We must move on without most of our favorite sports until further notice.
This sports hiatus is well down the long list of frightening things America is dealing with right now, but it still boggles the mind.
Sports has become a 24/7 thing in the lives of millions of fans. There are so many sports channels to sample, so many televised events to keep track of, so many fantasy leagues to play in and so many bets to place.
So what do we do with ourselves now?
On a local level, folks may remember the simultaneous shutdown of MLB and the NHL in 1994 due to labor strife. The Rams had not yet arrived from Los Angeles, so fans here were left with major college sports (Spoonball!) to cheer for.
That was a strange, strange time. But at least that barren pro sports landscape was created by millionaires battling billionaires over slices of a giant revenue pile.
Now we are facing an international health crisis unlike anything we've ever seen. Our way of life will change dramatically until we get to the other side of this thing.
Sports could go away for several weeks _ and perhaps longer, since we have idea how prevalent the Coronavirus is in the U.S. and Canada and how long it will take health care professionals to get it under control.
Opening Day for baseball? Commissioner Rob Manfred is only committing to a two-week delay to the start of the regular season. We'll see about that. Odds are you won't need a windbreaker for Game 1.
Stanley Cup playoffs? We could see the NHL squeezing some playoff games into a July schedule. We're guessing the ice won't be the best at most rinks.
The NCAA Basketball Tournament? That went away as well, with some impetus from Duke and Kansas pulling the chute early.
Here is some of the reaction from national writers:
