Thursday, December 31, 2020

Sharing positive vibes through #SportsSmiles

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of sports in March, I wanted to get some positive vibes out on Twitter. I shared a photo from Target Field with the hashtag #SportsSmiles, and I asked others to share their favorite photos and/or memories from times that sports made them smile. 

I got a lot of great responses that I retweeted at the time, but I thought it would be fun to group them all together and share them here as well. 

It's never too late to submit a #SportsSmiles photo! 


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The 2020 chapter

Hindsight is quite a funny thing. 

I ended a lengthy post on New Year's Eve 2019 with this line: "Cheers to 2020 and the next decade of work, friends!"

Looking at that now, a year later, saying cheers to 2020 seems absolutely ridiculous. Who would want to toast to the year that gave us a pandemic? As my dad has said for months, 2020 will go down as the year where nothing happened. 

I guess it's true that the world didn't completely shut down, but what a whirlwind of differences. I think many of us can agree that time played tricks on us this past year, or some would say that time means nothing in 2020. Working from home, what day is it? A 60-game baseball season ended this fall but made me think it was June. I felt like I got my weekends back, without work/sports, while many friends felt the opposite and more overwhelmed. 

Baseball returned... eventually
Reflecting at year's end is quite common, and I'm proud of what I wrote last year encompassing my work over the decade. As for this year, I'd also direct readers to my post from July titled Pandemic Projects where I detailed many of the things that occupied my time, work-wise and otherwise, throughout the spring and early summer before baseball started. 

The only real sense of normalcy since the pandemic started came with that 60-game baseball season from the end of July through September. Covering games again was so nice, even if it was all from the comforts of home instead of only the road games from home. It was odd watching games played at Target Field on TV, and even in the final week of the season I always had to remind myself when a new homestand or road trip started so my pregame work routine wouldn't get messed up. 

The Minnesota Twins finished with back-to-back American League Central Division Championships, getting another stellar year from designated hitter Nelson Cruz, phenomenal pitching from Kenta Maeda (including a near no-hitter) and a few Bombas thrown in, too. Max Kepler started the season with a home run on the first pitch he saw, after all. We don't need to get into the postseason, except to mention that the playoff format changed a bit and teams played in bubbles in California and Texas. 

A busy, pre-pandemic winter
When it comes to my writing this year, let me back up to pre-pandemic times. One of the first things I covered in 2020 was a Minnesota Wild outdoor practice in St. Louis Park. It came right after the announcement that the Wild were *finally* going to host a Winter Classic, scheduled for Jan. 1, 2021 at Target Field. Oh man, I haven't thought about that in a while. My baseball and hockey worlds were going to collide, and I was so ready for it. Of course, the pandemic canceled that fun. 

Also in January, I filled in covering a few Gopher men's basketball games, including an upset of No. 19 Michigan. I continued my work with Minnesota Hockey Magazine as a Wild beat writer and a contributor to NBC SportsEngine covering high school hockey games. 

Since Hockey Day Minnesota stayed local in Minneapolis this year, I covered my first HDM. Fun fact: It's more than one day. Despite the very cold, snowy and windy weather at the outdoor rink, I covered two high school games Thursday night, featuring local schools Holy Angels and Blake girls' hockey teams each hosting an opponent. On Friday, I watched the women's all-star game with Minnesota Whitecaps, NWHL and former Gophers players. Saturday, the Gopher women hosted a game. Each of those brought features for the spring 2020 issues of Minnesota Hockey Magazine. 

The main events on the sunny, but chilly, Saturday were great match-ups between boys' high school hockey powerhouses. I covered Blaine versus Blake. Conditions weren't ideal, but I had a great time running around the rink, talking to players and watching outdoor hockey. 

Hockey, hockey, hockey 
Among the bigger stories on the Wild beat last winter, top forward Jason Zucker got traded to Pittsburgh and coach Bruce Boudreau was fired on Valentine's Day. That's still an interesting move to ponder. I also wrote a story on the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, jumping on a conference call with other media and Al Michaels, who had the famous call. 

