Is this the new normal?

TIMES are changing.

What is possible yesterday may not be applicable today.

That is true especially in the wide world of sports which is in disarray.

These days, I will trade a protective mouthpiece for a simple face mask; a football kit for a COVID-19 testing kit (preferably not those from China); and a bottle of an ice-cold non-alcoholic beer for a squint of 70% isopropyl.

The so-called “enhance community quarantine” or ECQ gave “March Madness” a new meaning.

Is this the new normal?

Bored as I am without sports in sight, let us try to see the lighter side of things and look at our dire situation through the eyes of a sports fan. And please, don’t take this seriously, pampa-good vibes lang.

Sabi nga nila: “When virus starts to spring, it’s time for social distancing and when things get tough, we just laugh.”

Needless to say, I miss the PBA, the NBA, the volleyball games, the boxing matches, the MMA fights, the athletic meets, the badminton tournaments, the triathlon races and so much more.

Heck, I even miss the little known ones like the obstacle course racing and the mind sport of memory.

The historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum, or us sports writers would love to call it the “RMC”, is being offered by the PSC to DOH to house PUIs and PUMs for as long as the ECQ is not lifted by PRRD.

The Southeast Asian Games Games has long been over but Philippines and Malaysia are still battling it out for the overall lead. As of Wednesday afternoon, Malaysia has 2,766 COVID-19 cases and the Philippines has 2,311.

New York, the center of American basketball, remains to be the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA.
USA tops the chart with more than 188,000 cases followed by Italy with more than 105,000 cases.

Instead of keeping track of LeBron James’ assists count and James Harden’s scoring average we are fed of how many new COVID-19 cases and deaths on a daily basis.

And despite the fact that “small ball” now reigns supreme in the NBA, there is no doubt that the good old fashion “isolation” is back in the game.

The free agency season is already over but some netizens in social media even proposed a two-for-one trade involving three city mayors. (It was eventually turned down because it was lopsided.)

Instead of a relaxing evening watching Scottie Thompson beating taller opponents for the rebound or Paul Lee sinking a long triple with time running down, we watched ancient Korean zombies and every sports-themed movies on Netflix.

One of the more entertaining events in the PBA All-Star Week is the Obstacle Challenge. In the internet these days, there’s the Tik-Tok challenge.

Instead of the usual walk around the park or a mall, we now walk our way to the market and back.

Instead of the Friday night billiards and beer at the sports bar, its now Real Pool 3D and a mug of 3-in-1 coffee after a Friday night dinner of Purefoods hotdog and meat loaf.

Remember those days when you tell yourself that you would work out to shed those excess fats but you just don’t have the time? Well, now that you have the time, you spend most of it munching potato chips and chocolate.

We are told that the aim of ECQ is to “flatten the curve” but as we all know by now, it is more difficult to hit that mark than batting Nolan Ryan’s 12-6 killer pitches.

You, me, everyone is coping with our new lives.

I think Jon Bon Jovi, whose teenage son and longtime bandmate were tested positive of the new coronavirus, said it best when he wrote in his new viral song, “When you can’t do what you do, you do what you can.”

Meanwhile, starved of game-court action, a 16-man field of current NBA players are taking on a virtual challenge in an NBA 2K Players Tournament.

Based on the NBA 2K ratings, the top seed in the tournament is Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets followed by Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.

It’s an online game so the players can remain in their homes throughout the tournament.

We can beat this crisis. But we must all do our share. Let’s not help spread the virus.

Stay at home!

And stay safe, everyone.