Earlier this month, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert made a mockery of the coronavirus at a press conference by rubbing reporters’ microphones and joking about it. A few days later he became the first NBA player to be diagnosed with the virus.
This diagnosis started the downfall of sports. Following the diagnosis, the NBA decided to put its season on a hiatus to ensure the safety of its players.
The NBA was the first sport to suspend the season and it created a domino effect which made many other sports cancel or suspend the seasons the following day.
March 12th, 2020: The Worst Day in Sports History
Following the NBA’s suspension, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments were completely canceled.
The two most important golf championships, the Masters Tournament and the PGA Tour, were both postponed to a much later date.
Similarly, the MLB’s late-March seasonal starting date was postponed, and both the NHL and the MLS suspended their seasons.
The last heartbreak of the sports world was when the Summer Olympics, which were supposed to be held in Tokyo, were postponed until next summer.
Now, due to these suspensions many sports fans and sports players don’t have as much to do in their free time.
Students Thoughts on the Coronavirus Taking Over Sports:
Walter Johnson High School freshman Maya Rickles was one of the only Freshman that made varsity softball and is a die-hard Los Angeles Dodgers fan.
“Because of [coronavirus], both high school softball and club softball have been canceled, and it’s really upsetting because I devote my life to softball. It’s one of the only things that makes me truly happy, and not being able to play after putting in so much work really sucks, especially because I made varsity as a freshman,” Rickles said.
Rickles was also concerned about not having enough to do in her free time.
“Having the MLB be postponed is really sad because I am a die-hard fan and not being able to keep up and watch my team play sucks,” Rickles said.
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Our Lady of Good Counsel High School freshman Donovan Tait has played basketball his whole life and is a very big Boston Celtics fan.
“It is terrible because I can’t go home and watch NBA games each night like I would otherwise. I was going to go see the Wizards vs. Celtics game, but now it has been postponed,” Tait said. “I think the season will be canceled completely and there will be no playoffs.”
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Georgetown Preparatory School Max Derogatis has much less to do and feels as if he has nothing to do without lacrosse. He is also a die hard St. Louis Blues fan.
“Hockey being postponed has left me devoid of one of my favorite things to do in my free time. As a result I’ve started blowing away time any way possible,” Derogatis said. “My lacrosse season being canceled has had an even more impactful change on my life. I had gotten in a routine of school, homework, and then lacrosse for two hours before coming home and doing more homework. Now I blow away hours a day with no real goal in the end, and nothing productive happening in my life.”
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Article by Andrew Plotnick of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Sophie Zheng of Cabin John Middle School