It wasn’t that long ago when I wrote that, as we move ahead in time, sports are that much closer to returning. In fact, it was one week ago when I wrote that. I’d like to believe that’s true, but like a lot of things we hear and read regarding the word I wish never existed – Coronavirus – things change every day. Some days, it seems like pro sports will be back soon, and on other days it seems like they won’t be back this year.
I know the UFC had a pretty successful day last weekend, all things considered. One fighter tested positive the day before the fights. He was sent home, the fight was cancelled, but everything else went ahead as scheduled. Two more cards are scheduled this week: tomorrow and Saturday. I’m a little concerned that because it went well the first time, some of the safety measures put into place will be ignored, and things will get worse before they get better.
I know MLB is putting a proposal together for the players to accept today, and hope to start by July 4th. Sounds great, doesn’t it? But besides the money concerns, there’s still so much that has to happen before baseball is indeed back.
One aspect of all sports returning that isn’t mentioned enough: What about the people involved who are over 60 and have underlying conditions? I see that for NCAA basketball, three coaches fit the criteria of those who shouldn’t be around players, staff, trainers, etc.: Coach K, Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams. All three are Hall of Fame coaches, but as of right now they shouldn’t be around their sport. And there are many more. What happens in those situations? I don’t know. But I hope the answer isn’t what a big-shot politician in Washington, DC said last week. When talking about colleges opening up in the fall, and that some teachers are 65 and older with certain conditions, he said, “Well, those who are that old will have to sit out for a while.” NEasy answer, but it’s not that simple, is it? Do we do that to all of the coaches and personnel who help a team and sport function? So I know we want the games to continue. I just think we have to realize that there are a lot of the variables that come into play before that happens.
Another example of how things seem one day, and then different the next: Last week, The Oregonian newspaper reported the Governor saying that there will be no large gatherings in Oregon thru September. That includes sports, concerts, etc. She did say, though, that sports could be played without fans in attendance. No surprise, and encouraging news because the UH Football team is scheduled to play at Oregon on September 19th. So at least the game gets to get played, right? Not so fast. Today a report said that the Pac-12 is looking at an option of just playing conference games, something other conferences have discussed as well. That is not good news for the University of Hawaii. Hawaii has three games scheduled vs Pac-12 schools this season: at Arizona on August 29th, UCLA on September 5th, and the Oregon game on September 19th. Assuming Hawaii is able to play this season, those three games, if lost, would hurt UH financially in a big way. The two road games would cost UH close to 2 million dollars. Hopefully some good news regarding those games and this season will be coming soon.
And speaking of good news, I know there’s not enough of it these days. But on a personal note, I got some. I FINALLY got my refund for the NCAA tournament game, the Sweet 16 games scheduled for March, that was cancelled on March 12th. It was a real pain dealing with Ticketmaster, but I just got my $375 back two days ago. And then today I got an e-mail from the NCAA, giving me a chance to buy tickets to next year’s NCAA Tournament. The Sweet 16 is in Brooklyn next year, and I plan on going. But I think I’ll wait a while to buy my overpriced ticket. You can’t blame me, can you?
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