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| It's a myth. LIVE! (No, seriously, don't.) |
Seeing that this space has been chronicling the comings and goings of Major League Soccer since January 11, 2015, how can I pass through one of the biggest events in its history without commentary? I’m talking, of course, about MLS’s 25th anniversary season! 25 years, guys! Holy shit, and how many times did I think you’d never make it…but also COVID-19, the fact that the 2020 regular season was put on hold for several weeks and, when you get right down to it, may not happen at all…
…and if some part of you hasn’t braced yourself for the possibility of the entire 2020 season never happening, my guess is you’re wondering why everyone’s freaking out and hanging scare-quotes about the phrase “social distancing” in every day conversation. This post is for you too, and don't mind the insults.
With news on the coronavirus outbreak going wall-to-wall until we run out of walls, I’m not going to dig too much into that specific subject. Anyone who wants to know what’s happening already does, which leaves the rest of you deciding whether Fox News is “too far left” of OANN (here, “too far left” signals an a willingness to try bleach as medication). To go back to why I almost expect to see the entire 2020 season cancelled, that just follows from what I'm reading - same as you (and, seriously, don't read OANN). MLS honchos have tentatively slated May 10 for the league’s return and, based on most of what I’ve read, they still hope to play the full slate of games, only on a condensed schedule. If that happens and a full season comes to pass, I’ll celebrate more irresponsibly than most. That has everything to do with how surprised I’ll be to see it.
First things first, no one knows much about this bug – all the way down to seasonality, i.e., whether or not higher temperatures will slow it down. That said, whether it’s higher temperatures or the (increasingly unlikely) effect of fully successful social distancing and/or nation-wide shelter-in-place lock-downs, it’s entirely possible that, perhaps as early as May 10, or even as late as June or July, countries all over the world will attempt a resort to “normalcy,” which, by the way, is one of my favorite words from around the time of the Spanish Flu outbreak. (Ah, the unwanted parallels.) At any rate, once the infections stop growing, y’know, exponentially, temptation to return to normal life will exert a powerful pull on all of us. Also, face it, just about every person on the fucking planet will embrace that with the “I-don’t-actually-care-if-it-kills-me” recklessness of this year’s Spring Break revels. Seriously, if/when the day comes when The Man gives the all-clear, it will take a reservation and a sword and shield to get into your favorite local night-spots. The party is gonna be lit, y’all!
…and if some part of you hasn’t braced yourself for the possibility of the entire 2020 season never happening, my guess is you’re wondering why everyone’s freaking out and hanging scare-quotes about the phrase “social distancing” in every day conversation. This post is for you too, and don't mind the insults.
With news on the coronavirus outbreak going wall-to-wall until we run out of walls, I’m not going to dig too much into that specific subject. Anyone who wants to know what’s happening already does, which leaves the rest of you deciding whether Fox News is “too far left” of OANN (here, “too far left” signals an a willingness to try bleach as medication). To go back to why I almost expect to see the entire 2020 season cancelled, that just follows from what I'm reading - same as you (and, seriously, don't read OANN). MLS honchos have tentatively slated May 10 for the league’s return and, based on most of what I’ve read, they still hope to play the full slate of games, only on a condensed schedule. If that happens and a full season comes to pass, I’ll celebrate more irresponsibly than most. That has everything to do with how surprised I’ll be to see it.
First things first, no one knows much about this bug – all the way down to seasonality, i.e., whether or not higher temperatures will slow it down. That said, whether it’s higher temperatures or the (increasingly unlikely) effect of fully successful social distancing and/or nation-wide shelter-in-place lock-downs, it’s entirely possible that, perhaps as early as May 10, or even as late as June or July, countries all over the world will attempt a resort to “normalcy,” which, by the way, is one of my favorite words from around the time of the Spanish Flu outbreak. (Ah, the unwanted parallels.) At any rate, once the infections stop growing, y’know, exponentially, temptation to return to normal life will exert a powerful pull on all of us. Also, face it, just about every person on the fucking planet will embrace that with the “I-don’t-actually-care-if-it-kills-me” recklessness of this year’s Spring Break revels. Seriously, if/when the day comes when The Man gives the all-clear, it will take a reservation and a sword and shield to get into your favorite local night-spots. The party is gonna be lit, y’all!
