Tag: COVID

Posted on in NFL

6 Bold Predictions for the 2020-21 NFL Season

By Saransh Sharma, Rohan Krishnan, and Pranav Thiriveedhi

The 2020-21 NFL season is just days away, and many storylines are coming into it. Justin Fields will not be starting for the Bears, Aaron Rodgers may be playing his final season with Green Bay, Cam Newton is not in the NFL, and Tom Brady is still winning Super Bowls and looking to keep adding to the count. Here are our 6 bold predictions and storylines to watch for this season:

Saransh’s Bold Predictions

1. Cam Newton Gets Signed By the Giants… & Starts

Daniel Jones is not a good quarterback he is a bad quarterback. I will never understand what possible insane statistics a Giants fan can use to try to defend this man, but if you support a guy who in 27 games played has thrown just 35 touchdowns, yet has also thrown 22 interceptions, and has 21 fumbles (almost 2 turnovers per game played), then I am not sure what football you are watching. The Giants cannot waste valuable years of Saquon Barkley’s prime, as well as the prime of this defense, and let it go to waste because they want to see their QB quite literally throw away games. Newton, with his rushing prowess, would fit wonderfully alongside Saquon, and his throwing was good in preseason, as well as before he got COVID-19 last season. If the Giants want to win games, Daniel Jones will do nothing to help them out, and they do not have the luxury to let young players on their roster see their careers wasted by another year because of an incapable QB.

2. Matt Nagy Is The First Coach Fired

Matt Nagy was not too bad of a coach in his first few seasons with Chicago, when they went to the Playoffs with Mitch Trubisky, won the NFC North, things looked great for the former Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator. Since then, QB problems, erratic offense, playcalling, as well as a rather broken locker room, have all occurred, all due to Nagy and his decline as a coach. He gave up playcalling towards the end of last season, which helped the Bears sneak into the Playoffs, but this season he comes in with the playcalling back in his hands. Andy Dalton being named the starter was controversial, but it will depend on how long Fields is on the bench. If Dalton is the starter for more than 5 weeks and Nagy does not make the change, he will get fired.

Pranav’s Bold Predictions

1. Washington Finishes Last in the NFC East

Last year, Washington was poised to take the 4th rank in the NFC East, while the Cowboys and Eagles were the NFC East favorites to win the division. Look how that turned out… I think Washington lived up to their hype towards the end of the season and in the playoffs, but a new offense with a new quarterback for a season has never worked well for Washington, regardless of when. The Football Team also do not have that leadership player they have had in years past like Alex Smith or Ryan Kerrigan. Their defense is scary and will win them games, but I do not see them winning more than five games. Of course, the NFC East is the laughing stock of the NFL, and five games is a lot, but with a lot of new talent pouring into those teams, I think we are here to see a breakaway season. All the NFC East teams will be firing on all cylinders, but I feel that the Washington team is too hyped up to start the season.

2. The Bengals Make the Playoffs

The main reason Joe Burrow could not stay healthy in his first season was the miscues and problems of the offensive line, but now that changed. A new OL coach and a terrific performance by the offensive line in the preseason will allow Burrow to find his receivers. I do not see Jamarr Chase playing as valuable of a role as Tyler Boyd or Tee Higgins, but there is a chance he will perform much differently as the season goes forward. The Bengals have one of the most underrated offenses in the league, and their only key to success this season is getting those stops on defense. If the Bengals can add talent or find a way to improve the talent on defense, I do not see a problem with them matching the Browns, Steelers, or Ravens in arguably the league’s most competitive division.

Rohan’s Bold Predictions

1. Jameis Winston Wins NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Jameis Winston took less money in 2020 to sit behind Drew Brees and learn more about playing quarterback in the NFL. Winston can sling it and have big games, but the question with Winston has always been if he can protect the ball. He is famously known for being the first quarterback to finish a season with 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a single season. This season, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton named Jameis Winston the starting quarterback over Taysom Hill, and Payton is the perfect coach to help Winston lead an offense and protect the football. I think this season, football fans are going to see the best version of Jameis Winston as he leads the New Orleans Saints to the Playoffs.

