Chansky’s Notebook: World Without Games

Imagine a world without games for another full year.

When the President said they were planning for the COVID 19 crisis to last for 15 months, I thought it was just another brash statement. But, since then, some scientists are actually corroborating that prediction as a possibility.

So, here we are in the middle of what would be the NCAA tournaments and the start of the new baseball season, with the already-postponed Masters next and the chance that there will be no NBA or NHL playoffs, as well as all college spring seasons wiped out.

What would it look like if this pandemic did last that long? Besides a recession and possible depression rivaling the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the Great Crash of 1929, how could we live without sports as we know it for that long?

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is contemplating exhibition games in a safe environment with no spectators, just to give fans something to watch on TV.

You have to ask if the college and pro football seasons really in jeopardy at this point.

Certainly, schools and conferences, pro franchises and leagues will push to have some kind of activity to prepare for playing again. Will football teams be allowed to practice with athletes who have all been tested for safety and then perhaps let their seasons begin without spectators. Not ideal, but televising those games would do wonders for us.

The NCAA has already announced that spring sports athletes can have an extra year of eligibility if they want it. What about basketball players who missed competing for championships at the end of their aborted seasons?

At worst case, when students are back on campus or still having remote classes, maybe athletes can practice in a safe place or even hold scrimmages with other teams in protected environments.

If that happened next fall, it would sort of be like old freshman ineligibility – a year to get used to college. At least Dean Smith would have voted for that.