What Might Have Been...

So, if the world had not been shut down, I would most likely be either watching a DVR-d game of a Utah win, or deleting the recording. I'd either be a happy fan, or hopefully bummed but respectful of a quality opponent. 

But, as it stands, I'm neither.

I'm numb...

And considering what might have been.

Decisions have been made by those who feel they are doing what's best. I'm not going to argue the decision, mostly because it doesn't matter what I think. It won't change things or make a canceled game suddenly appear. No, the score will not be in the history books, players will not become heroes or anti-heroes, and parents and fans will not be able to brag or suffer.

The funny thing is, I probably wouldn't have even watched tonight's game live. It's been a system of mine for the past couple of years. I'll DVR a game and either watch it if it's a win, or delete it if it's not. It saves time and I find I'm a much calmer and well-adjusted person by doing things that way. Two years ago, I was forced to watch the game live--because I was actually in Rice-Eccles Stadium on a very cold November evening when Utah rallied and beat BYU in the final minutes--one of the greatest games I've ever seen, live or otherwise.

Every Utah fan (it seems...) believes tonight the Utes would be celebrating their tenth win in a row. Fans for BYU feel differently. Personally, I'm not sure #10 is such a given. The biggest disappointment is we'll never know what would have happened tonight, other than one fan base would be happy, the other not.

What might have been.

What's Life Like Without Sports? We're All Finding Out...

I am not the biggest sports fan--my wife may disagree. And to her point, I'm probably a bigger sports fan than I need to be, but I have friends who make my sports fan-age rookie league, at best. So, when the world pulls the plug on every major sporting event, I can only imagine the withdrawal they're going through is going to be severe--if it's not yet hit, it will.

Last night I turned on the TV and first checked the Sports channels. It's habit. Normally, there'd be basketball--it is March, after all. Even though my favorite college team's season's done (as are every other team's season...), I might have been able to pick up a Utah Jazz game--I have not committed their schedule to memory. Or, perhaps, a soccer game. I usually find something to watch. Yes, when I checked last night, there were games on, but in the upper left-hand corner of each game icon, there's a space to indicate whether the game is Live or a Repeat.

They were all Repeats.

Except for one game.

It seems a professional rugby game between a team from Seattle and one from Salt Lake did take place last night. It may be the last live game I see for a while.

Events like this, the world-wide shut down of sports, stores, events, even entire countries, it will have unintended consequences. Perhaps, one of them is a realization of how important sports is in our lives...

And how unimportant it can be.

This current situation will one day end, and things will return to normal--not everything, but almost. I try not to judge others when it comes to their sports mania. For many, their relationships, their identity is entwined with sports on a personal level. I wish them well through this difficult time.