Yes, the world has lost its mind during this pandemic, and I am talking about people at the top of the heap down to us peons.
It has changed the way we look at things, change the way we look at right and wrong, and changed the way we exist.
Case in point is yesterday's announcement by several state governors that they were laying out the welcome mat for major league sports to return to their states, and this group includes Governor Andrew Cuomo, the governor--and self-appointed emperor without a clue--of New York, the center of the pandemic in our country and just possibly in the world.
Cuomo, and the governors of Texas and California, yesterday said that their states would welcome back professional major league sports, with some major alterations, as of the end of this month or early in June.
Yet, at least in New York, smaller businesses continue to remain closed, costing the livelihoods of thousands of people, and the longer these smaller businesses remain closed, the likelihood that they will never reopen.
Look, it is so obviously a dollars-and-cents matter that it makes the governors appear to be the money grubbers that they truly are.
Sure, your downtown jewelry store or record store does pay tax money to their respective states, but nothing like major league teams and their stadiums and arenas do.
And, of course, there is the public relations element to this. Heck, I am a die-hard Yankees fan, and boy, have I been starved for something to watch on TV! Thank you, Governor Cuomo! Thanks so much!
And then, there is the competition aspect to this. Florida and Arizona, the bases for spring training for baseball and beautiful warm weather states, have thrown open their doors for a month or more now. They have tried to lure entire leagues--namely, Major League Baseball--to their environs, with new configurations of the leagues to play in their states. Does New York--and Cuomo--an avowed Yankees and Buffalo Bills fan--want to lose out totally to Florida in having the NEW YORK Yankees play in Tampa?
This is all so stupid, that even though I love sports, I find the proposals completely repulsive, in particular with os many people either on furlough or out of work completely.
Our downtowns have been turned into ghost towns, and until that situation is reversed, I cannot see sports returning to our consciousness.
It is not right, it is not fair, and remember, New York City can't even open its beaches, yet the Yankees have the welcome mat to play at Yankee Stadium and the Mets have the welcome mat to play at Citifield.
If you can explain this to me beyond what I said earlier, then you are a smarter person than I am.
My son works for a smaller concern. He has been on furlough and collecting unemployment for more than a month now. We are hoping that his company reopens sooner than later, and he can go back to his job, a job that he looks forward to doing and which was his lifeblood.
Sorry, that is way more important than the millions that the ballplayers are going to make, and the owners of the teams are going to make, and the states that the teams play in are going to make, once play is resumed.
Let's be honest about it; even if there is no season in 2020 for baseball, MLB will not go out of business, and the Yankees won't go out of business,
However, the continued closure of small businesses, however, will force businesses to close down for good. They will NEVER reopen.
And that is why you are getting defiance now. Just in my own neighborhood, a couple of businesses have reopened that were previously shuttered, and they have opened without permission. Their business owners have determined that is they continue to stay closed, they will be closed for good, so they have reopened to stem that tide.
What message is Cuomo and the other governors sending out to those business owners by giving gthe green light to major league sports returning to the same environs that the smaller businesses are struggling to survive in?
I just don't know. I just don't get it.
I must be stupid.
Yes, you are stupid.
ReplyDeleteDo you not realize that we are slowly reopening the state, that small businesses are reopening upstate and will soon reopen downstate?
Do you not understand that the teams will not be playing to live crowds, but only to a tv audience?
And do you not understand that the state is broke and needs every dime of tax revenue it can get, in part because the powers that be in DC don’t want to bail out “blue states”?
I understand all of those things. Yet, smaller businesses are not reopening so quickly, the beaches in New York City are closed, and millions of people are out of work. I think it is a case of misplaced priorities, and if I am stupid, then if you cannot see this, then you are certainly stupider than I am.
ReplyDeleteSo folks have nothing to do, with beaches closed, movie theaters closed, etc, but giving them something to do is a bad thing? Not everyone has a back yard pool...