2. The New York Jets Make the Playoffs

It is now over a decade since the Jets have made the playoffs, which is currently the longest drought in the NFL. This time last year, NYJ’s head coach was Adam Gase, Sam Darnold was leading the offense, and the Jets had one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Now, the Jets have completely revamped the team and culture. They signed respected coach Robert Saleh as their new Head Coach, drafted promising quarterback Zach Wilson with the 2nd pick in this year’s Draft, and revamped their offensive line and receiving corps. The signing of Corey Davis, who is coming off a career-best year, was a great addition to the receiving room of Jamison Crowder, Denzel Mims, and rookie Elijah Moore. They also picked up offensive tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker in the 1st round to help shore up an offensive line that also has Mekhi Becton. I think Zach Wilson and the Jets will surprise a lot of people and sneak into the postseason with 10 wins as a Wild Card team.

Posted on in NBA

2021 NBA Finals: Who Saw This Coming?

By Saransh Sharma, Anish Dhondi, & Nikhil Pradeep

If you told any of us that the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns would be the teams in the NBA Finals this season, we would have thought you were crazy. For starters, the Lakers were the defending champions, and if they stayed healthy, they looked like the team to be in the Western Conference, and then the Eastern Conference was a different story. The Miami Heat were the defending Eastern Conference Champions, but Brooklyn had the duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and later added James Harden. While Milwaukee was viewed as a contender, teams like Philadelphia were more trusted, as Milwaukee’s disappointment of previous seasons in the Playoffs was concerning. Both teams defied all odds, as Milwaukee managed to knock out Miami, Brooklyn, and a rising Atlanta team. Phoenix, a team with 6 players under the age of 24 and little to no Playoff experience, knocked out the Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers to get here. Injuries, COVID, obstacles like this are crazy but adversity happens every season, and both of these teams also dealt with them and preserved, and now have made the Finals as a result. Here are our predictions for which of these two teams will take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy:

2021 NBA Finals: #2 Phoenix Suns vs. #3 Milwaukee Bucks

  • Saransh’s Prediction:

I believed in Phoenix coming into this season. Not Finals-potential believed, but I believed they could be a top-5 Western Conference team and make lots of noise in the Playoffs, but still, not a Finals contender, and for that, I was wrong. Going into the postseason, despite their tough matchup with the Lakers and their youth, I admitted that they truly were contenders, but doubted them due to their inexperience. As for Milwaukee, if you told me Mike Budenholzer would have been their Head Coach again going into this season, and they would win the Eastern Conference, I would have thought that you were insane. Budenholzer had not shown anything to indicate that he was a Finals-level coach, and I did not see him getting much better. While he was very questionable all regular season and most postseason, his adjustments digging Milwaukee out of an 0-2 hole against Brooklyn to win that series, plus making the Finals with the plethora of talent Milwaukee has, may have just saved his job.

This series comes down to the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis had a scary knee injury in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks, and while there luckily was no structural damage to his knee, he did not return for the series. Rumors had it that he would have played had there been a Game 7 in that series, but we do not know how close to 100% he would have been, as he is now Doubtful for Game 1 (as of July 5th). With Giannis, these teams are very even, providing for an incredible series. While Phoenix can slow down Giannis with their ‘wall’ of Ayton and Crowder, Khris Middleton became a problem in the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta. Middleton showed why Milwaukee was the better regardless of Giannis’ health, as he dominated Games 5 and 6 to put Atlanta away. Middleton presents a tricky test for Mikal Bridges, as he may see Middleton go off as he did against Atlanta, or he may be able to clamp Middleton the way Durant and the Nets did in Games 1 and 2 of that series. Middleton’s hot/cold tendencies game-to-game, along with that of Jrue Holiday, will be what determines if Milwaukee has any chance of making this a series once Giannis comes back. Milwaukee will do everything in their power to make life troublesome for Phoenix, as Chris Paul and Devin Booker will see themselves matched up against Holiday and Middleton quite often, but that will not be enough to keep Milwaukee in this series without Giannis. Not to mention, Phoenix with DeAndre Ayton provides Milwaukee with a challenge they have yet to encounter, which is playing a scoring-oriented center, and Ayton & CP3 in the pick-and-roll game will feast on Brook Lopez & Co.

