SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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What do we do
now? What do
we watch?
Whom do we
cheer? How do
we cheer?
I planned to
spend this week-
end awash in the
excitement of
conference college basketball
tournaments, particularly the
desperate season-saving jour-
neys of USC and UCLA.
Those courts have been
emptied.
Friends were headed to
Sacramento to watch the state
high school basketball champi-
onships, especially the Holly-
wood-draped team from
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon.
Those games have disap-
peared.
A buddy from Dallas was
coming to town Monday to join
me in watching the Clippers
host the Mavericks in a possible
playoff preview.
Staples Center will be
locked.
My favorite four days in the
sports calendar were next week,
the first rounds of March Mad-
ness, an event that annually
brings together the country
with millions participating in
office pools and school pride.
Every bracket has been
busted.
The month was going to
splendidly culminate in two
weeks, opening day, Dodger
Stadium, Clayton Kershaw
back on the mound, the hated
San Francisco Giants in the
other dugout, friends already
asking if I can find them a ticket.
Chavez Ravine will be closed.
Finally, in exactly three
weeks, I couldn’t wait to make
the trip to Anaheim to watch,
and listen, as the Angels opened
their home schedule against a
sure-to-be-booed Houston
Astros team that cheated the
Dodgers out of the 2017 World
Series championship.
The stadium will be shutter-
ed.
Where do we go now? How do
we connect with our friends?
What do we talk about at work?
Thursday will be forever
remembered as the day sports
went dark, turning off its lights,
nailing plywood over its win-
dows, bolting its doors to the
insidious approach of the co-
ronavirus.
Left outside in the cold is a
nation full of fans whose si-
lenced passion will have a pro-
found effect on this country’s
spirit.
The one thing that has long
helped America endure a na-
tional crisis was its games and,
now, suddenly, just as this
health crisis is peaking, the
games have disappeared, poof,
vanished.
Just when we need to hear
cheering, there is nothing to
cheer for. We could all use a good
fight song, but the bands have
been silenced. Everyone is look-
ing for a hero, but the heroes
have been banished.
College basketball, gone.
Professional basketball, sus-
pended. Baseball, suspended.
Soccer, suspended. Hockey,
suspended.
The best sports month of the
year, canceled.
Granted, there is still horse
racing and the chase to sign

Tom Brady. But for now, the

games and events that have

long connected neighbors,

bonded communities and led to

a shared cheering of a team

against another team, are done.

The blackout could last at

least a month, maybe more. For

many whose days revolve

around highlights and news and

debates, it is an unimaginable

stretch that will feel like an

eternity.

How many times do you

check your phone for a score?

How often do you endure a

mundane workday because of

the promise of a great game

that night on TV? How many of

the best conversations in your

daily life revolve around sports?

Welcome to cold turkey.

Yes, certainly, smart people

will sigh at your discomfort and

urge you to fill this sports va-

cancy with books and Netflix

and intelligent debates, and

that’s all good.

Just don’t let them tell you to

get a life. Sports is a life, one

engaged in by millions in many

different ways, and a month

without cheering and jeering

and hugging and taunting will

drain a feverish and chilled

America.

The virus has ripped

through a connective tissue of

our society that is consistently

unmatched by any other na-

tional passion and, in doing so,

it has sadly turned some reliable

truths on their head.

Sports have always dis-

tracted us from the realities of

life. Now it has become the awful

focus of those realities, which

include the impact of cancella-

tions on stadium workers who

depend on games for their liveli-

hoods. Here’s guessing many

people, even nonsports fans,

didn’t take the pandemic seri-

ously until the NBA suspended

its season.

Sports have always been a

vehicle to bring us together.

Now it has become frighteningly

symbolic of the danger in us

being together. The voice of the

pandemic is not one of a health

official, but that of the public-

address announcer urging fans

to leave the arena Wednesday

night in Oklahoma City.

That’s what makes this so

unsettling. Sports were sup-

posed to be stronger than this.

Sports were supposed to be

healthier than this. For fans,

BILL PLASCHKE

Games over

Welcome to a world without March

Madness, opening day and possibly

the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs

[SeePlaschke, D4]

NCAA, Pac-12

are too slow to act

Decisions to cancel should

have been been sooner, Dylan

Hernández writes. D2

No state titles for

prep basketball

CIF says it waited as long as

possible to make the call.

Titles will be vacant. D2

Bruins, Trojans

struggle with news

Both teams felt they had a

chance to advance to the

NCAA tournament. D5

It’s one and done

at the Players

PGA Tour cancels the last

three rounds and the next

three weeks’ events. D6

COLLEGES

Men’s and women’s NCAA basketball

tournaments canceled as well as remainder

of all conference tournaments.

Remaining winter championships

and all spring championships canceled.

USC and UCLA spring football practices

suspended indefinitely.

BASEBALL

MLB spring training suspended and start

of regular season delayed by two weeks.

Minor league play suspended indefinitely.

BASKETBALL

NBA season suspended for at least 30 days.

HOCKEY

NHL and minor league seasons

suspended indefinitely.

Women’s world championships canceled.

Junior Canadian Hockey League play

suspended.

FOOTBALL

NFL annual meeting canceled.

Rest of XFL season canceled.

SOCCER

MLS and USL seasons suspended

at least 30 days.

U.S. men’s, women’s friendlies canceled.

CONCACAF Champions League

tournament delayed.

AUTO RACING

Long Beach Grand Prix postponed.

Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix

canceled.

FIGURE SKATING

World championships canceled.

GOLF

Players Championship canceled.

Next three LPGA events postponed.

HIGH SCHOOLS

State basketball championships

canceled. Sports seasons suspended

throughout Southland.

TENNIS

Miami Open, Volvo Car Open and two

international tournaments canceled.

Men’s tour play suspended six weeks.

BNP Paribas Open canceled.

SKIING

World Cup finals canceled.

SPORTS STILL ACTIVE

without fans in attendance

NASCAR, IndyCar, horse racing,

MMA and pro bowling.