It seemed like we had moved past COVID-19 in sports, that was until the past few weeks transpired. Now the Cleveland Browns entire team it seems has been infected with the disease that has plagued the nation for the last year and a half.
This leads us to the question, will there be a pause in the sports landscape? No, unlikely. Leagues lost too much money last year to willingly go through another pause in play again. Unless the government forces the hand of these leagues, which seems extremely unlikely we will continue with business as usual.
They shouldn’t but that’s the outcome that we will come to. If these leagues wanted to maintain a competitive balance and prevent future shutdowns out of pure necessity they would take a brief pause now over the Holiday break and resume in the new year. That won’t happen though. Instead we are heading towards a moment of calamity especially in sports with smaller rosters.
Take the NBA for example, look already at college basketball where some teams are being forced to play with only eight players in their rotation due to COVID issues, those problems can be seen in the NBA with the Bulls who have already had to postpone a game because of an outbreak.
The writing is on the wall, as cases throughout the communities these teams play in are expected to skyrocket over the Holiday break so to will these teams be impacted. Which really sucks.
Let me just stress that again, the whole scenario really sucks, I love sports I don’t want them to go away, but the smartest move right now is to shut things down over the Holidays and see if things within these leagues stabilize. The NHL has a huge number of players on the COVID list right now 19 as of early yesterday but more including the Colorado Avalanche’s star defenseman, Cale Makar were added to the list yesterday. NHL COVID-19 tracker: Five Panthers players join 19 across the league in protocols on Wednesday – CBSSports.com
If changes do start to come look first in Europe at top-flight soccer leagues across the continent. Specifically the Premier League and Bundesliga along with Serie A who had some of the most forward-thinking and stringent COVID protocols at the beginning of the pandemic.
Those leagues will be a good barometer of what North American sports leagues might do weeks later as Europe has more stringent COVID protocols, look also at how Canada handles this, already decreasing stadium capacity by 50 percent, as outlined in this latest ESPN article: Latest updates on the NHL and COVID-19: Postponements, protocols, the Olympics and more (espn.com)
Quick Hitters continued other sports thoughts
NBA
Look no further than Donovan Mitchell for one of the most explosive playmakers in the league. Mitchell’s passing over the past few weeks has been as good as I have ever seen it and the Jazz continue to find their footing as a western conference power.
Steph Curry changed the way NBA basketball was played. Curry is one of the most influential players of the past decade and his use of the three-point shot changed the way NBA front offices and coaching staff’s assembled teams. Curry now holds the all-time record for three-point shots made, congratulations to him. When it is all said and done we will look at Curry as easily a top ten NBA player of all time.
NHL
I was recently looking at the NHL standings and a friend told me something I believe to be true, it is too early to be looking at NHL standings. Even though we are almost halfway through the season to much can still swing at any moment points wise. This made me think, my dad and I have this conversation all the time, when is the proper time to start looking at the NHL standings. His long-standing theory is somewhere between Valentines day and Saint Patricks day. I would lean toward Saint Patrick’s day, but really I think February 28th, that seems like a good day to check in on NHL standings to see where the league stands.
So much can happen between now and then. Here are a few teams I am interested in watching right now on ESPN+:
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Minnesota Wild
- Los Angeles Kings
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
NFL
It would seem Patrick Mahomes and the explosive Chiefs offense are back. Just in time to destroy me in fantasy and force me to the worst record in our league and potentially lose the toilet bowl, it has not been a great year. However I am happy the Chiefs offense is back, the league is more fun when Patrick Mahomes is cooking.
It sucks to be a Broncos fan. Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes, in the same division for the next 15+ years, hoorah. If I had to guess Denver gets absolutely waxed by the Bengals on Sunday at home. They are due to get embarrassed after looking half-competent for the past two weeks.
The Brown’s entire roster essentially has COVID, they shouldn’t be made to play in a game on Saturday.
Random thoughts
Top Christmas cookies ranked:
- Snickerdoodle
- Gingersnap
- Ginger and molasses
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip
- Frosted Sugar Cookies
I am usually anti snow, I still kind of am, but considering we live in a desert and we need the water I am ok if we have some heavy-hitting winter storms over the next few weeks. Just don’t be 35 or below with no precipitation Utah, that’s the worst. (Checks forecast) oh that’s exactly what we are getting this year, ugh.
The cocktail I am most excited to try and perfect this holiday season? Why that would be the French 75, essentially a Tom Collins topped with Champagne but Prosecco will be a good substitute for a broke college student like myself. Also looking forward to experimenting with a few Mezcal cocktails on my off nights, should be a fun time, all responsibly of course.
I can’t currently finish a book, but I am addicted to buying them, my library is as large as ever right now, I am looking to pair down over Christmas break, that or buy another storage bin. Likely the latter. I’m not a hoarder, I’m an intellectual (the guy who doesn’t finish books says).
I can’t do it on a normal everyday basis, but I do like going to bed early 2-3 times a month and waking up at 4-5 AM, it’s a nice change of pace and I genuinely feel I get more done on those days.
Two blogs in one week? What is this?