This series is the perfect series of offensive vs. defensive-minded teams, with great depth on both ends. This series is about health, youth, and consistency, and Phoenix has that edge over Milwaukee. Additionally, they have a much more reliable coach, who can win and put away games in the clutch, manage rotations, and make adjustments much better. Milwaukee will put on a show once Giannis is back and take this series the distance, but it may be too little, too late. Your NBA Champion will be the Phoenix Suns in 7 games.

  • Anish’s Prediction:

At the beginning of the playoffs, no one expected these 2 teams to be in the NBA Finals. Everyone expected a Lakers-Nets Finals, but both Phoenix and Milwaukee shocked the world and overcame the odds. Many will argue that these teams only made it because of injuries to notable stars, including Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, which made this path to the NBA Finals easier than others. While it is an unfortunate season in which injuries have taken over much of the game, it is not fair to discredit these teams. 

Now for my prediction, this series will heavily rely on if Giannis can stay healthy. With Giannis doubtful for Game 1, I believe he will not play Game 1 and then rush back for Game 2, hindering his team and forcing Milwaukee to claw their way back into this series. Even fully healthy, I believe the Suns are the better fit team to win the NBA Championship, further setting my prediction. The Suns have the edge over the Bucks in coaching and depth and are close in star power. Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Ayton have been phenomenal in the postseason, while Middleton and Holiday have been on and off. That, along with Giannis’ injury and Phoenix’s momentum, I got the Suns in 5.

  • Nikhil’s Prediction:

In my opinion, the outcome of this series is fully dependent on the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo, and this should not come as any real surprise. The Milwaukee Bucks rallied without their franchise star player to beat the Atlanta Hawks in 6 games, but in all honesty, could have wrapped it up earlier with Antetokounmpo present. All due respect goes out to the Hawks organization, Trae Young, Nate McMillan, etc., but the Bucks were the better team even without Giannis present. As of July 5, he is listed as doubtful for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, which serves as faint optimism that Antetokounmpo’s injury is small enough to recover from and play through. Hyperextensions with severe sprains typically take longer to recover. However, the nature of this injury is all about pain tolerance, and if one can take it, it is theoretically possible to play through the pain. The Bucks without Giannis lose this series in 4-5 games without any question, as they do not have the instant explosive offense needed to cut through this Phoenix Suns defense. But with Giannis on the court, their chances rise exponentially, and in my opinion, make them the better team. Being the better team is only half the story, however.

The Phoenix Suns are one of the feel-good stories of this injury-battered NBA season, and many regard their unlikely rise to the top as the product of heavy injuries to star players on the teams they beat along the way. However, going from a multi-year long Playoff drought to the 2-seed and a Finals berth is not something that can be justified by such a weak explanation. Quite simply, this is the result of hard work and the chemistry of team members centralized around Monty Williams and Chris Paul, two ‘old heads’ of the game. The work ethic, the drive to win, and above all else, the unwillingness to quit from these two individuals is insanely infectious. Also, when you have the likes of Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Mikal Bridges, all budding young stars in this league ready to soak it all in, it is a recipe for success. This team carries so much momentum, and a bit of magic, given that many did not expect to see them at this stage. This chip on the shoulder-type mentality can be compared to the Miami Heat of the 2020 NBA Finals, and hopefully, Phoenix fares better. Realistically, Phoenix’s weakness is production outside of Booker and Paul, and if the Bucks manage to play good enough defense on them, the chances of winning increase for the Bucks. Defense is also a slight issue, given that the Bucks are a shooting team, and the inevitable matchup between Ayton and some Bucks shooter will cause a hole in the Phoenix defense. The biggest question mark, however, is the ability to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo in the open court, and the ability to keep his matchups, like Ayton and Crowder, out of foul trouble. As long as the Suns have answers to these key points, they place themselves in great contention to win their first franchise NBA Championship.

