FIVE sporting events we missed The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of sports ranging from curling to table tennis—here are the top five sporting events we are most sad to miss CHARLIE JACKSON REPORTER | DANIEL FIMBRES REPORTER
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MAD MARCH
March Madness: The NCAA basketball tournament was set to happen from March 17 to April 6 but was canceled on March 12. The men’s and women’s tournaments are some of the most highly anticipated events in all of sports as roughly 70 million people fill out brackets each year. The NCAA originally made the ruling that the games will still happen but with a limited crowd, then later decided that it was too risky and canceled it all. We’re among the millions of fans who missed the excitement of the 68-team tournament.
The conclusion to the regular season and start of when they made fans leave a game between Oklahoma City and Utah on Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. The NBA has since suggested ideas such as games with no fans but LeBron James said: “If I show up to the arena and there ain’t no fans there, I ain’t playing.” This was major as James is the league's biggest star, and it’s hard to imagine the NBA coming back without him.
NFL
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NFL Draft: The draft for the NFL in 2019 attracted 600,000 fans in person and averaged 6.1 million viewers throughout the three-day event. The 2020 draft was set to be in Las Vegas with a boat taking the draft picks to the stage to meet the commissioner. Although it didn’t happen in person, the ratings went up to 8.4 million, shattering the record by 35%. Despite the fact that more people than ever watched, it wasn’t the same seeing the commissioner reading of the names alone in his house.
MLB Season: The Major League Baseball season was set to begin on March 26. However, due to COVID-19, the league announced the season would be postponed by at least two weeks and the rest of spring training would be canceled. With the pro baseball league community at an estimated 500 million, this has been nothing short of devastating.
MLB Olympics: The Olympics draw more than 500,000 spectators every day during the two-week sporting event. The Olympics were originally set to take place in Tokyo from July 24 to August 9, but, due to the virus, they are currently postponed to 2021—a long wait.
26 | SPORTS
THE OLYMPICS
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