The Day that Sports Stood Still

Posted on by Thor

March 11, 2020 The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder were set to tip-off in a midweek match up. There was an unusually long delay by the referees to start the game. It was announced that Utah center Rudy Gobert had COVID-19. He had mocked the virus by touching every mic in the news conference room. Both teams were then quarantined in their respective locker rooms and fans were told to exit the arena. The National Basketball League (NBA) elected to postpone the season. Everything in the sports world was suddenly canceled.

The NBA invested in a Walt Disney World Orlando Bubble during the final eight games of the 2019–20 regular season and throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs. Players were tested often and were to stay isolated. Multiple players who had previously tested positive for the coronavirus then tested positive a second time, sources told ESPN. The NBA has announced more than 100 positive tests since last summer. Lou Williams a Clippers guard was granted an excused absence for a family funeral. While on leave, he went to Magic City an Atlanta strip club where he was photographed.

The Major League Baseball league bubble was even a worse nightmare. Teams still traveled city to city allowing for plenty of opportunities for infections on the road. The Miami  Marlins had over 19 reported cases of COVID-19. Baseball players were tested and traced incessantly, isolated and placed, as needed, on the COVID-19. Much of the it drama occurred outside the public eye. The confidentiality of the players’ health status was a high priority. That said, there were 104 positive tests reported to the public.

In the National Football League (NFL) 32 teams were hit by COVID-19. Games were postponed as a result of players testing positive for the coronavirus. As of July 10, 2020 The NFL Players Association revealed on its website that 72 players in the league have already tested positive for COVID-19 . The Superbowl was areal shit show. The league said that many of the seats in the stadium would be filled by photo cut out of virtual fans. However it was clear on game day that they packed as many people as they could on the lower level around the 50 yard line. The post game celebrations in Tampa following the game were far worse.

Lost in 2020:

