Arthur Brewer

English 1101

Dr. Crowther

4/21/22

Lost Sports Seasons

There were a lot of exciting events that were canceled during the covid pandemic, and sports seasons are one of them.  A lot of games had been rescheduled to later days.  There were also some games where not a single fan showed up.  A lot of tournaments were also canceled.  A lot of people were probably sad because they didn’t get to watch their favorite sports during lockdown.  I also didn’t get to go to Special Olympics basketball from March 2020 to April 2021.

Some sporting events were completely canceled.  Others were postponed.  The March 12 MLB preseason was completely canceled.  The 2020 Boston Marathon was postponed from April 20 to September 14.  The 2020 Tokyolympic games were postponed to the summer of 2021.  The 2020 French Open was moved to September 20.  All the athletes might have been disappointed when their games got canceled.

A lot of games that weren’t canceled didn’t have any fans watching from the venue seats.  In the spring of 2020, stadiums prohibited fans from attending games to help reduce the spread of covid.  Some athletes, such as LeBron James, decided they wouldn’t partake in games if there were no fans in the audience.  Jonathan Fader said “the lack of energy from fans could raise concentration” (Bumbaca 3).  Mental skills coach Graham Betchart says “not having any fans could make things more intense where the game is happening” (Bumbaca 3).  On May 16, the Bundesliga started back up in Germany, but there were no fans in the audience.  The fans who wanted to go to that game were probably very upset.  For each event in the Tokyolympics, organizers decided that 10000 was the maximum number of fans who could attend, and they had to be residents of Japan.

There were also some tournaments that either got postponed or completely canceled due to covid.  They include, but are not limited to, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (March Madness), the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the 2020 Masters Tournament (golf), and the Tour de France.  March Madness 2020 was completely canceled before it could even start, and a lot of people were probably very sad about it.  In 2020, the Masters Tournament was rescheduled from March to November.  The 2020 Tour de France was moved to August 29 when it was supposed to be on June 27.

In 2020, I had a year-long hiatus in Special Olympics Basketball, which I started in the fall of 2018 at the YMCA of Decatur.  When I started, I shot some baskets with one of my childhood friends.  It was a great way to get some exercise.  We also went to have dinner after practice.  We also went to the Atlanta Hawks game in March 2019.  I was going to go with them to the Atlanta Hawks game in March 2020, but that was when covid became a real problem, and I was bummed out about missing the game.  That was also when the hiatus started, and it didn’t start back up until the fall of 2021.

In conclusion, the sports seasons and tournaments that were supposed to happen in 2020 were either canceled or postponed.  People seemed sad about the cancellations of events.  I was also disappointed about some events being canceled, including Special Olympics Basketball.

Works Cited:

Thompson, Dan. “The lost season: A year ago, the sports world stopped and months of disruption, confusion followed.” 21 Mar. 2021, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/21/the-lost-season-a-year-ago-the-sports-world-stoppe/.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

ESPN News Services. “List of sporting events canceled because of the coronavirus.” 23 Mar. 2020, https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/28824781/list-sporting-events-canceled-coronavirus.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

Bumbaca, Chris. “When pro sports return, fans won’t be there: Experts debate ‘a significantly different game’.” 31 May 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/05/31/sports-return-without-fans-how-athletes-react/5274410002/.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

Ryan, Joal. “Major Sports Events Canceled or Postponed Due to Coronavirus.” 9 Dec 2020, https://247sports.com/ContentGallery/Major-Sports-Events-Canceled-or-Postponed-Due-to-Coronavirus-146669046/#146669046_1.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022