Me? Oh, I'm fine. Just watching my kids chase each other around the house. In other words, just an average day under Covid-19. I should be thankful neither of them has scissors in their hands, right? They say we'll get through this together and come out stronger. They'd better be right.
Anyway:
That's Dr. Duvernay-Tardif
There have been some wonderful stories of people doing their little thing to try and help contain Covid-19.
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
More often than not, it involved celebrities dancing in their living room and kvetching about how hard they have it and how they're struggling but Laurent Duvernay-Tardif of the Kansas City Chiefs is taking care of business in a different way.
You see, Duvernay-Tardif is taking the fight to Covid-19 directly by trading in his football pads for a facial shield and stethoscope. That's because Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is a graduate of McGill University's medical school. He's now working in a long-term care centre in Quebec helping out where he can and while he won't say where it is exactly (smart decision, I say), he said it's all about wanting to help.
In an issue of Sports Illustrated, Duvernay-Tardif recalled how he was being trained for his new job and his trainer remarked that he was the guy who just won the Super Bowl, which he did with the Chiefs in February. Here's how Duvernay-Tardif replied:
“Indeed, I told him, and now I want to help.”
This is literally an all-hands-on-deck sort of situation we're all facing right now and while Duvernay-Tardif is one of many, it's nice to know that not all sports heroes wear cleats.
See, honey? I can see you …
You know how the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan is playing its games behind closed doors? Exactly. You knew that. Well, one player's fiancee is making sure he sees her even if she can't get in.
Ryan Carpenter pitches for the Rakuten Monkeys and can't be with his fiancee while he's over there and she can't get in. Somehow, she arranged with the team to have her face pasted to four effigies of fake fans that dot the seats around the stadium. That's so she can watch him every time he pitches.
Listen, I get that it's sweet and I'm sure it was done with the best of intentions and I have no doubt that they are in love but that would get creepy after a while. Looking over and my wife has the same look on her face every single time I see her.
In my house, the same look on my wife's face usually means I've done something I shouldn't have.
And finally …
Good Idea: The NCAA allowing athletes to get paid through third-party endorsements.
Bad Idea: Why the hell did it take so long for this to happen?
The debate over college athletes getting paid has blown wide open. So much so that the NCAA has decided to allow its athletes to finally make a few bucks off their own face and name.
The sledgehammer that is the overseer of all things post-secondary athletics-related in the U.S. has put through a motion that would allow scholastic athletes to make money off of their name, image and likeness in a bid to get a jump on federal anti-trust laws in the U.S. This is quite the about-face because under the old rules, you couldn't accept a Happy Meal from a booster because it would be seen a gift and because you're in school and not professional, how dare you accept a free Happy Meal? That's ruining the spirit of amateur sport, dontcha know?
I have an idea as to why the NCAA is doing this and it all has to do with the NBA G-League.
You see, several blue-chip prospects have turned their nose up at playing collegiate basketball for upwards of four years and are signing entry-level contracts under what's known as the Pathway Program with the NBA's approved minor-league system. That way, they can start making a bit of money once they leave high school – if they aren't ready for the NBA by that time – and play their way into the NBA that way.
This is going to single-handedly kill college basketball if it picks up steam and you know the NCAA doesn't want anything to ruin its multi-billion-dollar cash cow. They will probably deny it but you know that's why the NCAA has done an about-face.
Until next time, folks …