Infecting the World of Sports

Photo+by+Associated+Press

Photo by Associated Press

Michael Chambers, Sports Reporter

The Coronavirus has affected the entire world, closing down restaurants, malls and even stopping travel. Sports have even been impacted greatly, with every major league around the globe suspending operations until further notice.

Tension and fear began to rise around the sports world and the NBA after initial reports of the spread of COVID-19 in America in March. With rumors of “crowd less games” starting to build and small talk of a potential season delay coming from different league reporters, things took a drastic turn for the worse after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with the virus.

The NBA suspended their season with only 15-18 games left before the playoffs. The MLB halted all operations during spring training, and the NFL has even implemented strict guidelines, such as having the first ever digital draft and closing down practice facilities. No one knows when sports can resume play, but it has left many wondering if they will return anytime soon, or if they will ever go back to being the same.

It may be a good time to start showing more interest in other things, but there are still some sports that you can watch today. WWE is running two shows every week, as well as a Pay-Per-View event monthly, to provide viewers with new content. After their initial postponement, The Chinese Baseball League also started its season on April 11, and you can stream some of those games in English on Eleven Sports.

With no known vaccine on the horizon, sports like soccer and basketball don’t seem to be making a return anytime soon. If you are missing your favorite sports, though, technology has become so advanced that you can find hours and hours of great moments and footage such as any NBA Finals or football game that you would want to watch.

Hopefully by 2021, different leagues will be able to continue business as usual, but as of now, who knows if we’ll even crown another sports champion in 2020.