Sports Organizations’ Seasons Are Affected by COVID-19

On Wednesday, Mar. 11, I was getting on a flight returning to Greensburg from the baseball team’s annual trip to Florida. In the three hours that we were in the air, the sports world changed drastically.  

A normally scheduled NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder was just about to tip off when the Thunder’s team doctor rushed onto the floor. He explained to the referees that there may be a case of coronavirus within the league. The game was postponed and that marked the last day of NBA competition until the indefinite future. 

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive that night, and his teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive the next day.  

The following day, NHL and MLB followed in their footsteps and suspended their seasons. There is still no date for the return professional sports.  

In the days that followed, the NCAA canceled March Madness and all championship competitions for winter sports, it also canceled all the spring sports’ seasons.  

The NCAA released a statement on their website after their decision to cancel all remaining competition: “While we understand how disappointing this is for everyone, our decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States.” 

There was some debate within the NCAA about spring athletes’ eligibility for the season that they lost. However, it has been approved that all spring athletes did not lose a year of eligibility and will be eligible for the same number of seasons as they were coming into 2020.  

These are unprecedented times for the world of sports but there are also things that are much bigger than sports. The prevention of the Coronavirus is one of them.