Sports are sidelined - now what?

The NBA is officially on the sidelines. Nearly all of sports are.

On Wednesday, the league suspended games due to the coronavirus pandemic. MLS followed suit, then the NHL, MLB, and the NCAA. Tennis, golf, Formula 1, NASCAR, the list goes on.

There are a few sporting events still scheduled — the UFC is still on for Saturday afternoon, albeit with neither fans nor media in attendance — but for the most part, sports are on hiatus.

So now what?

Sports are, of course, not that important in the grand scheme of things, and a pandemic such as the current one is an unwanted reminder of that. But sports do serve as an often necessary escape from the less-fun parts of reality, and now — when we’re most in need of that escape — it’s gone.

Which means we’re all searching to fill the void left by sports; a void that’s magnified by the fact that so many are now working from home, and/or social distancing.

There’s no Golden State Warriors game tomorrow. No ESPN NBA double-header tonight. No opening day in baseball to count down towards. No Masters to pretend you’re preparing for when you go hit a bucket of balls.

My plan is to read and cook a lot — two evening activities that are frequently pushed aside by basketball games — and also to work on learning languages and creative writing. Your plan will be different, but here’s my hope: You spend as much time as possible on things that are either gratifying or comforting to you. It’s important, for our health and our happiness.

In the meantime, I’ll still be writing a lot of content here at Golden State of Mind, and I welcome any and all thoughts on what you would like to see from the website and community. I’m all ears. But I’ve got some creative ideas, and I’m hoping that I can make the weeks or months without sports a bit more fun. And at least give you all an injection of sports, even when there’s none on the TV.

So keep your eye tuned to the site and the comments, and more importantly, stay safe. We’re all in this together.