Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season

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Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season  July 27, 2020 (https://ucsdguardian.org/2020/07/27/baseball-get-act-together-pause-season/)  Jack Dorfman (https://ucsdguardian.org/author/jack-dorfman/)

More than any other professional American sports league, has completely botched its restart. Since much of the country shut down in March amid the pandemic’s early stages in the United States, we’ve watched baseball consistently lag behind the rest of the major sports. As contract disputes Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/28/sports/inside-multibillion-dollar-dispute- between-mlb-its-players/) amongst millionaires and billionaires left behind the minor leaguers and stadium staff from popular discourse, the sport looked to be racked with disunity and potentially looking to skip the 2020 season.

Maybe it should have.

As preseason concerns surrounding player health and safety were quelled during the summer camp or “Spring Training 2.0” in late June and early July, problems remained. Even disregarding the concerns surrounding prioritizing players for tests during a time when most Americans struggle to get tests, let alone one- or two-day turnarounds on test results, the restart process teetered on the line between morality and profiteering.

Now, after less than one week of games, all of the problems of playing sports during a pandemic have reared their ugly heads.

Most glaringly, players have been getting sick, and there does not seem to be a clear and complete plan in place for when that happens, despite an expanded operations manual with more than 100 pages of seemingly meticulous planning (https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/06/26/mlb-season-2020-operations-manual-changes) coming from MLB before the season began. A few hours before Dr. Anthony Fauci spiked the first pitch (https://www.mlb.com/video/fauci-throws-first-pitch-of-2020) on Opening Day at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., the best player on the defending champion Nationals, 21-year-old Juan Soto, was scratched from the lineup (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/24/juan-soto-coronavirus-test- nationals-season/). He’d tested positive for COVID-19 and was entering the mandatory quarantine, where he’s set to remain until he tests negative twice in 24 hours.

Should that game against the have even happened? Soto testing positive means other players certainly could have been exposed, right? Apparently not, and the game went on as planned without any more major hitches. That is, until lightning and torrential rain cut the game off at the knees in the fifth inning.

From then on, concerns surrounding COVID-19 came up only sparingly during broadcasts and media coverage. Three more full days passed before pandemic panic recaptured the news cycle on Monday, during which time things began to feel more like normal. I could talk to my Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season grandpa and dad about the Los Angeles Dodgers and could constantly text with my fantasy baseball league about players and games for the first time since we canceled our annual draft in March.

But now, players are getting sick even more often than they did at the beginning of summer camp, when players were being tested after spending months without any strict team- enforced guidelines at home.

As of Monday afternoon, two MLB games have already been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns after more than half of the Miami Marlins traveling party, which includes players and coaches, have reportedly tested positive (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/us/miami- marlins-coronavirus/index.html). They’ve postponed their game with the Baltimore Orioles on Monday and Tuesday and are sequestered in Philadelphia awaiting the results of a reactionary round of testing.

Their most recent opponent, the Philadelphia Phillies, postponed their game with the Yankees to ensure the visitor’s clubhouse, which the Marlins occupied less than 12 hours prior, has time to be fully “fumigated (https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1287746559820668928)” to disinfect any potentially contaminated surfaces.

This news came in just as reports of a potential pair of cases for the Cincinnati Reds’ Mike Moustakas and Nic Senzel made its way into headlines. Both reportedly (https://sports.yahoo.com/reds-moustakas-senzel-sick-teammate-tests-positive-201131932- -mlb.html) were not feeling well as of Sunday and a teammate, Matt Davidson, tested positive days earlier. MLB did not postpone that game however, but thankfully a downpour stepped in (https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/07/27/after-discussion-with-reds- and-moustakas-to-the-il-david-ross-cubs-feel-its-safe-to-play-tonight/) once again to save the day … until the game started a few hours later. If rain can delay a game and push it to a later date this season, as it did Monday in Cleveland (https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2020/07/cleveland-indians-white-sox-will-play- traditional-doubleheader-tuesday-after-mondays-postponement.html), shouldn’t games be delayed for test results to avoid more outbreaks? And if you can push the entire season back from March to July, couldn’t the entire league pause for a day or two? And how is this even a question I need to ask? Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season Fans were prepared for this — or at least they should have been. There was always the possibility that having sports during a pandemic would not work. And for the more astute observers, the lofty plans to protect players seemed destined to fail even after watching the first few two games of the new season on Thursday.

