Phillies

Blue Jays and Lightning Shut Down Their Florida Facilities

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jun 19th, 2020 · 2:29 PM EDT

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Couple of other tidbits here related to the Phillies news.

Jeff Passan at ESPN:

The Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday shut down their spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., after a player exhibited COVID-19 symptoms, sources tell ESPN.

Dunedin is just up the road from Clearwater, where eight people in the Philadelphia Phillies organization tested positive.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 19, 2020

And Bob McKenzie at TSN:

It’s my understanding one NHL club has had to temporarily close its training facilities during Phase Two because multiple players and some staff have tested positive for Covid-19.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 19, 2020

The team in question is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 19, 2020

I see a lot of “cancel sports” or “we’re not going to have sports this year” types of tweets and takes out there right now. Allow me to explain why that knee jerk brand of reaction and thinking is pointless and really doesn’t help in any way, shape, or form:

MLS and NBA players are headed to Florida next month to play in a central location under strict health and safety guidelines. They’re not going to be clubbing in Miami without masks or packing churches for Sunday service. Both leagues put together incredibly detailed safety plans that were designed to mitigate external risk from cavalier state policy and individual behavior that exists outside of their control. Either you trust your plan or you don’t. They knew Florida was an iffy location because of the lax COVID-19 state guidelines, but felt like the Disney World facilities and layout fit the pseudo-hermetic bubble framework.

The NBA specifically wrote up a 100+ page plan to protect players and staff based PRECISELY on what is happening right now. The whole point of the isolated central location was to sequester and detach from the general population.

There was always going to be a risk in doing this, but if we’re tucking tail and running at the first sign of trouble, then what was the point of drawing up these intensely-detailed plans in the first place?