When I think of the fall, I think of the trees turning their beautiful colors, the smell of pumpkin spice and cinnamon, picking the best apples and eating cider donuts. You wear your flannel shirts to keep warm with the chills of the fall weather. Then the weekend comes and you spend most if not all of it watching football on Saturday and Sunday. This year could be different, there may be one piece missing out of the picture. I’ll give you a hint, it has something to do with pigskin.
COVID-19 has caused one of the worst years we have seen in a long time, and for some, in their lifetimes. It has not only taken the lives of some dearest friends and family, but has also placed a divot in the lives of many people. Anywhere from losing their jobs, to high school and college seniors having their prom, spring sports, internships, and even some graduations all away, into a whole new spectrum of the world. For many, it has also taken away the one thing we all love, sports.
It’s the old saying, “you never know what you have until it’s gone”. In the United States, sports is something we take advantage of. We truly don’t realize how great and important sports are in this country, until we faced this bump in the road. The goal is to have most sports up and running by next month, but one sport is still up in the air…football.
As we know, football is a sport that has a great amount of contact. Besides the big hits, the players are constantly in contact with players, whether it be teammates or opponents. Football teams also have numerous players on each sideline, including coaches and other staff. It is one of the sports that has a vast amount of players and staff on the field in up in the booth.
According to Dr. Fauci stated in a CBS Sports article, “Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall. If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year”. Those are fighting words. I cannot believe I just read that football “may not happen this year”.
Well Dr. Fauci, I have news for you. No matter what, there are going to be more cases, among players and just citizens in general. The reason for the mass hysteria about this virus wasn’t necessarily the severity of the virus, it was the overwhelming struggle the health care providers and hospitals would face. Many experts (including Fauci) wanted to flatten the curve. A state like New York, who had the worst and most cases of all states has done that. Other states like Texas and Florida are getting more cases, and it sounds familiar to New York. Why? Because they are performing more tests than they have been, so it makes sense that they will obtain more cases, just as New York had.
So why is Fauci saying this? When COVID-19 has had 9,046,067 cases world wide and 4,838,338 have recovered. The death toll is at 470,703 world wide. Out of the closed cases, 91% have recovered and 9% have died. In the active cases, 99% are in mild condition while 1% are in critical condition. (All numbers provided by Worldometer). Anyone reading these numbers would question why he made the statement he did. We have seen many athletes already contract the virus and fully recovered. Would it make sense also that you would somewhat want some players to contract the virus to become immune to it? Isn’t that why they are having antibody tests done to see if you posses antibodies to the virus?
A fall without football is like a summer without sun. A winter without snow. A spring without flowers. Noticed how I never mentioned any sports in those seasons? It’s because football means that much in the world of sports. It is the most popular and profitable game in the country. A fall without football is almost unthinkable. We need sports back. People need something to look forward to in these times, something to bring people up, not tear them down. You want to make your decisions based on facts and numbers. Well take a look at those numbers and explain to the millions of fans why there can’t be a football season.
We need football this fall. It’s as simple as that.
About Dylan Davis
Dylan Davis is a graduate of the State University of New York at Canton, where he obtained a B.A.A in Sport Management. He is a former athlete of football and baseball and sports fan for much of his life. Dylan creates content for 366 Sports and New York Giants 366, and is also a host on his own show, “The J&D Sports Show”.
Twitter: @_TheDylanDavis_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dylan.davis.7
Instagram: @dylan15dd