Time for SEC to Officially Shut it all down and look Toward Football Season
The NCAA has officially canceled March Madness and the College Baseball World Series for this season, so why is the Southeastern Conference still holding on to the hope of potentially returning to spring sports in the next month
Last Thursday when conference commissioner Greg Sankey spoke to the assembled media inside Bridgestone Arena after the decision had been made to end the men's basketball tournament, the conference and all the spring sports coaches and athletes had every reason to be hopeful that things would turn for the better and that they could return to the fields and the sports they love, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Reports from health officials and other agencies continue to stress the dire situation facing our nation as a whole, and while I'm not one to crawl in a hole and hide in fear, I'm realistic enough to understand that limiting one's contact with other people is the absolute best way to minimize one's chances of contracting the COVID-19 virus.
I'm also not trying to spread fear here or insinuate anything that is not already being reported by those in the mainstream news media who are paid to keep us informed as to what is going on. We all can see that the reports, regardless of their intent have caused enough fear and panic buying on their own at this point.
What I am here to say is that the SEC should let it go and move forward at this point. Holding on to hope that this thing might pass before April 15 and allow for some sort of shortened season seems impossible given the overriding thought that things have not reached their peak as of yet and the worst is still to come for us all.
If that is, in fact, the situation we face, and even if somehow those predictions prove wrong, there is little sense in keeping people hoping for something that seems less likely with every passing day.
I know and understand the importance of sports in our nation, that part of the reason I do what I do because I'm a sports fan at heart myself and I was lost this past weekend when the basketball tournament and another even my family and I had scheduled were stopped.
Even youth sports have been canceled, meaning it will be months before I can see my grandchildren play soccer and baseball at the city park, so I totally understand what it means and how much seeing athletes perform can mean to a nation.
Remember back to 2001 in the aftermath of the September, 11 attacks on our nation where sports- and most everything else, including the hoarding of toilet paper- was nonexistent. When the teams returned to the field, the nation felt relief and knew then that in time everything would return to a more normal state.
Such is the case now, that this nation needs sports to help return it to normalcy in the aftermath of this virus, but until we are without a doubt through the worse and on the road to ending this spread we just can't risk putting athletes on the field.
The SEC knows this and should end any thought of playing any sports until late August, early September when football season arrives. Even then might be too soon depending, but at least that is a realistic goal for a time to give people hope. April 15 is not and it should end now.
