CoronaSport: The year the sports world turned upside down

This year has sucked.

The world became entrenched with a virus that has intruded our lives in so many ways. Students didn’t get to enjoy their final months and semesters of college and high school, industries went belly-up and workers’ pockets became empty.

But most of all, sport was affected.

The impenetrable sports world came to a halt. If you thought the tragic deaths of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and daughter GiGi would have been the biggest sports story of the year in the beginning of 2020, you’d have typically been right. This was not one of those times.

There’s a certain dramatic irony that comes to mind whenever we think of patient zero – Rudy Gobert – in the American sports landscape. We now know what happened after the Utah Jazz center jokingly touched every microphone following a post-practice press conference while feeling sick March 9. Gobert was pulled after testing positive for COVID-19 in the middle of the Jazz’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder two days later, the NBA postponed the game, and shortly thereafter, every major professional sports league in the United States halted its season.

March 11, 2020. A day in sports no one will ever forget.

The return of sports

We’re closing in on 2021, but at least for the early goings of the new year, we are still going to be dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. It’s reached unprecedented numbers in recent weeks, with a single day high in the United States of 205,460 new infections Nov. 27.

Despite that, American sports returned in May, with NASCAR setting the trend with a modified schedule starting at Darlington Raceway May 17. Overseas, European football – soccer – started up the day before with the German Bundesliga being the first Euro league to kick off.

Pretty much every major sports organization that stopped its season in the United States was back in action as of August. Indycar returned June 6, MLS July 8, MLB July 23, the NBA July 31 and the NHL Aug. 1.

There have been slight bumps along the way, even in “bubble” tournaments.

The NFL cancelled preseason and has had to postpone many games due to team outbreaks.

In MLS, FC Dallas and Nashville SC missed the MLS Is Back bubble tournament after multiple players fell ill to the virus. Multiple players tested positive since the resumption of regular season play.

Multiple team outbreaks in the early MLB season forced congested rescheduling for the Miami Marlins, St. Lous Cardinals and their opponents. Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner tested positive in the middle of game six of the World Series, was taken out, and then refused to be put in isolation during the team’s on-field celebrations following the Dodgers’ title win. Turner was not disciplined after an internal MLB investigation.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams left the NBA bubble for an excused reason: he had a funeral to attend. He also attended a gentleman’s club and picked up food in Atlanta.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson missed the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway July 5, and Austin Dillon missed the series’ inaugural race at the Daytona International Speedway road course on Aug. 16, both due to positive coronavirus tests.

The NHL and NBA were both successful in keeping the virus out of their bubble tournaments with zero cases over thousands of administered tests. Indycar also had zero reported cases.

Instead of sitting in our homes with nothing to watch or do, we now have altered versions of sport back in our lives. CoronaSport, if you will.

Trouble in the air, literally

Sports returning didn’t occur without trouble. Questions about how athletes can get tests administered daily while it was still limited to the public were and still are being asked.

Sensitive topics such as athletes and leagues bringing their own versions of protesting police brutality against minorities also surrounded the industry on top of the coronavirus pandemic. There should be no doubt that players and private leagues can bring forward peaceful methods of displaying their opposition to injustice in the world, and personally, anyone who disagrees with that doesn’t have an opinion that should be respected; they have a dangerous and tone deaf opinion.

While the NHL, NBA and MLS bubbles were held without fans in attendance, spectators have been brought back into the fold in low capacities. Particularly, this extends to outdoor venues more than indoor venues, where the virus can spread more easily.

Out of the seven aforementioned American leagues, NASCAR, Indycar, MLB, MLS (after its tournament) and the NFL have had fans in attendance. These fan rulings apply towards individual tracks and venues themselves, however.

For example, a NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, a track that holds 44,000 seats, only allowed 1,000 spectators to attend in November, while neighboring state Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway – only a few miles across the state line – filled over 30,000 of its 162,000 seats at a race in September, making it the highest-attended U.S. sporting event since the pandemic started. Some races, like at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, occurred in front of no fans. The crown jewel of the Indycar calendar, the Indianapolis 500, was pushed back from Memorial Day weekend to Aug. 23 and had to run without any spectators in the largest sports venue in the world.

Certain cities and states have allowed and disallowed fans in varying ways. In Pennsylvania, a ruling from Governor Tom Wolf in mid-October allowed outdoor venues that hold over 10,000 seats have up to 15% occupancy or 7,500 people – whatever number is smaller – to attend. This meant that the Philadelphia Eagles could host 7,500 people, which included players, team personnel, media, fans and more, since Lincoln Financial Field has close to 70,000 seats. After cases started skyrocketing again the week before Thanksgiving, Philadelphia County cut down on social gatherings, eliminating fans’ return to “The Linc.”

Many teams are not allowed to host any fans due to local and state regulations. The Chicago Bears are one of those teams, as they play in an empty Soldier Field.

