COVID Follies

The Dodgers lifted third baseman Justin Turner during game six of the World Series Tuesday night when Turner’s latest COVID-19 test came back positive. But that didn’t keep Turner from celebrating—sans mask—with his teammates on the field after Los Angeles clinched the Series with a 3-1 win over the Rays. Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, a cancer survivor, was celebrating, too. In fact, the two of them were shown sitting next to one another, not a mask between them. COVID, by the way, is known to go after people with weakened immune systems, which can result from cancer treatments. Turner’s actions were ignorant, disgraceful and dangerous. Team president Andrew Friedman’s defense of Turner is just ignorant and disgraceful. Endangering teammates; enabling anyone to endanger teammates; and rationalizing such behavior are actions that need to be punished, and punished severely. Stupid is as stupid does, and allows. Where I live, the Illinois High School Authority has voted to ignore Governor J.B. Pritzker’s ruling that postpones winter sports, in particular basketball. I’m inclined to go with the IHSA, provided teams and conferences can come up with the money necessary to conduct regular testing of teams, coaches and other personnel, that plus a ban on fans in the stands. Anything less, and it becomes the Justin Turner Show, part II.