We humans got some good news this week with the reports that at least two vaccines have been shown to be 95% effective against the COVID-19 virus. We may be only a few months away from turning things around. Unfortunately, the virus is raging out of control in much of the country and the idiots are still being idiots. The Wall Street Journal had a thing about a man in South Dakota who was dying from the virus. The ventilator wasn't helping and he was just slipping away. As he fought for breath, he tried to call out to relatives (who, obviously, weren't there with him). Then, with his last words, he said "(COVID-19) is a hoax." Yeah, take that with you to Eternity.

On the news, they had a nurse who said that she's been working 12-15 hour days every day. They've offered her more money to work on her one day off per week, but she says that she's exhausted and is already afraid that fatigue is going to cause her to make a mistake. (If a politician makes a mistake, somebody in Argentina gets a tax refund. If a health-care professional makes a mistake, someone dies.) Anyway, she said that she works her shift, after which she's "bone tired." But when she stops at the grocery store on the way home, she sees people walking around without masks. It makes her furious.

I wish the stores would do something about it. I've read that they don't want their already-overworked employees to get in confrontations with mask-less jackasses. They should hire big-ass security guards to do that. It would help protect their employees' health and it would be good business in the long run. Decent people would be more likely to shop at a store where they knew that everybody would be masked. And the sooner we have everybody wearing a mask, the sooner this virus can be stopped.

I've seen three or four people from the League at the store; all were wearing masks. Somebody asked me what would happen if I saw somebody from the League in a store not wearing a mask. It's simple; I would tell them that they will never play in the Tucson Basketball League again. EVER. We have a rule in the TBL that if somebody fights or threatens to fight, they're done forever. This isn't fighting; this is endangering other people's lives. That dude better enjoy playing outdoors, because he'll never set foot on our court(s) again.

Back to the good news. The vaccines are very promising. I sincerely believe that things are going to get much better in the next few months. But first we have to get through the end of this year, the worst year of all time. We were warned that there would be a Second Wave when the weather got cold. The bad thing is that the virus is exploding and the weather hasn't gotten that cold. It's been extremely mild in most of the country and here in Tucson, it doesn't even feel like Fall yet. We're all exhausted by these past several months but those of us with a brain and a heart realize that we have to tough it out a little while longer.

I sincerely hope that our League members are doing the right thing for themselves, their loved ones, and our community. Please hang in just a little while longer. For the rest of your lives, you will forever know that you did the right thing.

Have a nice and safe Thanksgiving.