ANTHONY GETTINO
Staff Writer
Coronavirus has affected almost everything in our daily lives, from going to school, hanging out with friends and the way we watch and play sports.
As of right now, there are currently no professional sports being played in the U.S.
While football isn’t in season, it may still be affected, but the main three sports being held up by this virus are basketball, hockey and baseball.
The MLB was supposed to have opening day March 26. That day has come and gone with no baseball in sight. There is talk that the season may resume at the end of May, but as that day continues to creep closer and the coronavirus still affecting the nation, it seems all the more likely that the season won’t start until late June or beyond.
There are three different ideas being pondered if this is the case. One is a season in which the regular season would go later into October and the playoffs played in warmer, neutral sites. Another is that there will be a regular season that goes as scheduled from that point and plays out normally. The last option is that the leagues would have no divisions inside of them and play a short regular season for seeding and have the postseason be a round-robin tournament to get to the World Series, with the round-robin winner of the National League facing the round-robin winner of the American League.
As for the NBA and NHL, their respective seasons have been in full swing, with both leagues already over halfway through the regular season.
The NBA as of now has no timetable for return other than a deadline of the Finals being played by Labor Day.
With that timetable, coaches and general managers say play would have to start back July 1, and facilities would need to open weeks before that even. There has been no talk of changing the number of games or changing the playoff-style in the NBA yet.
As for the NHL, they too have not set any timetable for a return, but commissioner Gary Bettman of the NHL has sent a memo to all the teams across the league saying that, “I believe that in a credible, sensible way we’ll be able to, at some point, complete the season and get through the playoffs and award the Stanley Cup.”
As stated earlier, the NFL is not “in season” but all teams have taken all scouts off the roads, and have closed all team facilities until mid-April. The NFL Draft, which will not be in Las Vegas anymore, is still scheduled to start on April 23. It is currently unknown how the draft will look to the viewers at home, but NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell has made firm statements that it will go on as planned. He has recently gotten backlash from some general managers around the league saying that it should be pushed back.