Health threats, food insecurity, financial volatility, and social unrest cloud the mind. The spectacle of sports tends to raise spirits 🍻 even in the most discouraging of times. They serve as a welcome distraction — demonstrating the focus and teamwork needed to accomplish goals. What fans want more than anything else is real, live sports.

Would fans be ok if they can’t attend the games? I think so if proper steps mitigate players’ health risks. A successful baseball season, not to mention basketball, football, tennis, and other seasonal sports, would elevate morale and build a bridge towards normalcy. A world without live games contributes to the deep sense of malaise.

Some sports teams scramble to be on television even if they can’t fill their own stands during normal times. Only 250 fans showed up to an Oakland A’s baseball game in 1979. The A’s ranked 22/30 for attendance last year despite being in the upper echelon in games won (6/30).

There’s talk about a dust-up baseball season taking place in Arizona soon. I say, bring it on. The underdog A’s expect to do well with or without the fans.