I feel like Dante in the movie “Clerks.”

“I’m not even supposed to be here today!”

Yeah, this was supposed to be an off day. Extend the holiday weekend a bit. But I got a call from one of our editors last night, asking if I’d be willing to do a reader response piece to the column I posted about Gov. Tom Wolf’s statements regarding the potential return of sports.

Sort of a special edition of our weekly “U mad, bro?” section.

On Wednesday, the governor said he is trying to correspond with professional sports leagues in an effort to “get back to sports seasons.”

Wolf claims he has spoken with the NFL, NHL, MLB and NASCAR. He said his office will issue guidance for leagues soon.

This string of quotes from the governor rubbed me the wrong way.

“Ultimately, I think what it’s going to take for everybody to feel safe going to a Penn State game or a basketball game is they have some confidence that they’re not going to get sick by being in close contact with somebody else.

“I think what it’s going to take to get people back to big events … is going to be, ultimately, a vaccine…. Some assurance they’re not going to get sick.

“I think that’s what it’s going to take to really get our economy back to normal, and I really think that can’t happen fully, 100%, until we have a vaccine that is foolproof.”

I was put off by what Wolf said because:

1. It’s not his place to tell any of us how “safe” we “feel” now, let alone how safe we are going to feel in the future. Wolf is supposed to govern. Not be our emotional compass.

2. He’s just flat out wrong. “Everybody” isn’t going to need to feel “100%” safe with a “foolproof” vaccine before they go to a sporting event. I know, because, well, I’m part of everybody. And I don’t agree with that statement.

Apparently, based on the poll which originally posted in Megan Guza’s TribLive article with the governor’s quotes, 74% out of about 12,600 respondents disagree as well.

Because that’s how many of you said you’d be willing to attend a sporting event right now, let alone in the future.

3. There is absolutely zero indication that we will ever have a “foolproof” vaccine that will give us an “assurance (we) are not going to get sick.” If Wolf is being that definitive and declarative in his policy-making before we get “100% back to normal,” that’s not going to happen for potentially years to come.

Some of you agreed with me. Some of you didn’t. It was my inclination to just let the column stand on its own with that result. I advance an opinion. You get to agree or disagree in our comments section, via email or on Twitter.

But I was asked to illustrate some of the feedback I received from our readers on both sides of the fence.

So, I will start with some of you who agreed with my stance.

@TimBenzPGH I would go to a game today... the Gov can watch it on TV.?️

— Joyce Speicher (@Spiker1346) May 22, 2020

Right on, Tim. And how can anyone believe that getting a vaccine is such a sure thing?

— Dan McBride (@GDanielMcB) May 21, 2020

Excellent article, spot on. A vaccine that's foolproof? At least he didn't call names and threaten sports folks... yet.Maybe if he had live reporter pressers, & actual dialogue with leaders of differing views instead of dismissing them he would have a better handle on reality

— Tom Drake (@TFDrake) May 21, 2020

Spot on. Perhaps I would be a little less leery of everything he said if he wasn't treating everyone as if he is a kindergarten school marm.

— Michael Ernette (@MJE15679) May 21, 2020

Agree Tim. This guy is beyond tone deaf. He is just being vindictive now.

— douglas crawford (@douglas80481629) May 21, 2020

An email from someone named Bob:

“A PSU fan here. I commend you on your article. I wish we had more journalists challenging government authority during this crisis. Given the Covid-19 numbers and the fact that we are citizens of the USA, we should have the ability to weigh the potential risk of attending a game without government intervention — particularly given the stated objectives of the shutdown at the onset of this crisis.”

Another from “Phillies fan” Russell:

“Thanks for your piece on how we should feel about attending games. You should receive 100% approvals from your readers! Wolf gives us no credit for common sense.”

Now here are some people that disagreed with me, along with my responses to them.

Richard:

“Please continue writing about sports and leave the political analysis to those with functioning brains.”

The word “sports” is right in the headline, Richard. And there will be no sports to write about unless the governor allows them to take place. That’s kinda the point.

Whose brain is failing to function, exactly?

Christian:

“I’m not surprised you don’t understand English. When the governor said “what it’s going to take for everyone to feel safe,” that means “not every single person will feel safe.” He’s only claiming that at least one person won’t feel safe. That’s a very low level of omniscience, especially given the opinions about fan feelings that go in sports writing. He’s not claiming to know how everyone will feel — just that not everyone will feel the same way.

I don’t need to know the color of each flower in a shop to be able to predict that not every flower is red.

Duh.”

Christian, you are parsing his language in an attempt to obfuscate because you have a predisposed opinion to the contrary.

How’s that for understanding English?

But I’ll play along. Let’s say you’re right, and that’s really what the governor meant. Does everyone else in society really need to wait for that last person to feel “100%” safe or “assured”?

Sincerely,

A yellow flower

Here’s a tweet from Matthew.

It's amazing that you were able to spin a couple sentences from the governor into a whole irate article that so perfectly embodies the selfish bravado of an under-informed, entitled man-child.

— Matthew Rooke (@EnergyEngr_HVAC) May 21, 2020

Aw, Matt. You are making me blush.

It’s really not all that “amazing.” With Wolf, it usually only takes one sentence to get that kind of reaction from me.

But thanks for the compliment.

Another from April.

A bit pot calling kettle black. Your comments make just as many assumptions about how others feel.

— April Mang (@aprmay16) May 21, 2020

April, the column specifically reads: “I’m not telling you what to think or how to feel. If you need a ‘100% foolproof vaccine’ before you go to a Steelers game again, by all means, stay home until that happens.”

Look, I really don’t care if the column made you upset. But at least read it before you decide why you are upset.

I got this message from someone else named Richard. I’m highlighting this portion from a longer thread.

“The idea that Wolf was telling anyone when they should feel safe is bogus sensationalism designed to gin up resistance to the Governor’s phased reopening.”

“Gin up resistance”?! A little overdramatic, maybe?

I disagreed with a flawed and exaggerated statement from the governor. You act like I’m encouraging people to dump a shipment of tea in the Allegheny River.

An email from John:

“While I disagree with Wolf on about 90% of policy positions, what I read was he said he “thinks” this is what it is going to take.

Your rant against the strawman was that he was telling people when it is actually ok to feel safe.

I have no problem with you challenging someone’s statements, but when I see a pretty fundamental disconnect it starts to read like a Fox News or MSNBC piece.”

You sure glossed over the “everybody” and the supposed need for a “foolproof” vaccine there, didn’t you?

As a side note, I received a few (and a few is too many) hate-fueled, personally insulting, inappropriate responses toward the governor and some in his administration.

Unfortunately, in politically charged times such as these, if you disagree with one side, it is then assumed that you are an extremist on the other side.

That’s not true.

To be clear, I’m being critical of Wolf’s policymaking and messaging. But I’m not sitting around my house over the long weekend mainlining hydroxychloroquine. I didn’t protest in Harrisburg with a clown mask and an AR-15. And I wear a face mask. I don’t shove it in my pocket when I walk into a CVS and think of myself as a modern-day Nathan Hale.

When I made that point on Twitter, I got this response from “Normal Al Yankovic” (tremendous Twitter handle by the way).

So basically you’re playing both sides

— Normal Al Yankovic (@bhigh420) May 21, 2020

Playing both sides? No. I’m pushing both sides away. Maybe if some others did that, it’d create more space in the middle.

Hopefully, that space could fill up with a little more sanity and a lot less hyperbole.

I won’t hold my breath.

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