As the prep hockey season wound down, I covered section finals for the Star Tribune, then put on my Minnesota Hockey Magazine cap to cover the boys' and girls' state tournaments. Breck won yet another Class 1A championship, while Andover knocked off three-time champs Edina in Class 2A on the girls' side. The Andover boys' team finally made the tourney, only to be upset as the top seed in the quarterfinals by St. Thomas Academy; Hill-Murray won it all in Class 2A, and Mahtomedi finally broke through for a championship.

I followed the Minnesota Whitecaps for their second season in the NWHL, covering their 1-0, overtime, semifinal victory in March. They were supposed to play the title game a week later. A title game that never happened. 

I kept somewhat busy during the pandemic with feature stories for USAHockey.com and SportsEngine. Then there were winter preview stories for Breakdown Sports. Throughout the year, and especially this fall, I put together a couple dozen feature stories for the Otter Tail Lakes Country Magazine, focusing on communities throughout Otter Tail County. 

A few of the most fun projects for me this year came out of some pandemic creativity as I strived to determine how to keep busy, keep writing and keep focused on sports. I had so much fun writing the 14-part series for three sports movies: A League of Their Own, The Rookie and Angels in the Outfield. I turned them into a combination of summary, sarcasm and asking questions about why certain things were done in the movies. 

Finding the good in 2020
So, those were some highlights of my year. Was it fantastic? No. Was it terrible? Also no. I'm blessed to continue writing. I've seen a lot of takes on social media lately as the year 2020 wraps up. Some people want to make it clear that just because the calendar flips to 2021 doesn't mean everything goes back to whatever normal will be. Others don't want to hear about good things that happened to people, because the year was so bad for many; others have the opposite view and want positive vibes.

For me, I wanted to share some of the good things. Part of it is a way to look back and realize what I've accomplished, especially when work is slower and motivation can be light. I'll also admit that I've felt the pandemic fatigue lately. It can be tough missing traditions we used to have, missing sports seasons that are normally in full swing, missing friends, missing simple things like getting together in-person, wondering when things will return to whatever definition of normal. 

But there's always hope. For whatever is going on in your life, clinging to hope and faith is huge. And if there's one thing a new year can bring, it's hope for good things. 

Thanks, as always, for reading. Let's connect on Twitter and Instagram; I'm @hlrule. 
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When sports went dark in 2020

Most of the content in this entry was written in mid-March, right as the COVID-19 pandemic started shutting things down. I didn't feel compelled to share my thoughts at the time, but I thought they would be good to post as the year 2020 comes to a close. 

What ended up as the final Minnesota Twins spring training
game of 2020.
The sun was shining on the lush, green grass at Hammond Stadium. The temperature at game time was 79 degrees, exactly 40 degrees warmer than the Twin Cities, which was met with cheers from those fans in attendance for the Atlanta Braves versus Minnesota Twins game on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

It's always fun for Minnesota baseball fans who make their way to Fort Myers for some baseball and summer-like weather during February and March. Though the results don't count or much matter, it's all about the baseball atmosphere that hasn't been around for months. It's about checking out the new players and seeing the familiar faces. It's about the anticipation of a new baseball season, which this year was pretty much off the charts for fans in Twins territory.

As the game went on, the Twins lineup didn't produce much for runs. But the bright spot in the 3-2 Twins loss was Jose Berrios on the mound during his 4.1 innings with 5 strikeouts (many, if not all, were looking Ks). Later that day, Berrios was named the Opening Day starter for the second straight year for the Twins.

I attended the game as a fan with my parents. We walked out of the stadium with some friends after the game, having no idea that it was going to be the final game of the Minnesota Twins 2020 spring training.

