The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1343401
50 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER I t's been a year now. A full 12 months, during which every facet of our lives has been disrupted by a global pandemic. It's not an unprecedented situation, as viruses and plagues and epi- demics of all forms have swept across the globe for centuries. This one, however, is different in that one of the many things the COVID-19 virus has completely blown up is the modern, multi- billion dollar business of sports on the high school, college and professional levels. In the grand scheme of things, with so many people having died from the disease around the world, losing some of the entertainment sports bring us is not that big a deal. It's also the biggest deal, as nothing would make staying inside and being at home bet- ter than sitting back and enjoying a pleasant competition between rivals. Or watching the World Series, Super Bowl or NBA Finals. There just doesn't seem to be anything re- laxing about watching sports these days, with dozens of cancellations and resched- uled games, players sitting out because of exposure, if not illness, and coaches trying to navigate off-court and off-field protocols as much as game strategy. When you spend more time worrying about whether a game will start than how it will end, it takes much of the fun out of it. We've all tried to make it through as best we can, but there's a toll on our own families we might not realize for a generation. Coaches and staff in NC State's athletics department have taken pay cuts and furloughs to help offset the millions in losses to the general ath- letics budget from ticket sales, donations and other elaborate revenue streams that fund bud- gets that are often in excess of $100 million. That money may not come back in the post- COVID world. Student-athletes and coaches have gone through weekly, sometimes daily, testing to be able to compete. Seasons have ended early, or were not played at all. NC State has done an excellent job with maintaining in-person testing for all its ath- letes, even as most students are learning remotely or in virtual classrooms. Appreci- ate the discipline they have followed and the sacrifice they have made. Football made it through a full season and to a bowl game. Men's basketball has, too, but with fragility: the season-ending injury to leading scorer Devon Daniels had an even bigger impact on the prospects for the sea- son because of the occasional loss of other players to COVID protocols. Wes Moore's reigning ACC champion Wolfpack Women spent several weeks ranked No. 2 in the nation and twice beat No. 1-ranked teams. But it suffered its first loss of the season because its top player, Elissa Cunane, was out because of virus exposure. The glitz and glamour of games have taken a hit, as completely empty or nearly empty facilities have virtually no atmo- sphere. Home-field advantage is a distant memory. The Wolfpack Radio Network has broadcast all its games from the studio in the Murphy Center, removing some of the color they absorb from the game when watching it courtside or from the sidelines. Devoted followers of the program have paid a price too. The missed opportunities to tailgate. The inability to high-five the dear friends we've made because we were ran- domly assigned permanent seat licenses near each other long ago. Will we ever be enter- tained by a good kiss-cam promotion again? Former Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell missed his first football game in Carter-Finley Stadium in 40 years, stay- ing home throughout the season. NC State super booster Christine "Teen" Sigmon Abernethy, who had attended every ACC Men's Basketball Tournament since its in- ception in 1954, was headed from her home in Newton to Greensboro for the NC State- Duke game when the 67th annual event was canceled. She died on Nov. 30 at the age of 94 after a brief period of declining health. For each of us, the last year has been about surviving and making do under difficult cir- cumstances. The outcome of sports contests have been both completely irrelevant and vastly important for mental health purposes. Those outcomes, however, are not life and death as we navigate the pandemic. Players or teams who have opted out of the miasma are not quitters, as one ACC men's basketball coach suggested. Players who have stuck it out, whether they have exceeded or failed to live up to expectations, should be celebrated for making it through their seasons. It's been a stressful and un- precedented haul for us all. We're living in difficult times, within sight of a brighter future on the horizon. Spring sports are underway, with a sem- blance of normalcy in outdoor facilities. Soon, maybe, we'll all be together again. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. PACK PERSPECTIVE NC State Is Navigating COVID World As Well As It Can Facemasks on socially distanced sidelines, empty stadiums and arenas, subject-to-change schedules, and frequent COVID testing of athletes and coaches are all part of the sports world now. PHOTO BY ETHAN HYMAN, THE NEWS & OBSERVER/COURTESY ACC MEDIA