On March 11, 2020...(5 years today), the NBA shut down after members of the Jazz tested positive. For many of us, that was the first big shoe to drop. Next was the SEC Tournament, the NHL, Spring training and so on. Cardboard cutouts replaced real fans when it all returned Playoffs were played in bubbles. In some ways it seems like yesterday. I dont start this thread to rehash the arguments, (We have a thread for that), but just sort of to pause and reflect on what a crazy time it was.
I didn’t even know any sports were pondering cancellations, so it came as a shock when it happened so quickly. At the time I figured the tournament would go on without fans. The basketball season just got the worst of it, timing wise.
I was in Nashville planning to attend the SEC basketball tournament. They were scheduled to have 2 games on Wed night and we arrived Wed. afternoon. They played the first game and then cancelled the rest of the tournament. Had to get a new flight to come back home without watching a single game.
Felt at the time like among all sports teams, Gator baseball got the real shaft. That was an upcoming CWS with orange and blue all over it.
Pretty amazing time for Tampa sports following though. 2 Stanley Cups 1 Super Bowl title with Brady 1 World Series appearance
Such crazy times. And such a time warp. While I didn't lose anyone close to me, I had people close to me that did, and that left a dark cloud over it all, but: My kids were like 9 and 11. Great ages to be cooped up and doing Avengers marathons, learning sourdough, playing games, etc.
Sadly my oldest lost her sophomore and junior years for the most part. No prom, no football games etc the one year.
My son was a senior in HS. He came home for Spring Break not knowing that he'd never go back. I gotta say a lot of people had a disastrous freshman year of college too, but he made a lot of friends as they hunkered down in their dorm. In fact, in May he & about a dozen of (mostly)those folks are going to party in Belize. 1 of my fav things was everyone going out & howling at 8pm
My youngest two were 9 and 14. Oldest was 16. My youngest (only boy) didn't like it when I went back to work after 6 weeks. A lot of catch and shooting hoops was done during that stretch.
On 3/11/2020 The WHO issued a pandemic alert and said get your hospitals ready. What ensued was sheer panic. Does this look like virus to you or a bomb ?
It pains me to say the bigger shafts were FSU and Dayton basketball. Neither of those teams will probably sniff an national championship in basketball again, and both of them could have won it in the COVID year.
We've won baseball, football, and basketball Nattys. We'll win more of them too. Dayton basically has no chance of ever getting a basketball natty again. And FSU basketball isn't far behind. One of my good friends is a huge Dayton fan. It crushed him
Reminds me of how the 94 baseball strike killed the only Expos team that ever had a chance of winning the series.
Even in a moment of extreme sensitivity and empathy, one should never feel sorrow for FSU. I read somewhere that UCF took the liberty to claim both the basketball and baseball NCs that year.
