If there was an upside to sports shutting down back in March (and I am still not totally advocating for sports to come back even now because it sends a message that things are safer than they actually are), it's the approach many leagues have deployed in coming back. Due to money (obviously), leagues around the country and world felt immense pressure to come back and play (giving fans an escape from worrying about the pandemic? Yeah, [wanking motion]). How to do it safely and in a way that doesn't make the general population jealous that players are getting tests and treatments they aren't getting was the rub.
I'll be honest: I think sports has done more than a good job of operating safely and giving us Games that indicate some semblance of normalcy. The European soccer leagues, starting with the Bundesliga in Germany, came back first, and they came back sooner than leagues in the United States because, let's be frank, the continent has done a much better job shutting everything down to the point where the coronavirus was suppressed, then tested the hell out of its people as they started opening back up. On a smaller scale this was done in the European leagues, and although there were some hiccups to start (a couple of soccer players in England got caught throwing parties at home just before the EPL resumed), once they got going, I heard of no cases. In some ways, that's remarkable.
Remarkable still was that those leagues played at the pitches of the teams they were originally scheduled to play in. The first thought was they would resume at neutral sites, but the leagues, especially the EPL, hated that. Playing in originally-planned places opens up so many venues and means that many more roadtrips that could invite the virus to come and wreak havoc. That it didn't happen is a testament to leagues implementing a virus policy, the players and staff following it, and good, dumb luck. (Oh, and all these Matches were played in front of no fans, which is obviously the right thing to do.)
Most of the leagues that have resumed play have resorted to neutral sites -- the "bubble" approach. The National Women's Soccer League (in Utah), Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association (both in Orlando) and the National Hockey League (in Edmonton and Toronto) decided to sequester teams in one complex where they would play, practice, sleep and eat in a confined area until their seasons could be completed. As in Europe, there were some complications as the bubble was set up -- the Orlando Pride (NWSL), FC Dallas and Nashville SC (MLS) were so riven with infections that they just left the bubble and didn't play -- but ever since play resumed, I have heard of zero positive cases. It too helps that there are no fans, but I like to think the leagues and the players decided this pandemic was serious enough that they needed to follow a routine somewhat akin to a lockdown, knowing this is how they get paid and that this is not permanent.
(Now, contrast all of that to Major League Baseball. MLB is based in the U. S., but decided to play their Games, without fans, at home ballparks because there simply wasn't a city that could host so many teams for an intermediate amount of time. Whether it's the number of venues, the travel or the lack of taking precautions seriously, there have still been cases and breaches of policy. The vast majority of Games are going on just fine, though, so can MLB be considered a success?)
I say all this, now that I realize I've been rambling, because of one significant compromise all these sports leagues have made. They need to finish up their seasons, but they don't have as much time to complete their seasons because they have to consider trying to start the following season as close to on time as possible, or else scheduling problems ripple into another year. Moreover, leagues playing in bubbles have a lot of teams but only so many venues. All the leagues, but especially European soccer, were affected by the former; the leagues playing in bubbles obviously are affected by the latter. So, to make for lost time and to get all the Games played in a somewhat rushed fashion, sports events are being played in the afternoon during the workday. And as a sports fan who has to work during the day, I have been in sports bliss for the past three months.
It started with the Bundesliga. Germany was able to corral its significant COVID-19 pandemic to the point where, with strict controls, the league resumed May 16. And they had to play a lot of matches in the middle of the week. Add the time difference, and I could listen to a Match at 2, 1 or even at noon through SiriusXM. (SiriusXM FC actually does not broadcast the Bundesliga, but they did once the league resumed, probably because there were few other sports leagues around the world that had resumed.) Same thing with the EPL, and it seemed even more frenetic because, and I could be wrong, they resorted to meting out their Games over the days to the point where there was, if I recall correctly, EPL fixtures played in 12 Days of a 14-day span.
The NHL and NBA has picked up where European soccer left off. (The NWSL and MLS did not have that much of a time crunch. Fewer teams and/or fewer matches, plus the heat of the outdoor climates, made afternoon Matches unsafe and unnecessary.) The NHL started off with 24 teams playing at least eight Games each in two sites; the NBA, 22 teams playing at least eight Games in a sports complex that has three suitable arenas. And you can't string out this part of the season forever, so both leagues stacked up the number of Games each day and had, and have, teams playing Games in the afternoon, sometimes as early as 11 a.m. Central Time.
Thank Buddha, God and the deities above! It's not like I don't have anything else to listen to on the radio. But when sports comes on, I will naturally switch to that channel, listen and get to the end of my day before I even know it. That is what has happened several times already. Sadly, with the NHL already into the "real" portion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA about to set their playoff lineup, I'm kind of scared that these "businessman's specials" are about to come to an end. With that being said, today there are NBA Games at 11 and 12:30 and an NHL Game at 2, so maybe I should just be thankful for what I have today.
Contrast all this, again, to MLB. There was a story on Yahoo! Sports about why baseball hasn't loaded up on afternoon Games like basketball and hockey are in these unprecedented times where, at least theoretically, there is a captive audience that might tune in to watch a Game for lunch. Simply put: Since baseball decided they would use ballparks like usual, there was no need to schedule Games in the afternoon (at least not more than your usual getaway Games) when all the teams have a venue all to themselves. Ironically, it is baseball that usually has these "businessman's specials," and ironically, they are the ones who are being criticized for not playing more in the afternoon. Go figure.
Oh, there is one afternoon baseball Game at 12:10. You know, I have tuned in to an occasional afternoon baseball Game at work when I don't want to listen to "The Common Man" on The Fan. That was good. What I have now is even better. And I'll miss it when it's gone.
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