Given that the injury to Antetokounmpo seems like it will keep him out for at least 2-3 games, I do not see the Bucks being able to keep up or even pose a comeback threat if Giannis returns to play. The Phoenix Suns are too complete of a team for that to be an option, however, they do go a bit blind to their issues on defense, so thus I have them conceding games and drawing the Bucks out to 7 games. Suns in 7.

Posted on in NBA

The NBA All-Star Game’s Biggest Flaw

By Saransh Sharma, Nikhil Pradeep, & Anish Dhondi

The NBA All-Star Game has a severe problem currently, but it has nothing to do with the game itself. It instead has to do with the fan & coach-controlled voting for players who get the opportunity to play in the game. Sure, some years snubbed players are understandable due to the stacked conferences and players merely being too hard to choose between, yet the past few years have been the complete opposite, with star players who have outperformed one or multiple selected All-Stars snubbed. The thing that is important to note is that every year, there are multitudes of players that are chosen to be All-Stars. With only 12 spots per conference, the selections are difficult, but some are just dumbfounded nonetheless. Here are our takes on how to improve the All-Star Game voting to have fewer snubs and avoid trolls from dominating the voting (such as Klay Thompson nearly being an All-Star despite playing 0 games):

Saransh’s Solution: Have Current Players Vote & No Conferences

Similar to the ‘NFL Top 100’ voting, the NBA should randomly select NBA players currently playing to compile their All-Star Teams, separated by starters and reserves, as well as by conference. Each player would then select 12 players per conference, and they are limited as to how many players from their team they can select to limit ‘troll voting’ by the players. As we have seen, current players such as LeBron James, CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard, and Luka Doncic all voiced their frustrations with players being snubbed. Devin Booker this season, who is an All-Star replacement for Anthony Davis, falls into this category. Also, even Luka Doncic believed that he should not have been selected as a starter, and Damian Lillard should have been instead. Many of the All-Star caliber players in the NBA have tons of respect for each other and see each other players’ games in ways that fans, and even in some cases, coaches, simply cannot. This goes for one of this season’s biggest All-Star snubs, Trae Young. Many coaches around the league have expressed that they do not believe Trae Young is a point guard or that he has the chance to be an elite NBA player because of his lack of size, his shooting and shot selection, and his defense. That should not matter for an All-Star Game as it is a game of enjoyment, but many coaches do not view it that way.

Another big emphasis that should be taken into account is realizing how much certain players impact their teams. For example, Jimmy Butler missed much of this season with COVID-19, yet when he is playing, the Heat are 14-7 (66.7% win percentage), did not make the All-Star team. DeMar DeRozan, another All-Star snub, is leading an underrated Spurs team in the Western Conference to a 16-12 record (5th in the Western Conference). While I do not believe that players on winning teams specifically should be on the All-Star team or not, fans, coaches, and the media have to realize that these players have huge impacts on their team when it comes to winning and losing games, therefore emphasizing player and team records more into choosing the All-Star rosters.

This goes hand-in-hand with the last change that the NBA needs to make for the All-Star Game, which is to have the league remove conferences for the All-Star Game, therefore getting the 24 best players into the game. This would allow a player like Devin Booker or Trae Young to get in over a player like Nikola Vucevic or Julius Randle, whom while they both had great seasons (24.4 PPG, 11.6 RPG, & 41.0% 3PT shooting for Vucevic, having career-high scoring seasons & 3PT-shooting season), he would not be selected over Devin Booker due to the removal of conferences, who is averaging 24.9 PPG on a career-high 49.7% on FGs, and leading the Suns to the 4th seed in the Western Conference (21-11), while Vooch’s Magic are 13th in the Eastern Conference (13-21).

Nikhil’s Solution: Team Central Selection & Subsequent Player-Wide Voting

The NBA’s selection criteria for the All-Star game has been inherently flawed for a while, but in fairness, it has mainly been due to the increasing amounts of player movement within teams. James Harden leaving Houston and teaming up with KD and Kyrie is not something that should be possible in a fair league and tips the balances as far as All-Star voting is concerned. All three are very clearly All-Stars, but this eats up a lot of space for other deserving players to make the rosters. This, combined with clear and rather obvious ‘snubs’ from the rosters and starting spots, such as the case of Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic for the starting guard spot in the Western Conference, makes for a speculative sort of circumstance for voting in general and is usually not representative of what the majority thinks. Thus, a credible, albeit not preferable method of choosing All-Stars could be to preliminarily pick three candidates from each team, and have another subsequent player vote among those selected.

