When Sports Hit Pause
While sitting in right field watching the Rangers play the Dodgers on Monday, March 9th, soaking up the sun and scoring the game, the thought of a global pandemic never crossed my mind. The idea of driving 14.5 hours from Arizona to Dallas, never occurred to me as an option of getting home after Spring Training. The mere idea that sports would ever cease – no chance. Yet, here we are.
The events that took place from Tuesday, March 10th to Saturday, March 14th are unimaginable. But after seeing the effects of COVID-19 unfold in an age of instantaneous media and information, in a matter of a week, I experienced a lot of mixed emotions being in the thick of it at Rangers Spring Training in Surprise, AZ.
I think my first thought after hearing of MLB’s decision to restrict access to players pre/post game, was frustration. After all, I was in Arizona to do a job - to learn about the team, to talk to players and coaches, and to collect storylines for the regular season. How was I supposed to do my job if I wasn’t allowed to talk to the team?
You could tell that everyone, including players and coaches were uneasy with this new foreign territory. It was not ideal. At one point in a group interview behind the clubhouse, one of the players mentioned it was a weird situation. It didn’t feel right. I should add - while frustration was a common feeling, we all felt that these protective measures were in everyone’s best interest, the players, the staff, and even the media. We understood, but it was a bummer.
The members of sports media who cover professional teams on a daily basis become an extension of the team, and in turn, an extension to the fans. Whether it’s a story or a game analysis, we gather information from the players and coaches everyday to provide an inside look to your favorite teams. I, along with my coworkers at Fox Sports Southwest and my colleagues across the DFW sports media, LOVE doing our jobs. We love bringing those stories to light and sharing insight about these teams, along with the people in them. So after Tuesday, it was hard to wrap my brain around why our daily routine had to change because of a virus that sounded like a cold.
We all quickly learned, there was much more to COVID-19 than just being present in a professional athletic locker room.
Weirdly enough for the Rangers, they had their one and only “off day” scheduled for Thursday, March 12th. The night before, the sports world heard of the first breaking news announcement to open the flood gates.
Wednesday night, I was sitting with two of my producers downstairs in the lobby of the hotel. As we watched the start of the Thunder/Jazz game twitter began to blow up. The game would not be played, someone had tested positive for COVID-19. Rudy Gobert was the first positive case in the NBA. There was even a video on twitter of Gobert touching all of the microphones following a media availability before his confirmed diagnosis. It’s easy to get mad watching someone be as careless as Rudy was in that moment, but Coronavirus was going to rear its ugly head whether Rudy touched those microphones or not.
Hours after the Thunder and Jazz game had been suspended, the NBA suspended all future games until further notice. By Thursday afternoon, the NHL, MLB, NCAA, PGA Tour, MLS, etc., – all announce canceled, suspended or postponed events and games.
Shock. That was my next emotion. Sports are always constant, even in the worst of times, people could always look to sports as a distraction from their daily problems. On Thursday my world seemed to disappear. Questions began to flood my mind, questions about how our network would handle the absence of sports? What would we put on our air? What would happen to my part time colleagues and friends? What about the people who work at the stadiums for each game, and who depend on a weekly game pay check? All things out of my control and completely unknown.
Thursday (March, 12th) was a whirlwind. Between going to the Ballpark to tape a “statement” on MLB’s decision, finding a way to get home, and packing up and closing shop – I felt like I was in a bad movie. Aside from people panic buying toilet paper and cleaning products, Surprise, AZ hadn’t begun to shut down yet. It didn’t feel real, but we knew it was coming.
Myself and three of my coworkers decided to forego our flights home and opted to drive. Yes, drive. We all felt that we were more likely to be exposed to this virus at the airport than in the safety of our own cars. It didn’t really hit us until Friday morning when we realized we were all about to drive 14.5 hours from Arizona to get home. Well, so we thought.
We were about 45 minutes from our scheduled stop in El Paso when I looked at my weather radar app. Apparently, there was a severe tornado warning over I-20 between “middle-of-nowhere” and Midland. I called a friend of mine in local news to help us decipher the threat – we didn’t really have a choice.
Although we had to add a day to our trip home, why risk a tornado in the middle of Texas with no major town to seek shelter. One more night wouldn’t hurt us. In fact, we had fun! Our group ended up staying at a pretty cool hotel in downtown El Paso, a city I’ve never stayed in for more than a few minutes. We got a deck of cards, had some dinner – it was a good time. Not to mention, a good opportunity to be present and learn more about people I work with in a sports capacity everyday.
Saturday morning, we woke up early and hit the road.
When we finally made it back to Dallas around 6pm - I felt relief. The last week had felt like a year, and still didn’t seem real. And now what? Were we supposed to sit at home and not socialize for two weeks, or more? Yes.
One of the upsides to that 14.5 hour drive was the amount of time I had to think and reflect. As the world was about to go into hibernation for two weeks, what if this was our chance to reset? It’s easy to get wrap up in our worlds and not consider the larger issues at play, but what if this was a way for our world as we know it to slow down? Instead of feeling worried about the things we can’t change, what if it was a chance to think positively and spend time on the things in life that really matter?
To name a few, since China and Italy’s mandated quarantine, there’s been noticeable improvements to air pollution over those countries. Many parents are getting a chance to spend quality time with their kids, although I’m sure naps are necessary to get through those all-day play dates. And we are all finally getting to that one closet we haven’t cleaned out in years!
It’s easy to think of the negatives when practicing social distancing or while in quarantine, but as we’ve seen from other countries, it will pass eventually. And eventually we will get back to our regular routines. But until then, it’s a group effort, not an excuse to go out and be selfish by endangering other people. We are all connected as a community, and you never know who’s grandparent you could possibly infect by exposing your neighbor to the virus.
So, now that my rollercoaster of a week is over, and the reality of this pandemic has set in, I can breathe a little easier knowing that I’ve chosen to be positive. As for sports, I guess I’ll see you soon and when you finally begin again, I won’t take a single day for granted.
