Damn You to Hell Coronavirus

I was going to write about another movie today, but I just got an email that upset me, and I want to vent. I have stayed away from this, but since we are going to be doing a pod that talks about this, which will be released tomorrow, I just want to get it out there.

CoronaVirus is awful for so many different reasons. It has stunted everything in sight. I became a teacher when I didn't expect to. It has taken so many lives because the powers that be weren't ready, or just figured it would go away. Businesses have shut down, unemployment is at an all time high and everyone is afraid.

This sucks.

For me personally, and I know it seems trite to complain about such little things, but my sports life has been shuttered. I cannot go to the gym to swim or play basketball. I was training some basketball players as this whole thing started to unfold, and that was stopped, as was my ability to bring home some money. I can't play in my pickup games.I was going to be playing in a men's rec league right as the stay at home orders began. I know it was all done in good conscious, and it seems to be working. Numbers here in Missouri have stayed relatively the same, with about 250 new cases a day, but we are fortunate enough to not have our hospitals completely overrun like other places. I get it. It is doing the necessary stuff it needs to do. I would much rather be alive than go play basketball. But that doesn't mean that I cannot miss it. Like I said, I feel bad complaining about such a miniscule thing, but we all deal with grief and being upset in different ways. I have talked to friends who love all the extra time we are getting. I do too. I have talked to friends that are terrified to even hang out while properly social distancing. That one, I am okay with, as long as we properly social distance. But god damn it, I miss my sports. I am a runner, and I am lucky enough that I can still do that in some capacity. I love to trail run, but state parks have closed everywhere. And that is fine, I can road run. But it has been weird doing it with a face covering. I am always going to be safe, but still, I feel like I am running in super high elevation sometimes.

What am really upset about is the lack of races. There has also been a number of races I was supposed to do that have been postponed or canceled. That was the email I mentioned before. I signed up for a three part trail series, and the first race is now canceled. My half marathon in March was postponed. The marathon I was supposed to run in a week was pushed to next year. Hell, I am not so sure about my fall and winter races right now. I don't know if the coordinators will feel safe, or if I will feel safe at that point. But, it sucks. So does the postponement of all major professional sports. The NBA has been off for two months now. And while they keep talking about bringing it back this year, what's the point? I mean, the players aren't ready, some of the coaches are in the most compromised conditions and it would be a waste of so many tests that could, and should, be given to people that really need them. Baseball is looking into a late June start, and while that may work, they would have to drastically cut down the season. That is fine too, baseball seasons are way too long to begin with anyway. But we also have the use of tests that should be used elsewhere. My son's baseball season has been pushed to June, and that is if we get to play at all. I know in Missouri we are starting to ease protocols, but I can't imagine a world where they allow a bunch of 8 year olds to get together to play baseball. All of this is a total bummer. I saw a headline on Bleacher Report the other day, and it said, "Sports Are Back this Weekend", and it mentioned UFC and NASCAR. To me, those aren't sports. I don't care to watch or read about either of them. I will say, they are doing it right by doing it without fans.

Which brings me to my last point. If/when sports comes back, they should all do it without fans for the rest of the season. That is the safest way to do this moving forward. The players have said they want to play, and people such as myself would gladly watch a basketball, baseball or football game with no fans. I don't care about the fans, I watch to see teams and players. The only people who seem to be against this idea are sports writers and TV people. To them I say, watch like the rest of us. You can still write about a game, even if you aren't there in person. I do it all the time. It works out just fine.

To wrap it all up, I am bummed, I miss sports and I wish things were different. They aren't though, this is the new normal for now, and while I am trying to be optimistic, like only reading good news involving this awful virus, it has been hard to be optimistic when it comes to sports. This sucks, I just want to see college and pro athletes play, run my races and not be afraid to go out in group outings for exercise. I hope we get some kind of conclusion, or vaccine or something sooner rather than later. This whole thing is just awful. It is a great unknown, and with each passing day, we still don't seem to have an end in sight. I'll be hoping that will change sooner rather than later. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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