Tweet

Did you know that the most common month of the year for men to get a vasectomy is March? If this may seem odd to you, so let me explain why. Most of the NCAA basketball tournament is held at the back end of March, and what better way to get out of work to watch the tournament known as “March Madness” than by getting a surgery that requires some couch rest during the recovery process. Ever since I told my wife this little tidbit, she has made a suggestive joke to me every time March Madness rolls around. 

I didn’t get my joke this year. The NCAA has canceled all Spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No March Madness — one of my favorite times of the year — for me. What makes this even more upsetting for me is the fact that I’m a Hawkeye fan and we actually had something to look forward to this year in the tournament. Now, I’m not saying the Hawks would have been a title contender, but seeing as we had a national player of the year finalist in Luka Garza on the team this year, it was at least going to be exciting to see how far he could take us.

Sadly, it is not just college sports that have suspended play due to the pandemic. All the professional leagues have canceled or postponed their seasons as well. Were you also looking forward to seeing if it would be Lebron James and the Lakers or Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers who would come out of the NBA’s Western Conference to challenge the Eastern Conference-favorite Milwaukee Bucs? I know I was, but it looks like we will have to wait until at least June, which is the rumored timeframe that the NBA is hoping to restart their season.

Another of my favorite days of the year has passed with no fanfare. Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season was supposed to have been on March 26. The MLB, like all other professional leagues, is on an indefinite postponement. Opening Day can really bring you back to your childhood as you recall going to the games, getting some popcorn or peanuts and bringing your own glove to the game just hoping to catch a foul ball. You can almost smell the fresh-cut grass just watching the game. I suppose I’ll have to settle for sticking my head out the window and smelling my own lawn. As a Cubs fan, I’m used to disappointment with baseball anyway. An old Cubs saying is that “there is always next year.” I think we’ll have to switch to “we’ll always have 2016.”

I am also an avid fan of both sports news and sports radio, but there is nothing to talk about. Yes, the NFL had free agency, but even I can only listen for so long to Stephen A. Smith argue about why nobody should sign free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown. Or listen to a diatribe about how Max Kellerman is an idiot because of his take on Tom Brady declining. I agree that Max Kellerman is an idiot, but who wants to hear the same exact conversation for literally the 10th day in a row? Things have gotten so bad without mainstream sports that I literally watched a professional marble race. Yes, that’s a real thing.

There is, however, a saving grace. One of my top-five favorite sporting events of the year will go on as planned. Since it can be done remotely and, therefore, safely, the 2020 NFL Draft will take place between April 23^rd and April 25^th. It will not be the big extravaganza that it normally is, especially this year when was supposed to have taken place in Vegas outside the Bellagio fountains. There was even talk that the draftees who were invited might be boated on a gondola to the draft stage after being selected. While I was looking forward to seeing some tiny little guy try to paddle a boat with a 300-pound behemoth sitting on the back, I’ll settle for the remote coverage. Three days of bliss. Not only will there be something to watch, but it will also give sports writers and sportscasters something to talk and write about. If you’re the betting type, it will also give you a chance to place a wager.

The UFC has also stated that the next pay-per-view event will go on as planned. UFC:249 was supposed to feature a main-event fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Although Khabib has had to back out of the fight in order to remain in his native Kazakhstan while waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic, UFC president Dana White has stated that it is his intention for the event to take place as planned on April 18.

It really is a shame. Late March to early April should be one of the busiest times of the year for sports. There should be March Madness, the end of the NBA regular season and playoffs, NHL playoffs, MLB opening day and even the NFL draft all in this time frame. Every major professional league normally has something important going on right now. Instead, the world of sports feels like a barren wasteland. Hopefully, the NFL Draft and UFC:249 will go on as planned and help fill the void. I know that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s possible that one or both of those events could be canceled. In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers crossed and be happy just to have something sports-related to look forward to again.