MMHWT - Sports in the Time of COVID

As detailed yesterday, #3 Penn State went on the road against #2 Michigan for a dual, and came out victorious to a score of 18-13.

The interesting thing about this, to me at least, is just how quickly the Lions had to pivot from a bout against Iowa, to essentially looking at a weekend off, to heading on the road to take on a top 2 opponent.

That’s a lot to happen in a super short amount of time. And it’s probably just how life is going to be this season.

The Penn State athletics department has had its own share of COVID issues, and has had to cancel games. Opponents have had to cancel games/duals/etc. Michigan, in fact, had to cancel its dual against Penn State a couple weeks back.

Then Iowa fell victim to the Rona, and Penn State scrambled to try to fill the gap in its schedule. Luckily enough, Michigan had recovered from its stint with the coronavirus, and the two teams were able to put something on the calendar rather quickly.

Still, that’s a lot of uncertainty over a very short amount of time. I’m sure these athletes, being young and full of vigor, didn’t care all that much. But for me, it just seems like I’d go from a bundle of nerves as I prepped for a tough dual, to suddenly thinking about how I’m going to enjoy my Valentine’s Day weekend, to right back to a bundle of nerves.

Again, though, this is probably just going to be the norm this year. Here’s hoping these athletes have the mental fortitude to snap into competitive mode on very short notice.