John Steigerwald: Sports without fans will be dreadful, and we all know it

Good for the NFL.

The league, after taking major heat for holding its draft as scheduled at the end of April, released its 2020 schedule Thursday with the intention of starting the season on time.

The big question, of course, is will fans be allowed to attend the games?

If not, the NFL should forget it. Write off the 2020 season.

Same goes for MLB, the NHL, NBA and NCAA football. I know, the planet has never gone this long without having sports to watch even if you count UFC, but the contrived versions of seasons being proposed in baseball, hockey and basketball are ridiculous.

Obviously, there is too much money to be saved by playing some facsimile of a season for them not to give it a try, but what’s being planned without fans will be dreadful.

The novelty of games without fans will wear off quickly and who, other than the most die-hard fan, is going to want to watch regular-season hockey played in an empty arena in July and August?

Will this season’s Stanley Cup Final be played in an empty building? Imagine Sidney Crosby skating around the rink with the Cup in an empty PPG Paints Arena.

Imagine Bill Mazeroski rounding the bases at Forbes Field in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series in silence.

Big games need big crowds. Fans are desperate for games to watch right now and watching them with no crowd noise may seem like it would be better than nothing, but it would be dreadful and everybody knows it.

Miami Dolphins president Tom Garfinkel came up with a plan last week that he said would make going to an NFL game like getting takeout from a restaurant or going to a supermarket during the pandemic.

“We would have times to come in for security at different gates so people would be separated out in terms of when they enter the stadium.”

Fans would wear masks and there would be colored spots on the ground to help with social distancing. No lines at the concession stands because food would be ordered from the seat and picked up at the designated stand.

Of course, that couldn’t be done with 65,000 fans, so only 15,000 would be allowed into Hard Rock Stadium. That would leave 45,000 seats empty.

Garfinkel didn’t say how the Dolphins would decide which 15,000 get to come in for the game, but he had a plan for how they would leave.

“We would exit the stadium much like a church environment, where each row exits so people aren’t filing out all at the same time in a herd.”

No thanks.

Can you imagine the Steelers trying that at Heinz Field? Steelers fans exiting much like a church crowd?

Sports fans’ only hope is a quick return to normalcy, or, if you prefer, sanity.

His Excellency Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has decreed Allegheny County can move into the yellow phase Friday. That means the stay-at-home order is lifted but probably doesn’t mean that you can get a haircut.

Large gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited, which might make it tough for football teams to practice.

So, unless and until we are granted permission to move to the green phase, sports aren’t worth worrying about.

When this is all over will people be asking if they have been the victims of an idiotic government overreaction?

Based on the data, would it have made more sense to allow low-risk citizens to lead normal lives and focus on the elderly?

How about playing a football game and telling fans over 60 it would be a good idea if they gave their tickets to younger fans and stay home and then telling the younger fans who went to the game to stay away from their elderly parents and/or grandparents?

And while we’re at it, how about letting kids play organized team sports, advise the grandparents not to come to the games and tell the kids to stay away from grandpa and grandma for a while. It has become obvious that it’s the elderly and, more specifically, the elderly with underlying conditions, who are in danger from covid-19.

Let’s focus on keeping them safe, and let the sports world and the rest of the world return to normal.