Cloistered sports

clois·tered

/’kloist?rd/

adjective

1. having or enclosed by a cloister, as in a monastery.

2. kept away from the outside world; sheltered.

UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida had a scary moment, because Brazilian middleweight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and two cornermen tested positive for coronavirus. Allegedly, Jacare had been exposed to an asymptomatic relative who tested positive, then promptly isolated himself prior to the fight date. When the news broke out Saturday Philippine time, the card was slated to continue without Souza. An official of the Florida State Athletic Commission said he was still “very comfortable” with the event pushing through. It was revealed that Souza used the same facilities the other fighters on the card used, raising concern for the safety of everyone involved.

The UFC got flak for even holding the event in the first place, given the circumstances. Even without spectators, it was still a huge risk. While their audacity is commendable on one hand, the Souza issue was heart-pounding. And that is the main problem with holding sporting events today. You have to have complete control over who everyone comes into contact with, at all times leading up to the event.

Cloistering (from the Latin “to enclose” was first introduced by the Greeks and the Romans. It gained popularity in medieval times, and has become a standard practice for many religious orders. Some Catholic communities keep the members of their order away from society to ensure purity of body and thought. A few even add a vow of silence. Their only contact with the outside world is through assigned intermediaries, internal or external, who purchase their food and other needs, and meet with superiors when needed.

All of a sudden, George Orwell’s final completed work becomes a reality. In 1949, Orwell published “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (now simply known as “1984”), a seminal work of fiction that paints the future as one wherein everyone is being monitored all the time. The best-seller introduced terms like “Big Brother” and “Thought Police” into the English lexicon. In this future (now our past), Great Britain – serendipitously the country with the most surveillance cameras per capita in the world in real life – is taken over and ruled by the Party. The invaders’ stranglehold comes from watching everybody’s movements. Nobody has any personal privacy. It’s the only way to maintain order and servitude. Nothing goes unseen. The basic premise of the novel is the basis for the “Big Brother” International reality show franchise.

That seems to be the only way to go, at this point. In the late 1990’s, as the Internet took hold of mainstream society, a few daring (or so we thought) individuals made the news by attempting to spend one full year inside their homes. Their plan at the time was to live exclusively off food, products and other services that could be ordered online and delivered to their homes. Not so outrageous now, is it? After that, biodomes or small communities living in isolation became a trend. Some claimed it was practice for eventual life on other planets. This was explored in the 2015 Matt Damon film “The Martian,” in which he portrayed a scientist accidentally left behind on the red planet for over a year. In the last decade, doomsday prepping became a trend. People all over the US  and a few other places dug bunkers, fortified basements and stored enough food to last them for months in the event of an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.

For now, the only way we can successfully hold sports contests is to cloister not just the athletes, but everyone directly involved in an event. This means referees, medical personnel, coaches, trainers, security along with coaches and athletes. What else will this entail? Ideally, everyone lives in the same place, a compound, village or building, for at least three weeks. Everyone is tested before entering, and kept in isolation until they are cleared. They are escorted to and from practice or training. Food will be delivered to an entrance, and packaging will be disinfected in a clean room before being prepared. The relative additional cost will be offset by advertising exposure in the cloisters. Since symptoms manifest within two weeks, the isolation must be maintained for longer than that.

What about the event itself? The venue will obviously be disinfected prior to the games or fights. Broadcasters may work at the event from an air-conditioned booty built onsite. Doing off-tube coverage is unacceptable internationally. Cameramen may wear hazmat suits. All the isolated event stuff will be brought in the same disinfected vehicles directly from cloister to venue.

This necessity now draws a line between those who can afford it, and those unwilling to spend; between those who see sport as a necessity, and those who view it as a luxury. And at the end of the day, that’s up to the fans. As every coach will ask you, how badly do you want it?