Coronavirus Really Stinks

by Ryan Krzykowski

My youngest son is about to turn 12 and he loves the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Last week his oldest brother, home on spring break, picked him up early from school on Wednesday afternoon.  The two of them drove nearly 5 hours to Oklahoma City, fired up to watch the Thunder play Utah.  You may have seen what happened from there, and with the game about ready to tip I got a call from my boys saying the players had gone back to the locker room and they weren’t sure what would happen next.

Things happened fast from there.  The game in OKC was postponed.  It was announced that Rudy Gobert tested positive for Coronavirus.  The NBA suspended its season.  The NCAA at first announced no fans at March Madness, and then the next day pulled the plug on the entire event.  Soon enough, everything was on hold or canceled.  College sports, all pro leagues, the PGA Tour, you name it, all on hiatus or canceled.  Schools are closed.  Costco is overrun with shoppers looking for toilet paper.  Financial markets around the world are on a wild roller coaster ride.

I received an email last Friday from our friends at Positive Coaching Alliance, and their words are echoed by our team here at CFC:

We are aware that games, tournaments, meets, clinics, meetings, and other group events throughout the world are being postponed or canceled, and that those cancellations are both disappointing and necessary to prevent further spread of disease. While cancellations and precautionary measures continue, there are always ways to make ourselves, our teammates, and our community better, and we will continue to work alongside you in these efforts.

We don’t know exactly what the short term future holds, we certainly don’t know when athletes and coaches will return to some degree of normalcy and competition.  But we do know that our collective health is a higher priority than people playing sports, which is why it makes sense to take all the precautionary steps being taken around the world.  At the same time, sports are a significant part of our culture, and so many millions are missing out on opportunities to play, spectate, officiate, earn income and more.  This is hard, and we are all in it together.