The basic premise of the method is each team selects 3 members of the roster to be selected for All-Star eligibility, and from there a similar player-centralized vote as suggested in Saransh’s solution would be implemented to select the final rosters for each conference. The only downside to this would be the absence of the fan vote but in all honestly, the fan vote has only served to blur the credibility of the entire All-Star voting process, having selected Zaza Pachulia and an injured Klay Thompson as top ten selections in years past. By implementing these such sanctions within the process, it streamlines the eventual outcome and as a result, produces rosters that are seemingly all-inclusive and fair.

Anish’s Solution: Make Fan Vote Worth Less & Remove Conferences

The NBA’s All-Star Game is important to players as it serves as a vital accolade to their careers. That said, the players who truly deserve the spot on the teams must be named All-Stars. In the current day system, fan vote only really has a factor on All-Star starters, and they’re given the 50% for voting while the 25% goes to players and media each. What was flawed this year was between the tiebreaker in the Western Conference between Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic. For many years team success has always been a factor in deciding who’s having a better season and this season Lillard has been winning more with the injured Blazers roster. Now the problem for voting comes where fans voted Luka Doncic (50% of the vote) and Damian Lillard wins in the other 2 categories that add up to the other 50%. The NBA decided to give the tiebreaker to Luka Doncic which tells me the fan vote has too much power. Fans and social media nowadays turns everything into a meme as players like fan-favorite Alex Caruso, or even Klay Thompson, who has not and will not play a game this season due to his ACL injury. Despite that, he proceeds to receive more votes than CJ McCollum, who suffered a foot injury but was averaging 26 PPG prior. 

As much as we want to see fan input, I believe tiebreakers should be through the other 2 categories because if players (who play and know the game) and the media (whose job is to report on the game) think one guy is better than the other, how do they not win that tiebreaker? My other problem is with the conferences there’s a lack of balance all around. Currently looking at the standings in both the West and East you can see the West is much harder. Teams in the West who are barely playoff contention would be Top 5 seed in the East. With a divide shown this strong, the West has better players, but the NBA picks the same number of players from both sides. You can see the unbalance even looking at the All-Star starters as the East has 2 All-Star starters who aren’t even in playoff contention even in the East with Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum (KD replacement). While in the West we see that the Spurs hold a Top 5 seed and somehow don’t have a single All-Star… The NBA needs to do something to counteract this imbalance that has been between the conferences for years to avoid more snubs in the future.

Posted on in MLB, NBA, NFL, Tennis

2020, The Most Unthinkable Year In Sports

By Saransh Sharma, Pranav Thiriveedhi, Anish Dhondi, Rohan Krishnan, & Nikhil Pradeep

2020, who saw this coming? A worldwide pandemic, systemic racism across the world, an election that tore people apart from each other, horrifying tragedies, yet through all the challenges we faced, all the sacrifices every one of us made, we, whether we know it or not, prevailed. We grew braver, grew an appreciation and gratitude for the people we had, the objects we possessed, the values we hold. One of the biggest things that kept us going all year was sports. Whether it was an ugly Sunday Night Football game between the Eagles and Cowboys, an NBA Bubble playoff game, whatever the spectacle may have been, sports brought people together, and at times, made us escape the reality we were facing in our world. We saw the power athletes had not just through playing their sports, but with their voices, with their actions, with their perseverance, that it inspired us to do the same, and it lifted us during these difficult times. Here are some of the monumental moments that we saw in 2020:

The Day Sports Came to a Halt by Saransh Sharma

On August 26th, 2020, we saw the Milwaukee Bucks boycott their first-round playoff game against the Orlando Magic in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man who was shot 7 times in the back and killed while unarmed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, just 30 miles away from Milwaukee. The fallout led to the cancellation of two other NBA playoff games that day. The rest of the MLB games on that night were postponed, and tennis star Naomi Osaka announced that she would not play in her Western & Southern Open Semifinals match, set for August 27th, the next day. On the 27th, many NFL teams had canceled their practices in tribute to Blake, and all seven major league sports in the United States went to a halt. We also saw the NBA nearly boycott the remainder of the season. Players such as LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard favored the motion to boycott unless a plan to keep the conversations to help end racial injustice. A plan was put in place by the NBA of initiatives to support throughout the NBA bubble, and thanks to the help of Former President Barack Obama, the NBA was able to get back and continue the season.

