THE NIGHT SPORT DIED FOR ME

A year ago today I went to my favorite National Basketball Association Arena to watch my home team play a regular season game and something happened that shut down my sports world.  It was not a good day, March 11, 2020.  It will be a day that I will always remember.

As of my routine on game day in Oklahoma City, my seat mate and I made a routine stop at one of the various eateries in Bricktown (historic entertainment district), this night the nice Bricktown Brewery, for a famous hamburger and fries to go along with a side salad adorned with their honey mustard dressing.  Arriving at the restaurant/drinking hole about two hours before the tip between the Thunder and the Utah Jazz, the  pleasant atmosphere of the Brewery gave me a nice interlude after the half hour drive from north OKC to the downtown area.

A seven minute walk to the arena would follow, entry with my ticket on my Apple I-phone, and I was patrolling the lower concourse of the Chesapeake Energy Arena.  A good fifteen minutes of wasting some time before I would ascend to my season ticket seat in Loud City, Sec. 315, Row D, Seat 17, the hype was building for this important game with the Jazz. An original owner of that seat and the one elbow touching, Seat 16, since the Thunder came to town, season one, game one I sat down and viewed the familiar surroundings.   Little did I know this night would be different.  A game changer for me, my sports world, and my life in general, yes, this night would be different.

The sense of normalcy in the NBA had begun to erode by early March of 2020.  The Covid-19 virus was making its rounds in the world, and the USA would be an important stop for what it brought, including but not exclusive of death, political agendas, the suspension of the rights of Americans under the Constitution, and the loss of freedoms that we live under as citizens of the free western world.

Little did I know as I waited out the minutes before the start of the contest that the NBA brass had tested Jazz center Rudy Gobert for Covid and the test was being examined. The game had been delayed to my dismay.

As of Mark Lindsey, one of three NBA game officials that were assigned to the Peak for that game,  “prior to the game when we were in the locker room, there was conversation of using hand sanitizer and having these discussions we never had before,” he said. “We made sure there was hand sanitizer at the scorer’s table. We were having discussions about keeping the basketball clean.”

The word came to the floor of the arena.  Minutes before tip-off,  Donnie Strack,  OKC Thunder vice president of human and player performance,  ran onto the court and informed the officials a player had tested positive.  That would be Mr. Gobert.

Again, as of official Lindsay, “it was a surreal moment when team doctor sprinted onto the floor letting us know we had to wait…..it was the moment when everything became real. I’ll never forget the eyes of 20,000 people staring at you. We were moments from throwing the ball up and we are with the team doctor saying we need to buy time here. We’ve reached out to New York. That was the defining moment where I knew this was so much bigger than basketball.”

It was over withing thirty minuets.  At 8:37 p.m. ET, Thunder public address announcer Mario Nanni addresses the crowd: “Fans, due to unforeseen circumstances, the game tonight has been postponed. You are all safe. And take your time in leaving the arena tonight and do so in an orderly fashion. Thank you for coming out tonight. We are all safe.”

Yes, it was over.  I was, at the time pissed, to put it bluntly.  But after reflection, a year later, I can see the bright side of things.  My life of 24 hour sports ended within a few days.  I did not attend, or view on TV, a sporting event or program, for five months.  I found out that I could go without sports, did not miss sports,  and my daily life, even with the horrendous pandemic that has killed millions of humans, was not the worse.  With respect to all, that is the way I see it sports fans.

Feature Photo:  (Sports fans fill the Peak before the game on March11, 2020.  KUTV Photo credit.