Unprecedented - yes, I used the word - times 
Twenty-four hours later, everything in the sports world was turned upside down and effectively shut down for the time being in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Major League Baseball announced the cancellation of the rest of all spring training games, adding that Opening Day (March 26 against the Mariners for the Twins) would be delayed at least two weeks.

Before I go further, let me just say that with all the information and takes going around social media that it seems to me there is a both/and situation going on. When it comes to sports, one can 1) Absolutely understand that public safety and health are a top priority and most definitely take precedence over sports. You agree that postponements and cancellations are the right call. 2) Still be disappointed, sad, frustrated or feeling whatever you want to about these unprecedented and abrupt changes to sports.

And I will focus on sports here, because, well, that's my arena.

All the unanswered questions
So much has happened this week and particularly in the past 24-48 hours. I'm already a bit of a Twitter junkie, but it felt like hitting the refresh button couldn't be done enough. And then every time you'd check it, something else was canceled or postponed, or first, it was set to be played without fans. NCAA, auto racing, all the major sports leagues, etc. The news cycle was constant and stories seemed to be outdated faster than Byron Buxton can get down the line.

It's a weird time. There are so many more questions than answers about so many things. Ticket refunds? Travel refunds? How will part-time/freelance workers make ends meet? Will seasons be shortened? Will Mikko Koivu play in an NHL game again? What else will be canceled?

Many answers aren't there right now. The important thing was getting everything buttoned up and postponed. Now the work begins or trying to figure things out from here. It's no secret that scheduling for professional-sports venues is a logistical mess, and that's during regular-season play. Try rescheduling games now or figuring out how to resume seasons or playoffs while still making it fair for all involved. It won't be an easy task. But I'll save that for those in charge.

While the Coronavirus has hit, that uncertainty has also hit the stock market. Say what you will about the market, but it's taken a hard hit here recently. That's not the only measure of the economy, of course. Things will certainly trickle down immediately to plenty of people, and that's just considering the sports shutdown.

I saw plenty of Tweets about who's affected and what this abruptness of no-sports means to them. Of course, the one that hits home are those who aren't employed full-time with benefits. Freelancers and contract employees and hourly/seasonal/part-time employees (hand raised). It's everyone from sports venue employees to sports writers to those who work in sports TV production. I'm sure there are many more I'm not thinking of, like food or merchandise industry workers who won't have ballparks or arenas to supply with their products. 

Fast forward to December 2020...

It's interesting to go back and re-read this. I don't remember why exactly I didn't share the post in March. If I recall, I think I really felt compelled to write something that day, even if I didn't share it immediately. 

It really was amazing how quickly things escalated. Had our scheduled vacation been set for a few days later, I don't think we would have traveled. But there we were in Fort Myers, having attended a baseball game one afternoon and then preparing for the next game to get canceled. 

That Thursday was an odd day. As more news unfolded and high-profile cases were reported that Wednesday night, March 11, we figured it was only a matter of time before baseball followed. The Twins had a rare spring-training night game scheduled for that Thursday. Had it been the usual 1 p.m. start, they would have gotten it in, not that it really matters. So we spent the day out and about, grabbed a patio lunch at Panera and kept obsessively checking our phones to see the latest updates. 

I also had my eye on the Minnesota state basketball tournaments back home, too. After other winter sports, like hockey, finished their seasons and tournaments, boys basketball wasn't able to crown a section winner in some cases, and girls basketball had their state runs stopped in the middle. Those stories are still being told. I wrote a story about Henning girls' basketball for Breakdown Sports for the 2020-21 season, following the team's heartbreaking end to the season without a state-title game. 

So, a very odd vacation turned into a long spring and summer for me. Thankfully, the blessings of good health and safety have been with me and my family. From the sports perspective though, it was certainly different not working baseball games for a while, and then watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs being played in a bubble. 

With 2021 on the horizon, there's a light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine. Sports came back, though nothing is back to normal, or even a new normal. Here's hoping for good things for all in the new year. 
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