I miss sports

“I miss (insert favorite sport).”

This sentence has never, in our lifetime, been so frequently uttered. A passion that filled so many, has been taken away. Not just the roaring stadiums of March Madness and opening day, but an afternoon of watching your son play little league; or a pickup basketball game between friends.

All of those moments and memories are gone.

On the north side of Chicago, Wrigley Field sits eerily empty. A haunting reminder of what has been delayed.

Let’s be honest, this sucks. Sports stopping hurts, it is a pain that didn’t seem possible as a sports fan. The calendar of my life has been set to sports. Every moment and memory is a stamp in time. I was here when LeBron did this, or Brady did that. Sports is something I never thought I would have to learn to live without.

But, enough of those thoughts. For now, this is our unfortunate reality.

Let’s turn our thoughts to how cool it’ll be the day sports returns. That feeling of taking the final step up the concourse and the entire stadium coming into view always took my breath away. Now? I can’t even imagine how I’ll feel.

Sometimes the only way to make it through the darkness, is to look in the distance at the coming light. It doesn't matter how faint or unreachable that light seems. It's what must drive us, inspire us, and give us hope.

I can’t wait to close my eyes on a summer day and listen to that special murmur only sports creates. The murmur of a Dad teaching their son the game, or a few buddies laughing in the distance. The swell of sound that grows like a wave during a big play or moment. The echoing boos of disdain at a bad official.

I can’t wait to watch my favorite teams disappoint me in a big game; because even the pain sports creates is better than this.

All of that, I can’t wait for it.

Unfortunately, I have to wait, we all do. That’s the reality, and there is nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is push forward and await better days. All we can do is live with the understanding that when our beloved games resume, they’ll be better than ever.

The famous saying is, “sometimes life throws you a curveball.” This time, life threw at our head and we had to hit the dirt. Oh well, let’s brush it off, dig back into the box, and wait for the next one.