It’s amazing how quickly things change. I had tickets for the Colorado Avalanche vs. Vegas Golden Knights game for this past Sunday, March 15. As a huge fan of both teams, I had been looking forward to this for months.
Early last week I started to have that funny feeling that this game wasn’t going to happen. When the season was officially suspended on March 12 I was gutted, but not shocked. I knew it was coming.
Here’s what I did find surprising, though. When I first heard about the cancellation, I thought I would spend Sunday moping around, depressed that I wouldn’t be at the game. Truth is, I barely thought about it. Life had already entered a completely new dimension. Instead of a missed puck drop, I, like so many others, was looking for toilet paper. I was out running errands for family instructed to stay at home. I’ll be honest: Like so many others, I was entering panic mode.
I heard that my nephew in Switzerland, upon hearing that school would be closed for weeks, began to cry. Ostensibly, it was because he would miss his friends. But it made me realize how scared so many young people must be. They haven’t lived through 9/11 or other pandemics. This is likely their first encounter with existential fear.
The fear that people feel now is very real. So is the anxiety. Unfortunately, isolation, the very thing we’re supposed to do to help flatten the curve of coronavirus’ growth, can be toxic for people struggling with anxiety or depression. As a community, we must find ways to reach out.
In times of difficulties, sports has proven an excellent receptacle for all manner of emotion: joy, anger, fear, panic. I really, really miss it.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
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