It’s day eight with no sports and I think I’m losing my mind.
Earlier this month, every North American professional sport made both major and minor adjustments to accommodate the growing fear of the coronavirus pandemic.
The NBA suspended its season for at least the next three months.
Major League Baseball suspended spring training and a Memorial Day return is a best-case scenario.
The NHL and MLS paused their seasons.
March Madness, the coveted NCAA basketball tournament, has been canceled, and every City College in California has suspended all athletic events.
The coronavirus has taken a lot from so many people, and I do not want to understate the severity of it.
College students who have worked four years for a degree won’t get to walk the stage in their cap and gown.
Young adults across the nation won’t know what it’s like to spend hours getting ready for their high school prom.
The coronavirus has forced people into isolation and put so many lives in danger.
In a time like this, sports would be a source of comfort for many people.
In a perfect world, I would be watching pointless spring training games right now and getting ready for Opening Day.
But the world is far from perfect.
The coronavirus pandemic and the horrors of World War II are very different entities, but what they do have in common is they both brought stress and fear into the lives of people all over the planet. During WWII, baseball kept going.
In 1942, President Roosevelt sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Landis saying that it would “be best for the country to keep baseball going.”
Unlike the 40s, the best thing we can do right now is absolutely nothing.
There isn’t a physical enemy that we can go fight. There isn’t a place we can go to, the only place we really should be is home.
This virus is bigger than all of us right now. The health and safety of athletes and fans are more important than my need, or your need, to watch LeBron and the Lakers.
Baseball, soccer, basketball, football, hockey–these are just a few of the sports that get us through the bad times. They are the ultimate distraction and the best kind of meditation.
I always say that I come out of hibernation just in time for baseball season and, though it’s a joke, it’s completely true. For eight months out of the year, my happiness is based on the success of the Los Angeles Dodgers. From March to November, I become addicted to a drug that has no antidote.
Sports are who I am, but right now the 2020 baseball season is on the injured list with no set timetable for return.
It’s day nine with no sports and I have most definitely lost my mind, but we can all survive a few months without our teams.
