MIAMI _ Into the Great Unknown: America, 2020.
As summer turns into autumn and winter, what will life be like and what part will sports play?
The "unknown" right now is far more certain than the "great."
Pandemic. Protests. Politics. Sports must find a way to matter amid all of the stuff far more important. Or is that sports matters expressly because of everything else weighing on us?
Pandemic: We already see a spike in coronavirus/COVID-19 cases as the nation gradually reopens, balancing risk and rescue _ health dangers versus saving the economy.
Sports is watching. We already know the NBA, NHL, MLS and (if it ever agrees on a plan) MLB will restart with no fans in attendance. NASCAR is running at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend with no fans except 1,000 invited military and first-responders who will be tested and socially distanced in the stands.
Football? With cases already spiking and a recurrence projected for fall/winter by many medical experts, the idea of full NFL and college stadiums _ of business as usual _ seems less and less likely. Miami Hurricanes director of athletics Blake James already says his "gut" tells him football will start on time but without fans. The Dolphins have a contingency plan in place for a maximum of 15,000 fans with myriad safety protocols.
Protests: Blacks and whites have come together from coast to coast to protest the killing of George Floyd in police custody, and sports has been integral in the outrage. In Homestead Sunday, Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only black driver, after convincing his sport to ban Confederate flags from tracks, will race in a car emblazoned with #BlackLivesMatter.
Of course, perfectly mirroring why America can be so stubborn to real change, to actual equality, one NASCAR truck series driver, Ray Ciccarelli, announces on Facebook he is quitting the sport to protest the Confederate flag ban _ thus assuring his name will be known dubiously, at least, after his meager accomplishments on the track.
Sports' involvement in all of that isn't likely to ebb. Will there be another, bigger wave of anthem/knee protests before NFL games. More of that Great Unknown.
Politics: Looming over everything, a presidential election in November, after a buildup of campaign ads sure to be sharply acrimonious. Will your candidate win? More of that Great Unknown, sowing anxiety in an already stressed out America.
Save us, sports?
The outcome of the pandemic, protests and politics may be more "unknown" than "great" moving forward, but sports have a chance to flip that.
Even amid the trials of everything else, we could be headed to the greatest cluster of simultaneous sports we have ever seen, and will never see again.
It is something to look forward to _ that feeling in and of itself a valuable commodity in 2020.
Imagine. Playoffs leading to the NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final, MLS Cup and World Series, all being contested in the midst of NFL and college football seasons. It can't be known yet, because end dates for basketball, hockey, soccer and baseball haven't been set. But it's possible, even likely. Then you mix in the delayed Kentucky Derby, the Masters and U.S. Open golf, tennis majors and more.
Imagine. LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Alex Ovechkin, Carlos Vela, Mike Trout, Justin Verlander, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods _ everybody, all at once.
It could be an unprecedented TV smorgasbord ahead, with week after week of major sports and the biggest stars to watch almost every night as leagues end truncated seasons with asterisk champions while football plows on, unstoppable as time.
Might be nobody there cheering at any of the games. Just us in our living rooms. But we will take what we can get. We'll hope the coronavirus doesn't rise up and shut everything down again, and that our sports smorgasbord actually happens.
More of that Great Unknown.
