SPORTS!!!

[O Really]

Sports without spectators is going to seem pretty strange. Except maybe for NASCAR, that should already be used to it by now. Even golf, where a lot of spectator ummm, "participation" is discouraged has applause after good shots. Might not matter too much in tennis, but crowd noise and participation are a significant part of the entertainment in football, basketball, and hockey, for example. IMNVHO, TV baseball is pretty dull as is, and would be even worse with only the sound of the announcer trying to fill in the time while the pitcher scratches his nuts and spits. (no offence to the baseball fans - I enjoy live baseball, just not the TV version).

It's sometimes annoying, but TV shows put in a laugh track for a reason. Laughter, and excitement, is contagious. Saints (I think) blasted crowd noise over their practice field to get ready to visit Seattle. Maybe TV sports will just add sound.

[Vrede too]

... IMNVHO, TV baseball is pretty dull as is, and would be even worse with only the sound of the announcer trying to fill in the time while the pitcher scratches his nuts and spits. (no offence to the baseball fans - I enjoy live baseball, just not the TV version)....

For a lot of teams social distancing at baseball games won't be a problem.

[O Really]

Padres have been putting 25-30K into a 42K stadium. Way more than team performance deserves.

[O Really]

Sports video games like Madden have crowds in the backgrounds and crowd shot popups. That could easily be added to made-for-TV games.

[GoCubsGo]

Sports video games like Madden have crowds in the backgrounds and crowd shot popups. That could easily be added to made-for-TV games.

I read somewhere that Korean baseball is putting fan cardboard cutouts in the seats.

[O Really]

Sports video games like Madden have crowds in the backgrounds and crowd shot popups. That could easily be added to made-for-TV games.

I read somewhere that Korean baseball is putting fan cardboard cutouts in the seats.

That's a lot of low-tech cardboard cutouts. Can't see that would add much. Might work for a tennis match - who'd know the difference. But I'm pretty sure the techs that put the first down line and sponsor logos on the field could put "fans" in the stands.

[billy.pilgrim]

Sports video games like Madden have crowds in the backgrounds and crowd shot popups. That could easily be added to made-for-TV games.

I read somewhere that Korean baseball is putting fan cardboard cutouts in the seats.

That's a lot of low-tech cardboard cutouts. Can't see that would add much. Might work for a tennis match - who'd know the difference. But I'm pretty sure the techs that put the first down line and sponsor logos on the field could put "fans" in the stands.

Add motors so they can do The Wave and throw things onto the field.

[Vrede too]

I read somewhere that Korean baseball is putting fan cardboard cutouts in the seats.

More on Asian baseball and other non-baseball CV-19 adaptations:
viewtopic.php?p=118446#p118446

That's a lot of low-tech cardboard cutouts. Can't see that would add much. Might work for a tennis match - who'd know the difference.

The eyes would have to go side to side. Maybe by attaching cheap windup metronomes.

But I'm pretty sure the techs that put the first down line and sponsor logos on the field could put "fans" in the stands.

Good point, special effects fans. Maybe the players benefit from the cardboard ones? Idk.

[O Really]

New deadlift record. 1,104!
Set by "Game of Thrones" character Thor The Mountain who is a beast IRL.

[Vrede too]

New deadlift record. 1,104!
Set by "Game of Thrones" character Thor The Mountain who is a beast IRL.

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Icelandic: [ˈhafθour ˈjuːlijʏs ˈpjœrtn̥ssɔn] (About this sound listen); often transliterated as Hafthor; born 26 November 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman and actor. He is the first person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man and World's Strongest Man in the same calendar year. He played Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane in the HBO series Game of Thrones for five seasons. He also is a former professional basketball player....

On 2 May 2020, Hafþór deadlifted 501 kilograms (1,105 lb) under strongman rules at his gym in Iceland and refereed by Magnús Ver Magnússon. This achievement was televised live by ESPN, and surpassed Eddie Hall's strongman deadlift record of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) set in 2016.

Must be about the only live sport ESPN has been able to air, though we may get some Asian baseball soon.

Height: 205 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Weight: 205 kg (452 lb)

Acting career

Hafþór was cast as Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane for the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones in August 2013. This was his first main acting role, and he is the third person to depict the character after Conan Stevens played the role in season 1 and Ian Whyte in season 2. He became the first actor to portray Clegane in more than one continuous season with his appearances in seasons four through eight. Hafþór was cast for the role of Mongkut in the 2017 film Kickboxer: Retaliation.

Hafþór played the lead role in the Philadelphia Renaissance Faire during their debut season in 2015. He appeared as "King Thor", the leader of a Viking raiding party intent on capturing the city of Amman.

[Vrede too]

New deadlift record. 1,104!
Set by "Game of Thrones" character Thor The Mountain who is a beast IRL.

