BleedGopher
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per Chris:
What happens next?
That’s if fans show up at all.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of arenas and stadiums less than half full,” said B.J. Schecter, a professor who teaches sports media at Seton Hall and formerly served as executive editor for Sports Illustrated. “I have two young boys and I’ve been in sports my whole life. I would have a lot of trepidation getting in those types of venues any time soon, even after we think we’re out at the other end of this.”
The only way, Schecter said, that the relationship between fans and sports returns to normal is with a vaccine, but a vaccine could be over a year away if and when it does arrive.
Even then, there promises to be certain psychological shifts in attitudes at sporting events, especially as it relates to interacting with other fans.
“You’re sitting in a packed stadium and somebody three seats down gets into a coughing fit, what are you going to think?” Schecter said. “ ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get away from this person. This person could be sick and could infect me and everybody around me.’ We never really thought that way before. Yeah it was annoying on public transportation or airplane or a stadium. … Now it’s, ‘Is this person sick?’ Psychologically that’s a whole new thing.”
Some fans, like Cory Engelhardt of West St. Paul, would be hesitant about physical interaction with other fans.
“It’s sad, but the high-five or handshake might be a thing of the past,” Engelhardt said. “At least with strangers. I don’t see that changing in terms of my own family, but I don’t know that I see a lot of people offering up a high-five or a handshake again any time soon.”
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
What happens next?
That’s if fans show up at all.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of arenas and stadiums less than half full,” said B.J. Schecter, a professor who teaches sports media at Seton Hall and formerly served as executive editor for Sports Illustrated. “I have two young boys and I’ve been in sports my whole life. I would have a lot of trepidation getting in those types of venues any time soon, even after we think we’re out at the other end of this.”
The only way, Schecter said, that the relationship between fans and sports returns to normal is with a vaccine, but a vaccine could be over a year away if and when it does arrive.
Even then, there promises to be certain psychological shifts in attitudes at sporting events, especially as it relates to interacting with other fans.
“You’re sitting in a packed stadium and somebody three seats down gets into a coughing fit, what are you going to think?” Schecter said. “ ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get away from this person. This person could be sick and could infect me and everybody around me.’ We never really thought that way before. Yeah it was annoying on public transportation or airplane or a stadium. … Now it’s, ‘Is this person sick?’ Psychologically that’s a whole new thing.”
Some fans, like Cory Engelhardt of West St. Paul, would be hesitant about physical interaction with other fans.
“It’s sad, but the high-five or handshake might be a thing of the past,” Engelhardt said. “At least with strangers. I don’t see that changing in terms of my own family, but I don’t know that I see a lot of people offering up a high-five or a handshake again any time soon.”
The sports fan experience might never be the same
At some point in the future — perhaps in months, perhaps a year or more — it will be safe for fans to attend games again. But how will their behavior change?
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
