caulfield12

Over 9,000 suspected cases not included in the reporting as of yet because the testing can’t keep up (especially in smaller cities), which would put it at over 16,000 and climbing.

It’s more important to look at cases “cleared” vs. critical vs. serious vs. reported/suspected cases, and then there are already thousands or even tens of thousands under observation. The biggest risk is that nearby city of 7.5ish million that I’d never even heard of named Hanggang blows up...48 miles to the east. Undoubtedly, you’ll eventually have huge outbreaks in Chongqing, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen/Guangzhou. That leads to a situation where those other megacities don't finish their peak cycles of infection until April or even May. For example, today the mortality rate (updated from yesterday’s) is just a tick under 2.4%...which doesn’t on its face seem that much worse than the common flu until you consider the rate of spread and overall lack of preparedness around most of the world. Netflix just debuted a six part show called Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, and there’s a much more interesting to watch series The Hot Zone based on the 1976 and 1989 (averted in DC area) ebola outbreaks. Scary stuff.

This explains AJ Reed, haha. Altuve dies come off looking better. And it makes our “go out and get Springer instead of Betts” discussion take an added moral/ethical dimension, as well.

Not necessarily. There were reportedly at least 150-200 critical cases still, and many not released or cleared yet. That’s not counting the serious cases (another 200-300 or so) and the underreporting or lack of up to date testing from countryside or rural hospitals across the 15 city quarantine zone. These numbers are just for Hubei Province. The best guess, since this is 85% similar to SARs is the mortality rate in the next week will be somewhere in the 4-6% range...so more dangerous than the flu but also much more alarming due to the rapidity of the spread. It can’t get to Africa without catastrophic consequences.

The death count is not the worry, it’s the rapid, almost exponential growth in cases per day. Mortalities are running at around 2.5%, but it’s spreading at least 3x faster than SARs and SARs after three months was running at a less alarming 4.8% and eventually ended at close to 10%. The real concern in under reporting and projections of as many as 80-250,000 contracting the virus...the horse is already out of the barn, and with more Chinese connections with Africa via construction, trade and tourism, that continent would be particularly devastated by a potential outbreak. As for me, haven’t gone outside for going on a week now.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-offseason-winners Not sure if this is always a good thing for Sox based on similar “titles,” but we’ll take it for now.

Grenier I think...Cade.

Yep.

Has to be the son or nephew of Joe Altobelli, right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Altobelli Hard to watch the interview with Doc Rivers...Ernie Johnson was just on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and was really torn up. The last time I remember something so shocking was the announcement about Magic Johnson in the 90’s that changed the world in terms of AIDs/HIV awareness.

It is spreading three times faster than SARs, but with roughly 1/3rd the mortality rate (so far.) The fact that they’re actually trying to build THREE prefabricated hospitals in the next two weeks and that even China can’t match the demand for medical supplies like masks, goggles and protective gear should tell you everything you need to know...protective capacity is down at least 75% during the holidays, too. And Kobe Bryant is actually five times more popular in China than he is anywhere in the world. This will hit everyone extra hard here.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/justin-verlander-laughed-saying-astros-122334554.html Verlander just soaked up all the attention going to Keuchel.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28562849/dodgers-frustrated-sign-steal-scandal-want-fake-banner-2017 At least the Dodgers are taking the high road...not that you would expect any player to feel right about claiming a tainted title that wasn’t won on the field of play.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28556285/dallas-keuchel-apologizes-sign-stealing-says-ex-teammates-well

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mike-fiers-said-his-piece-on-astros-sign-stealing-and-baseball-is-better-for-it-023658790.html

The entire Cubs’ Fest was a debacle except for Ross, but nobody will give a damn of they get back to the playoffs again this year. Tony Kemp (traded) was one of their featured autograph guys. It will all blow over and everyone will be complaining about carrier costs for Marquee or not being able to access the games. 24 hour news cycle. Not to mention this whole impeachment thing, lol.

I guess the answer with Zion is guys like Barkley and Malone. In baseball, Sabathia or Gwynn. He does need to get down to the 265-275 pound range, part of it’s just stamina and conditioning, the other part is to protect his body from serious injury. You can argue that smaller framed players like Penny Hardaway, D Rose or Morant are equally at risk...especially getting beaten up so badly and exposed to serious injury every time they attack the basket. This is something MJ really learned to do the second half of his career, and LeBron as well...protecting/preserving his body.

