March 2020 the world of sports was changed. Covid-19 hit the United States which made sports leagues across the country come to a halt immediately, By the end of March, there were over 930 confirmed deaths in the country. That wasn’t even close to the peak of the death rate either. By mid July, cases reached more than 75,000. Sports like baseball were postponed until July 23- 24, 2020. Fans were not allowed in the stadiums and fans who bought tickets got refunds. The stadiums pump fake crowd noise in from the video game, ¨MLB The Show,¨ to simulate fans being in the stadium during the games. Other sports like football and hockey also offer that to their players. 

The 2020 NFL season started a few weeks ago. There were no Preseason games or OTAs, Off-season Training sessions, to start the year due to Covid-19. In previous years, NFL teams allowed OTAs and 4 Preseason games each. People outside the NFL claim that players don’t need either of them to start the season, but as the league goes into week three,  there are an abundance of season ending leg injuries. Gyms were shut down earlier in the year from the virus and limited the players from getting a full workout. Athletes went from low contact practices to gameplay within a week. Obviously, the players’ bodies were not ready for the change as teams like the 49ers lost at least 4 starters during the second week of play. 

 It’s not just professional athletes getting affected either. I play in a few baseball leagues in the area and two of which got lost their entire seasons. Fortunately, one of my teams still had a season, but it wasn’t quite like years past. Although we didn’t pump fake crowd noise, we still had to frequently sanitize and socially distance during the games. Previous years, we had one or two games a week. This year we ended up playing four or five games a week and it took a toll on our players. Pitchers got overused which led to arm injuries, even teams had to forfeit due to players or coaches showing symptoms of the virus. We played more games a week so we could finish the season sooner incase of another outbreak. 2020 graduates lost their senior years and didn’t get to play one last time for their schools. It was honestly sad to see. I had many friends in that class and they were devastated as well. I hope we find a cure soon so the world as we knew it before March of 2020 can become a reality again.