– Qiu Jun (72), Chinese bodybuilder, died on February 6 in Wuhan
– Italo De Zan (92), Italian cyclist, died on March 9 in Treviso
– Francisco Garcia (21), Spanish football coach, died on March 17 in Malaga
– Luciano Federici (81), Italian footballer, died on March 18 in Carrara
– Innocenzo Donina (69), Italian footballer, died on March 19 in Bergamo
– Jose Maria Candela (59), Spanish sports journalist, died on March 20
– Tomas Diaz-Valdes (78), Spanish sports journalist and amateur pilot, died on March 20 in Madrid
– Benito Joanet (84), Spanish footballer and coach, died on March 22 in Alicante
– Mohamed Farah (59), Somalian footballer, died on March 24 in London
– Azam Khan (95), Pakistani squash player, died on March 28 in London
– Pearson Jordan (69), Barbadian sprinter, died on March 28
– Jose Luis Capon (72), Spanish footballer, died on March 29 in Madrid
– Angelo Rottoli (61), Italian boxer, died on March 29 in Ponte San Pietro
– David Hodgkiss (71), Chairman of Lancashire County Cricket Club, died on March 30
– Pape Diouf (69), Senegalese journalist and former president of Olympique de Marseille, died on March 31 at Dakar
– Daniel Yuste (75), Spanish cyclist, died on March 31
– Goyo Benito (73), Spanish footballer, died on April 2 in Madrid
– Zaccaria Cometti (83), Italian footballer, died on April 2 in Romano di Lombardia
– Arnold Sowinski (89), French footballer, died on April 2 in Lens
– Tom Dempsey (73), American football (NFL), died on April 4in New Orleans
– Roger Chappot (79), Swiss ice hockey player, died April 7
– Donato Sabia (56), Italian athlete, died April 8 in Potenza
– Miguel Jones (81), Spainish footballer, died on April 8 in Madrid
– Francesco La Rosa (93), Italian footballer, died on April 8, in Milan
– Ho Kam Ming (95), Macanese-born Canadian martial artist, died on April 9in Toronto
– Francisco Aritmendi (81), Spanish athlete, died on April 12
– Baldiri Alavedra (76), Spanish footballer, died on April 13
– Zafar Sarfraz (50), Pakistani cricketer, died on April 13 kin Peshawar
– Cyril Lawrence (99), English Footballer, died on April 14
– Norman Hunter (76), English Footballer, died on April 17
– Lukman Niode (56), Indonesian swimmer, died on April 17
– Bob Lazier (81), American race car driver, died on April 18
– Urano Navarrini (74), Italian football player and manager, died on April 18
– Steve Dalkowski (80), American baseball player, died on April 19
– Josep Sala Mane (82), Spanish casteller, died on April 20
– Dave Bacuzzi (79), British footballer, died on April 21
– Teruyuki Okazaki (88), Japanese karate master, died on April 21
– Henk Overgoor (75), Dutch footballer, died on April 23
– John Rowlands (73), English footballer, died on April 26
– Francesco Perrone (89), Italian athlete, died on April 27
– Dick Lucas (86), American Football player, died on April 29
– Fernando Sandoval (77), Brazilian water polo players, died on May 1
– Jim Cross (83), American ice hockey player, died on May 2
– John Ogilvie (91), English footballer, died on May 2
– Roy Lester (96), American Football player, died on May 3
– Shobushi (28), Japanese sumo wrestler, died on May 13
– Marv Luster (82), American Football player, died on May 25
– Celio Taveira (79), Brazil footballer, died on May 29
– Riaz Sheikh (51), Pakistani cricketer, died on June 4
– E Hamsakoya (61), Indian footballer, died on June 6
– Ali Hadi Mohsin (53), Iraqi footballer, died on June 12
– Aaron Padilla Gutierrez (77), Mexican football, died June 14
– Ahmed Radhi (56), Iraqi footballer, died on June 21
– Ken Snow (50), American footballer, died on June 21
– Mohammed Yaseen Mohammed (57), Iraqi weightlifter, died on June 24
– Ilija Petkovic (74), Serbia footballer, died on June 24
– Muhammad Alloush (44), Egyptian football coach, died on June 29
– Sanjay Dobal (53), Indian cricketer, died on June 29
– Mohamed Kouradji (68), Algerian football referee, died on July 9
– Corra Dirksen (82), South American rugby player, died on July 10
– Ramesh Tikaram (51), Indian para-athlete, died on July 16
– Cesar Salinas (58), Head of the Bolivian football federation, died on July 19
– James Arthur Harris aka Kamala (70), American professional wrestler, died on August 9
– Chetan Chauhan (73), former Indian cricketer, died on August 16
– Tom Seaver (75), former American baseball player, died on August 31
– Nadhim Shaker (61), former Iraqi footballer, died on September 11
– Azmi Mohamed Megahed (70), former Egyptian volleyball player, died on September 12
– Nick Mourouzis (80), former American Football player and coach, died on September 16
– Abdul Mahdi Hadi (74), former Iraqi footballer, died on September 26
– Jay Johnstone (74), former American baseball player, died on September 26
– Ruben Anguiano (64), former Mexican footballer, died on September 26
– Fred Dean (68), former American Football player, died on October 14
– Danil Khalimov (42), Russian wrestler, died on October 15
– Ernesto Contreras (83), former Argentinian cyclist, died on October 25
– Miguel Angel Castellini (73), former Argentinin boxer, died on October 28
– Rick Baldwin (67), former American baseball player, died on October 30
– John Meyer (78), former American Football player, died on November 4
– Shkelqim Troplini (54), former Albanian wrestler, died on November 9
– Jim Pace (59), American racing driver, died on November 13
– Lindy McDaniel (84), American baseball player, died on November 14
– Kay Wiestal (80), former Swedish footballer, died on November 14
– Juan Roldan (63), former Argentinean boxer, died on November 18
– Resit Karabacak (66), former Turkish wrestler, died on November 19
– George Nock (74), former American Football player, died on November 22
– Nikola Spasov (61), former Bulgarian footballer, died on November 23
– Fred Sasakamoose (86), former Canadian ice hockey player, died on November 24
– Vladimir Ivanov (65), former Bulgarian athlete, died on November 26
– Roberto Leitao (83), former Brazilian martial artist, died on November 28
– Ernesto Galli (75), former Italian footballer, died on November 29
– Aldo Moser (86), former Italian cyclist, died on December 2
– Arnie Robinson (72), former American athlete, died on December 2
– Karim Salman (55), former Iraqi footballer, died on December 2
– Tony Curcillo (89), former American Football player, died on December 8
– Aslanbek Fidarov (47), former Russain wrestler, died on December 8
– Kurt Stettler (88), former Swiss footballer, died on December 8
– Gordon Forbes (86), former South African tennis player, died on December 9
– Charley Pride (86), former American baseball player, died on December 12
– Otto Baric (87), former Croatian footballer, died on December 13
– Marcelo Veiga (56), former Brazilian footballer, died on December 14
– Paul Nihill (81), former British race walker, died on December 15
– Rene Weber (59), former Brazilian footballer, died on December 16
– Giovanni Sacco (77), former Italian footballer, died on December 17
– Marjan Lazovski (58), former Macedonian bastketball player, died on December 19
– Benedicto Bravo (58), former Mexican footballer, died on December 24
– Armando Romero (60), former Mexican footballer, died on December 24
– Milka Babovic (92), former Croatian athlete, died on December 26
– Nikhil Nandy (88), former Indian footballer, died on December 29
– Gennady Strakhov (76), former Russian Wrestler, died on December 30

