The Sports World Shuts Down During Unprecedented Health Crisis

Ross Turetsky, PSU Scranton Staff Writer 

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the sports world came to a stunning, abrupt halt after young, 27-year-old NBA all-star center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus. Almost immediately the dominoes fell in all forms of athletics having to cancel, suspend, or at least postpone all sporting events for the foreseeable future. These events included for the first time ever the NCAA having to cancel the whole March Madness popular men's and women's college basketball tournaments, the indefinite suspensions of the pro basketball and hockey seasons with lingering doubt if they will ever start up again and crown a champion this year, the remainder of the season cancelation of the newly formed pro football league the XFL, and the indefinite delay of the upcoming 2020 major league baseball season. During these turbulent, unprecedented times we are all living in, where people are struggling just to survive this dangerous virus, let alone find basic everyday essentials, such as toilet paper, soap, hand sanitizer, milk and bread, and grocery store lines are out the door, many people might wonder why is it so important to have something as trivial to the real world as athletic competitions return. Well for many people, especially here in America, sports has been a comforting distraction and friend who has helped us get through some of the worse times in our nation's history, whether it be financial depression, wars, national tragedies, and so much more. Sports has become a crucial, inspiring part of the fabric of our society and has brought people from all diverse backgrounds together and realize how important it is to be a part of a team and unite for a common goal. Without sports for at least the next few months in this new-found social distancing lonely world, many fans and athletes who are isolated having to stay in their homes to help avoid the spread of this illness, have gone through terrible withdrawals not being able to rely on their dependable life-long friend to bring them simplistic joys during these arduous times we are all facing.

Even in our small town campus here at Penn State Scranton, student-athletes and the whole campus have been greatly affected by this growing pandemic. All classes for the remainder of the spring semester have been moved online and campus buildings have been shutdown to avoid gatherings of any kind. For our student-athletes who have worked tirelessly in the classroom and on the ball field practicing for months to prepare for their spring collegiate sports seasons of baseball and softball, they have had to cope with the sudden cancelation of their entire 2020 seasons before they even had the chance to play a single game. The safety of every member of the Penn State community on campus is the most important thing to be concerned about at such a difficult time like this, however, for these hard working athletes, some of them seniors in their last seasons and opportunities to ever play the sport they have loved since they were little kids, the abrupt loss of being unable to take the field one last time due to something out of anyone's control is just a heartbreaking finish to the school year and possibly their college careers that will be hard to get over for years to come.

Both the Penn State Scranton baseball and softball squads had high hopes and optimism for great improvement this season, as the baseball team was under a brand new coaching staff led by head coach Vito Ruggiero and pitching coach Ken Grundt who pitched in the major leagues for the Boston Red Sox in the 1990's. With a solid combination of key returning players and an exciting crop of new talented ball players, the baseball and softball teams were poised to be very competitive and win a significant amount ball games this season.

Long-time member and second-year head coach of the softball team, Mar Tsakonas, recently shared her thoughts on the sudden cancelation of her squad's season and how things are going during these ever-changing, chaotic times.

"Well when news started to break about campus directed travel restrictions, I had to just stay focused on prepping for the rest of the season, going through stats, rosters, and other scouting report information so my team knew what our upcoming opponents looked like to really prep them with the added practice time due to a canceled trip. Then a couple of days later to get word that the season was actually in jeopardy of happening, I followed and instructed my team to follow all of the updates that the university and campus was putting out. Once the university released that we would be transitioning to remote learning for what was at the time slated to end on April 6th, I just had a gut feeling that would be it for the season and to my disappointment it came to fruition not long after that announcement," said Coach Tsakonas.

"I will say the news of the season suspension and eventual cancelation was hard to break to the team knowing how much they wanted to get out onto the field to compete and show what they've been working on five days a week since January. It was particularly hard to break to my only senior (third baseman and team captain Kayla Bebla), as she had come back for one last shot on the field and now that opportunity was now gone. I had a similar thing happen to me my senior season at PSU Scranton when I tore my ACL a week before our first game, so I have an understanding of the sheer disappointment of her last season ending before it really got going. The team as a whole has expressed a lot of disappointment and have been understandably upset about the situation but they all share the understanding that this situation is bigger than us as a team and bigger than softball," said Coach Tsakonas.

In terms of keeping in touch with her players, many of them young freshman, during these trying times, Coach Tsakonas is making sure the lines of communication stay open all semester long. "I keep the team updated with texts to our group chat and set up a zoom session with hopefully more to come while we're still social distancing from each other. I hope in hosting some online zoom sessions they can have some much needed team time with each other that they otherwise are lacking during what's supposed to be for most of them their first college softball experience," said Coach Tsakonas.

During these uncertain times, when most of the news is bleak, scary, and unsettling, it's important to look to something hopeful and inspirational like the eventual return of our beloved sports world. It will take time for our society to slowly get back to normal after facing such overwhelming tragedy, but in the end, our good old pal sports will be there once again to comfort us, distract us, unite us, and overcome. We will overcome and endure, no matter what hardships we face.

Coach Tsakonas sums it up perfectly of how amazing it will feel when sports comes roaring back. "I'm hoping that when this is all said and done and we're back to business as usual, that these young athletes realize how important experiences like being part of a team and part of something bigger than them really is to becoming a well-rounded and well-adjusted individual. Sports are special no matter the sport in so many ways that I honestly can't wait until it all returns. I think once sports come back we will see greater appreciation for sports and the athletes and all the hard work and dedication they put in day-in and day-out, night-in and night-out. It's really hard to put into words the impact sports has on society and me personally that all I can really say is I can't wait for the triumphant moment it all comes surging back around the world because I truly feel it will be a really special moment for everyone at all levels," said Coach Tsakonas.