Major League Baseball only had fans at the National League Championship Series and World Series, both held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

Traveling reporter

While each venue that allows fans have rules in place to aid social distancing efforts, the way they are implemented in actuality isn’t always the smoothest or safest.

I’ve travelled to multiple venues and sporting events over the past two months in order to detail some of the ways teams, leagues and tracks have attempted to aid (or hurt) the fight against the coronavirus’ spread in the United States.

I went to Bristol Motor Speedway’s September NASCAR race, multiple Philadelphia Union games before and after Pennsylvania’s 15% regulation, Indycar’s “minor league” Road to Indy races at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and short track racing at the paved Wall Stadium Speedway and the dirt Bridgeport Speedway.

What will stick out right away is most of these events being motorsports, which may fall in-line with two thoughts:

1. Motorsports, particularly NASCAR and oval racing, have its roots in southern culture and politics, and its foundational base are less weary about the pandemic and its spread.
2. By its nature, large racing venues make it possible to have many fans attend while in spread-out distances.

Minor league sports around the country have come to a halt, but short tracks have stayed open because competitors can safely race inside cars and championships are only contended at one venue, so there is no such thing as travel costs.

NASCAR is no minor league though. Fans started slowly re-filling stands at Homestead-Miami Speedway June 14 in low numbers. With the modified schedule, Charlotte Motor Speedway relinquished its annual All-Star Race for Bristol, which took place July 15 in front of 20,000 fans. According to local reporting, no COVID-19 outbreaks stemmed from that race, or the next set of races at the track in September.

The Cup Series raced Sep. 19 under the lights in front of over 30,000 fans. The Xfinity Series raced in front of a much smaller crowd the night before.

Even if it’s around 20% capacity, 30,000 people is a lot. To purchase tickets, fans had to put in a deposit for one of three seating sections, and the speedway would convert that deposit into actual seats, always spaced out from others outside of each group.

All parking had to be pre-purchased on track property, and it was mostly for ADA, camping, and employees. Free parking was available courtesy of the track, but it was quite a walk to get to the facility.

Here’s how to tell the difference between what was Bristol property and what wasn’t: Look for the Donald Trump fan store, A.K.A. the unofficial shops, across the street.

While fans had to have their mask on while on Bristol property, they could take it off once seated. However, pretty much everyone went through or into the unofficial merchandise tents, and no one except for a few people wore a mask. Worse, the tents were in cramped spaces, and if you’ve felt claustrophobic before, try being calm in the midst of a pandemic.

To be honest, it was not surprising, given the lackluster nature of fighting the virus off in certain regions. It was disappointing, nonetheless.

But the shops are always a big attraction, and they aren’t on speedway property. So why worry?

Food and merchandise kiosks at the track were card only, no cash. Every other food window was closed, and lines were sparse and spaced out.

Following each race, fans had to put their mask back on and wait to be released from their row. At least in my sections, no staff released any rows, and no one waited for them to be released, either.

All in all, Bristol did as well as it could have with its on-property restrictions, even if some of the execution was lacking. The unofficial tents were a mess, though.

Minor league racing’s conundrum

From Tennessee to New Jersey’s only race tracks, I ventured to three separate disciplines in road, paved oval, and dirt oval.

Bridgeport Speedway, located around 20 minutes from Philadelphia, is a 3/8-mile high-banked oval with bleachers spread across the front-stretch. With no set capacity and typical ticket sales only being general admission, there was no huge difference between how Bridgeport would operate in the time of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 mandates.

This applied to Wall Stadium Speedway as well. The track, located minutes from the Jersey Shore in Wall Township, is 1/3-mile paved oval. Its stands are also along the front-stretch and sold as general admission.

Both places requested that social-distancing measures – sitting six-feet apart – were in effect. Like Bristol, masks were not required for fans upon taking their seat.

While this is all well and good, it was impossible for track management to ensure all fans followed social-distancing in the seats due to it being general admission.

Does that mean these tracks shouldn’t have operated during their in-season schedule?

There’s multiple perspectives that have been flung around by political opinionists, typically on each end of the extreme:

1. “There should be no sports going on right now. It’s too dangerous and we need to keep this pandemic from getting worse.”
2. “The economy is dying and businesses are closing. We need to open things back up.”

On one hand, sport is the reward for a well-functioning society. It’s easy to make the argument that the United States is not well-functioning due to its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, this pandemic is killing small businesses like “minor league” sports teams and venues. This includes Bridgeport and Wall, and it includes your local single-A baseball team.

What’s the correct answer? I really don’t know, but man, if there wasn’t so much bickering about the actual truths of this pandemic and its effects so we could have a foundation to base opinions off of, then maybe we’d find common ground and solutions.