These actions led to many players having their forms of silent protest before their games or matches, such as taking a knee during the National Anthem, wearing a mask or shirt with the names of victims killed by police due to racial injustice across the country. Overall, it brought more awareness to the injustices going around our country into the sports world, as fans learned of the importance to push for changes for this country. Had it not been for the events that transpired on August 26th, which led to a full day without any sports nationwide on the 27th, we as a country would be in a much different position.

NBA Season Dropped for the Second Time in the Last Ten Years by Pranav Thiriveedhi

In 2011, the NBA season under commissioner David Stern saw a league-wide lockout, allowing for the absence of professional basketball across the country. Many people thought that the issues present under David Stern would not be a problem under incumbent commissioner Adam Silver, but on March 11th, 2020, the NBA season was suspended. Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz All-Star Center and two-time Defensive Players of the Year tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the postponement of their game against the OKC Thunder. Gobert’s positive test led to the indefinite suspension of the 2019-2020 NBA season. Word of this terrible news spread like fire across the United States, even while NBA games were being played that day. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, was devastated to hear about the season suspension moments after coming out with a win over the Denver Nuggets. With so much emotion and tragedy going across the NBA world, and even after the news of Kobe Bryant’s death, the suspended season was the worst thing for many to hear. 

But we are not quitters. The coronavirus pandemic has affected every single person not only around the country but around the world, making us rethink and reinvent our old ways. After the NBA’s indefinite hiatus, and after a struggle to make it work, on June 4th, the NBA board of governors approved for the resume of the season in a competitive bubble format on July 30th, 2020. And you guys know how the rest went. The Orlando bubble proved to be very successful, all the way from the last eight regular-season games to the NBA finals, which helped show that the 2019-2020 NBA season was the most historic and craziest professional basketball season ever. 

The ‘Flex My House’ NFL Draft by Rohan Krishnan

The National Football League was preparing to have their annual draft at Las Vegas this year, and the plans were so extravagant that it included a stage on the water at Bellagio Fountains. Players would be taken by boat to the main stage to be drafted. This spectacle would have made for one of the most memorable drafts of recent memory. Due to the pandemic, however, it became a TV-only event. Roger Goodell, the league commissioner, started the Draft from his basement and behind him was a huge video screen, showing the fans for each team and reactions from players and their families. It was a weird experience for prospects and fans as they did not get to walk up to a stage and get the customary hug from Goodell. Nothing is the same without a huge crowd to cheer or boo for their team’s selection. However, the first night had stellar ratings, drawing a record 15.6 million viewers.

The NFL did a fantastic job of not having any technical issues and proved that in the face of a crisis, a Draft can be done from home. It was also fun to see the memes pop up on social media, giving plenty of memorable moments. Roger Goodell looked like he was about to fall asleep on Day 2 of the Draft, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury did the Draft from his $4.45 million mansion, as he dunked on everyone else’s draft setup, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was chilling on his yacht. Watching the event was a welcome distraction for all fans across the country since it was one of the very few live sporting events since the pandemic started in mid-March. It was also special to watch the draft prospects hanging out at home with their loved ones and showing their reactions to the world as they start a new chapter in their lives. 

