Armchair Virologists

Pretending to be a javelin aficionado is one thing. Professing to have real insight into the ongoing pandemic is quite another.

Written byBob Grant

| 4 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

4:00

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, METAMORWORKS

COVID-19 has caused disruptions large and small for months now. In late March, the International Olympic Committee postponed the start of the 2020 summer games in Tokyo, which was scheduled for this July. Among the many disturbances sparked by this worldwide disease outbreak, this one is not the gravest by far. But thinking about how I behave while watching the Olympic Games, summer or winter, I can’t help but compare my behaviors to some of the reactions and opinions being shared by the public regarding coronavirus during this uncertain and unnerving time.

I don’t consider myself a huge sports fan (though I can scarcely think of a more enjoyable way to fritter away a Saturday afternoon than lying on my sun-drenched couch nodding off in front of a televised baseball game). But when the Olympics are being broadcast, I transform into an armchair commentator, catching a ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
View Full Profile