Sports Tries to Provide Escape from 2020

Most of us who are true fans will likely agree that at its best SPORTS provides us with an escape from the realities of everyday life.

For a couple of hours we don’t think about work, bills or family issues and can cheer with passion for our favorite teams and players.  Whatever the sport from football to baseball, basketball to hockey, golf to MMA. You’re a fan and you experience highs and lows throughout a game and/or season.

Then there is 2020 which for the most part has provided a lot more anguish then enjoyment when it comes to sports and of course just about everything else.

College basketball got shut down in March just when we really care.  The NBA & NHL stopped and then started and frankly most of us did not spend too many nights in July watching either.  Baseball and summer usually go together like peanut butter and jelly but to be honest I was more into binge watching Netflix shows than the Mets and yes part of that was they weren’t very good.  It was just hard to get into games with empty stadiums and piped in sound effects.

The same can be said for the NFL although it comes across a bit better on TV.  Weeks ago we were singing the praise for how the league was navigating through this pandemic but as the season wears on you have to wonder if they’ll get through it.  I mean the Denver Broncos played a game Sunday without a true quarterback which was a total embarrassment and a real black eye.  It may get worse before it gets better.

College football is trying but it’s failing with dozens of games getting cancelled each weekend.  Teams have had players opt out for health concerns or to protect their pro interests which you can understand.

There’s a reason why schools like Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulsa and Liberty are nationally ranked while perennial powers like LSU, Michigan, Penn State and Florida State have pretty much self-destructed.

College basketball is back even though it should not be until at least January.

The NBA is returning around Christmas and the NHL is expected to drop the puck sometime after the first of the year but there are question marks with both.

And there’s the 2020 Summer Olympics which were postponed until this July in Tokyo and even that might be a stretch.

Sports is not the diversion we’ve come to expect it to be. It’s just another part of the problem.