Broadcasters and viewers alike noted just how many protocol violations there were during each game. High fives and spitting, two of the major prohibited actions within MLB’s 2020 protocol, were decreased compared to a normal game, but many players were caught on camera doing both over the season’s opening weekend. Players and coaches often failed to wear masks inside of the dugout. And most glaringly perhaps, even umpires, the professionals selected to ensure players and coaches adhere to the rules of the game to uphold their own safety, failed to follow the rules.

In an afternoon matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and on Saturday, July 25, tempers flared and after a player was ejected, an argument ensued between Pirates Derek Shelton and home plate umpire Jordan Baker (https://www.mlb.com/pirates/news/derek-holland-ejected-from-pirates-game). Shelton had a cloth mask and Baker stored a surgical mask in his pocket. After struggling to put on his clearly broken mask (https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1287830359464464390? ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) before confronting Shelton, Baker took the mask off his face during an especially heated portion of the encounter. Then Shelton’s mask slipped off his nose, exposing his nose and mouth (https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1287830359464464390? ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet). After both readjusted their masks after exchanging a few more words, Baker walked away. A few moments later, he returned to further discuss with Shelton and when he realized his mask was back in his pocket, he took off his cap and held it over his mouth.

Come on guys. If we are going to bring back baseball for all of the economic, entertainment, and frankly mental-health benefits it can provide, the rules must be followed, and that goes for the players as well. These rules were not put in place arbitrarily. They are meant to limit the chances of spreading COVID-19 during events that would not normally be sanctioned in many cities. Without following the rules, it should come as no surprise that players and coaches are getting sick, which is exactly why players and fans were worried about restarting the season in the first place. If players are going to continue to play games this season, they must follow the rules they agreed upon and be ready to face consequences when they fail to do so. Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season The NBA has successfully punished players for violating protocol (https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2020-07-26/clippers-lou-williams-10-day- quarantine-miss-games); why can’t baseball do the same to protect its players and season? Maybe too many players and really entire teams are not following protocol, and so MLB may feel they cannot effectively enforce rules for an entire team of delinquent players and coaches? This could certainly be the case. The NBA had already begun punishing players even before they’d played scrimmage games. In contrast, MLB teams played their televised intersquad and scrimmage games and despite having players breaking the rules at seemingly every turn, there was little to be heard from the league.

This really isn’t even solely a player health issue, it is a public health problem. For every five professional ballplayers high fiving and chatting without masks on TV, you can bet fans around the country relaxed their own “protocols” as well. If my idols aren’t wearing masks or doing their utmost to avoid exposure, then I must not need to either, right? Certainly, some fans must have made that connection and that cannot be perpetuated.

Now that a few games have been postponed, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the rest of the league must come together and pause the season to reinforce the necessity of following protocols. Let players know that if there is a violation in the games following the pause, there will be a consequential punishment that will actually be enforced. Playing a season that should only have been played under the protocols’ guidelines without adhering to those guidelines should not be permitted. It will injure players, coaches, staff, and their families, not to mention send mixed signals to the fans that need the game almost as much as the players.

I’m one of the fans who’s been watching games all weekend long, whenever I could. But I didn’t just watch for fun to escape the pandemic and all of its stress. I watched because I was worried that baseball, like so many individuals around the country, would not do all they could to keep COVID-19 at bay. Sadly, watching a few hours of baseball confirmed those fears.

I’m a huge baseball fan. I love MLB and so much of what it does for its players, its fans, and its communities has been beneficial, especially in recent years. But now, that love is starting to fade. Owners are failing to pay minor league players (https://www.npr.org/2020/05/27/863422729/oakland-as-to-stop-paying-minor-league- players-during-the-pandemic) even a few hundred dollars a week to keep them afloat during the pandemic that canceled their season and are looking to eliminate minor league franchises (https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2019-11-20/bernie-sanders-cites-dodgers-player- Accessed: 7/31/2020 Hey Baseball, Get Your Act Together and Pause the Season eliminate-lancaster-jethawks) that are the lifeblood of their small towns. Their inaction and inability to enforce the protocol they put in place to protect their players have jeopardized the very game they profit off of.

