Sports have taken a time-out due to COVID-19 and it’s impacting fans, and non-fans, alike.
These are the sounds and rhythms of our nights and weekends that I’ve fully accepted, and my husband is currently mourning:
Sports Center on repeat at 5, 6 and 10
That one show where the alarm goes off every 3 minutes
That other show with the guy’s dad commentating
Premier League (Soccer) on Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons
“The Playoffs” which seem to last longer for each sport each season. (Insert Eye Roll)
“The Finals”
“The Open”
“The Cup”
The fiery group text convos with my husband’s friends in reference to each play, game, or match listed above and any player, coach, ref, or owner involved in each of these events.
It’s a lot, y’all. I’m not even including the entire football and fantasy football seasons.
Thank God that the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in February. I’m so glad we got that in.
Now, in the name of Social Distancing -it’s finally happened. My marriage without sports! I never thought this day would come.
I’ve been imagining so many things that we will be able to do together! House projects, landscaping, binging a Netflix drama, discovering new recipes – so fun! We can’t go OUT and do anything right now, and I’m hoping we will really get to know each other better and have some time for re-connection.
Just Kidding.
Wait, now, how did this happen? All that time he spent with sports: watching the game (and then the recap, and then the commentary) – I had to myself! Instead of working on house projects and cooking meals together, he’s just…sitting there. He will even, out of habit, check his sports update apps. Oh, and today, I came up from my home office, and he was watching a soccer match from 2013. He literally doesn’t know what to do with himself!
And now, the time that I had to watch my Bravo TV and medical dramas in peace, he’s…there. Thisclose to me. Instead of the free time I had to read while he’s watching a game in the evenings, we’re watching a mobster miniseries “together.” The Saturday mornings where I could get out for a workout while he watches the kids and a soccer match – gone. The late-night games and extra innings he would catch after work where I would enjoy a quiet evening to catch up on housework are now filled with him- sitting there. What happened to the time I had to myself to recharge?
Is it possible that our marriage without sports is harder on me than one WITH sports?
I know he misses his teams, competition, matches and all that comes with them. But, you know what? I do, too.
