As the coronavirus continues to run rampant throughout the country, Americans have been ordered to stay at home and all public events have been cancelled. This includes all sporting events. The NBA suspended its season, the MLB is delayed indefinitely, and Vince McMahon’s XFL folded altogether. The most wonderful time of the year, March Madness, was called off entirely. The virus claimed the thing that holds this country together: sports. Without any buzzer beaters or home runs, this country has been reduced to a joyless shell of its former self. Sports were gone for two weeks and Tom Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the first sign of the apocalypse. ESPN is re-airing old games, which only adds to the pain. Seeing Villanova’s miraculous game winner in the national championship or Patrick Mahomes running around throwing lasers just doesn’t feel the same anymore. There’s a tinge of sadness every time you see moments from a more innocent time like that. With such a hole in our hearts, how are sports fans supposed to fill the void? There are a few options.

ESPN is trying to get creative with the loss of the NBA season and NCAA tournament, and air some other basketball related programming to help us fill the void of no basketball. They assembled a group of NBA players and hosted an NBA 2K tournament where the players faced off against each other virtually. They also hosted a game of the popular schoolyard game HORSE, which turned out to be very boring and fell flat on its face. The most promising ESPN endeavour will be its multi-part Michael Jordan documentary, which they moved up several weeks to accommodate sports fans with nothing to watch. The series will first air on April 19. 

Other ways we can fill the void of no sports are limited. Watch re-runs, play some 2K, or shoot in your driveway are about all we have. The NFL draft is next Thursday, which is something, but it’s gonna look more like a FaceTime call than a draft. It’s been a very lonely month, and it looks like it’s staying that way for a while. We miss you, sports. Please come back.