The world’s going to be different for a long time, so if you’re not getting nose-swabbed in the next month, you might be getting nose-swabbed at training camp next year.
– Jordan Martinook, Canadian ice hockey player
The damn coronavirus has not spared anyone or anything — people from all cultures, religions, gender, and age groups all over the world are affected; businesses, industries and economies are crippled, and even sports are floored.
Many sporting events are badly affected. Take for example the UEFA European Championship 2020 which had to be pushed back to this year. The tournament was won by Italy who denied England victory following a tense penalty shootout.
Another major football tournament that was nearly felled by Covid-19 was the 47th edition of Copa America, the South American championship — the oldest football tournament in the world — which was to have kicked off also last year but was put off to July 2021. Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat Brazil for the trophy.
All matches of the two premier world tournaments were played to near empty stadiums, denying organisers millions in gate collections. Pity the host countries. But that’s Covid-19, which has wrecked untold havoc globally; like I said earlier, it spares no people and neither economy nor sports.
Even the ongoing 32nd Olympics Games in Tokyo are not spared. It was launched amidst an almost empty stadium. The Japanese might as well have cancelled the Games. I believe they would have already lost billions.
Anyway, Covid-19 or otherwise, the world’s greatest show must go on!
To me, sports are not sports without crowd or fan support. What is Euro 2020 or Copa America minus the fans? I am a sports loving person and I enjoy all sports, honestly.
I have this habit of staying awake till the wee hours of the morning to watch ‘live’ sporting events telecast on TV or the internet. I won’t miss the once-in-four years World Cup football or hockey, and of course I am not crazy to miss the Olympics. Sports are my life. Frankly speaking, the early part of my teenage life and later adolescence was centred around sports.
My love affair with sports began in the early 60s when dad brought me with him to a friend’s house to watch a reel about the 1962 World Cup featuring the Brazilians who eventually won the cup after beating the Czecs 3-1 in the final.
I had the chance to catch a glimpse of Pele’s wizardry. But he lasted only two matches as he was ruled out of action for the rest of the tournament following an injury.
But that reel of the Brazilian team was enough to get me hooked on to football and other sports. Not long afterwards, maybe half a year later, I accompanied dad to watch a few documentaries on the Olympics.
Thanks to this early exposure to sports, my interest in the field grew and I began to take a keen interest in several sports, notably hockey, football, table tennis, badminton, athletics and rugby.
You might be thinking that I would have excelled or won some medals or trophies in school or college. Believe me when I tell you I didn’t — not a single medal of any colour!
Yes, I took part in almost all sports and games, including the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do. Perhaps because I got involved in almost all the sports, including swimming, I did not concentrate or train seriously in any of them.
As my school principal Brother Albinus told me straight to my face, “Boy, you are only good for interclass competitions. You are not serious! Why don’t you just concentrate on athletics, you seem to have potential in the 400m.”
Well, I took his advice. The closest I got was fourth placing in the distance with a time of 58.02s. Not good enough!
I attended school selection trials for football, badminton, table tennis etc, but was not good enough for the school team. Somehow it didn’t dampen my spirits. I continued to participate in sports and games after college.
I will never forget one inter-college games which I participated in the late 70s. It was a Tang Soo Do competition. I failed to get past the first round. Embarrassingly, the moment the umpire gave the signal to start, I was knocked out in the first minute. How embarrassing can that be!
Anyway, I gave up the Korean martial art for good but continued to indulge in the other sports.
In fact, I only managed to win medals — gold, silver and bronze — during inter-media sports meets in the early 80s. Most of the medals and trophies came from athletics — 200m, 400m, 800m, 4x100m, 4×400, 1,500m, long jump, high jump and triple jump — plus badminton, table tennis and football.
Well, not because I was good, but because my fellow journalists were worse, period! So, nothing to shout about. But at least I get to display the ‘spoils’ in my cabinet at home.
In conclusion, we all just have to keep our fingers crossed that the coronavirus will leave us soon so we can get on with our lives, business, economy and of course sports!