You don’t burn bridges if you’re a current professional athlete...it’s just the way it is. It’s the same mentality in the US armed forces, that you have to trust your brothers in the bunker next to you.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Brian-Cashman-Yankees-guard-Astros-sign-stealing-15001595.php https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/01/24/dallas-keuchel-apologizes-astros-sign-stealing-scandal You have to look at Keuchel’s comments in a bigger context. He’s still only one year removed from the team he spent his career with...and piling on now does what, exactly? The horses are already out of the barn. At least he has the guts to talk to the media at all. Everyone else is running away from responsibility and simply trying to protect themselves, other than Beltran...who’s no longer an active player. Would Fiers have done this were he still an active member of their roster? Seems impossible, he had an axe to grind, so he got his revenge but he is still far from a hero in the eyes of the players, far from it.

Preller gets at least through 2021... They’re in the same division as the Dodgers, and they played well the first four months until the wheels fell off after Tatis went down. They also have Gore coming up at some point, possibly on O.D., but more likely he has to wait until May.

Not old news. Cooled discussions are back on again... https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2020-01-23/padres-mookie-betts-trade-red-sox-wil-myers Does say deal is not likely.

Can be updated to Padres and Red Sox again... Apparently the Padres are willing to trade some big-time prospects AND Myers’ contract for Betts in 2020. Myers salary helps as an offset for SD financially next season, SD would probably have to send some additional money along for 21/22 or really dig deep into their prospect vault to make it worthwhile. Dennis Lim from The Athletic reported it first. http://sports.yahoo.com/padres-pursuing-betts-110000843.html Myers, Patino, Abrams and Trammell for Betts...that’s just too much for a one year rental, but it would be ballsy as hell on the part of Preller. Could also cost him his job.

A lot of people have issues with those still advocating for the Rebel flag as well, I sincerely doubt he’s a Civil War buff.

The WHO has been debating for two days about declaring it a public health emergency...but seems they’re still deadlocked at 50/50. Part of the reason is they still don’t know exactly what happened at Ground Zero, the live animal and seafood market. It has been passed from bats to another type of animal, yesterday the theory was snakes, but they’re still not even certain about that...and that whole area of original outbreak has been completely disinfected. The other problem is this actually started December 12th and not New Year’s Eve, so it’s almost six weeks out and the incubation period when you can still be a carrier/transmitter could be as long as two weeks. So it’s no surprise, for those who still remember the movie Contagion from 2011. That movie had its plot centered around a spread from Macao casinos, Kowloon and HK, some of the densest population areas in the world. The mayor is under fire big time for allowing a massive local Spring Festival dinner party with 40,000+ guests and over 12,000 “shared” dishes to go forward. When all is said and done, waiting a couple of weeks too long and not considering the impact of three billion holiday trips by train/bus/plane/private car/Uber-Didi will be one of the most important contributing factors. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Chinese government tried to push back on declaring it an emergency to save face during the holidays...at least for a week. They’re still recovering from Hong Kong and the attention on Xinjiang “re-education” camps for Muslims. This will just make the mood of the public more tense when you try to quarantine roughly 20 million people and counting. The mortality rate is still low and hitting mostly elderly with pre-existing conditions...but there are rumors of thousands if not tens of thousands in local hospitals...they’re even building an additional “hospital” in just six days to attempt to accommodate overflow. Imperial College scientists are saying the likely number of infected number 4,000-10000, rather than the 600+ or so the government has published so far. That means hundreds will eventually die, not just the 18 accounted for as of now. CNN: WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern as "an extraordinary event" that constitutes a "public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease" and "to potentially require a coordinated international response." Previous emergencies have included Ebola, Zika and H1N1. While Ghebreyesus praised the Chinese government and its cooperation with WHO on Wednesday, Houssin then expressed that the information they had from Chinese authorities was too limited and imprecise for the committee to make a recommendation that day. The committee remained divided — roughly 50/50 — over the course of the two-day meeting, Houssin said Thursday. Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told CNN they are concerned that Chinese health officials have still not released basic epidemiological data about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, making it more difficult to contain.

Unless 45% of their fans in Chicago can’t access their games and they’re eliminated from the playoff race before the ASB. Then things could change a bit more rapidly...especially if they trade Bryant for a sub-par return.

Someone would figure out a way to jam or distort signals (or hack into the comms)...yeah, I don’t think the LA City Council or state legislators claiming the 2017 and 18 WS trophies will have much of an impact.