Remember what was going on in sports back on March 1? What many consider the best time of year in sports was about to embark.

March Madness was about to start. There was not a clear favorite this season and that would have likely led to an exciting tournament for the NCAA. Spring training was moving toward opening day later in the month for major league baseball. The NBA was having a successful season with multiple teams having the talent to give LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers a battle. The Master’s golf tournament was around the corner in April and the Summer Olympics were upcoming.

Away from the sports world, back on March 1, our world was the same world we live in day after day. The only world most of us had even known. Restaurants and bars were at our disposal whenever we wanted. We could plan vacations, attend weddings, and visit family or friends when and wherever we chose.

That was back on March 1.

Then we started hearing reports of a virus of some kind. On March 1, there were a total of 62 reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States. On March 1, a resident in a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, became the second American to die of COVID-19.

Everything changed daily during the rest of the month.

Yesterday, the calendar flipped over to April. History will continually tell us that March 2020 was not just the standard normal 31 days of a calendar. Speaking of normal, normalcy these days it seems has most commenting how time speeds by so quickly. Not last month. The past 31 days, for all of us, have felt like months.

Here we are 31 days later. As I write this, there are more than 3,000 American deaths from COVID-19. There are more than 175,000 people suffering from the virus. Life as we know it has been turned upside-down, and it’s going to stay that way until May 1 at the earliest. Though it will likely last longer into summer.

More months of binge watching TV. More months of lamenting for sports to return to society. Of longing for the day we can leave home with the freedom of doing whatever we choose.

During the month of April, let’s all do what we can to speed up normalcy.

Lets see if LeBron can bring the Lakers another title. Lets root hard against the cheating Houston Astros. Lets see who wins the green jacket at Augusta.

Yes, I think we miss our sports.