I normally try to keep things focused on soccer around here. Well, lately, anyway. However, the ever-rising and expanding local impact of COVID-19 is impossible to ignore. The spread of the virus and its strain on those afflicted, their loved ones, the health system, and the economy are awful. There’s only one person in Louisville so far to have contracted it, but it’s unreasonable not to expect that there will be many, many more before things start actually blowing over.
People are either choosing to avoid large gatherings of people, or having that choice made for them. Serie A in Italy has totally shut down. Washington’s state government basically banned all gatherings of more than 250 people. Anyone other than teams, staff, and family members have been banned from the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. Several conventions that were set to take place later this month and in early April in Louisville recently cancelled. The NBA suspended its season!
One local college has already cancelled classes. UK, UofL, WKU and Bellarmine have suspended in-person instruction and lectures. A lot of large local employers are allowing employees to work remotely where possible. JCPS has its finger resting over the “CLOSED” button. Governor Andy Beshear asked folks to abstain from attending church services. “Social distancing” is a new term in the social lexicon that is likely to win the Oxford Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” award.
Tacoma Defiance is playing their home opener in a match that’s closed to the public (no different than usual BA-DUM-TISSSS), and their March 22 match is to be rescheduled. Yesterday, Hartford Athletic announced that they would be postponing their first two home USL Championship matches due to the virus outbreak. Connecticut has already declared a state of emergency, and they’ve only got two cases so far. Kentucky has eight, mostly in the central part of the state.
More of this is bound to come. I bring all of this up to ask: is Louisville City’s soft open on April 7 for the Open Cup and big open on April 11 at Lynn Family Stadium in jeopardy due to COVID-19?
It’s hard to imagine that it’s not. However, there’s been no statement by the club on this point yet. There should be: an acknowledgment that the possibility of a postponement exists, and that there’s a plan in place for what to do about it.
I feel terrible for everyone involved if this becomes a reality. Lots of people, me included, have been waiting a very long time for opening day at LFS, to say nothing of all of the people that have worked so hard to actually make it happen. There’s been so much excitement about it and the season as a whole that it would be completely devastating if it had to be delayed or even cancelled until things are safe.
However, this is a public health crisis, and it’s a lot bigger than soccer. COVID-19 is one of the scarier infectious diseases to hit the planet in about a century. Sure, there are lots of other problems out there that are even worse, but not one that is so immediate or contagious, or that has killed thousands in less than three months.
I honestly hope I’m overreacting and coronavirus more or less misses Kentucky, save these few instances, and we can all go on living our lives within a week or so as if nothing ever happened. But it’s best to plan for the worst and hope for the best rather than not to be prepared at all.
Vamos Morados.
