Fully sick: 2020 in retrospect
This year reminded us that theshow mustn’t always go on. Disrupted by the coronavirus, sports stopped cold three months in and then started upagain in emptied-out stadiums, stumbling, skidding and finally staggering across the finish line— all the while shadowed by loss.
Celebrations were muted, crowd noisewaspiped-in and dozens of games were cancelled at the last minute even as the sports industry hemorrhaged jobs. Facing increasingly long odds, some mega-events— the Olympics, March Madness, the Boston Marathon and Wimbledon— pushed the starting line into 2021. Those were hardly the only dislocations.
Time will tell what waswonor lost by playing on. Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse experienced both, but wasn’t sure which memories would prove lasting. Easier to settlewas what he missed most: everything that goeson around the games themselves.
“The ‘electricity’ in the streets on gameday, the tremendous buzz in the city,” said Nurse, who wonnbacoach of the year honours, but sawhis team’s chances to repeat as champions squashed by the Celtics ingame6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Technically that was a “home” game, but it wasplayed in the nearly-emptynba “bubble”.
“Wecertainly missed that (energy),” he added.
Leagues and teams scrambled to innovate and return to play. With access to robust Covid-19 testing and deeper pockets than most businesses, some sports gathered players in isolated spots— like the NBA’S use of a sports complex at Walt Disney World in Florida— while others attempted to
restoresome semblance of homeand-away normalcy.
“We’re just plowing through this,” Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski griped in early December.
“Iknowthencaais worried about the endgame,” he added, referring to plans for the lucrative 2021NCAA tournament. “They’re not as worried about thegame we’re playing right now.”
Of course, not every champion or their fans celebrated responsibly. After Liverpool ended a 30-year drought with an English Premier League title in June, some2000fans gathered outside Anfield stadium and set off enough flares to turn the night sky red. Policemadeno attempt to disperse the crowd.
Constablerobcarden heaped praise on the “overwhelming
majority of fans that recognisednow is not the time to gather together to celebrate and chose tomarkthe event safely”.
Try telling that to Los Angeles Dodgers’ slugger Justin Turner. Pulled during the deciding gameof the World Series because of a positive Covid-19 result, Turner ran back out on the field for the after-party, hugging team-mates and posing for photos without amask on.
Hedefended his “mindset” in that moment: “Winning the World Series wasmylifelong dream and the culmination of everything Iworked for inmycareer.”
Nowimagine just-as-hungry and even-younger athletes winning one of themore than 300gold medals handed out, which is one reasonwhy the Tokyo Olympic organising committee took a pass on 2020.
“It’s a bummer,” said teenage Swedish pole vault world recordholderarmandduplantis. “But you have to understand the situation, understand thatsome things are a little bigger than sport.”
Lebron James said asmuch momentsafter he and the Los
Angeles Lakers wrapped their hands around thenbachampionship trophy. Jameswas one of the principals in a growingmovement thatsawathletes loudly and visibly pushing for social justice reforms like never before
“Weknowweall want to see better days,” James said. “Whenweleave here, wegot to continue to push that.”
If only for amoment, the pandemic receded into the background.
“Ifwecan continue to do that, all of us,” James concluded, “America would be amuch better place.” — AP