Our time off in the quarantine made me realize something: sports take up insane amounts of our free time. You may not have realized it, but sports were probably playing on your TV more than half the time while you were home. Whether it was your mom or dad invested in watching their favorite football team, you and your siblings watching an intense basketball game, or just having sports on for background noise, it was always on. 

Within the first few days of isolation, my dad was already talking about how there was nothing to watch on TV due to the absence of all sports. The NBA and March Madness were canceled, both major events that everyone was so excited to watch. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and it struck everyone in their hearts. Sports are such an influential thing across the country; people take the players as role models, they spend hours of their time watching games, and they even try to play sports like all the famous athletes.

We have been left without sporting events for about two months now. This was such a major hit to our country that channels have started to replay all of the great past games and events. People are beside themselves and don’t know what to watch as no one got to see their favorite teams end or start their 2020 seasons. Imagine if we were never able to watch or participate in sports ever again after the quarantine ends. What would fill up America’s free time?  

In a way, some people may be benefiting from this. They aren’t spending all of their time staring at the TV, and they are finding new hobbies and doing things that they never thought they would have time for. Although, there is still a gap in our lives, and I don’t think that hole will ever be filled with anything else. Personally, along with most of the country, I think that it will be an amazing day and a historical moment when sports are finally able to return.  

Sports are filled with joy, agony, teamwork, laughs, frustration, friends, enemies, and determination; why would anyone want to give that up?