The unusual spring break of 2020 has concluded, and with the COVID-19 outbreak continuing to worsen across the nation, sports leagues continue to postpone and cancel their seasons. 

   Just announced yesterday morning, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics now have its dates set in 2021. The global competition is set to kick off on July 23 next year and will run through August 8. The Paralympics will then begin a couple of weeks later, startin on Aug. 23 and running through Sept. 4. Five months later, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will begin on Feb. 4.

   Leagues such as the NBA and NHL still haven’t officially canceled its seasons, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says he sees a larger window than previously assumed to finish up the NHL season in the summer. 

   Sports networks such as ESPN have resorted to playing classic Monday Night Football games, while FS1 has begun broadcasting classic NASCAR races to fill out their schedule with somewhat unique and entertaining content.

   Speaking of unique content, FS1 has continued their weekly NASCAR race broadcasts in the wake of the season being postponed until May. eNASCAR has partnered with iRacing to create weekly virtual race broadcasts on the network, and professional drivers like legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. have been participating to draw in interest from fans.

   The first race took place at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway where 2019 Cup Series finalist Denny Hamlin passed Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap to win the race, and upstart driver Timmy Hill won the second exhibition at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.

   “I don’t think there’s another sport that can get so close,” Hamlin said in an interview on SportsCenter, “If you asked NBA players to go play NBA2K, it’s not going to look like the real thing. It drives so similar. This is as close as you can honestly get.”

   There has also been a shift in the world of esports. Usually, leagues such as League of Legends’ LCS are played in a studio with an audience, but the league had to transition to all online play, along with other leagues such as the ESL Pro League for Counter Strike: Global Offensive. 

   Eric Ritchie, nicknamed “Licorice”, is a member of Cloud9 who is currently leading the North American LCS standings. While the team lives together in a team house, Ritchie believes that the difference can affect Cloud9 and other teams as well.

   “For me the energy is a bit different,” Ritchie said in an interview on Cloud9’s YouTube channel, “You might actually see teams that are better in scrimmages will play better than teams that have problems playing online games.”

Categories: Sports