Died in 2021 

– Cleber Eduardo Arado (48), Brazil footballer, died on January 2
– Brandaozinho (90), former Brazil footballer, died on January 5
– Hubert Auriol (68), French racing driver, died on January 10
– Bruno Ghedina (77), former Italian ice hockey player, died on January 10
– Fabio Enzo (74), former Italian footballer, died on January 11
– Paul Kolliker (88), former Swiss rower, died on January 11
– Joel Robert (77), former Belgian racer, died on January 13
– Leonidas Pelekanakis (58), former Greece sailor, died on January 14
– Geoff Barnett (74), former American footballer, died on January 15
– Gildardo Garcia (66), Colombian chess player, died on January 15
– Gyorgy Handel (61), former Hungarian football, died on January 16
– Carlos Burga (68), former Peruvian boxer, died on January 18
– Danial Jahic (41), former Serbian long jumper, died on January 19
– Gustavo Pena (78), former Mexican footballer, died on January 19
– Raisuddin Ahmed (82), former Bangladesh cricketer, died on January 20
– Calixto Avena (77), former Colombian footballer, died on January 21
– Anthony Mwamba (60), former Zambian boxer, died on January 21
– Roy Torrens (72), former Irish cricketer, died on January 23
– Johannes Edvaldsson (70), former Iceland footballer, died on January 24

The Naked Virus: A Daytona Superspreader

Posted on by Thor

Bike Week in Daytona Florida continues through March 14, 2021. This is the 80th Daytona Bike Week.Last year the rally happened right at the beginning of the pandemic and it helped spread the virus.

300,000 bikers are expected to show up in Daytona the midst of the pandemic. It will of course spread the virus all across the country. The new COVID variant, B117 is far more contagious and deadly than the first strain of the virus and Florida is ground zero. There have been 31,000 deaths from COVID-19 in Florida so far, the third highest death toll in the country. Florida continues to do every stupid thing it can to be number one.

Officials in Daytona allowed bars to open at 60 percent indoor capacity for the annual Bike Week. Just like the Sturgis Bike Rally in North Dakota during the pandemic, making money took a priority over public health.

Infectious Disease doctor Mohammed Reza of Daytona is worried about the possible outcomes. “My concern is this will become a superspreader event,” Reza said. “Especially if we have this more contagious variant of the virus already in Florida. No matter how much we do, anytime people congregate and come together, this virus will spread.”

Bobby chin strap, The Naked Virus, has been pan handling at Bike Week for 21 years. His wife, The Naked Cow Girl also works the event. This year Daytona instituted a policy that prohibits pan handling within 10 feet of businesses. The Naked Cowboy was arrested for pan handling.

