides will be blamed, and they will lose fans.

I have my doubts that he's actually taking it. If he is taking it, then chances are he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Some testing site are allowing anyone to be tested, with or without symptoms. The one site by the WalMart in Joliet has been doing this for a few weeks. You just have to make an appointment. It would be interesting to see how many tested had symptoms.

The virus itself is not political, but everything else about it is. Trump called it a Democratic hoax, he said it would disappear, he DID ignore it until it was too late. Now it's Trumpers vs. Democrats (and some intelligent Republicans) regarding how to respond to the virus and how to go about opening the country again. It is absolutely political.

The response, or lack thereof, to the pandemic is clear evidence why you don't elect someone because he speaks his mind.

A relative of mine (by marriage) said the other day that he doesn't think the virus is real because be doesn't know anyone who has it. This is unfortunately how some people think, including those in the government. And many of these people won't believe it until it happens to them or someone close to them...and maybe even then they won't believe. It's a shame that something as serious a global pandemic turns political.

I'll get my hair cut, but I won't need to for a few weeks. My daughter took the clippers to my head a couple weeks ago. I usually get a flattop, but I had her just take a #3 all the way around. I'll need to let it grow out some more in order to be able to get a flattop again. Other than that, I don't see much changing. With the warmer months approaching, there will be some opportunities to gather at friends' houses for cookouts, drinks, etc. Phase 4 is the big one. Restaurants and bars will be allowed to open with occupancy restrictions. I don't see going out to eat right away after Phase 4, but I wouldn't be against going to one of the local breweries for a beer or two. Let's hope that we continue on the trend and get to Phase 4 soon.

It's going to look really bad, for both the owners and players, if the season is cancelled over money and not because of the virus. They're both going to have to give in order for this to happen. Regardless of who are the bigger dicks (it's the owners, by the way), both sides will share the blame, and they will lose fans.

Yeah, all I've seen regarding his release was about the peak being moved to June. No mention of the fact that almost the entire state (and probably the entire state soon enough) is ready to be moved to Phase 3 by the end of the month. What most people don't understand, or refuse to understand more likely, is that the peak may be moved out but it's also much lower than it would have been had measures not been taken. The positivity rate has been declining, and that's excellent news especially considering the number of tests increasing as they are.

It won't be accepted outright, but there will be negotiations. Both sides want there to be baseball. I think they'll ultimately agree on something. The next few days will be interesting.

Good to see the number of tests staying high. That, along with the positive rate not increasing.

You either have 90% of this board on ignore, or you're not reading any posts.

You can make a mask out of a bandana, t-shirt, bed sheet, etc. I work in tissue manufacturing, and wearing masks is mandatory as of this week. It can get hot in the building, so people are making masks and sharing them. I have about a half dozen washable/reusable masks that I switch out daily. I go to the store and see plenty of people wearing homemade masks. There are many tutorials out there on how to make masks. You don't need buy disposable masks.

It is a reasonable plan. This is a great breakdown of the plan and how we get to each step. It's a shame that many won't read it or try to understand it simply because the governor has a (D) after his name.

I DVR'd the first game and watched it last night. It was nice to see live sports again, and the game was actually pretty good. It was funny seeing the empty stands with crowd noise piped in. I would imagine MLB is observing to see how it goes.

The date certainly lines up with the latest plan.

Permission from health experts is a given. I'm talking about scenarios once (if) the health experts say it's okay.

No. If they can start in early July as planned, they can still play 80-100 games. The playoffs will be different for sure. The season is going to be funky, no doubt. But the owners, players, and most fans want to see as much baseball as possible.

This seems like the best option yet. Having clubs play in their home parks would be much more desirable for the players. And on the off chance that fans are allowed to start attending eventually, it's easier to work with that scenario at home vs. in neutral sites of spring training facilities.

Things are looking better recently with many states, including the hardest hit state of NY, showing signs that the curve is being flattened. That, along with the latest article about there being baseball "for sure", I'm more optimistic now than I have been since early April when we realized how bad things were going to get. The Mayor said she could see baseball in the city this summer, albeit probably without fans. The response to the "sports" over the weekend, the NFL draft, showed that fans are itching for something to watch. The MLB, owners, and players will (hopefully) come together and formulate a plan to bring the sport back. They could have TV to themselves over the summer. All that being said, I'll continue to be cautiously optimistic.

I didn't think about that. If they go with the "hub plan" or something similar, there will be less cost than playing in empty home parks.

The viewership of the NFL draft over the weekend should be a good indicator of how many people would watch baseball if it returns. People are starved for sports on TV right now, and baseball has an opportunity to sell the sport to the country and even pick up more fans. I miss watching MLB network and.or ESPN on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I found myself watching a fishing show on Saturday, and after I dried my tears and slapped myself, I asked what the hell I was doing.