The Hits to Sports Keep Coming
Sports in this nation are in a precarious position. Major League Baseball restarted last week as the NBA, NHL, NFL, and colleges all are either in training for or working on planning their coming seasons.
None of that might matter soon if the hits keep coming at the rate we've seen over the last four days.
Last Friday, it was announced that the entire Michigan State Spartans football team would begin a 14-day quarantine period following the most recent round of tests found one staff member positive with COVID-19.
Fast forward to Monday when it was learned that as many as 14 members of the Miami Marlins baseball team tested positive for the virus. The positive test results forced the team and MLB to postpone at least two games and possibly more as medical staff and the league work to decide what's next and how to handle such a widespread outbreak for one team.
This has been the fear all along, that when together as a team, living in hotels and traveling in planes and busses that a large portion of players could become sick, forcing the entire squad to miss time or to have to cancel games.
Sports are an essential part of the fabric of our nation, and we want them back. Heck, we want our lives again, but can sports find a way to get passed these type issues and endure through their seasons?
That's the million-dollar question commissioners, and officials of the various sports are wrestling with today in the aftermath of these developments.
Is it even possible to pull off a season under these circumstances?
Many people think it is, but exactly how to deal with an enemy you can't see, hear, or know is there until it's too late is a challenge that most of us have never dealt with before.
We, as a nation, are divided on the issue of masks and many other subjects. None of that matters to those calling the shots in sports thought because they aren't looking to the public at large for advice.
Most of us don't know the answers, and many among us are simply confused by it all and want one clear voice rather than the continual cycle of doing this, do that, then reverse the process later.
Sports need the same thing too, but I'm afraid we aren't near getting that at this point.
Here's hoping that someone, somewhere can figure this whole thing out and get players on the courts and fields and help heal some of the hurt we as a nation are enduring in the loss of sports.
Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.
