I am at a loss and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is. The year of COVID-19 has taken a toll on everyone in some manner. I’m not talking about the worry of contacting the virus, that’s a given. What I’m talking about is the loss of sports!
Now you all know how I love sports and competition in general. When this hit in the spring, we all thought that perhaps by the beginning of summer, it would be under control and life would return to normal. But it didn’t.
Springtime is always Little League Baseball time. From late March until maybe the second week of May, parents, grandparents, and yes, even players, stand or sit at the baseball field with as many layers of clothing as they can get on. We sit and cheer on our little players as we freeze and complain. There was none of that this year. The same was true of track and tennis. There was nothing.
On to summer. If it weren’t for a little Legion baseball, and some barrel racing and rodeo events, I would have gone stir crazy. There’s weren’t even many sports on television, at least not the common ones like basketball or baseball.
I found myself watching more and more cooking shows like Chopped, or Spring Baking Challenge, anything with competition. But, even though it was, and is, competition, it just doesn’t quite cut it.
Early this summer I found horse racing on a couple of channels. I was in heaven! Saturday afternoons I could be found sitting in front of the TV cheering on the ponies. I admit it was a bit strange with no crowd in the stands and only a few people on the rail, but still, it was horse racing!
Now, as some of the sports are coming back on television, I am watching more. But, I admit that I’m looking at the cutout characters who make up the non existent fans to see who is being immortalized. Last week, Kansas City had stars from the movie “Weekend at Bernie’s” while another had a few pets situated throughout the ‘crowd’.
I admit, however, that in the back of my head has been the thought, ‘it will be okay come fall’. Now, reality is rearing its ugly head (along with COVID). Any fall sport that happens is going to have a different look. Social distancing will be a must for fans and players alike. Masks will be the norm, except on the playing fields, and the aroma of hand sanitizer will battle with sweat and muscle relaxers.
But hopefully, at this point anyway, the student athletes will have their fall season and high school sports will go on. There may not be as many games but at least there will be games. The parents will be happy, the athletes happy, and me, I’ll be over the moon. Crossing my fingers for a good fall sports season. I’ll even take the wind and the rain.