I’ve followed quarantining rules to the letter; I’ve seen friends in a socially distanced manner roughly once a month since mid-March. Baseball provides a new distraction and a valuable source for friends to talk about. My virtual fantasy baseball draft we conducted over Zoom was quite literally the best day of my year to this point in 2020 and having more baseball will certainly continue to make millions of lives better, even in some small way. Please baseball, get it right, for all of us.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Air Force, photo by Todd Maki Accessed: 7/31/2020 TV Review: "Betty" - UCSD Guardian

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TV Review: “Betty”  July 27, 2020 (https://ucsdguardian.org/2020/07/27/tv-review-betty/)  Hanaa Moosavi (https://ucsdguardian.org/author/hanaa-moosavi/)

There is nothing more refreshing than a show displaying women taking over a male- dominated pastime. Accessed: 7/31/2020 TV Review: "Betty" - UCSD Guardian At the beginning of the summer, HBO released “Betty,” a new television series about a group of women trying to break into the male-dominated world of skate culture in . Crystal Moselle discovered Kirt (Nina Moran) and Camille () while riding the public transport in NYC. Moselle asked the girls for their “story,” eventually launching the development of “Miu Miu Women’s Tales #12,” a short film following Vinberg’s break into the skate scene. Soon after came “,” a full length film of Vinberg’s tale, and then finally “Betty.”

The show’s name, “Betty,” comes from a popular derogatory term used by male skaters to put down female skaters, and the content of the show is based on the actual experiences of these women in their New York group called The Skate Kitchen. The Skate Kitchen received its name from the women of NYC skating culture as an act of reclaiming the derogatory phrase “go back to the kitchen.” This third development of the Skate Kitchen world by Moselle takes a deeper look into more diverse storylines of the many different women of skate culture.

Moselle revolves the plot of the show around a group of diverse women who are equally as talented as the heroine: Kirt, Indigo, Honeybear, Janay, Camille, and more. Each woman within the show is made to highlight a specific aspect of the myriad of different reactions a woman trying to break into the skate world experiences. Not only this, but the show also includes the diverse issues that women face day to day, such as sexual abuse and discrimination. Moselle easily weaves these complex issues into the plot, flawlessly writing in topics such as sexuality as a spectrum, police brutality and abuse, the drug world and its intersectionality with New York culture, and racial privilege and how that affects relationships. While providing a personal look into the true nature of NYC life, “Betty” also unveils many hardships that usually do not find themselves displayed in modern television.

The content of “Betty” is not the only major drawing point for the show; the fashion and costume design breaks traditional costuming and gives an inside look into the streetwear of NYC life. Most of the outfits the girls of “Betty” adorn straddle the line between masculinity and femininity. From baggy pants and Nike’s one day to crop tops and skirts another, these women break the societal standards of ‘appropriate’ clothing choices. With the additive of bright colors and mixed textures and patterns, the clothing design captures the eyes.

“Betty” features a full cast of Instagram models who live and experience the New York skate scene everyday. With this comes authenticity of the content of the show, and also acting that wouldn’t be considered completely flawless. These women act as if they are talking to their friends, complete with awkward pauses or phrasing while conversing. Where some people Accessed: 7/31/2020 TV Review: "Betty" - UCSD Guardian might find this aspect of the show frustrating to watch, others see it as a refreshing display of character and reality within a show that is written, casted, and produced. These women are living the written plot, and deliver it the way they would within their actual lives. The acting grounds the show in reality, making the plot and characters more relatable and obtainable to the audience.

“Betty” is a new look into the traditionally male-dominated skateboarding world. With inclusionary content, unapologetic displays of difficult-to-navigate issues, and creative costume design, “Betty” is for anyone who is bored of the mainstream plethora of shows and ready for a show that truly tests the status quo.

