March Sadness: Everything is Canceled

If February 3, 1959 was “The Day the Music Died” I wonder if some will consider March 12, 2020 “The Day the Sports World Died.”  At the very least it’s the day it suffered a critical injury.

Calling Thursday a tumultuous day would be like calling Mount Everest a decent size hill. A bit of an understatement.  In the wake of the spreading coronavirus in this country the one diversion that often helps us escape from tragedy came to a grinding halt.

Hours after the NBA had suspended its season they were joined by the NHL, Major League Soccer and XFL who all put their seasons on pause.  Major League Baseball then announced it was stopping spring training and delaying opening day for at least two weeks.  The PGA cancelled the remainder of The Players Championship along with three tournaments leading up to The Masters which for now is still on.

For some though the biggest blow was the NCAA finally announcing later in the day it was cancelling its men’s and women’s basketball championships along with all the other winter and spring championship events.  In other words, no March Madness, just a lot of March Sadness especially for those athletes who are seniors.

High school sports did not escape a day filled with cancellations, postponements and suspensions.  The NJSIAA announced last night that the remainder of the boys and girls state basketball tournament was being cancelled. This just hours after several games were played without spectators.

One that wasn’t was the much anticipated game between Manasquan and Camden with Squan withdrawing from the tournament over health concerns just a couple of hours before they would have boarded a bus to Toms River.

March 12, 2020: The day the ball stopped bouncing, puck stopped moving, bats stopped swinging.  What a day!