Alex Sconziano, Reporter
@ASconzCourant
As the coronavirus continues to be a global epidemic, all professional sports remain suspended. Disappointed fans around the world sit quarantined at home, unable to watch their favorite teams and players compete. There was no March Madness in March, the NBA season has been suspended, the MLB season has been delayed, the NHL season has been suspended, and the NFL will not have a public draft in Los Angeles. The French Open, the Masters, professional soccer leagues, as well as the Olympics have all been postponed. I was devastated when I heard the news of league after league suspending their seasons. Fans around the world are left not knowing what their team could have done this season.
This year I was so excited to watch the rest of the NBA season. After the devastating loss of Kobe Bryant, I was looking forward to seeing if his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, who were ranked first in the Western Conference, could bring home a championship for him. Fans will not be able to see if the Milwaukee Bucks would have made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in 45 years. Fans also will not see which rookie would have won the very competitive race for rookie of the year.
I also am disappointed that March Madness was canceled. My Providence Friars were going on a run and were fourth in the Big East, as well as 28th in the nation, almost cracking the top 25. The Friars haven’t had a season like this in a very long time. The last time they came close was with Kris Dunn in 2016, losing to North Carolina in the second round (Dunn was leading the NBA in steals this year before he sprained his MCL). Many other teams will also be missing out on a shot they had. Rutgers basketball was ranked 34th in the country and on a hot streak, trying to make it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991. To say the least, it’s unfortunate the season was cut short.
I have found myself very bored with no sports to watch. I wondered if my friends were going through the same things I was. “It’s been tough not being able to watch the Knicks or see the March Madness tournament. The other day I saw professional tag on ESPN, and that’s when I knew it was going to be a long quarantine,” said Teague Stanley. Fans not being able to watch their favorite teams compete takes a lot of excitement out of their lives. Aside from that, we don’t know how long it will be until other sports pick back up again. Until then we just have to sit and wait. “I was looking forward to watching the Masters, but it was postponed too,” said Alex Wolter, a good friend of mine. “You can’t substitute it by watching something like dodgeball instead.” My friends and I weren’t able to do our annual bracket pool, we weren’t able to finish our bets on the NBA season, and aren’t even able to play basketball or football together because of the quarantine. All we have done to cope with the absence of sports is playing Madden NFL 20 or NBA 2k together on the Xbox. It isn’t the best replacement, as it’s not real life, but we have to make do somehow.
One thing I have found to be reasonable replacement for the absence of the sports world is watching repeats of the best moments in sports history. The other day my Dad and I watched the 1992 Elite Eight, Kentucky vs Duke, featuring Christian Laettner’s game-winning shot. We hate Laettner but we watched it anyway. The only problem I have found watching repeats of games is that they aren’t as exciting because I have already seen them and already know what happens. I also watched a repeat of the 2019 NBA playoff series between the Portland Trailblazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. I watched Game 5 with Portland’s Damian Lillard hitting “The Shot – part two.” It just wasn’t as exciting watching it already knowing Lillard drained the shot. However, watching repeats is still better than professional tag.
I also have found that watching documentaries like ESPN 30 for 30s are a great thing to watch in replacement. Some of my favorites are Winning time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, and The U. Winning time is particularly great because it is very interesting to watch how the players tell the story, and to see everyone’s different point of view. Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knicks fans several times. However, he was at his peak of hatred in the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals. As the documentary walks us through the moments, from Spike Lee’s chirping to Miller’s eight points in 8.9 seconds, it is very interesting to watch how Reggie Miller made his name as “The Gardens Greatest Villain”.
Fans will be continue to be disappointed as the epidemic continues. But until then, we need to do all we can to stay safe and healthy during this time. Though it has been very boring ever since the virus shut down the sports world, we all need to play our part so we can see our favorite athletes back in action as soon as possible. The sports world will pick back up again eventually, but until then, it will be a long, hard road for fans.
