This is bigger than sports – Syndication Server

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Before we begin today, a little story. Please, bear with me.

My first day of high school was September 11, 2001. The news broke about the terror attacks while I was in math class. Then, dazed, because no one knew anything really, and no one knew better, we all kept going with the day. I walked over to history class.

Our teacher’s name was Robin Crawford and he was one of the most senior teachers at the school. (He’s since passed.) As class began, Mr. Crawford stood up there, in silence, in front of a group of terrified and confused 14-year-old kids, and then he began to speak.

He told us that this was a moment that would be written about in history books. It was a moment that would change our country and our world forever. He told us about Pearl Harbor and said this was going to be our Pearl Harbor. He was doing the active work of a historian, in real time, giving us context and understanding for an event that had happened about 90 minutes earlier.

His words didn’t make me feel better, exactly. They didn’t make me feel worse, either. They just made me understand the scope of what was happening, I guess. They let me understand, perhaps earlier than most, what would eventually become cliché — that nothing would ever be the same.

***

This is a similar historic moment, but before I get into that, a quick clarifying note: We are not in the middle of a terrorist attack. This is not 9/11.

The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be battled like we want it to be. The way to fight it — isolation, hygiene — feels counter-intuitive and silly for most Americans. It feels like capitulation. I saw too many posts on social media this weekend that took on the air of “We can’t let the terrorists win!” and showed people crowding in bars and restaurants.

This is stupid. Coronavirus is not a terrorist. It doesn’t care about your pride or your refusal to capitulate. If we’re cavalier about this, it will infect the young and old, and it will kill far too many of us.

We need to band together and fight. It’s just not going to feel like it. Staying at home cooped up on the couch and washing your hands often doesn’t feel much like fighting. But it’s the only way.

***

I bring up that 9/11 story not because this is akin to terrorism, but because we are at one of those moments that the late Mr. Crawford talked about above. This is one of those times, where our lives are fundamentally changed, and we must react as a society.

It will be quite literally historic, in that this pandemic will be written about in history books. We are at the beginning of something here, I fear — and yes, it’s still the beginning — that will fundamentally alter not only our individual lives for a bit, but our world, for a long time.

With all that being said: No, we’re not getting sports back in 30 days, as many of the professional leagues had hoped for. This is not going to be a week or two and then life returning to normal. I tell this to you not to make you feel better, or worse, but just to adjust your understanding, if you haven’t gotten there already yourself.

Just a few days ago, it felt impossible that the NBA was suspending its season. Now, the owners are targeting a mid-to-late June return.

This feels ambitious, bordering on impossible. Maybe we’ll get there. Maybe a treatment will be discovered and produced quickly. Maybe the world will band together, self-isolate, and contain this disease until the summer months come and it can’t travel as well. I sure hope so.

But if you had any hope that maybe we’d just have to stay inside and catch up on movies for a long weekend, and life and sports would come back soon … I’m sorry. We’re dealing with something way bigger. This is one of those big moments in our collective lives, and we’re just getting started.

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