Short tracks around the country host multiple championships over the course of a season, and almost every weekend, drivers compete at the same track. Drivers pay entry fees, tracks offer cash prizes, and fans pay for tickets. No racing means track owners have no way to pay facility bills. In an already financially tight business, one season without racing could spell the end for a livelihood and hobby for thousands of people.

The problems presented by the pandemic are not as disastrous for large oval and road course facilities.

It was much easier to separate people at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the Road to Indy triple-headers. Same guidelines, but when it’s a 2.25-mile road course with few stands and a reliance on fans bringing their own chairs, it’s barely an inconvenience. Most of the facility was open to fans, and with everyone spread out, there was little need to worry about masks.

Of course, in the paddock and pit area, masks were mandatory.

Are motorsports leagues and venues best-equipped to survive financially through the pandemic? It certainly seems so. While we won’t know the long-term effects of the virus for years, the sheer amount of racing locations that have hosted fans across the world potentially point towards that answer.

MLS’ Union successful in welcoming fans

English Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that certain Premier League clubs can host up to 4,000 fans starting early December. Some MLS teams have already started allowing fans into stadiums, such as the Union, while some, like the Portland Timbers, have not.

Out of all the sporting events I attended, the Union’s staff was the best at mandating mask use and social distancing once fans were allowed into Subaru Park on the banks of the Delaware River. The 15% mandate in Pennsylvania meant that up to 2,775 people could fill into the stadium, which includes team personnel and media.

Clear signage around the pitch showed what the club expected from its supporters. Whenever an usher noticed fans with their mask removed, they’d promptly tell them to put it back on. During a match against the Chicago Fire Oct. 28, one of the first games with fans at the stadium, an older couple consistently took their mask off whenever ushers weren’t around. After being reprimanded more than once, an usher stood by their section for most of the game to keep an eye on them. Fortunately, There weren’t many instances of this needing to happen.

Overall, games with fans at Subaru Park were well-maintained and, honestly, safe.

The weirdness came at games without fans.

Right outside the supporter’s gate, over a dozen members of the Sons of Ben gathered around TVs that the club had set up for them. It created a nice bit of energy in an otherwise echo-filled stadium.

The eerie part was when the usual introduction music and all the other atmospheric additions we’ve come to expect throughout the in-stadium experience blasted over the PA system.

Hearing professional players communicate with each other humanizes them. It sounds like a typical weeknight adult league pitch.

What is and isn’t fair

Following Philadelphia’s 3-0 victory over FC Cincinnati Oct. 7, head coach Jim Curtin talked about the unique challenges facing the league’s teams over the lack of and inclusion of fans across MLS.

“The one thing that changes when there’s no fans in the building is you can grab that momentum very quickly,” he said. “I think we’ve all been in stadiums where when it gets loud and rowdy, whether you’re the home team or the away team or whether things are going good or things are going bad, you can feel that momentum shift, and it’s almost impossible to get it back. Whereas now, on the road or at home, a team makes a great play, and if you get a great play a second later, it’s gone and there’s no feel, there’s no feel from the crowd.”

Notice how there’s nothing specific to soccer in that quote. It’s difficult to find that final 1% that separates players from winning or losing a battle for athletes that are so used to feeding off crowds.

“It’s kind of soulless, to be honest,” Curtin continued saying. “It’s really sad. Don’t take it the wrong way, I wish this place was full, I wish that every stadium was full right now.”

Whereas fairness is not too concerning for motorsports, where there’s no typical “home field” for anyone (regardless of a driver’s “home track,” the circuit near their hometown or in their country), typical “stick-and-ball” teams suffer from differing fan restrictions.

Is it even possible to have fair competition right now?

“In terms of what’s fair, I think you’ll start to see some states very, very loose, and you’re going to start to see states stay intelligent and do the right thing and have it be calculated measures, which I think Pennsylvania will do,” Curtin said. “Do I think it’s fair that you can all of a sudden, maybe a month from now, show up in a full 30,000-seat stadium and they have fans and you don’t? Do I think that’s fair? I don’t, but again, so much of this season, in terms of the fairness of it, has kind of left and we’re just trying to do the best we can.

“You know, some teams are getting four more home games, some teams are getting a lot less home games, so it’s tough. It’s not balanced this year. Everybody is trying to do the best they can, it’s not easy. But fair is probably out the window. It left a long time ago.”

This year has been unfair for the entire world. Everyone has suffered from COVID-19 in differing ways, and the multitude of other natural and cultural clashes that have seen their lids pop off this year makes taking care of mental health a priority.

Sports fans have been fortunate to have a major source of entertainment and passion remain in their lives. Even with the exorbitant amount of restrictions and questionable actions taken by leagues and players, sports are here and will likely stay no matter how bad things continue to get.

I don’t want to live in a world without sport, but I do want to live in a world without this virus. Hopefully, these two things will not be mutually exclusive going forward.