2020
April
10
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

April 10, 2020
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

Today’s stories include a look at how governors have stepped up during the crisis, how Britain’s pandemic battle is stirring a nation of volunteers, the effect on protest movements around the world, a survey of how small businesses on one Massachusetts street are tightening belts to survive, and a Good Friday essay on how a pastor of a 400-year-old church has learned new ways to minister.

Two weeks ago in this space I wrote about Chester, a foster beagle my family was about to take in to help him and us through the trials of sheltering in place. Chester sparked a lot of audience response, and so I’m happy to report today that he has fit right in to our menagerie. At this very moment he is patrolling the backyard with lead beagle Lucy, defending his new home against adversaries, real and imagined. 

His bark ends in a kind of howl. He sleeps on one of my sons’ beds. He leans against your legs when he wants to be petted.

Animals are soothing in trying circumstances. In mid-March, after we all started working from home, a Monitor staffer created an internal Slack channel labeled “pets.” Staffers can swap pictures and comments about their cats, dogs, and in at least one case, their hedgehog. Looking at others’ pets seems to foster a bit of togetherness.

And simple pleasures like that remain important in this serious time. Cat videos, for instance, may seem trivial, but they bring joy that cannot be denied. Even Werner Herzog, famed German film director and author, says he feels “rejuvenated” after watching them. 

That brings us to the closing point: Have you watched the dog videos narrated by BBC sportscaster Andrew Cotter? Where, deadpan, he describes – invents really – eating and chew bone competitions between his Labradors? If you haven’t you must. They are A1 shut-in entertainment. Chester is a huge fan.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

During disasters, the federal government backs up the states. But when the crisis is nationwide, a lack of coordination can lead to mayhem. Some are pushing for an overarching “czar,” as states scramble to fill the gaps.

Jason Cairnduff/Reuters
People applaud as the Harland and Wolff shipyard horn sounds in support of the NHS in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 9, 2020, while the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues. The horn has not been sounded properly in 20 years and is the loudest siren in Belfast.

The United Kingdom has been riven by the Brexit debate in recent years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only added a new element of uncertainty. But the country is finding common cause against the virus.

This particular season of discontent is not conducive to conventional mass protests. But social action groups dedicated to the common good are finding the means, and new directions, to refocus their energies – temporarily.

A deeper look

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Michael Godfrey Perri cuts a cable at Philip A. Rand Wire Rope and Sling Co., in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 8, 2020. The company has remained open during the coronavirus outbreak, with its employees supplying cables for tow trucks, shipping, and construction.

When consumers are told to stay home, the economy takes a massive hit. Our reporter visited a long-vibrant commercial street to explore the new realities that are raising doubts about small-business survival.

SOURCE:

Massachusetts Bureau of Geographic Information

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff

Essay

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Pastor G. Jeffrey MacDonald poses in First Parish Church of Newbury, on April 8, 2020, in Newbury, Massachusetts. Mr. MacDonald is now preaching online due to the coronavirus, because his congregation cannot worship in person.

“It’s as if I lost the key to my ministry toolbox. Unable to worship in person, I can’t look out from the pulpit and see who’s dabbing eyes – or yawning for that matter,” writes our essayist. He and his parishioners have found other ways to come together in grace.


The Monitor's View

David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports NPSTrans
Fans in Cincinnati, Ohio, take pictures outside Great American Ball Park on March 25, or what would have been opening day for professional baseball.

What’s left of sports these days? Not much. The 2020 Summer Olympics have been put off to 2021. Professional leagues await the all-clear to resume games. College sports? Maybe this fall. And nearly everything else down to the local bowling club has hit the pause button.

Yet this dearth of popular athletics has led to a debate over their inherent value and whether they can return in the same form. Perhaps sports is overdue anyway for a reckoning.

Sports competition, of course, will survive. And it should. At its best, it’s an inspiring expression of talent, teamwork, and hard work, of dominion over physical limitations and a breaking of mental barriers. Ice dancing displays grace and beauty. Gymnasts achieve aerial feats of strength and coordination. In baseball, a shortstop shows the smooth skill of scooping up a ground ball and firing it to first base. Spectators watch with awe and joy.

For many, the sports calendar is part of the rhythm of life. In the United States, college basketball’s March Madness and the Masters golf tournament signal the start of spring. The 162-game Major League Baseball season offers entertainment and companionship for lazy afternoons well into autumn. Then football collides to grab attention until the college bowl games and the Super Bowl. Overlaying these rhythms are the seasons for the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.

Behind this fan experience, however, is a multibillion-dollar business, caught up in broadcast rights, tickets sales, and other sources of income. During the COVID-19 interlude, these business models are being severely challenged. One result could be lower salaries for professionals and fewer new stadiums or other upgrades to facilities. Colleges may drop sports that don’t pay for themselves.

Meanwhile, separate from the coronavirus crisis, the world’s most popular game, soccer, has seen a scandal in its international governing body, FIFA. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused individuals working for Russia and Qatar of bribing FIFA officials in exchange for giving the rights to those countries to host the men’s World Cup. FIFA now needs to introduce reforms to ensure its work is transparent and ethical.

With similar introspection, U.S. professional and collegiate sports can rethink their standards while revising their business models. For example, the value of allowing legalized sports gambling needs to be reconsidered before that corrupting influence damages both players and their fan base. In addition, colleges that have turned their sports programs into a lucrative pipeline must refocus on the educational value of team play.

Innovation has long been part of sports, both on the field and off. There is more focus today on safety of players, on developing better skills, and on how games are played.

The sudden absence of sports has left a gaping hole for fans. Whatever value sports brought to them will eventually be filled, even if in altered form. With the right reforms now, sports can be even better than before, especially after this long reflection on its enduring purpose.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature
Emily Swanson

The timeless message of Easter assures us that however dark things may seem, God, Life itself, is always present to inspire and light our path.


A message of love

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/File
When I’m looking through my camera viewfinder, I’m always drawn to patterns. Sometimes I just have to look closely – or differently – to see them. “Some of nature’s most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass to a snowflake,” wrote conservationist Rachel Carson in “The Sense of Wonder.” In living things, symmetry is pervasive: Think of a tiger’s face, leaves, or a starfish. Of course, humans can create beautiful patterns, too. Carson was right about the power of a magnifying glass. But a camera is pretty good, too. – Melanie Stetson Freeman
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Come back Monday. We’ll have a story on the calming effects of enjoying nature in a troubled time – and whether that can be done digitally as well as in real life.

More issues

2020
April
10
Friday
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