The coronavirus pandemic has been trying times for everybody, worldwide, but the best thing we can do to get through it is to try and maintain a sense of humor. One of the funniest memes circulating on social media throughout this adverse month is Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and her look of strong disapproval.
Her stern image appears, photo-shopped, in places closed off by this lockdown. Pair this popular trend with Chicago’s obsessiveness with sports, and you have a message that will reach a lot of people. Enter “We Are Not Playing,” a campaign that partners City Hall with Chicago’s professional sports teams in an effort to stop the community spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
If/when the National Basketball Association season starts up again, you won’t see the Chicago Bulls very high up on the NBA odds for winning the title chart, but hey, at least they’re winning here in the game of life. The Bulls have not been good on the court for awhile, and it looks like it’s going to be a long time before they’re good again, but being upstanding citizens is much more important.
“The Bulls are proud to join Mayor Lori Lightfoot and our fellow pro Chicago sports teams in urging Chicagoans to stay home and save lives. I have always said that this is the greatest city in the world, and we all have a crucial role to play to protect the place we are lucky to call home,” said Michael Reinsdorf, President & COO, Chicago Bulls.
“Teamwork, looking out for one another and coming together as a community is needed now more than ever. Do your part by staying home to help everyone on the front lines working tirelessly throughout this pandemic to save lives.”
All of the local pro teams, the Bears, Blackhawks, Cubs, Fire, Red Stars, Sky and White Sox, joined the Bulls in this initiative, which encourages compliance to the statewide Stay at Home order, directing residents to keep themselves and their neighbors safe from the spread of COVID-19 by staying home.
Chicago, unfortunately, is one of the nation’s worst coronavirus hot spots right now, so it’s extremely important that residents practice social distancing and self-isolate at home, so that we can flatten the curve.
“We all have a role to play in meeting the challenge of COVID-19, and our success is directly tied to every Chicagoan making sure they Stay Home and Save Lives,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“I am grateful to each of our hometown teams for stepping up and doing their part by joining in this call for every neighborhood and community.”
They’re not playing, and neither are we. The more we stay home and act responsibly, the more lives we’ll save, and the sooner we’ll be able to get our city back on track and enjoying the games we love.”
Chicago, sports fans, Illinoisans, Americans, everybody! Please do your part! #StayHome #StayHomeSaveLives #FlattenTheCurve
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link