The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how many things we take for granted in life. Among those things that have been taken away are sports, which have always just been there throughout most of our lives.

I hope that next time we are all gathered together at Joe Faber Field on a sunny summer day, we are able to sit back, relax and enjoy a ballgame. I hope that we can take a step back and see that these are our friends and relatives playing a game for fun, and I hope that we do not take the game too seriously as fans.

If the umpire makes a questionable call, I hope that we can just move on with our lives. I doubt if any official purposely makes a bad call just to spite your team or player. We all make mistakes, yes even you.

I hope that we can back off of our kids’ coaches if we don’t agree with their methods or if our kid isn’t getting enough playing time. I would imagine your kid would rather be there on the field with his buddies than not out there at all.

I hope that the quarterback for our favorite professional football team can post a picture of himself and his toddler playing catch without getting 100 replies telling him how much he sucks or that he needs to be traded.

I hope that we can watch Minnesota sports and “enjoy the ride,” as opposed to constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Obviously, I have been guilty of more things on this list than I would like to admit. But this pandemic has really changed my perspective on what sports mean to me and, hopefully, I will be able to maintain this new perspective when the games begin.

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