Lopez: It was supposed to be one of the busiest sports months. Not anymore
I was going to wake up and check my bracket.
Thursday was scheduled to be the first day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
I was supposed to be in Cleveland for my sixth annual March Madness trip.
But, for now, I am sitting on my couch watching old tournament games on YouTube.
March 12 was a sad day for sports fans.
In a span of a couple hours, the NCAA Tournament was canceled while the MLB, NBA, and NHL seasons were all suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In his column on March 12, LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke led his story with the tough questions:
Wrote Plaschke: “What do we do now? What do we watch? Whom do we cheer? How do we cheer?”
We don’t know when sports are going to return. It seems like every time a league releases a press release, they push their season back.
I was looking forward to seeing which dark horse team was going to make a deep run in the tournament. Could Dayton, Gonzaga or San Diego State win a title?
Which teams were going to fight for the eighth seed in the Western Conference and face the Los Angeles Lakers? A potential matchup of Zion Williamson and the Pelicans against LeBron James and Anthony Davis? Sign me up.
It was also Spring Training. A beautiful setting to watch preseason baseball before the start of a long, grueling season.
How would Madison Bumgarner fare in Arizona? Who would be a breakout player for the rebuilding Giants? Can the A’s dethrone the Astros in the AL West?
And, of course, could my Dodgers finally win a World Series?
But, for now, we won’t have answers for a long time.
However, we have to remain strong.
The high school sports season hasn’t been canceled just yet — the CIF announced it will re-evaluate the status in early April after a meeting with the 10 section commissioners on Tuesday.
My idea for baseball and softball was to start the season in early May with single-elimination playoffs. Every school makes the playoffs.
Call it “May Madness.”
When the professional sports do return, here are two things that could be fascinating:
Imagine an August NBA Finals matchup while the NFL preseason is happening.
How about a potential November or December World Series being played in the snow?
It’s a dark time for sports right now but they will be back and better than ever.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 1:22 PM.
