Rozner: Keeping writers from locker rooms is no safety measure

Writers are notoriously filthy people.

There's not a one among us who doesn't stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way to an event, landing at the facility with coffee stains everywhere and enough crumbs on our clothes to snack for the rest of the day.

Nolo contendere.

As for spreading the coronavirus into professional locker rooms, well, the latest decision by MLB, MLS and the NBA and NHL reeks of red herring.

Seriously, all these leagues got together at once and decided that the best way to protect their respective sports was to keep the media out of their locker rooms?

Not shut down the game. Not keep players away from fans or shopping malls. Not keep 20,000 people out of an arena. Not stop sweating and coughing all over one another.

Keep the writers 6 feet away from the players and outside the locker room and that will make the world a safer place.

"I heard about that when I got here today," Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright told the St. Louis writers in Florida. "Everybody knows the media is carrying the coronavirus."

Uncle Charlie sarcasm aside, the leagues released a joint statement Monday night that read, "After consultation with infectious disease and public health experts, and given the issues that can be associated with close contact in pre- and postgame settings, all team locker rooms and clubhouses will be open only to players and essential employees of teams and team facilities until further notice.

"Media access will be maintained in designated locations outside of the locker room and clubhouse setting. These temporary changes will be effective beginning with tomorrow's games and practices.

"We will continue to closely monitor this situation and take any further steps necessary to maintain a safe and welcoming environment."

So the Centers for Disease Control told the commissioners the best way to contain the coronavirus is to keep writers out of the locker room?

It's definitely the best way to prevent the spread of jelly doughnuts.

This decision is at best laughable and at worst sinister.

As the opportunity to interview players has disintegrated over the last decade, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to interact with players. Even then, it is generally slim pickings.

Now, teams will bring out selected players and keep them at a distance, and it is not merely cynical to believe this is opportunistic.

Leagues believe they don't need the media anymore. Teams and players have their own social media accounts and can say whatever they want, whenever they want.

Furthermore, leagues want control over the information flow, and teams would prefer you read Pravda-style news from their websites, painting a pretty picture of all they do.

Just understand that what you get from teams is only what those teams want you to get. That's not news. That's propaganda.

As for the notion that the nation is safer by keep media out of the dressing room, you should know that players are not hugging and kissing writers.

If you want to stop the spread of illness - and understanding media folks are as likely as anyone among the general public to get this - tell players to stop shaking hands, embracing each other during celebrations and sharing water bottles.

In terms of hockey, an ice rink is as dirty a place as you will ever encounter as players bleed on the ice, spit on the ice and blow snot-rockets on the ice.

When you come back to the bench, you clean the snow and slush off your blades with your fingers, tighten your skates and then wipe your face with those same disgusting hands.

A rink is among the best places on the planet to find a virus, but we're told the best solution is keeping media out of the dressing room.

This may indeed be temporary, but those among the ink-stained have always feared this as a first step in making it permanent if sports can get away with it - all in the name of cleanliness.

The coronavirus is going to spread here in the U.S. over the next few weeks, and it's not going to stop because writers aren't allowed in the locker room.

Players get sick all the time and that will continue to happen unless they stop going to the store, gas station, hotels and ... wait for it ... stadiums.

"What's next, are they going to cancel the season?" asked Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter. "I don't know if keeping the media out is going to save us all from the coronavirus."

Perhaps not.

If you want to prevent pro athletes from getting sick, lock them up at home and keep them there.

Hey, I'm all for teams protecting their players. There's a lot of money at stake and even the seasonal flu that runs through a team can be the difference between making the playoffs and not.

But this is not about that. This is a trial balloon. Teams can bring out one player at a time, maybe two, and every writer leaves the building with the exact same information, the exact same quotes.

Teams can monitor and control all that occurs, without one writer sneaking off to get some exclusive quotes and perhaps an interesting story.

This isn't exactly democracy dying in the darkness, but it does not make sports a more entertaining place.

It also doesn't make it safer - unless you count carpet coffee stains as dangerous.