I had the same feeling of importance on the night of Wednesday, March 11, when a friend called to tell me the NBA had suspended their season because one of their players had tested positive for the Coronavirus. The resulting shock waves were felt throughout the sports world as on short order the NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer all announced suspensions of their seasons. Shortly after that came word the Masters – the Masters! – was to be postponed. Finally, the last shoe dropped when the NCAA announced all spring sports championships were to be cancelled and even their signature event, the NCAA basketball championship (“March Madness”), was no more. Now, in the grand scheme of things, losing sporting events is a small sacrifice when compared to the greatest public health threat in over 100 years. But the idea of losing those marquee events in our sporting culture is incalculable. Don’t think so? Try this experiment.
Think of your own nightly viewing habits, what you do after work or after being out all day. Most of us eat dinner, take the dog for a walk, help the kids with their homework, and then settle in for a night of sports viewing. Except now there is no nightly NBA or NHL; no baseball games – maybe no baseball at all – no boxing, no MMA, no golf, no tennis, nothing. What’s a sports fan to do? After all, there are only so many “Law and Order” reruns or animal documentaries a person can watch. My point is we don’t realize how much we rely on sports to provide a necessary diversion many of us need from our daily routines. Without them, we have a figurative hole in our lives the size of the Grand Canyon.
Influential voices in the sports media business have rightfully lauded NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to suspend the season until the scope of the outbreak is determined; his leadership is something many in and out of the sports world envy, and maybe, just maybe, his foresight will lead to saving the lives of not only sports fans, but also of everyday citizens. We often laud sports as a vanguard for our better societal angels; we hope in this case the actions of a few sports executives will lead to a positive outcome for all of us. In the meantime, it might not be a bad idea to rediscover your books, your nature trails, a walk on the beach, or even your family because the next time we meet in this space there is a very good chance we might be just where we are now.
Nowhere.
