I'd rather not have sports without fans, as I shared in this space yesterday.
But I'd still rather have sports.
And the more that people in professional sports are speaking publicly about competing in empty stadiums and arenas, the more seriously the concept should be getting taken. Already this week, word emerged that Major League Baseball's weighing empty venues, that the NHL and NBA have each considered tournament-style, single-arena settings for their respective playoffs, and now, yesterday, even the NFL made a similar noise.
Football's got the luxury of waiting the longest, of course. So it's no surprise that Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, acknowledged to NFL.com that his league will be more follower than leader. As he put it, "The NFL will not be charting a course different than other professional sports, other parts of society -- college sports, universities, businesses."
The interview, conducted by veteran reporter Judy Battista, is exceptional and recommended. It also represented news, at least as far as I can discern, in that Dr. Sills became the first prominent league official to put forth how such events could occur without putting participants or others inside the venue at risk.
Plain and simple, it's incessant testing.
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