"Kick their balls" Curran prompts international laughter

 No matter what they say, not all publicity is good publicity.

Consider Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, whose daily briefing about the coronavirus last Friday included a tutorial on how to handle balls -- tennis balls, that is.

The county was opening its outdoor courts to tennis again: Singles only,  no doubles. Play limited to every other court.

But then somebody gave Curran give instructions on how to handle the balls. And she made the mistake of reading those instructions.

"Every player, unless they're from the same household, has to bring their own tennis balls so that you don't touch other people's tennis balls with your hands," she said. "You can kick their balls, but you can't touch them."

At that point, Curran seemed to realize what she was saying. "I'm going to blush. Sorry."

"If you're playing with someone in your household, you can touch those tennis balls," she continued.

"To avoid confusion between whose balls are whose, you can use a  marker, like a sharpie..to put an 'X', to put someone's initials on them."


Curran's video instructions went international. TMZ giggled. London news websites chortled. India news outlets chuckled. Tucker Carlson broadcast them. Even conservative financial blogs ridiculed Curran.

Besides silly, her premise was questionable.

Tennis balls hit outdoors, in the sun, are unlikely to spread the virus.

Think about it. Outdoor tennis is played in sunlight. Sunlight, with its ultraviolet light,  kills the virus. The balls bounce on dirt and cement which, yes, are outdoors in sunlight.


Much about this virus remains a mystery. But it appears to spread person to person.

Studies show transmission occurs most often indoors, in confined spaces, over an extended period of time.

One paper concluded that five minutes of face-to-face interaction with an infected person is needed to transmit the virus.  Or when an infected person sneezes or coughs in your face.

Two studies have now shown that people who stay home are much more likely to get the virus than people who go out to work or play.


Curran said at the briefing that she was following the rules of the U.S. Tennis Association.

But even those rules say it is unlikely that tennis balls will infect you.

"Although there is no specific evidence that tennis balls can spread COVID-19, we know that contamination by respiratory droplets from an infected person can potentially survive on hard surfaces up to three days," according to the association's website.

It advises. "Use your racquet/foot to pick up balls and hit them to your opponent. Avoid using your hands to pick up the balls."  This was apparently was the inspiration for Curran's  "kick their balls."


But then the Center for Disease Control this week essentially abandoned Curran's conclusion.


The CDC webpage says that the virus does not appear to be easily transmitted from  contaminated objects or surfaces.

From the website:

"These are not thought to be the main ways the virus spreads.

• From touching surfaces or objects. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus.

But it's too late now.  As TMZ said of Curran's briefing:

"This is the greatest balls moment since the 'SNL' classic ... of course, we're talking about Alec Baldwin's famous "Schweddy Balls" skit, where then too, it was balls galore."