{"id":2530,"date":"2020-04-22T15:48:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T20:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2530"},"modified":"2020-04-22T15:48:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T20:48:54","slug":"sports-in-a-contactless-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2020\/04\/22\/sports-in-a-contactless-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports in a contactless world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s face it, things are closed, social gatherings are canceled and there seems to be no end in sight. For many of us, quarantine has taken a toll on us in a plethora of ways. Of course, it goes without saying that what we may be feeling is only a fraction of what our essential and healthcare workers are experiencing. but there is another group of humans that are feeling this quarantine in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you do when your hobby or interest has been taken? For many sports fans, already confirmed the cancellation of seasons like the NBA<\/a> and USL<\/a> and proposed closing of other sports like baseball<\/a> have left these avid sports fans in a state of purgatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NBA playoffs alone, which were scheduled to start April 18, draw in an average of over 20 million viewers each game 7. Undoubtedly this loss of content not only halts the financial profile of the NBA but the interest and attention of about 16% of our population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI miss being around it, the social aspect,\u201d said Taylor Anderson, a long time fan of Chicago sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sports have long been a part of our culture. From baseball being labeled as our national pastime to our unified understanding of Super Bowl Sunday as a holiday, sports have become a part of American life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For fans, it is more than a hobby. And they are lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan Massow, a self-described White six fanatic, is reminiscing on how different the season was a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Massow, a Naperville native, showcases his favorite piece of sports memorobillia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually\u2026 I think his first home run was like a year ago today\u2026last week actually\u201d He says, clearing his desk to show his bobblehead of Eloy Jimenez, a White Sox outfielder who would spend his second season in the MLB like many fans, awaiting news of an opening day.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That opening day rush is what most fans seem to be missing. That triumphant, \u201cIt’s back!\u201d moment. One that many would plan for, as they dedicated weekends to the roar of the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Massow holds his favorite lighter, a black Zippo engraved with the White Sox logo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made plans for the Sox opening weekend\u2026but I guess it’s good I didn\u2019t buy the tickets yet,\u201d said Joey Knott, a senior at Bradley University. Opening weekend, like many plans in a college senior’s life, would be put on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it isn\u2019t all a bad thing, there are always things to look forward to. As Chicago White Sox fans and fans of sports in general, they\u2019ve found refuge in The Last Dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above Joe Knott desk lies a plate commenting Michael Jordans first NBA Championship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 10-part documentary<\/a>, co-produced by ESPN and Netflix, encompasses the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. For many young fans like them, it\u2019s given them a new and unseen look into one of the greatest, untold stories of the NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never really seen a big documentary about Jordan, or any videos from the era, only photos on social media. But I have this photo of his last shot hanging in my room.\u201d Dan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Massow pictured with Michael Jordans last shot as a bull, a memory he was not alive for <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Its no coincidence either, The Last Dance features unseen footage of the 6 times NBA Champions, the Bulls. It centers around the controversy surrounding the last season under Bulls coach Phil Jackson. fueled by an all-access press pass, this documentary is Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and the whole cast of characters at some of their darkest and silent moments. The Last Dance can be watched through subscription to ESPN of Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
One of Joe’s favorite highlights of the Jordan era sits above his bed <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So if you’re a fan struggling to find refuge in a world without contact, or contact sports, sports are more than the game. You can find that same satisfaction in other forms of media, especially those documentaries and shows that give the game a whole new meaning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it, things are closed, social gatherings are canceled and there seems to be no end in sight. For many of us, quarantine has taken a toll on us in a plethora of ways. Of course, it goes without saying that what we may be feeling is only a fraction of what our essential and healthcare workers are experiencing. but there is another group of humans that are feeling this quarantine in unexpected ways. What do you do when your hobby or interest has been taken? For many sports fans, already confirmed the cancellation of seasons like the NBA and USL and proposed closing of other sports like baseball have left these avid sports fans in a state of purgatory. The NBA playoffs alone, which were scheduled to start April 18, draw in an average of over 20 million viewers each game 7. Undoubtedly this loss of content not only halts the financial profile of the NBA but the interest and attention of about 16% of our population. \u201cI miss being around it, the social aspect,\u201d said Taylor Anderson, a long time fan of Chicago sports. Sports have long been a part of our culture. From baseball being labeled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":282,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2537,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530\/revisions\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}