Did the 49ers Blowing the Super Bowl Save a Ton of People from Dying of COVID-19?!? 

   This is one of those - "What Could Have Been" stories. The COVID-19 pandemic will inspire a lot of "what ifs" . . . especially how things could've been different if we'd been more prepared.  But there are surely some POSITIVE "what ifs" as well . . . bullets we may have dodged.  

Take the "Wall Street Journal" story that suggests that the San Francisco 49ers blowing their 10-point, fourth quarter lead in the Super Bowl might have actually SAVED LIVES-  because there were two reported cases of the coronavirus the day after the game.  

So obviously, there were people already infected there. Now throw in a victory parade that could have attracted more than a MILLION people, resulting in a massive spread on the West Coast.  

Something like this HAS happened before. Thousands of people were infected during Philadelphia's World War 1 parade back in the days of the 1918 Spanish flu, which set off a second wave of deaths.  

A doctor from UCSF's department of medicine said, quote, "It may go down in the annals as being a brutal sports loss . . . but one that may have saved lives.