With an early end to the NBA season, and a top tier NBA player coming down with the Corona Virus, the state of all leagues is now in question. As the NHL just begins to ramp up its season, and opening day wains only three weeks away. The fate of the sports world is in jeopardy.
What the hell is the big deal? The big deal is that we don't know anything about the virus. Remember, this is coming from me, who isn't a medical expert in any capacity. So you can't take my views and doubts about the virus too seriously. That being said we don't know anything about this Covid-19. How it spreads, what are the universal symptoms, how to cure it? We really don't have an idea of how deadly it is. That being said here's what we do have a general idea of: how to test for it.
With only this in hand the world really does not have much traction on the Corona Virus. What came in the middle of a terrible flu season, will hopefully diminish as the summer falls upon us, but until then it threatens to shut down our world as we know it. This includes our all beloved sports.
At the Flyers Bruins game on Tuesday night I turned to my girlfriend, laughed, and said,"This might be the last game for the season." There was a hesitant laugh between the two of us then, but a harsh realization that there is a unique possibility what I said could be true. What was then a long shot turned into reality the next day as the NBA will close its doors putting tons of pressure on the NHL to act. While both organizations share many of the same venus, there has always been an unwritten rule that what one does the other follows, and as this Thursday morning drags on, this seems to be the reality.
I walked into school this morning with a text from one of my friends saying he has on good authority that the NHL will shut its doors as of 12:00 on March 12th, and this information I now pass onto you. The terrible reality that comes with a world wide pandemic is now hitting home as the sports world has shut down with no timetable return to play. The last time both leagues shut down was 9/11 almost 19 years ago, and even then there was an assurance play would resume once things on the home-front calmed down.
Now the book is trending towards shutting down with no assurances to return. It's not just pro sports either. March Madness is just a week away and it seems like there will be no college basketball tournament either this year, something that has never happened. The NCAA was hesitant to only move it to no spectators, and they sure as hell are just waiting to pull the trigger to cancel it with so many colleges calling it quits for the year.
But we wait. Which is all we can do at the moment. Besides the break could be a good thing for the Flyers right now as James Van Riemsdyk, Nolan Patrick, Nate Thompson, and Phil Myers all have injuries that have a 3-4 week timetable for returns. Nolan Patrick is included on this list because he has participated in on ice drills that involve contact, which is a good sign. On the 76ers side of things, Ben Simmons injury is now on a 3 week timeline for return, and Joel Embiid as well as Josh Richardson still could use some time to get his healthy legs back under them.
The Phillies also have questions surrounding their season. Although they participate in an outdoor ball park we could see the first couple of weeks of their season delayed if the number of cases continues to rise. Injuries that could rehab during this time are headlined by Andrew McCutchen who Joe Girardi announced will not to be ready for opening day of baseball.
All in all, the Corona Virus could be the undoing of the 2020 sports season if the numbers continue to rise. Not to mention the economy isn't to hot right now either. Let's only hope we start to see a flatline to the number of cases, and continue to wash our hands and stay safe.