Sports in the time of COVID-19

Sports are back…...and if I’m being honest about it, I’m really just now starting to enjoy them again. 

It’s been well over a month since the NHL and NBA enacted their bubble plans and MLB started its “let’s just cross that bridge when we come to it, but no fans” plan. Throughout the whole time I was cautious, uncertain if it felt right to be watching pro sports in this weird as hell time in human history with a global pandemic still raging and currently decimating the United States. 

Then football came back and I got into it. Now I’m in a seriously different place altogether. 

Here’s the thing: a part of me did feel guilty about enjoying sports again while COVID-19 is continuing to decimate families and the lives of millions, either directly with the virus’ deadly effects, or indirectly because of economic decisions stemming from it. For months we argued if sports should even come back this year at all since a vaccine is still at least an end of the year prospect. 

So when they did come back with hockey, basketball and baseball, I was just playing it cool. I started to get into NHL playoffs because I was curious about the setup, and I followed the postponements that were happening in MLB because of COVID breakouts. Basketball is my least favorite sport, so I was relying on everyone else to tell me what was happening there. 

To be honest, the NBA and NHL have been impeccable. The bubble plan has worked to this point and we’re almost done with conference finals in hockey and close to starting them in the NBA. Both leagues have made the most of their situations playing “on the road,” and the quality of play hasn’t taken a hit. I take the NBA fans word for that, but I can tell you hockey has been phenomenal to watch. No virus fear on that ice from players at all, and they shouldn’t be because their leagues have done a tremendous job keeping them safe. 

I thought baseball was going to shut down after the first week or two of breakouts, but they continue to march on with this 60-game season, handling situations as they arise. It’s been tricky, but they’re still going. 

Now the NFL is in the mix, having just finished Week 1, and though there was no preseason, this just feels “right.” Like, of all the things that 2020 has turned upside down, the NFL still started in September, and the most we have to deal with so far is pumped in crowd noise to empty stadiums. 

You just hope everything goes well for all of the leagues going forward. Well, I do at least. Admittedly, there is definitely a sentiment of people wanting to see COVID-19 ravage these leagues, so that in some way they can say “told you so” to the dudebros and anti-maskers that have been chanting “let them play” this entire time. 

While I get it, because those dudebros and anti-maskers are literally a public menace and danger to us all, telling them off shouldn’t come at the expense of these players, who want to find a way to make it work through this crazy time just as much as any of us sane people do. 

So as sketchy as I am about NFL teams travelling this season, I sincerely hope no player or coach contracts the disease, especially with people like Washington head coach Ron Rivera getting IV’s before the game so he can be on the sidelines while battling cancer. That’s just crazy tough. 

As weird as it is dealing with all four major sports playing at the same time, and still waiting to see if the Big Ten and Pac-12 reverse their decisions not to play college football while the Big 12 and ACC have now started, and the SEC still set to start soon, it is seriously comforting to see sports back on the broadcast and if they can seriously keep the players safe through all this, then I’ve got nothing to feel guilty about. It’s not like I don’t still dress like Bane to go to the grocery store and I’m taking the pandemic as seriously as anyone terrified of it could be. 

But enough of that. Here’s a roundup from all the action through Monday the 14th: 

NFL

The Lions are still the damned Lions, blowing 4th quarter leads and making me look like a prophet to all of my Bears fan mutuals that wanted Mitch Trubisky jettisoned off the planet for three quarters. Now they’ll never doubt me again when I tell them they have nothing to worry about…...while I continue to suffer my lifelong SOL(Same ol’ Lions) pain. 

On a happier note, the Chiefs still look like the Chiefs, Cam Newton is going to set QB rushing records in New England if he stays upright, and Lamar Jackson is trying to become more dangerous by adding a deep ball. Kyler Murray looked against the 49ers like he used to when I watched him at Oklahoma and that’s terrifying for the NFC West, especially with a former Big 12 QB as his head coach. 

If your team lost don’t take it too seriously, even if you’re a Cowboys fan. NFL is still playing 16 games, so you’ve got a whole season. Worry if they’re still winless by Week 3 or 4. 

Oh, and I wouldn’t count out Tom Brady just yet. It’s not like the NFC South is some juggernaut division and if anyone is determined not to suck like that again, it’s the 43-year old dude that feeds off of people writing him off. Let’s give it the month to see what he does before finally piling dirt on his incredible career. 

NHL

Dallas is in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 20 years? I hate that because I figured it out before the announcers said it, because I remember the last time it happened. 2000 when they lost to New Jersey in six on an OT goal from Jason Arnott, in Dallas. I’m not that old dammit, it doesn’t feel like it was two decades ago. 

Anyway, Vegas was my pick to win it all so that’s down a different path now. Odds are Tampa Bay will finish off the Islanders and set up a Stanley Cup showdown that I think few saw coming, but given how many seven-game serieses we had in the second round alone, you can’t count New York out until they’ve lost that fourth game, so we’ll see. 

It’s amazing how fantastic a job the league has done with the bubble playoffs, considering how badly they’ve mangled the draft, and yes I’d say that even if I wasn’t a Wings fan. It’s seriously just a dumb system that makes no sense at all. Ah well. 

MLB

I really haven’t watched any games but it looks like all the divisions are tight going into the homestretch, with the possible exception of the AL West. This is one where I’m going to wait until the playoffs set up and go from there because it looks like a crazy different field is possible in this odd duck of a season. Tampa Bay winning the AL East? San Diego 15 games over .500? Wild. Should be fun to watch. 

NBA

With Milwaukee and Toronto gone and all the major dark horses out, this looks like it’s the Lakers title to lose, which before the pandemic was totally a “win one for Kobe” storyline. It’s still probably that, just with a lot of extra factors now involved. As of the time of this post, the Clippers were set to play Game 7 against Denver. Maybe they have a shot, but if you need seven games to take out Denver, potentially, can you really beat Lebron and AD? More savvy NBA fans could answer that one better than I can. 

NCAA

Someone let me know when the Big Ten is actually set to play games officially. Until then, I don’t want to hear anything about votes happening, meetings convened or teams that are rumored to still not play and how much those alumni are going to be outraged over it, so much that they’ll sue for personal emotional distress in the most selfish manner possible. 

That’s all I got for this week. Here’s hoping all the ones after this stay fun. I think we need it, seriously, since 2020 has been anything but.