With so many sports in this country, it’s much more difficult to deal with a global threat like corona virus

What I know is, I don’t stand alone. Like others, I know as much about corona virus from what I hear, what I watch, what I read. Yes, it’s scaring, not funny. Shaking hands is not recommended. It can be replaced by elbows to elbows.  Smooching is a no-no. So are hugs. Mask wearers should be avoided.

Yup, that’s what you learn. Not to do things that could affect you. It is really serious, something that you don’t look lightly at. Hopefully, it gets calmed down a little bit.

It’s a global virus. an issue all over the planet. Japan, Italy, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have shut down all sports events. In the USA, a Division III men’s basketball tournament game played in Baltimore was before empty seats, and that was a decision made by the schools involved and host Johns Hopkins University.

The Women’s World Cup Gymnastics contested in Milwaukee, Wis., was called off. The Women’s World Hockey Cup scheduled for Canada has been cancelled. In Greece, the public was barred from its Olympic flame lighting. In Seattle, the Sounders, one of the most followed and supported Major League Soccer teams, had 33,080 in the stands for the most recent match, but officials said that was probably its smallest turnouts in years.

National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and NCAA officials have been in daily discussions. But none of them have made any decisions. The new XFL football league is playing, selling tickets, and otherwise, no word from it. The Women’s International Soccer match between the USA and Spain in Harrison, N.J., Sunday was played before a sold-out crowd. Golf tournaments were played. Tennis matches were played.

The National Basketball Association has announced it would meet and discuss this. But it sure didn’t care about Sunday’s attendance. Let’s see, the Los Angeles Lakers at the city rival Clippers drew 19,060 with scalpers outside, in Boston, the Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunders had 19,156, in Houston, the Rockets and Washington Wizards packed in 18,055, at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and Detroit Pistons had 18,301 in seats, and in Brooklyn, the Nets and Chicago Bulls attracted 15,816.

They also had good pro basketball crowds in Indiana, San Antonio, in Miami, Sacramento, Washington D.C., and in Milwaukee. The next day the NBA said it would send notices around the league, informing the teams that games could be played with empty seats. Hopefully, all these hoop fans Sunday arrived home safely, without a scare.

United States athletes are becoming aware and concerned about the possibility of playing before empty seats. Some are concerned about it, have spoken out about it, are uneasy about it.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija has been through something along these lines and said it wasn’t any fun. He was with the Chicago White Sox in 2015 when they played before an empty Camden Yards Stadium due to unrest in the city of Baltimore. He said it was bizarre on a sun-drenched afternoon with just the teams there.

Said NBA superstar LeBron James of the Lakers: “I ain’t playing without fans in the crowd, just won’t.”

This was seconded by Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. “Boring, he said, not playing before fans would be weird. They provide the energy, the excitement, the support, it’s something I wouldn’t want to see.”

Then there was Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson who said, “We get the energy from the fans, without them it sucks man.”

That’s right, Anderson, no dugout or fan hand shakes. Health comes first and games are second.

Other athletics said it was disappointing to hear this, but athletes can’t decide this. It’s up to leagues in this country to make a decision on whether to bar fans from ballparks, arenas, stadiums. High schools have not been heard from, and here in New Mexico the quarterfinals of the state basketball tournament is going on as scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday. Anyone with tickets will be allowed in.

The NCAA is thinking of having fewer sites for its men’s and women’s national basketball tournament. The National Invitational Tournament has not been heard from. The NHL is still on the ice. Major League Baseball has already said it will open its season in 2 and a half weeks as planned. But cramming tens of thousands of fans into ballparks for games that could technically be played without them?

With all the sports in the US of A, it makes this all that much difficult. But this is not all about sports. In New York City, there’s talk about closing down the subways. Stores, movie theaters, are still opened, but that’s today. Airlines have not said anything about shutting down flights. Same with buses and trains.

But something that has already become common internationally could happen in the United States if there’s no slowdown to the spread of the Covid-19 strain that has already infected more than 100,000 people word-wide.

Being a senior citizen, I am very concerned about this or any other virus. For me, no big events, no movie theaters, no shopping crowds, no hand shaking, no hugs, no smooching. Just God Bless America.