OVERDOING IT: the return of live sports

Delta, Omicron, who cares. Live sports are back. Fans are back. And I’m not gonna lie … I’ve overdone it the past several months.

I think back to March 2020 and how clearly the NBA’s stoppage defined the true start of the pandemic. It seemed like live sports may never return. ESPN’s The Last Dance became appointment viewing every week for a month - it wasn’t live sports, but it was the only game in town, dammit!

I spent literal hours watching marbles race down a hill thanks to Jelle’s Marble Runs on YouTube. I simulated an NBA 2K champions league. Look, it was a desperate time.

Sports did finally return in the late summer, first with the “MLS is Back Tournament”, then with the NBA bubble. And eventually everything came back, with new rules, new schedules, and no crowds.

And while that was all fine … a year later, it was time to get back out there. I got my 2nd dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on May 7th, 2021. Just a few weeks later, vaccinated fans were allowed back to sporting events in NYC. And I … went for it.

Here’s a short chronicle of how one fan overdid it on the return to live sports.

May 25, 2021 - The Nets have a superteam! With James Harden joining Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, it was time to see championship-caliber basketball in New York City for the first time since I moved here in 2006. These Nets games were among the first sporting events to open up with full crowds (with proof of vaccination) and I made the most of it. First, I hit up Game 2 of the 1st round against Boston.

June 5, 2021 - Then, I went to game 1 of the 2nd round against the eventual-champion Bucks. At the time it looked like the Nets were going to run away with the series and the championship, so I was excited for all of the playoff basketball. Oh well - they lost the series by millimeters and may not have a title shot a year later, especially since Kyrie can’t play home games in 2022. Vaxx up, people!

July 30, 2021 - I’m no big baseball fan, but my hometown Reds usually only come to town once a year to play the Mets. I had to go.

Not sure why I didn’t take a pic of the game

August 15, 2021 - The English Premier League season kicked off that weekend, so my father and I spent the morning watching Tottenham upset Manchester City, then we walked to Soldier Field (near where my sister lives, and where the family was vacationing for a few days) to see the Chicago Fire host the Columbus Crew.

September 12, 2021 - I always regretted missing the 2019 US Open Men’s Final, a classic match that Rafa Nadal ended up winning in five sets against Daniil Medvedev. I wasn’t going to miss history again. With Novak Djokovic chasing both a calendar slam and a men’s record 21st Grand Slam championship, I had to check it out.

First, we sat near courtside for the Men’s Wheelchair Quad Singles Final. Tremendously inspiring. And we saw history! Dylan Alcott won the calendar Golden Grand Slam, something no man has ever done.

Then, of course, we stayed for the main event, which saw Daniil Medvedev perform a flopping fish celebration as he won his first ever major tournament and ended Djokovic’s chance at history. And of course, since Djokovic isn’t vaccinated, he may not have another shot like this as he’s been deported from Australia and Nadal is back. Vaxx up, people!

September 25, 2021 - Okay, soccer is starting to dominate. First, I headed to Yankee Stadium to see the Hudson River Derby between NYCFC and the New York (more like New Jersey) Red Bulls. Terrible sight lines, but a fun game.

October 7, 2021 - Next, I headed to Austin to see the US beat Jamaica 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier at their new soccer stadium.

October 16, 2021 - A friend who went to Penn for undergrad and Columbia for business school invited me to join him for the Penn-Columbia homecoming football game. I had to go - the Columbia football stadium is only ten minutes walking from where I live!

What an incredible place to watch a game in Manhattan

November 12, 2021 - More US World Cup qualifying. This time, the big one, a US-Mexico match in Cincinnati at their new soccer stadium. This was my second time seeing the US beat Mexico, dos a cero, as I got to watch the same matchup in 2013 in Columbus.

November 15, 2021 - Well, people are excited about the Knicks! I guess I should check them out. They faced off against the Pacers and won. BING BONG!

That “BING BONG” trend sure didn’t last long, huh

November 21, 2021 - NYCFC made the playoffs! Time to emotionally invest myself in this playoff run by taking my son to the one home playoff game they would have. He got bored so I had to leave early, but it was great to be there. And hey, New York City has a sports champion for the first time in a decade! Go NYCFC!

January 15, 2022 - The most recent one. My family moved to Cincinnati from Boulder, CO in 1990. That was the last season the Bengals won a playoff game. And while I never became a full-on Bengals fan (because let’s face it, I had been rooting for the Broncos and they were actually good), I knew how much it meant for the city for them to pull it off. I made the trip to Cincinnati for the matchup against the Raiders and it was totally worth it.

And so there it is. There’s no lesson here. I missed sports. And I guess I needed to catch up on everything I feel like I’d missed.

I’m not done, either. On February 2 this year I’m checking out another US World Cup qualifier, this time against Honduras in Minneapolis. The temperature will likely be below zero at game time. And I’m going to enjoy every second of it.

Welcome back, sports.