It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but it is. Two days before the first day of the month when training camps open, a state that hosts an NFL team is moving toward a shutdown.
Arizona governor Doug Doucey signed an order on Monday shutting down all “bars, gyms, movie theaters, water parks and tubings” for at least 30 days. This means that these measures will remain in place when the Cardinals convene for training camp on July 28.
Doucey hasn’t ruled out a complete shutdown of the state. The current national mood has swung sharply against a return to the extreme measures of March and April. Because, however, too few people have taken the virus seriously in May and June, that’s where things could be heading.
What it means for the Cardinals or any other team in any other state that may be heading in that direction remains to be seen. But it’s definitely not good news, and the vague sense of hope from the spring now seems quaint and naive as the Fourth of July approaches.