Friday, March 13, 2020

So, Now What?

The familiar stance of Bobby Murcer on TV tonight (YES Network)
Today is Friday the 13th, and it's probably fitting because what a weird week it has been.

Yesterday was the day sports stopped.

We've documented it all week. By this morning, basketball, hockey, baseball, all college championships, golf (including The Masters), soccer, NASCAR and just about everything else had been either postponed or canceled.

The size of the event didn't matter, be it March Madness or Dodge For a Cause (at the Greenwich Boys and Girls Club).

Honestly, it should go without saying that sports is not everything, even to me.

But, it will be a unique stretch of undetermined time. We don't know when anything will be "normal."

Two weeks, baseball says? Hopeful, but I feel it's not likely.

A month, per the NBA? Maybe, but six weeks feels more probable.

We will move forward. We will figure it all out. We have to.

The rhetoric has to stop. But, we know it won't.

We'll watch TV and movies and we'll read and write and do projects around the house.

Life will continue without sports. Temporarily.

I called the Brunswick/Episcopal lacrosse game late yesterday afternoon and stuck to my game plan of allowing people to watch a sporting event (the only one, and the last one, involving a Connecticut team to my knowledge). What I mean by that is I made no reference to COVID-19 or Coronavirus.

I referred to "the elephant in the room" once and mentioned the upcoming schedule. The Bruins have already had a game canceled -- at Deerfield on Mar 28. Beyond that, I wanted people to feel what sports is supposed to be: a release. A form of entertainment.

Stamford, CT at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, 3/12/20
The drive was eerie. While this can't be compared to Sep 11, 2001, there was still that ominous feeling of one story breaking after another, along with much less traffic as I drove.

Yes, it's a scary time. You bet it is. It's scary for health but it's also scary for the economy.

Still, folks have found plenty of ways to make it all about themselves.

That's not to say I'm not concerned but, as with all of this, there are priorities.

So, it stinks that all sports are gone. We'll be OK though. But, in any industry, it's the part-timers and freelancers who can get hurt. There's no guarantee of pay at all.

This situation is so fluid. Things are changing and will continue to do so.

One day at a time will have to be the rule.

1 comment:

davidsweet50 said...

It does feel like the aftermath of 911. The sudden dramatic end to life as we know it, the loss of life, the ongoing illness. But of course very different causes. Stay well my friend, we will get through this, the whole world will.