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 Post subject: The Sports Pause: One Year Later
PostPosted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:10 pm 
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March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic was in its infancy, yet we had no idea how crucial it would become. Sports went on like normal. Then the pandemic became worse, leading to a plan for sports to continue as scheduled, but with no fans in attendance. In the case of NCAA basketball, which was closing in on March Madness, they would only allow the players' loved ones to attend. I was all for this. Then Rudy Gobert had to be an idiot and not take this virus seriously, and as a result of him "playfully" touching mics after an interview, he became the first athlete to test positive. His teammate, Donovan Mitchell, became the 2nd player, but it only takes one, as the NBA and other leagues had no choice but to go on a hiatus. Here are the leagues that were affected, as well as the aftermath:

NCAA Basketball

The conference tournaments were in progress on that day, but it was later announced that the rest of the tournaments, as well as March Madness as a whole, would be cancelled. This year, the conference tournaments are going as scheduled, and regarding the Big Dance, the 68-team tournament will start on March 18, with all of the games taking place in Indiana.

NHL

At the time, the NHL was less than four weeks away from ending their regular season. Though games took place on that day, the league announced their pause on the following day, March 12. In late May, commissioner Gary Bettman announced the NHL's Return to Play plan, and it went as follows. The regular season was over, and the playoffs will feature the top 12 teams in each conference, ranked by point percentage. The remaining seven teams saw their seasons end, and they were the Ducks, Sharks, Kings, Red Wings, Senators, Sabres, and Devils.

Out of the top 12 in each conference, the top four were already in the 16-team playoffs, but they had to play Round Robin games for seeding. The other eight, ranked 5-12, faced off in a best-of-five Qualifying Round, with the four winners in each conference advancing to the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After many cities throughout the US and Canada were listed as possible sites for these games, it was announced that the entire playoffs would take place in Canada. Toronto would host the Eastern Conference Round Robin, Qualifying Round, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals. Edmonton would host the Western Conference Round Robin, Qualifying Round, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, both Conference Finals, and the Stanley Cup Final.

The first phase of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery took place on June 26, and it saw the #1 pick go to a Qualifying Round team. The Round Robin/Qualifying Round kicked off on August 1 and ended on August 9, and the second phase of the lottery--featuring the eight eliminated Qualifying Round teams--took place on August 10, with the New York Rangers winning the #1 pick. The 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs kicked off on August 11, and ended with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup on September 28.

Regarding the 2020-21 season, it was originally planned to start on December 1, 2020. After many delays, the season ended up starting on January 13, 2021; an abbreviated 56-game season that features realigned divisions for this season only, mainly to reduce travel among teams. The regular season is set for a May 8 finale date, with the playoffs set to take place between May and July. Regarding the playoffs, the top four teams in each division will qualify, and for the third round, the Stanley Cup Semifinals, the four remaining teams will be seeded 1-4 via point percentage.

NBA

At the time, the NBA was four weeks away from the end of their regular season. In June, the NBA announced their Return to Play, which would see the regular season conclude with 22 teams (13 from the West and 9 from the East) playing eight seeding games. Out of the 22, 16 had playoff positions, while the other six were no more than six games out. At the end of the seeding games, if #8 led #9 by more than four games, #8 clinches. If the separation was by four games or less, then the two teams would face each other in a two-game play-in tournament. To clinch, #8 only had to win once, while #9 had to win both games.

The seeding games began on July 30 and ended on August 13. A play-in was needed in the West between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies, with the Blazers, who were eighth, winning on August 15 to qualify. The traditional NBA Playoffs began on August 17, and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers capturing the NBA title on October 11--seven months to the day after the pause. All games were played in two bubbles in Orlando.

The 2020-21 NBA season started on December 22, 2020, a 72-game season. Unlike the other main pro leagues affected by the pandemic, the NBA had an All-Star Game, which took place on March 7, 2021, in Atlanta. The regular season is set to end on May 16, and it was announced that a play-in tournament would take place between seeds 7-10 in each conference, and will occur from May 18-21. The playoffs will begin on May 22, and the NBA Finals will start on July 8, with July 22 being the date for a potential Game 7.

MLB

The 2020 MLB season was weeks away from beginning, but they ended up cancelling preseason games, but kept the original Opening Day intact. The pandemic's progression ended up forcing more and more cancellations, while there were heated discussions on whether to actually have a season at all. Finally, the 2020 season ended up beginning on July 23, and it was a 60-game season with a fully regional/divisional schedule.

This also included a 16-team postseason that began with a best-of-three Wild Card Series on September 29. The WCS took place in the home city of the team with better seeding, though the remainder of the postseason took place in bubbles. The ALDS took place in Los Angeles and San Diego; the latter city also hosting the ALCS. The NLDS took place in Arlington and Houston, the former city also hosting the NLCS and the World Series, which was won by the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 27.

As for the 2021 season, it will be a full 162-game season and back to the normal postseason, and it's been publicized that fans will be let in to the stadiums this year. The 2021 MLB season will start on April 1.

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