In the latest episode of The Editors, I mentioned how much I am looking forward to the start of the baseball season. As a Yankee fan, my baseball season typically extends through October, and as a Jets fan, my football season is typically already over by then. So it’s a long slog waiting for Opening Day.
As much as I love the sport and am eager to get back to attending games, however, the rules for attending a 20 percent capacity game at Yankee Stadium this year seem absolutely miserable.
Per the NY Daily News:
Fans will still have to either show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter the stadium, and then wear masks at all times, except when eating and drinking.
Let’s put aside the debate over whether the rules make sense given the low risk of outdoor transmission, especially among a group of people who are either vaccinated or recently COVID-19 negative. From a fan experience perspective, the idea of wearing a mask outdoors for a three-to-four-hour period sounds uncomfortable. If this policy remains during the brutal humid summer months, it would be absolutely unbearable.
Also, from a practical perspective, as somebody who wears glasses, it is always a struggle to keep them from fogging up while wearing a mask. So it isn’t even clear that I would even be able to watch a game while masked.
Meanwhile, a new poll from the Washington Post and the University of Maryland finds that while 42 percent would feel comfortable attending a sporting event in general, the number rises to 64 percent if masks are required, and falls to 22 percent if masks are not required. So clearly, a lot of people feel differently from me.
As Allahpundit notes, it’s particularly shocking that only 69 percent say they would feel comfortable going to a game even if everybody in the stadium were vaccinated.