Do sports, and more specifically NCAAB, return?

[rsvman]

Yep, it’s true. Everywhere I go now in Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Raleigh, Mebane, and Burlington fewer and fewer people are wearing masks. It’s upsetting, and I feel powerless to do anything about it. I’m still wearing my mask whenever I’m at work (medical) or when I go to gas stations, grocery stores, pet stores, restaurants, etc., and it’s not that big of a deal. I don’t fully understand why so many people have a problem with it.

The only place where I can require it is at my medical office. Everywhere else it’s kind of a free-for-all. What are you going to do, you know? It is what it is, I guess.

A lot of people think it is a sign of cowardice to wear a mask. They say they won't 'live life in fear.'

Apparently these people didn't get the memo that the masks are meant to protect others,not themselves, so wearing them is not a sign of cowardice, it is a token of magnanimity, of altruism.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

A lot of people think it is a sign of cowardice to wear a mask. They say they won't 'live life in fear.'

Apparently these people didn't get the memo that the masks are meant to protect others,not themselves, so wearing them is not a sign of cowardice, it is a token of magnanimity, of altruism.

There has been an increasing trend in America towards the theories that Bravery>intellect and bravery>compassion. Those should not be mutually exclusive items but unfortunately for many they are. Sometimes we have to inconvenience ourselves or turn in our "man card" for the greater good.

[DoubleBlue]

There has been an increasing trend in America towards the theories that Bravery>intellect and bravery>compassion. Those should not be mutually exclusive items but unfortunately for many they are. Sometimes we have to inconvenience ourselves or turn in our "man card" for the greater good.

Many see the mask as virtue signaling and submission to the whims of the technological elite and the opposite of individual choice and freedom.

[-jk]

I guess seatbelts are next...

-jk

[rsvman]

Many see the mask as virtue signaling and submission to the whims of the technological elite and the opposite of individual choice and freedom.

You are undoubtedly correct, but the entire notion is patently ridiculous. I am still making a chooce to wear the mask, am I not? How is my freedom being usurped when I am asked to make a sacrifice and choose to do so?

The notion of so-called virtue signaling is getting old, too. What if something is an actual virtue? Are we supposed to not do it in order to not be seen as virtue signaling? If so, than it follows that nobody can ever do anything good.

[DoubleBlue]

Many also do not agree with the inflated statistics, theoretical projections and biased scientific studies and are using independent media research which has a whole different view of masks, immunity and vaccines.

This is relevant to this discussion about sports returning to normal because roughly half of the population has this mindset. They do not believe the pandemic is as the liberal media portrays it and are not afraid to enter a packed arena or stadium.

[rsvman]

Many also do not agree with the inflated statistics, theoretical projections and biased scientific studies and are using independent media research which has a whole different view of masks, immunity and vaccines.

This is relevant to this discussion about sports returning to normal because roughly half of the population has this mindset. They do not believe the pandemic is as the liberal media portrays it and are not afraid to enter a packed arena or stadium.

I got nothin.' It is just astounding.

[Steven43]

Many also do not agree with the inflated statistics, theoretical projections and biased scientific studies and are using independent media research which has a whole different view of masks, immunity and vaccines.

This is relevant to this discussion about sports returning to normal because roughly half of the population has this mindset. They do not believe the pandemic is as the liberal media portrays it and are not afraid to enter a packed arena or stadium.

Wait, are you being serious with all of this or are you just playing devil’s advocate?

[DoubleBlue]

Wait, are you being serious with all of this or are you just playing devil’s advocate?

I'm totally serious and that is my viewpoint and that of most everyone I associate with. I realize that this is not the concensus here. History will tell whether this pandemic was real or a hoax.

[Phredd3]

I'm totally serious and that is my viewpoint and that of most everyone I associate with. I realize that this is not the concensus here. History will tell whether this pandemic was real or a hoax.

I presume by "hoax" you mean "effects are less than have been reported" not "the whole thing is entirely made up"? I'm honestly curious, because my interpretation of that word is generally more like the latter, but that doesn't seem to be consistent with the uses I've been hearing both in your comments and from elsewhere. I'm explicitly not trying to start a debate on the subject matter, which would be out of bounds for this board. I'm just genuinely interested in the actual meaning you are assigning to that particular word. Thanks.

[DoubleBlue]

I presume by "hoax" you mean "effects are less than have been reported" not "the whole thing is entirely made up"?

Yeah, probably too much for this thread... and I'm not interested in debating on the Off-Topic thread... I'm way out-numbered.
But a short answer is somewhere in between... I believe that Covid-19 is greatly exagerated and yes, people died but not more than a heavy flu season... and I do not believe that the healthy should be quarantined... its counter-productive.

[Stray Gator]

. . . I believe that Covid-19 is greatly exagerated and yes, people died but not more than a heavy flu season... and I do not believe that the healthy should be quarantined... its counter-productive.