At first I was sympathetic to the plight of the guitarist who only wore Fruit of the Loom underwear. Perhaps he was truly an artist. But then he started throwing the  N-Word around. “So the blacks can walk around and take tips all day long.” he said. He also gave the female officer a hard time for wearing a mask saying she must be a fan of Biden. She was wearing a neck garter which is the least effective form of a mask, the other officer had no mask. Bobby chin-strap,  The Naked Virus, WAS wearing a mask when he appeared in court. Pan handling charges were dropped and he pleaded no contest to resisting arrest. Chin strap paid $223 in court costs.

With the vaccines rolling out there is light at the end of the tunnel. Stop being stupid.

South Beach Superspreader

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Miami invested 5 million dollars on an ad campaign to convince people to come to South Florida during the pandemic for spring break. Tourism in Florida generated over $91 billion in 2018, but due to COVID-19 lock down measures Miami lost billions of dollars in 2020.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has no mask mandate in place for the state. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that spring breakers will take no safety precautions when they come on mass to Miami beach to party hard and spread the virus.

A new variant of the virus imported from Great Britain called B117 now accounts for more that 40% 0f new cases of COVID-19 in Florida. Florida has more cases of the variant than any other state. B117 is more contagious and more deadly. We are at a tipping point as the slow roll out of vaccines is racing against the exponential growth of this new variant. Global health expert Dr. Peter Hotez has warned that these spring breakers could “spell disaster” for the country. “It’s the perfect storm,” he said. When all the drinking and partying is over the college students will return home to seed the virus all over the country. I am amazed that Florida Governors are happy to repeat the same mistakes they made exactly one year ago.

More than 1 million Americans traveled domestically and internationally over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day which likely seeded the B117 variant in the USA. The B117 SARS-CoV-2 variant, identified in 33 states thus far, will dominate other strains in the coming weeks, triggering major COVID-19 surges such as those seen in Portugal and the United Kingdom—unless the United States immediately scales up surveillance and mitigation efforts. However in Florida, bars, restaurants, and clubs will remain open because Miami is unable to keep them closed due to a state executive order from Governor Ron DeSantis. He chose never to implement statewide mask mandates. Last year, Florida became of the biggest states to loosen COVID-19 restrictions when DeSantis reopened all restaurants, hotels, and bars at full capacity. Let the parties begin as the new variant spreads like wildfire.

Pre-Pandemic: The Wooly

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The after work crowd quickly filled The Wooly in Manhattans Financial District (9Barckay Street NYC). I quickly dashed off a sketch while Pam met with fellow museum curators.

The Wooly began in 2009 with a clandestine bar in the landmark Woolworth building in lower Manhattan.

The Wooly quickly became a downtown destination for private parties within the art, fashion, music, tech and entertainment industries.

I liked the dark wood warmth of the places lighting. I was standing at a central room divider with seats and a simple shelf for drinks.

The kitchen has pretzels, Buffalo wings tacos and burgers. I’m pretty sire I just had a beer while I sketched. They are offering take out and catering during the pandemic. I don’t imagine the scene I sketched exists right in NYC.

I miss sketching these sorts of crowded scenes. Thankfully the COVID-19 case numbers are falling and perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel after a year of isolation in my artist studio.

Pre-Pandemic: O’Hara’s Pub near Ground Zero

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O’Hara’s Pub, on Cedar Street, badly damaged during 9/11, is a testament to the resiliency of New York City and its people. The pub was badly damaged in the wreckage of 9/11 but built itself back up to become a haven for first responders and tourists alike.

The bar became home base for ground zero recovery workers after 9-11. We found a tight little corner booth near the rest rooms to share drinks and stories with several museum staff.

The walls are covered with thousands of patches from the uniforms of firefighters and rescue workers which cover any free space throughout the bar. The tradition was established just one year after 9/11 when a construction worker ripped the patch off of a firefighter’s uniform and stapled it proudly to the wall.

Michael Keane, the owner, and five of his employees were there when the towers were struck. That day windows burst from their frames and dust engulfed the establishment. Keane watched the tower fall from the roof where he’d set about putting out small fires that erupted when the first plane hit.