Must be about the only live sport ESPN has been able to air, though we may get some Asian baseball soon.

ESPN Finds a Sport – Will Air South Korean Baseball Games
KBO League the first professional sport to begin its season during the pandemic

[O Really]

NHL is cancelled for the rest of the season.
MLB is talking maybe an 80-game season, which seems plenty enough for me, and some modified playoff.
NFL thinks it's going to play in empty-ish stadiums, which should give the Chargers an experience advantage.
NBA is opening practice facilities
NASCAR will race next weekend, without fans; Indycars are not running.
Meanwhile, bored sports talkers on TV are reporting S Korean baseball, one local female golfer who's playing in Cactus league, virtual cheerleading practice, dogs chewing toys, and pretending that MMA (a very good skill to have) is really a "sport."

[Vrede too]

... NFL thinks it's going to play in empty-ish stadiums, which should give the Chargers an experience advantage....

You're steadily becoming a San Diegan.

[O Really]

... NFL thinks it's going to play in empty-ish stadiums, which should give the Chargers an experience advantage....

You're steadily becoming a San Diegan.

You noticed I avoided saying "LA Chargers", eh?

Speaking of which, here's a mock-up version of Phillip Rivers' conversation with his wife and 9 (9!) kids, while they're sitting out by their pool, below.
I know we've lived in Southern California for all of most of your lives, and I know you've got friends, go to good schools, and enjoy the life, but we're going to sell this place and move to ..... Indianapolis. That's in Indiana, that I'm pretty sure is a state in something called the "Midwest". No, I don't know what it's mid of and no, it's not really in the west, but we're moving there. The do have something called "winter" and it apparently actually snows in neighbourhoods where people live - not just up in the mountains, which they don't have anyway, along with the ocean they don't have. Well, I don't know exactly what they do have, except for an NFL team that used to play in Baltimore. But it's OK, I probably don't have but a couple of years left to play, and after that we're moving to .... Alabama! (kids immediately start looking online for California boarding schools; wife calls real estate agent to cancel sale of house)

[Vrede too]

Catholics. Most be especially galling to move to IN when he's already 38. Seriously, why?

You noticed I avoided saying "LA Chargers", eh? ...

Sure, but even better is your mocking of the LA fan base . I'm shocked that more old Chargers fans don't drive up for the games .

[O Really]

Catholics. Most be especially galling to move to IN when he's already 38. Seriously, why?

You noticed I avoided saying "LA Chargers", eh? ...

Sure, but even better is your mocking of the LA fan base . I'm shocked that more old Chargers fans don't drive up for the games .

There are no more old Chargers fans. There were some Rivers fans, but now that he's moved to Wherever, it's become a zombie team like the Baltimore Colts or Oakland Raiders. Still around, sorta, but dead to fans.

[O Really]

Guy runs 100 miles on a treadmill on the weekend and sets a new world record. Yay.
But reporting it is what passes for "sports" on the desperate TV sports segment.
And people watched the event. People watched a guy running on a treadmill, and called it "live sports."

For Zach Bitter, 100-mile treadmill world records are made to be broken within one year.

The ultramarathon runner achieved sweet success in his tireless day-long quest to set the new world record in his Phoenix home on Saturday.

He breezed to a staggering 12:09:15 time at an average pace of 7:17 per mile.

That smashes the previous record of 12 hours, 32 minutes set by Dave Proctor in 2019.

Approximately 1500 viewers tuned into the virtual event via Bitter's YouTube channel.

[Vrede too]

Guy runs 100 miles on a treadmill on the weekend and sets a new world record. Yay.
But reporting it is what passes for "sports" on the desperate TV sports segment.
And people watched the event. People watched a guy running on a treadmill, and called it "live sports."

I might have watched the last half hour if I knew and it was free. 7:17 per mile for 100-miles is pretty impressive, even on a treadmill.

[O Really]

Guy runs 100 miles on a treadmill on the weekend and sets a new world record. Yay.
But reporting it is what passes for "sports" on the desperate TV sports segment.
And people watched the event. People watched a guy running on a treadmill, and called it "live sports."

I might have watched the last half hour if I knew and it was free. 7:17 per mile for 100-miles is pretty impressive, even on a treadmill.

Impressive, fershure. Interesting, maybe not so much.

[Vrede too]

Guy runs 100 miles on a treadmill on the weekend and sets a new world record. Yay.
But reporting it is what passes for "sports" on the desperate TV sports segment.
And people watched the event. People watched a guy running on a treadmill, and called it "live sports."

I might have watched the last half hour if I knew and it was free. 7:17 per mile for 100-miles is pretty impressive, even on a treadmill.

Impressive, fershure. Interesting, maybe not so much.

I might have cranked the music and done email at the same time. 8.24 mph.

Lots of noise about fanless sports resuming. We'll see.