Sports News Used To Be An Escapist Haven. Now It's A Frustrating, Incoherent Mess Like The Rest Of The World

If it feels difficult to figure out what’s going on in the fight against coronavirus right now, that’s because it is difficult. As May begins, an already chaotic and confusing time has ratcheted into something even more fiercely inscrutable.

Consider the top three stories early Friday afternoon on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website:

BREAKING: Georgia verifies 1K new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

Gwinnett schools staff among first to return to on-site duties

Most Atlanta malls won’t open today after all

So things are still bad and getting worse, but also starting to return to normal. Mostly not, though. Except in some cases, where they kind of are. Got it?

In a moment like this, it’s nice to be able to look toward sports for some clarity. After all, in sports, we’re used to clear results. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.

What’s in the sports pages, then? A quick scan through Google News’ sports section should give a nice, wide perspective and bring some clarity to the situation.

“ NASCAR becomes the first major sport to resume events with May races” (Ars Technica) — They’re going to wave the green flag at Darlington and Charlotte, with no fans in attendance. Pit crews, the people in auto racing who don’t do social distancing, will “either have to wear fire-proof balaclavas or a face shield.” Okay, so we’re moving in the direction of normal!

“ LeBron James Wants NBA to Resume — No One Knows When or How to Do That” (The Ringer) — Same, LeBron. Hard same.

“ Fauci says states should have ‘wiggle room’ on reopening but cautions: ‘Don’t wiggle too much’” (CNN) — Says the good doctor: “So the concern I have is that there are some states, some cities, or what have you, who are looking at that and kind of leapfrogging over the first checkpoint. And I mean obviously you could get away with that, but you are making a really significant risk.” There’s no sports content in this story, but wow if that doesn’t ring true with all the reported plans that have circulated about starting the MLB season, resuming the NBA and NHL, and everything else.

“ The Hungarian Grand Prix Is The Next Domino To Fall In F1’s Doomed Calendar” (Jalopnik) — So, auto racing is only okay if you’re not making any right turns?

“ NHL pivoting coronavirus return plans after players voice worries” (New York Post) — They’re “now investigating the possibility of playing games in … teams’ home cities.” That’s because “it is believed that the players have pushed back on the prospect of spending months in a hotel apart from their families.” Of course, the whole point of pseudo-quarantining players in a single location was the safety of players’ families and limiting travel, so…

“ Big 12’s Bob Bowlsby fears virus may come ‘roaring back,’ disrupt season” (ESPN) — That would be college football season. In the fall. And yet the commissioner is “optimistic about college football starting on time or close to it.” So, we can do sports, but we should know that if we do sports, there could very well be another interruption to sports as the opening of sports would help lead people to believe things are closer to being back to normal than they really are, leading to abandonment of social distancing and a second wave of the virus, although if we don’t resume sports soon…

“ The Toppings Contain Potassium Benzoate” (That’s Bad) — Can I go now?