It took the bar about a year to get back up and running. Regulars were slow to return, but construction workers from ground zero began to call the place home after the long days of work.

Bribes for Vaccines in Florida

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At a time hen many of Florida’s elderly were smuggling to find COVID vaccine doses, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is making sure rich donators get first dibs on COVID-19 vaccine shots. An ultra-wealthy and exclusive community called Ocean Reef Club, on the northern tip of Key Largo received enough coronavirus vaccine doses for 1,200 residents over the age of 65, according to a Miami Herald report on March 3, 2021. Homes at Ocean Reef range from $900,000 condominiums to homes worth more than $10 million, according to the club’s website.

Former Illinois governor Bruce Rauner (R), who is from that exclusive community, was inspired to donate $250,000 to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s war chest. 17 other Key Largo residents have contributed to the Friends of DeSantis committee over the past four years.

Last month,  he organized a COVID vaccine pop up site in a mostly White, affluent part of Manatee County and then threatened to take vaccine away from counties where officials criticized his approach. Residents could only get the vaccine if they were from that exclusive zip code. “If Manatee County doesn’t like us doing this, then we are totally fine with putting this in counties that want it,” DeSantis said at a news conference in February 2021. “We’re totally happy to do that.”

Critics have also accused DeSantis of using the vaccine distribution plan to appeal to donors; he has raised more than $2.7 million in February alone since he began the “pop-up” clinics, the Herald reported. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried called for a federal investigation into Governor Ron DeSantis’ handling of the vaccine distribution.

Pre-Pandemic: The Accidental Historian

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The Accidental Historian Exhibition was at the Orange County Regional History Center through January 20, 2020, so the exhibit came down just prior to the start of the pandemic. On January 21, 2020, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the United States in the state of Washington. The patient had recently returned from Wuhan, China.

The exhibit featured people who might be historians without even realizing it. That’s certainly true of many bloggers, urban sketchers, photographers, and more. This engaging exhibition, created at the History Center, was about individuals who are absorbed in documenting the world of today accidentally becoming some of Central Florida’s finest historians for the future. The exhibit offered a glimpse into some of our favorite collections that were created for the now – more than 100 years ago.

The Accidental Historian featured both historic and contemporary work and collections, including drawings by the renowned artist and teacher Ralph Bagley and Urban Sketchers Orlando, poetry by Orlando’s inaugural poet laureate Susan Lilley, audiovisual work by food blogger Ricky Ly, historic images by photographer T.P. Robinson, and more.

This panel discussion featured three contributors to the exhibit. At the podium Catherine Duffy asked each panelist questions in turn.

Photographer J.D. Casto had documented the Pulse Nightclub shooting’s aftermath. His photos capture Orlando’s love and hope following the shooting. One of his photos of an auditorium hung next to a similar photo from one hundred years ago and it was as if time had stood still.

Ricky Ly founded Tasty Chops, a blog for local foodies. The exhibition featured several of his videos of local restaurant owners discussing their offerings.

Robin Katz, is a member of Urban Sketchers Orlando. She uses her sketchbook as a journal to document the Central Florida community. Samples of Robin’s sketches were featured in the exhibit.

 

 

All Quiet on the Vaccine Front

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With vaccines slowly rolling out there is light at the end of the tunnel. My great great grandfather Augustus Arthur Thorspecken served in WWI and his army camp in Kansas was where Spanish flu broke out in America. I started to wonder what it must have been like for him at the end of the war as he hoped to avoid the flu and the final days of battle. Knowing the war was ending some soldiers let their guard down and that resulted in death.

All Quiet on the Western Front featured a soldier who was an artist and on the final day of battle he saw a butterfly. As he was distracted by the butterfly’s beauty he stood and was shot dead by a sniper from the enemy trenches.

As vaccines become available some state mayors have lost patience with mask mandates and trying to keep constituents safe. With only about 6% of people vaccinated there is no herd immunity. Only after about 70 to 95% or more of the population is vaccinated will it become safer to reopen state economies fully. Texas and Mississippi have decided to fully open which is a death sentence for people who will be subjected to new strains of the virus which will go unchecked. I had hoped that stupidity would end when the ex-president left office but there is plenty of stupid to go around.