Grade: A- Created By: Crystal Moselle Starring: Nina Moran, Adrelia Lovelace, Kabrina Adams Release Date: May 1, 2020 Rated: Rated TV-MA

Image Courtesy of Hollywood Reporter. Accessed: 7/31/2020 UC San Diego Responds to Racist Instagram Account - UCSD Guardian

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UC San Diego Responds to Racist Instagram Account  July 28, 2020 (https://ucsdguardian.org/2020/07/28/uc-san-diego-responds-to-racist-instagram-account/)  Andrew Ha (https://ucsdguardian.org/author/a1ha/)

The UC San Diego community has recently been made aware of a new Instagram account that has made numerous posts denouncing the Black Lives Matter movement and promoting the white supremacist slogan, “White Lives Matter.” The original account was taken down Accessed: 7/31/2020 UC San Diego Responds to Racist Instagram Account - UCSD Guardian shortly after official UCSD condemnation (https://www.facebook.com/UCSanDiego/photos/a.404154389780/10158632402354781) but has since resurfaced.

The new account mirrors the previous one and has continued to use misleading quotes and insulting memes. By drawing on information from the far-right website Breitbart and conserative political commentator Candace Owens, the account attempts to spread hateful messages targeted at African Americans and other minorities.

In response to the original Instagram account, both UCSD administrators and Associated Students released separate statements on July 27 and 28, respectively. AS has stated (https://www.facebook.com/ASUCSD/posts/10157465696122555) that they will be contacting the UCSD Black Student Union and developing training programs for students interested in combating anti-blackness. The AS Office of External Affairs has stated that they will collaborate with the University of California Student Association and the Afrikan Black Coalition to create the programs.

UC San Diego @UCSanDiego

Last night, the university was made aware of an Instagram account posting hateful, racist content. We firmly denounce what was shared on this account that claimed affiliation with UC San Diego, and condemn all forms of racism and hate. (1/5)

3:12 PM · Jul 27, 2020

76 37 people are Tweeting about this Accessed: 7/31/2020 UC San Diego Responds to Racist Instagram Account - UCSD Guardian “We firmly denounce what was shared on this account that claimed affiliation with UC San Diego, and condemn all forms of racism and hate,” the official UCSD statement reads. “We understand a similar account posted, claiming affiliation with another university. The Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) is working with our Chief Information Security Officer to investigate the incident.”

The advent of this Instagram page is not the first time African American students at UCSD have faced blatant discrimination. A decade ago, the university had another incident, now known as the Compton Cookout, during which students had a “costume” party where guests wore stereotypical African American attire and accessories. The event was followed by multiple racially motivated episodes, including a noose found in Geisel Library and a Ku Klux Klan hood found adorned on the Dr. Seuss statue. The racist events have since gained notoriety as the Black Winter.

The university has since taken steps to address the Black Winter by supporting programs and initiatives to promote diversity and cultural awareness on campus. The Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, the academic DEI requirement, and various cultural resource centers were created following the events. In February 2020, UCSD held a remembrance event (https://ucsdguardian.org/2020/02/23/office-of-edi-and-bsu-hold-event-in- remembrance-of-black-winter/) to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Black Winter.

However, in light of the racist Instagram accounts, the rise of racial tensions in the United States, and the long-standing reality that African American students make up only 2.6 percent of the undergraduate population (https://ir.ucsd.edu/_files/stats- data/profile/profile-2018-2019.pdf), UCSD still faces additional obstacles to ensure a supportive and diverse environment. Moreover, the university has yet to respond to the list of demands (https://ucsdguardian.org/2020/07/06/black-student-union-issues-statement-of- demands-to-ucsd/) the BSU sent to administrators in June 2020. To learn more about this and ways to take action, refer to the organization’s Twitter page (https://twitter.com/ucsdbsu/status/1283918552483811328).

If you have any information regarding the incidents, please contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination at [email protected]. UCSD officials have stated that the individuals involved, if a part of the UCSD community, will be held accountable for their actions, but have not yet explained what punishments, if any, the culprits would face.