They packed the Wells Fargo Center last night to see the best team in the National Hockey League face off against the upstart Flyers.
The Bruins and their league-best record vs. the Orange-and-Black with their nine straight wins and red-hot rookie goaltender Carter Hart.
Close your eyes and you could almost see Bobby Orr and Bobby Clark jabbing each other.
The Bruins prevailed, but it's not a stretch to see these two colliding again in the playoffs.
None of that is the problem.
The problem is those 19,689 shouting, stomping, high-fiving, hugging fans who jammed the arena.
They dropped the puck in South Philly just a few hours after city officials urged the public to avoid large gatherings of more than 5,000 people.
After initially announcing Sunday's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade would go on, while urging spectators to stay at home and watch it on TV, city officials last night canceled the event.
All of this comes as the city confirmed its first presumed case of coronovirus and the first death was recorded in New Jersey.
Here in Delaware County, schools are planning to shut down for a full day in order to thoroughly clean and disinfect their buildings.
I was listening to one doctor last night who painted a fairly harrowing picture of what is to come in the next couple of weeks.
The problem is that the country was late in reacting to the outbreak and implementing widespread testing. They indicate containment is now not feasible and mitigation is the answer.
That's because they do not think COVID-19 will be corralled until all those exposed can be tested and quarantined if necessary. One doctor said that for every person currently infected, we can expect two or three more in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, what to do about large gatherings, such as sports events, continues to loom. The NBA and NHL are approaching their playoffs. March Madness is upon us. The Ivy League already infuriated a lot of people - including Penn - by scrapping their season-ending league tourney and sending the regular season champ to the dance, thus leaving Penn out of luck.
Major League baseball opens the season in two weeks.
Our dance with coronavirus has only just begun.
Comments