The night of March 12th is a night I think I will remember for the rest of my life. As I looked on to the final of the Knicks vs. Hawks game in Atlanta, I realized that this is the last time we might see the great Vince Carter ever play basketball again. The 22-year NBA veteran ‘Vinsanity’ has been playing the game since the year I arrived on this very planet and is a huge reason why I am the diehard Brooklyn Nets fan I am today. March 12th will be a somber day for more than just Vince, it is the very same day in which every single ongoing college basketball tournament got scrapped as well. Leaving all athletes and fans devastated, both professionally and amateur. March 12th will forever be labeled as “the day the earth stood still”. As the world finally understood that COVID-19 is no game, we as a human race took off our jerseys and stopped our rivalries and allied our efforts into thoughts of prayer for those we lost and continue to lose.
On April 4th, Donald Trump held a conference call with leaders of the major sports organizations. Ranging from the NBA, NFL, WWE, UFC you name it. President Trump said that they can potentially have fans back in the stands as soon as September, with a lot at stake these commissioners can only hope that it is that time or earlier.
Since that March 12th day, many organizations like the NCAA and the NBA continued to cancel upcoming events in accordance to local and national regulations. Here is the current stance of our sports world:
NCAA
All ongoing men’s and women’s basketball tournaments have been cancelled along with the NCAA national basketball tournament. The NCAA has also gone on to cancel the entire Spring sports season as well. For the student athletes who participate in Spring sports, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all spring student athletes.
NBA
The NBA season is currently in jeopardy. The league has considered trying to move all of the players to one location and try to run the postseason out of one central location. Until then the stars of the hardwood have resorted to the digital platform of NBA 2K20 to pass the time. 16 of the league’s brightest stars, in junction with the NBA Players Association and ESPN have teamed up to air a 2K tournament, with the winner receiving a check to the COVID-19 cause of their choosing.
MLB
Another league with a season in jeopardy. The MLB opening day originally scheduled for late April is now a thing of the past. As the league looked to flaunt their new Nike sponsored uniforms, they are among the leagues eager for a return to normalcy. They do expect the draft to happen in July.
NFL
As one of the most highly anticipated NFL drafts comes closer by the day, they still plan to run as scheduled for the 2020 season. The draft will still go on from April 23-25, with it all being done virtually. One can only assume the great amount of stress this is having on NFL General Managers as this draft is important in dictating a lot of clubs futures.
XFL
One of my favorite topics to talk about in recent memory. As some of the XFL’s greatest stars made their dream a reality by signing NFL contracts, the league was forced to halt its play only halfway through their season. The league does expect to play again next spring.
MMA
One of the most dangerous sports is actually one of the few events that has happened during the entire COVID-19 pandemic. UFC Brasillia took place two days after the cancellation of the NBA season and UFC President Dana White wanted to have UFC 249 on April 18th and even considered getting a private island to hold the event before being shut down by Disney executives. The sport is aiming to be one of the first sports to return after the COVID-19 pandemic.
WWE
Another one of the few promotions that has had an event during the pandemic. WWE hosted a two-night event as Wrestlemania 36 took place in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center in front of no crowd. The pro-wrestling promotion called on former Super Bowl winning tight end Rob Gronkowski to host the promotions annual spectacular.
Boxing
The targeted date of Fury vs. Wilder III of July 18th is no more. Deontay Wilder will have to wait till the virus has ran its course for him to try and reclaim his World Heavyweight title.
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