2020 College Athletes Join Previously “Denied-Olympians” in Heartache, But We Can All Share in a Bigger Victory

Casey Stengel or Yogi Berra might have said this: “just because it’s unprecedented, doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before.”  This article isn’t to make light of the coronavirus situation, but to show how we can share our troubles with the memory of people who have gone before us, including those in the sports world.

Among the adjustments made on account of this health threat, the decision to cancel the annual March Madness basketball celebration is a necessary, but nevertheless, bitter pill for many college basketball players.  This is especially frustrating for the Dayton Flyers who have risen to heights they have not seen since the days of Roosevelt Chapman in the 1980’s and Don May in the 1960’s.

This now global pandemic has dashed the hopes of many seniors in many sports nationwide who will never know what lifetime memories they might have created.

In comparison to the youth of the world in three previous Olympiads, this impacts “only” one year of athletes.  Again, the use of “only” is not to minimize the intense disappointment.  We are reminded of the Greatest Generation who endured the Depression, then shed their blood during World War II.  Along with these hardships, they witnessed the necessity to have the 1940 (Tokyo/ Helsinki and Oslo) and 1944 (London and Cortina)¹ Olympic Games cancelled.  This essentially wiped out one generation’s opportunity.  And their parents had the 1916 Games cancelled because of World War I.

No question, these are difficult times in 2020.  However, we need to remember that we are not being singled out within human history.  In the United States, we haven’t had invaders on our soil as often as other countries have.  We are fortunate that we have six-plus centuries of experience and science which the European victims of the plague did not have.  We will get though this, maybe not unscathed, but with spirited determination.  The memories created won’t be on the field of sports, but they will be important in the bigger picture of our lives.

¹ – “Olympic Games thwarted by war (1916, 1940, 1944),” by Professor N. Yu. Mel’nikova, PhD, Russian State of Physical Culture, Sport, Youth and Tourism, Moscow, http://www.teoriya.ru/ru/node/3619