ABILENE, TX – Mary Margaret Johnson said, “This has been the weirdest and longest and wildest week.”
Alyssa Orange said, “We have no sports to physically cover.”
Brianne Welch said, “I never ever thought we’d see a time where there are literally no sports.”
This past week was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced in the history of sports.
Dusty Baker said, “You get a cancelation, you get a cancelation, and you get a cancelation. That’s what we’ve been hearing this entire week. I think it’s time we just cancel 2020 altogether.”
Event after event, game after game, team after team, everything has been canceled for the forseeable future. Now what do we do? As fans all we can do is wait for sports to return. As sports reporters, well, we’re trying to figure that out ourselves.”
Eric Boynton said, “It’s just trying to be more creative every day on how we put content out there.”
Brianne Welch said, “We’re really just talking about cancelations and trying to come up with different creative ideas to get us through these next few weeks, hopefully no more than a month. Obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
We can only talk about the Coronavirus and cancelations for so long. For example, the NCAA won’t have activity until the start of the Fall if the Coronavirus pandemic settles down by then.
Welch said, “I got the chance to talk to with a Clemson baseball player about their season completely being canceled.”
Johnson said, “Here in Buffalo, New York, we had all of the winter championships canceled.”
Boynton said, “In Wisconsin, we’re dealing with the Bucks having a really good chance of winning the NBA title. Is that still going to happen? When is that going to happen?”
Orange said, “The Pig Trail Nation, our product, our sports, we’re not just saying we’ll see you when we see you. We’re going to be here, we’re going to talk this through too because we know that fans have questions.”
Dusty Baker said, “I would be lying if I said this wasn’t affecting us at all here in Abilene, Texas and across the country as well. Sports Reporters are struggling day-in, day-out trying to find stories and giving you the local coverage that you deserve. We’re persisting, we’re doing everything we can, but until the Coronavirus issue is resolved, all we can do is take it day-by-day.”
Orange said, “What we’re trying to do is let people know that, yes sports have stopped, but we are not. We’re talking to players, former players, coaches.”
And while our jobs are still relevant, and maybe more than ever before, it’s the uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak that gives sports reporters an uncertain outlook on the future.
Welch said, “We don’t know what the future is and it’s heartbreaking for the athletes. I think that’s where my heart hurts the most.”
Johnson said, “We’re kind of walking a tight-rope, figuring out what we’re going to be doing, what we’re going to be covering as sports reporters.”
