Well, folks, today was supposed to be the day before the Big Day. The USL home opener at Lynn Family Stadium is something most of us have looked forward to for months, if not years. It was supposed to be a crowning moment for Louisville City. A celebration of the club’s past success and dedication to its future. There were going to be parties and tailgates and probably fireworks to fête the fête, so to speak. The weather is even supposed to be pretty nice tomorrow! That almost never happens for a LouCity home opener!

Instead, we’re stuck at home. At least, we should be. Soccer has ground to a halt everywhere in the world except Belarus, for some reason. COVID-19 has cancelled or postponed the 2020 Olympics, EURO 2020, Champions Leagues on every continent, the U.S. Open Cup (for the first time in its history), the FA Cup, USL, Liga MX, MLS, Liverpool’s inevitable march to their first Premier League title in like 40 years, the list goes on.

Sports reporters have become real news reporters again. Soccer players and coaches are reduced to being hand sanitization public service announcers. Youth soccer clubs are hoping their players are watching their YouTube instructional videos or getting really, really good at juggling.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Who knows when soccer will come back? What will it be like when it does? Will we ever be safe crowding thousands into the stands ever again? Will public health officials even let us?

The answer to those last two questions is yes. It really is. It’s just going to take some time. Probably more time than anyone wants. One positive thing to come out of COVID-19 is that scientists, doctors and researchers around the world have taken down a lot of bureaucratic and administrative red tape that usually prevents them from making a lot of rapid progress in their efforts to collectively share information so that they can produce a vaccine and get the globe spinning again. Trials in humans are already in progress. It’s still about a year or so away from reality, however.

I’ve gotten away from the point – I feel like I’ve been writing this same blog post for more than a month. I probably have been. Tomorrow was supposed to be about Louisville City and Lynn Family Stadium. It still can be, but definitely not the way we’d hoped.

Still. Here’s what you can do:

Fire up YouTube. Find your favorite LouCity game. Set up camp chairs in your back yard, your deck, your patio, or your parking lot as long as you stay away from other people. Put some brats or wings or squash or whatever on your grill, or even order some Hometown Pizza. Put some beers in your cooler. Put on all the purple you’ve got. Break out the good bourbon. Imagine you’re in the parking lot of or even inside the coolest soccer stadium you’ve ever seen. Imagine the sounds of the Groove Machine, but even louder. Imagine the chants, but even louder. Imagine the field, but even bigger and not half covered in fake grass. Imagine absolutely dominating Birmingham Legion, and not feeling the least bit sorry about it.

Just live in that for a while. As long as you can. It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing, and that’s kind of where we’re living right now. It’ll be real someday soon enough. VAMOS MORADOS.