Dickie's Digest - COVID-19, Isaiah Simmons, and DFW
Friends,
Happy first day of March! It’s crazy that 2020 is already 17% of the way through (apologies if that fact causes any Sunday Scaries…)
The turning of the month means that the slowest period in sports is nearly finished. The time between the Super Bowl and March Madness sure does feel like an eternity, but take solace in the fact that we’ll be filling out brackets in just 18 days.
Thanks to those of you who signed up over the past few days — here is this week’s edition of the Digest. As always, reach out if you find anything particularly interesting. Have an epic week!
Story I’m Following —
Top of mind for many people at the moment is COVID-19 (aka coronavirus). What started as something contained to China has quickly spread to 87,000 people globally, 7,000 people outside of China, 60 countries, and now, unfortunately, to the United States. More concerning than the fact that it is in the US is the fact that it’s likely been here for multiple weeks. As of writing this, it is still very difficult to get tested in the country’s most dense city, explained in this chilling Reddit post. To stay up to date with the latest information, I’ve turned on notifications from @BNODesk and am periodically checking this New York Times blog.
The spread of COVID-19 jolted Wall Street this week as the stock market fell 11.2%, marking it as the fifth worst weekly in stock market history.
I’ll save my thoughts on what’s to come in the week ahead for a different time, but this Bloomberg preview does a good job of summing up the current temperature of the market.
Athlete I’m Stunned By —
Isaiah Simmons put on quite the show at the NFL combine this week. The Clemson linebacker/defensive back put up some ridiculous numbers — he measured 6’3 5/8”, 238 pounds, ran a 4.39 40-yard dash, had a 39” vertical jump, and had an 11’ broad jump. The dude can play too. With the 14th pick, maybe the Bucs can scoop him up.
Video I’m Revisiting —
Last week I talked about The Tail End by Tim Urban, one of my favorite articles that I revisit often to refresh my perspective. If you enjoyed that, you’ll really enjoy “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace. What initially appears to be just a standard commencement speech quickly turns into some of the most thoughtful ideas on the everyday human experience. It’s impossible to do the speech justice with a summary, but you’ll understand why it’s so impactful if you give it a listen.
Quotes and Questions
QUOTE — “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.” — Baron Rothschild
QUESTION — If COVID-19 was confirmed in your city, what is the first thing you would do?
End Note
If you’re enjoying the Digest so far, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two by forwarding it or sending them here to sign up. In a world full of noise, I’m trying to make this email the one with the most signal that you receive each week — I hope you’re enjoying it.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter or respond directly to this email to get in touch. And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I love finding new things to read through members of this newsletter.
Have an epic week,
Dickie