ReplyDeleteYou are completely missing the point, which is that while you are enabling professional sports to proceed, you are still putting a vise on businesses that could easily operate and practice social distancing. Yankee Stadium is in the Bronx. The Bronx has one of the highest, if not the highest, rate of coronavirus reports in the state. But you will allow the Yankees to play in Yankee Stadium? It reeks of the "let them eat cake" agenda that so many of our elected officials suffer from, and it is just plain wrong to open up stadiums for pro sports while we have more than 30 percent unemployment because so many businesses have been scuttled during the past two months, and that number is getting higher by the week. Sure, it gives people something to do, rather than go to the jobs that they once had, and could still have if we lightened things up a bit FOR THEM AND THE BUSINESSES THAT THEY ARE EMPLOYED BY. It makes absolutely no sense that the Yankees will play in the Bronx, yet you can't get a haircut downstate. Explain that to me please ... you can't, and that is the point I am making that is far too over your head for you to understand.
ReplyDeleteFunny how you’re the only one who seems to think this is a problem...
ReplyDeleteThe folks who want to reopen the state think this is a good thing. The folks who want lockdown to continue also think this is a good thing.
Your problem seems to be that this won’t help the small businesses around Yankee Stadium or Citi Field,
What are you trying to say, that they should not play unless they can do it with a crowd and with all the local businesses open?
The 2020 season would not exist at all, not in New York, because we will not be ready for that this summer.
Playing in the Bronx, without a crowd, hurts no one, small businesses are going to remain closed whether or not the games are played,
Playing in the Bronx, without a crowd, isnyt going to change your son’s employment status, or yours.
Playing in the Bronx, without a crowd, will generate revenue for the team, for the TV producers, for the TV advertisers.
Playing in the Bronx, without a crowd, will generate much needed tax revenue, so that we don’t have to cut services in this state, like unemployment insurance, Medicaid, etc.
Not playing in the Bronx will have NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on small businesses in the Bronx or elsewhere in the state.
Your real anger is at the closing of small businesses, which has put your son out of work. We all know someone who is out of work or on furlough. We are all suffering from the lack of services caused by the lockdown. It’s a horrible situation for all of us.
But this situation isn’t going to change, regardless of whether the Yankees and Mets can play baseball. Apples and oranges.
Save your rage for something real.
Yes, this is way over your head. You proved it with your latest response. The problem is not that baseball gets to play without crowds, it is that baseball is put ahead of small business like beauty parlors, barber shops, jewelers and also small companies when it comes to importance, and it is all about money. That is just so obvious. We will be able to watch a baseball game but we can't go back to work yet. It is absurd. And if you truly believe what you say, then why list yourself as anonymous? Are you a coward? Or do you think that I am going to block you because I know exactly who you are?
ReplyDeleteNo, I understand you completely. apparently you have cooked up a theory that somehow opening baseball is taking priority over opening small businesses. Your theory is nonsense. Small businesses will open, or not, regardless of what happens with major league sports. It's apples and oranges.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I am in favor of it. Why?
Money. The state is broke. How will it pay your unemployment? How will it pay Medicaid? How will it pay fire, police, schools, public hospitals? The money generated by the Mets and the Yankees can help.
Entertainment. You opened your backyard pool. Why? I have read your rants about the beaches. Nassau County and most Long Island towns are restricting their beaches to residents. And I suspect there will be major restrictions on the number of people on those beaches. There are a lot of folks without a back yard pool. There are a lot of folks without a back yard. What are they supposed to do?
State government can, and will, multitask. Whether or not the Yankees play in the Bronx has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER ON WHETHER YOU CAN GET A HAIRCUT.
I understand exactly what you are saying. It is complete and utter nonsense.
What is over your head are the part about misplaced priorities. Millions of people are out of work or on furlough because of the virus. Many of these people cannot get unemployment, or what they get is inadequate. Yet, you worry about having something to do this summer? What about these people? Do you care more about millionaires and the billionaires than you do about the average Joe out there? We can open baseball but we can't go to work? C'mon, you are smarter than than ... but why the "anonymous" handle. That is being used because I banned you before, and you cannot post on here without it. So why don't you just go back to work--which so many people still cannot do--and stop beating a dead horse?
ReplyDelete