Padecky: Hard to fathom taking the crowd out of the ballgame

Let The Games begin! Not the Olympic Games, silly. Something much more interesting. The Corona Games! It has all the drama of the Olympics with none of the spectators. It would be the Miller Lite of sports. Looks like the NFL or MLB with none of the flavor.

It’s under consideration: games played without spectators. The NBA was on board with that for a few hours until Rudy Gobert of Utah turned up positive with the virus. MLB is floating the idea right now, to see which way the wind is blowing, 30 teams in Arizona, playing baseball for a few months. Like a rock no one wants to look under, the NFL is turning over the idea as well.

We’ll pause for a moment before addressing the puzzle of how players compete safely. For now, let’s get some expert testimony from someone who knows a thing or two about fans. Fans, that often maligned group of humans, a taken-for-granted group of people who pay too much for beer, hot dogs, parking and an uncomfortable stadium seat.

It’s been 19 years since Jerry Robinson sprinted onto the football field in front of these humans. He played 184 games in the NFL for the Raiders and Eagles, 147 of them as a starter. Almost two decades have passed and yet what the former Cardinal Newman legend is about to say, it still gives him goosebumps.

“I’ll never forget it for as long as I live,” Robinson said. “It’s a life-changing moment. I’ve never been able to duplicate that feeling in my life. It feels like it just happened yesterday.”

What is the Santa Rosa resident talking about? The pregame introductions. When he was standing in the tunnel. Waiting for his name to be called.

“Then the guy with the yellow armband,” Robinson said, “drops his arm and yells ‘GO!’ You sprint onto the field while the announcer says, ‘Jerry Robinson, inside linebacker!’ and the crowd erupts. I run onto the field and I don’t feel my feet touching the ground. I’m floating. It’s better than sex. Seventy, 80 thousand people screaming. It’s that feeling the crowd gives you. Nothing like it. Feel like running through a brick wall.”

And without that? Like I just put up a stop sign in front of Robinson. As if I just asked him what it would be like to play on one leg.

“Mind-boggling,” he said. “They are such a big part of the game. Fans plan their Sundays. Get there early to tailgate. Set up the grill. They plan their menus to coincide with the opponent. If it’s Kansas City, it’s barbecue ribs. If it’s Philly, it’s cheesesteaks. If it’s New Orleans, it’s gumbo, Cajun.”

But then come the Magic Words, the ones football players and baseball players and basketball players hear. It’s the carrot at the end of the stick for a pro athlete.

“GAME ON!” Robinson said. “And we go. We’re in our sport because we love to compete. So we hear the words and we go. Except ...”

And this is where it gets dicey. It’s one thing to play in an empty stadium. It’s another to play against someone who can and will knock you down, be that on a slide into second base or home plate, be it taking a charge to prevent a cupcake layup or blocking someone into next Tuesday. Sports is contact at the very least, collision at the worst, and Robinson is troubled by this logic - social distancing keeps fans out of the stands but athletes can’t play by those rules.

“If players were tested for the virus,” Robinson said, “and cleared to play after two weeks in which the tests were negative, that might work. But I have to trust all my teammates to stay in quarantine in the hotel and wait. I have to trust all of them to do the right thing. But what about a guy who’s had a history of violations or bad behavior? Can I trust him to stay in quarantine? In a hotel room for two weeks?”

An ESPN poll released April 9 revealed 72% of the fans polled said they would not return to stadiums unless there was a coronavirus vaccine. That in itself would get billionaire owners’ knickers in a twist. The NFL is a $25 billion a year industry, MLB clocks in at $10.7 billion, the NBA at $8 billion annually. Would the athletes themselves compromise, play without symptoms even though they may be asymptomatic? Would they take a chance?

“That question can be answered two ways,” Robinson said. “If you’re a veteran player, you’ve built up a nice nest egg. You’re not going to play. You can afford it. But if you’re a rookie coming into the league and trying to establish yourself with long-term money, you might think otherwise. If you’re that young guy, I feel for you. This may be your only shot. I feel sorry for you.

“Before owners make any decision, they need to talk to the players’ family, to the wives, to the kids. How would you like to be a guy that leaves home for four months to stay in quarantine and look into your son’s eyes and tell him you’ll be OK?

“What about the officials, media, club personnel, game day staff? What about security, the food vendors? Ticket takers?

“Myself, I wouldn’t play unless there was a vaccine.”

Robinson, 63, was troubled to learn not all fans polled by ESPN felt the same way. Thirteen percent said they would feel comfortable attending games as they had in the past.

“Those are the same people who walk around without masks,” said Robinson, a member of College Football’s Hall of Fame for his All-American years at UCLA. “They think they are invincible. Stop being stupid!”

Another 12% in the ESPN poll said they would go if social distancing could be implemented. That would indeed be a hoot to watch. “Excuse me, sir, I’m sorry, gotta scoot past you … gotta get a hot dog … gotta get a burger … gotta go to the restroom … gotta stretch my legs … gotta clean my mask, it’s a little grungy … gotta annoy the hell out of you … so sorry.” An arena or stadium two-thirds empty might feel more crowded than if it was full.

Most medical experts claim there won’t be a vaccine for the coronavirus until 2021. If that prediction holds true, no NFL this year, no MLB, no finishing the NBA season. No Super Bowl. No World Series. No NBA champion. Unless research reveals some sudden advancements and solutions, 2020 promises to be a very bleak year indeed for sports fans.

Unless …

“Athletes are rich,” Robinson said, “but owners are wealthy. There’s a big difference.”

The business of America is business. Even if the business is Miller Lite. It might be less filling but, considering the circumstances, better than not drinking at all.

To comment write to bobpadecky@gmail.com.