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Sports In The Time Of Corona

Jonathan McNicol
/
Connecticut Public Radio
Empty sports stadiums are the norm, at least for the time being.

The NBA, the NHL, and Major League Soccer have all suspended their seasons. Major League Baseball canceled spring training and postponed opening day until at least mid-May. The NCAA canceled March Madness (which would've started in earnest today) and, in fact, all of its winter and spring sports championships. Tennis's French Open is postponed until September, and soccer's Euro 2020 is postponed until 2021.

There have been cancellations and postponements in archery, badminton, canoe-kayak, cricket, curling, handball, judo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, skating, snooker, sumo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, water polo, weightlifting… The list goes on.

Put a bit more simply: Sports is canceled.

Except... The NFL Draft is set to go on next month (but without the public in attendance). The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are, so far, going on as planned. And then there's... Scrabble.

This hour: sports in the time of corona.

GUESTS:

  • Bryan Curtis - Editor-at-large at The Ringer
  • Stefan Fatsis - A panelist on the Slate sports podcast Hang Up and Listen and the author of Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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