Unless you dispute that the virus is communicable -- that it can be passed from an infected person to a healthy person when the two come into contact or close proximity -- do you not believe that if the authorities had not imposed restrictions limiting the physical interaction of people, the number of deaths from COVID-19 would have been substantially greater? Conversely, don't you agree that if everyone practiced social distancing and wore a face covering whenever they come into close proximity to others, the number of deaths caused by the flu during a heavy (or even typical) season would be substantially reduced?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Yeah, probably too much for this thread... and I'm not interested in debating on the Off-Topic thread... I'm way out-numbered.
But a short answer is somewhere in between... I believe that Covid-19 is greatly exagerated and yes, people died but not more than a heavy flu season... and I do not believe that the healthy should be quarantined... its counter-productive.

I am really struggling to respond to this in a way that will not get me banned for a long time. The only nice thing I have to say is that perhaps you should read some of the posts in the Off-Topic Board by some of the medical professionals who have been on the front lines of dealing with this. I'm glad you live in a place where this has not had an impact and no one you no has dealt with it, but to say that it is a hoax and blame it on the "liberal media" is irresponsible and downright scary. Because the "liberal media" has nothing better to do with their time than device extremely complicated hoaxes and create huge piles of corpses at morgues across New York City and at nursing homes across the country.

Oh, I'm sorry, that's another ambulance going by my window. Gotta go.

[Music man55]

Yeah, probably too much for this thread... and I'm not interested in debating on the Off-Topic thread... I'm way out-numbered.
But a short answer is somewhere in between... I believe that Covid-19 is greatly exagerated and yes, people died but not more than a heavy flu season... and I do not believe that the healthy should be quarantined... its counter-productive.

I can't remember a particular flu season causing over 94,000 deaths in a two and a half month span in this country. I'm not saying it's never happened, I just don't remember it in my lifetime.

[rsvman]

Unless you dispute that the virus is communicable -- that it can be passed from an infected person to a healthy person when the two come into contact or close proximity -- do you not believe that if the authorities had not imposed restrictions limiting the physical interaction of people, the number of deaths from COVID-19 would have been substantially greater? Conversely, don't you agree that if everyone practiced social distancing and wore a face covering whenever they come into close proximity to others, the number of deaths caused by the flu during a heavy (or even typical) season would be substantially reduced?

You can't counter emotion with logic. It has never worked before and it is not about to start working today.
That's why I posted 'I got nothin', because I knew there was no point.

He is entitled to his opinion and mine is not likely to change it. It is somewhat ironic that his freedom to, for example, say that vaccines don't work, is owed, in no small way, to a vaccine. George Washington was smart enough to insist that every member of the Continental Army receive smallpox inoculation. It was not a popular edict, but it preserved the lives of enough soldiers to allow us to prevail and earn our independence.

[CDu]

You can't counter emotion with logic. It has never worked before and it is not about to start working today.
That's why I posted 'I got nothin', because I knew there was no point.

He is entitled to his opinion and mine is not likely to change it. It is somewhat ironic that his freedom to, for example, say that vaccines don't work, is owed, in no small way, to a vaccine. George Washington was smart enough to insist that every member of the Continental Army receive smallpox inoculation. It was not a popular edict, but it preserved the lives of enough soldiers to allow us to prevail and earn our independence.

I am apparently not allowed to give you sporks. But I wholeheartedly agree. There is no value in debating people who dispute the facts.

It is a frustrating time to be alive. Still better than the alternative, but frustrating.

[Tappan Zee Devil]

Yeah, probably too much for this thread... and I'm not interested in debating on the Off-Topic thread... I'm way out-numbered.
But a short answer is somewhere in between... I believe that Covid-19 is greatly exagerated and yes, people died but not more than a heavy flu season... and I do not believe that the healthy should be quarantined... its counter-productive.

My son is an ER doctor in the Boston area. He will not tell me he is scared. "I am a doctor - this is what I do and I will be okay."
However, when he finishes a shift, he changes out of his scrubs and puts them in a plastic bag. When he gets home, he goes in through the basement door, puts his scrubs and the clothes that he wore home in the washing machine and starts it. He cleans his feet and goes upstairs naked to shower. Only then will he allow his wife near him. (He didn't tell me this - his wife did - she is very scared.)
This is not normal, this is not a "heavy flu season", this is very real. If you deny it, you are delusional (as in - drinking the kool-aid). As I posted above, the county where I live in the Hudson Valley has had over 500 Covid deaths - this is real!

[dudog84]

... and I'm not interested in debating on the Off-Topic thread...

Why? Too much informed, intelligent debate? Asking for a friend.

P.S. I'm a scientist. Facts matter.

[WWBD]

The lack of mask wearing unfortunately comes down to people “choosing sides.” A certain segment of the political spectrum has taken a universal, human crisis and found a way to draw a battle line in the middle of it, because it’s always helpful to have an enemy you can point to. So now it’s about “freedoms.”

No, not really. It’s about an extremely contagious virus that doesn’t really care who you vote for or which network you watch.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Many also do not agree with the inflated statistics, theoretical projections and biased scientific studies and are using independent media research which has a whole different view of masks, immunity and vaccines.

This is relevant to this discussion about sports returning to normal because roughly half of the population has this mindset. They do not believe the pandemic is as the liberal media portrays it and are not afraid to enter a packed arena or stadium.

I disagree first and foremost with your use of "roughly half the population."

I hope you stay safe and healthy.