Coronavirus has flipped the sports world on its head over the past year – WIVB.com – News 4

(WIVB) Coronavirus has flipped the sports world on its head over the past year.

It started on March 11 when NBA star Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 prior to Utahs game in Oklahoma City.

The league immediately suspended their season. That was just the first domino to fall.

Life as we know it has changed and that transcends sports, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

Bettman and the NHL were one of the first leagues to press pause.

On March 12, 2020, the Sabres were in Montreal getting ready to take on the Canadiens when the league hit the brakes on the season. The Sabres didnt take the ice that night and their season came to an end with 13 games remaining. The team didnt play another game until January 14, 2021, nearly 10 months later.

Weve also been paying attention to whats going on around us both in the world at large and the sports world, MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said.

One day after the UB Womens Basketball team played their MAC Tournament game in Cleveland, the conference commissioner pulled the plug on the tourney and that was the beginning of the end for college sports. COVID wiped out the spring season leaving local athletes defeated.

This is a sport Ive been playing since I was three years old and now it could be over, we dont know so, it was tough for me all day yesterday, I went home and I cried some more, Canisius Senior Pitcher Kyle Warner said.

Aprils NFL Draft was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in 2020 but instead happened far from the bright lights of Sin City.

The sun didnt shine on Buffalos boys of summer.

The Bisons season was also canceled in June but there would eventually be baseball in Buffalo.

In late July, Major League Baseball found its way to Buffalo. The Blue Jays couldnt play games in Toronto so they made Sahlen Field their home for the season.

Unimaginable, I said to a few people if you would have submitted this as a movie script it would have been turned down because its not believable enough, theres no way that can happen, Mike Buczkowski, President of Rich Baseball Operations said.

Fall and winter sports were next in the line of fire. In early August the MAC postponed the upcoming football season.

Theres a lot of questions out there concerning this virus and still a lot of answers to be had, UB Athletic Director Mark Alnutt said last August.

College football would eventually find a way to return to the field. UB played a shortened six game regular season schedule that started in November.

Not even the greatest athletes in the world are immune to COVID concerns. Josh Allen found out on August 23. The Bills quarterback tested positive but it was later discovered to be a false-positive.

I get a call 6:00 in the morning say that I tested positive its nothing you want to hear but I felt fine, Allen said.

The Bills opened the season on September 13. What would normally be a packed, raging stadium filled with fans, was empty and silent.

Head Coach Sean McDermott said, we miss our crowd immensely we could have used their help yesterday but we know theyre out there watching and pulling for us.

The college basketball season also got off to a delayed start and there were several pauses along the way but the NCAA has started conference tournaments and is closing in on March Madness.

We focused mostly on professional and college sports for this story, but the impact on high schools was huge. At this level it wasnt about money, but about memories. And while the pros and college will eventually get right financially, but the memories for Western New York high schoolers are gone for good and thats unfortunate.

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Coronavirus has flipped the sports world on its head over the past year - WIVB.com - News 4