The Struggle of the Bubble by Anish Dhondi

After the NBA shut down in March, the NBA planned its way back to a restart in July. The process was strange for both players and fans. The world had to go months without sports, one of the largest forms of entertainment. When the NBA restarted again, players were in an unorthodox situation. They were restricted to their hotel ‘bubble’ in Orlando, where after they played games, they could see their opponents walking around in the same bubble, which gave a unique experience. The style of the game also changed with no fans, the games for the players were very quiet. Watching on TV, we did not notice as much as they add in fan audio, but the players could hear every little thing that they all were saying. This led to players on the bench getting more technical would than usual, as any chatter on the bench could be heard very clearly by the referees. At the end of the NBA Playoffs and Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers were the NBA Champions. Strangely, people will find any reason to discredit a LeBron James ring, calling it a ‘Mickey Mouse Ring.’ In reality, winning the championship was more difficult than fans realize. Portland Trail Blazers star, Damian Lillard, came out and said that playing in the bubble was a lot harder competition-wise. Traditionally, the season and playoffs require a lot of traveling to satisfy homecourt advantages along with other distractions, Dame said that in the ‘bubble life’ was just eat, sleep, and ball. NBA players were also fully rested as they did not have to deal with any travel or jet lag and could recover their bodies for the next game much faster than usual. Overall, the bubble was a huge success, with no positive cases that required a second shutdown. Credit to Adam Silver, one of the best, if not the best commissioner in sports, for creating the safest environment possible for players and teams. After this strange bubble experience, it was not over for 2020. 

The 2020-21 NBA season had to begin to avoid future seasons from being delayed. Teams that played in the bubble received the shortest offseason (72 days for the defending champion Lakers) of all-time, while players outside of the bubble received the longest. The shortened offseason has resulted in players taking additional rest during the regular season to avoid injuries, like Westbrook, Kyrie, Kawhi, and Kevin Durant periodically sitting out games. No fans, along with the difference in rest have made a big difference, as teams that received the most rest are seemingly starting the season on fire. The Magic and the Cavs are surprise teams in the East who were well-rested and started the season with wins that no one expected. In the bubble, we saw a whole different type of play from some players who went off like TJ Warren, Devin Booker, and Damian Lillard with no fans to cheer or boo at them. As many described, it felt like playing at an empty practice gym. 

As the vaccine is slowly getting pushed out, I truly hope that the NBA can start incorporating fans into the games safely because, without fans, the game does not feel as exciting to watch or play.

A New Injury Designation in the NFL by Nikhil Pradeep

Most avid viewers of the NFL know that injuries are simply part of the game, and no matter how far medical and biophysical science goes to improve safety equipment, that fact is not going to change. The sheer amount of force, power, and most importantly, the heart that NFL players play with is just too much for injuries not to be an integral part of the league. In 2020 however, a new type of injury designation showed up in the game-day rosters and fantasy team news articles for those associated with the NFL: the COVID-19 identifier. In these unprecedented times, there were insane circumstances that left NFL general managers scratching their heads and fantasy football players livid. The prime example that inevitably will go down in history is the Denver Broncos having no available QBs to play Week 12 against the New Orleans Saints, a situation that some believe to be poorly handled by the league office and commissioner. There was no exception granted to the Broncos after having pleaded their case for excruciating circumstances, with the game played with Kendall Hilton, a practice squad wide receiver, at quarterback. The result of the game needs no explanation, but the event itself shows the frailty of the NFL’s plan to get their league running again during the time of this virus. Couple this with the league’s handling of the Ravens’ multiple weeks long COVID-19 spread, which resulted in the shifting of games throughout the weekend schedule, and you start to see how bad of a job the league did in handling this year’s rollout of the NFL season. Compare this to the NBA bubble that was deemed a complete success by many within the media, and you begin to wonder how Roger Goddell and his team thought their plan would suffice in the first place.

But we are talking about 2020, and anything that could have happened did happen this year. All things considered, it might have been necessary to play this year and steamroll through multiple COVID-19 cases to even have a league to play in for years in the future. The NFL is by no means a graceful sport, and maybe the methods the league office takes to run it are the same way. All in all, there were not an absurd amount of cases, especially not an amount that endangered a significant portion of people’s lives, and it resulted in a rather entertaining season in a rather dreadful year. On the positive side of things, there were not games completely canceled, all 256 games were fully played. That being said, there are ways to improve the handling of an unforeseen event like this in the future. The NFL will not be praised for their forward-thinking in handling this virus, but at the end of the day, the league, players, and personnel will all benefit.