Cancelling sports was the right move

It has only been 10 days since the National Basketball Association put their season on “hiatus” because of the Coronavirus. Soon, the National Hockey League, PGA Tour, ATP Tour, WTA Tour, LPGA Tour, XFL, NASCAR, Major League Baseball, MLS and English Premier League followed.

An incredible number of international sports competitions have also been cancelled. They include the World Figure Skating Championships, World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, World Hockey Championships and World Curling Championships. The Boston Marathon and Kentucky Derby, two American spring staples, have also been postponed until September. Meanwhile, March Madness, which was originally to be played in empty arenas, also appeared on the cancellation list as Kansas and Duke balked at the original proposal of the NCAA.

One might argue that what those in charge of high performance organized sport might have acted a little prematurely in cancelling or postponing their event. My answer was absolutely not.

Coronavirus has become the most dangerous pandemic that has hit our entire world. It is time everyone take it seriously so we have the opportunity to return our daily lives. The faster everyone self isolates, the faster we can “plank the curve”. To date there have been 298,380 cases with 12,836 deaths according to Worldometers. In the United States, there have been 22,738 cases alone and 288 deaths. The Americans have the fourth most cases in the world behind China, Italy and Spain.

The fact that organized curling, golf (at the lower levels), WWE, Mixed Martial Arts and horse racing have continued needs to be questioned and criticized. Last weekend, Dr. Allen Woo, the president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association got Coronavirus after attending the Western Canadian Doctors Curling Bonspiel in Edmonton, Alberta (yes folks that is actually a thing), and New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton believed he got Coronavirus after attending horse racing competitions at the Oaklawn Race Track in Hot Springs, AR.