And Of Course, There Will Be Sport

Somehow, sports leagues have managed to survive in a pandemic.  The National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association have concluded their 2019-20 seasons, with, respectively, the Tampa Bay Lightning wining the Stanley Cup and the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship.  Baseball's World Series is scheduled to begin this Tuesday after a rocky start to the 2020 Major League Baseball season, the Major League Soccer season will conclude with the Cup game in December, and it looks like the National Football League season will conclude with a Super Bowl in February as would have been planned, pandemic or not.  And golf and tennis tournaments have managed to go on as well.

Of course, most of these sports institutions have been able to finish their seasons and hold their opens by having games in sealed-off "bubbles," with few or no fans in the stands, and restrictions have kept many fans at a rather anti-social distance.  And of course, there was no Olympiad this year.  That's because the Olympics are as much about the fans getting together from all over the world and having a party as much as it is about the athletes getting together form all over the world to compete - and having a party, usually with the fans.  I have a sneaky suspicion that the Olympics will not go on in 2021 (making the COVID virus the only thing other than German megalomaniacs to stop the Games), despite assurances to the contrary, for that reason.

Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey has assured his state that we'll get back to seeing fans in the stands cheering for the home team.  But right now, that seems a long, long way off.  But I'm still heartened that, for the most part, sports continue in this pandemic to provide relief for the fans.