We are all experiencing some form of pandemic fatigue but the solution is not to run into a machine gun firing line. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ignored the advice of health experts as he lifted his state’s mask mandates. Texas has had COVID deaths so far. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced March 22, 2021 that he’s lifting all state-imposed mask mandates and removing COVID-19 related restrictions on business operations. Mississippi has had COVID deaths so far. Of course I live in Florida and it is up to individuals to try and protect themselves from ignorant state leadership. Florida has had COVID deaths so far. Wear a mask, social distance and wash your hand often. State governors are trying to kill you.

Mad Mask Abbott

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Texas Governor Mad Max Greg Abbott announced on March 2, 2021 that the states mask mandate would be lifted and all business could open at 100% capacity starting March 10, 2021. The CDC had warned the day before that states should not ease public health safety restrictions. As of March 1, 2021, only 6.57% of Texans have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University.

COVID case numbers have fallen since the insanely high numbers of January driven by the holidays, New Years Eve and the Super Bowl. However the number of new cases have leveled off at about the worst of the summer surge which was the worst imaginable horror at the time. Since new cases of COVID-19 have been leveling off at about 50,000 new cases a day, there is a risk that there could be a 4th wave driven by states lifting health guidance too early. New variants of the virus are spreading and some are resistant to the vaccines being distributed. In Brazil, people who recovered from the COVID virus at the beginning of the pandemic are getting re-infected. The second infections are more severe and deadly.

A team of researchers in Houston, Texas, has sequenced the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from 20,400 COVID-19 patients treated at a single health system there, and they’ve found cases of all the major variants that public health experts say could increase the transmission of the virus or the severity of infection.

Ironically President Joe Biden‘s fast vaccine roll out is partly the cause of governor Abbott letting his guard down. President Joe Biden slammed Abbott on March 3, 2021 for putting lives at risk by clinging to “Neanderthal thinking” rather than heeding advice from the nation’s top scientists. “I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers. “We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we’re able to get vaccines in people’s arms….The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask. Forget it. It still matters.”

Biden noted the death toll, 511,874 Americans at last count. “We’re going to lose thousands more…. We’ll not have everybody vaccinated until sometime in the summer,” Biden said. “It’s critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow the science. Wash your hands, hot water. Do it frequently, wear a mask and stay socially distanced. … I wish the heck some of our elected officials knew it.” To date, Texas has lost 43,266 lives.

“We at the CDC have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asked about Texas’ change of policy during a White House briefing. “The next month or two is really pivotal in terms of how this pandemic goes.”

COVID PAC

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The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is the country’s largest meeting of conservative activists and politicians, and usually gives insight into the direction of the Republican Party. It was held in Orlando February 25 to February 28 2021 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Hotel employees are required to wear protective masks and gloves during their time on-site. The Hotel also implemented social distancing guidance in public areas and other health and hygiene requirements to keep guests safe.

When organizers got on the stage, which was designed in the shape of the Odal Rune, a Nazi Symbol, and they asked the audience to wear masks they were met with angry boos.

The big star of the conference was a golden statue created by Mexican artist, Tommy Zegan. Attended worshiped the golden calf with red white and blue shorts by posing for selfies. The ex-president gave his first speech sine loosing the election. It was a droll rather boring rehash of his past grievances. He also begged for money since he made a whole lot of cash loosing to president Joe Biden.

Mask wearing at the event was spotty at best with plenty of chin straps and ear dangling decorations rather than properly fit masks.  Florida’s Grim Reaper, aka lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder, raised money to have a plane troll thee conference with a banner that read, “Welcome Insurrectionists!”

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the hotel where the Conservative Political Action Conference met did its very best to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. “Signs were posted throughout the hotel and announcements were made to make sure the attendees were aware of the masking order,” Demings said. “However, we know that some of the attendees were non-compliant.” The hotel lacked the balls to  enforce the mask mandate. This like all of the former president’s events, will be a superspreader.