A Summer Of Sport. I Wish I Could Sing. There Are Some Good Things Happening. Moby Dick Is At It Again.
- I am thinking that the Covid-19 pandemic had and will continue to have long-term ramifications. Obviously, the healthcare issues are sad and worrisome but the ill-effects of the last sixteen months are widespread. Businesses initially laying off hundreds of thousands of employees and now basically begging people to work is problematic in many ways. Projects that were put on hold are now restarting but only at the pace of entities finding people to work. Our healthcare workers and first responders certainly have been thrown sideways – but thankfully hospitals’ intensive care units are starting to have more capacity. Though there seems to be a level of general anxiety, the economy and the vaccine have now provided a runway for all of us to get back to a level of normalcy.
A leading indicator of the ‘return to normal’ for me is the sporting world. It was only a year ago that major sporting events were being postponed (The Summer Olympic Games for one) and in some cases cancelled. Twelve months later, with countries once again opening up, we can again enjoy a summer filled with sports – maybe to a point of saturation, but we will take that over last summer any time. At a first glance:
- Major League Baseball – ongoing into the Fall.
- Major League Soccer – after an international break, there was one game yesterday and more this coming weekend.
- Euro 2020 – postponed from last summer, it started Friday thru July 11.
- The U.S. Open – June 17 -20 at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.
- Copa America – the main men’s football tournament contested among national teams from CONMEBOL (South America). June 13-July 10.
- Tour de France – June 26 – July 18.
- Wimbledon – June 28 – July 11.
- Stanley Cup Finals – June 29 – July 15 (if it goes 7 games).
- The Gold Cup – the main football competition of teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. July 2- August 1.
- NBA Finals – July 8 – 22. (if it goes 7 games).
- The Open Championship – July 15 – 18 at Royal St. George’s Golf Course in Sandwich, Kent, England.
- The Summer Olympic Games – July 23 – August 8 in Tokyo, Japan.
- NFL preseason starts – August 5.
- The Premier League starts – August 14.
- The Paralympic Games – August 24 – September 5 in Tokyo, Japan.
- College Football starts – August 28.
- U.S. Open Tennis Championship – August 30 – September 12.
- The Ryder Cup – September 24-26 at Whistling Straits near Kohler, Wisconsin.
Note: Yesterday’s Euro match between Denmark and Finland reminded all of us that life is way more important than competition and sport. The medical emergency with Denmark’s Christian Eriksen gave all of us a dose of reality. Most of us have at one time or another been trained in CPR – but after yesterday, PLEASE WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO. Four minutes of your time may help save a life.
- As mentioned in the list above, the postponed 2020 Euro Championship opened up on Friday with Italy versus Turkey. With this opening ceremony and game at Rome’s Stadio Olympico, there could be no one better to kick off the tournament than Andrea Bocelli. He is remarkable, with a booming voice, cool sunglasses, and a tuxedo that I am sure was custom-made by Armani. Listen and watch Bocelli, the world’s most popular living tenor, perform Puccini’s ‘Nessun dorma.’ Another remarkable performance in a simple, but well done opening ceremony:
- We have all heard about the good, bad, and ugly with the behavior of some professional athletes. It seems to be a combination of money and the people they surround themselves with, which has often led to some very bad decisions. There are also many great stories of professional athletes doing the right thing, contributing to charities and causes that make a difference. Here is one of them and it involves a Utah Jazz player, Jordan Clarkson. Yes, he paid it forward:
- Speaking of summer, let’s take a look at a Whale of a Story: