Polling Place: Should the IHSA go its own way on when to play ball during the pandemic?

The whole thing is a bit nerve-racking. Then again, what about sports during a pandemic isn’t?

Take high school basketball in Illinois. Early in the week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared that winter sports — basketball being the star of that seasonal show — would be put on indefinite hold. Later, Pritzker amended that to “in the spring.” Meanwhile, the Illinois High School Association didn’t particularly listen, keeping hoops on its winter calendar.

Chicago Public Schools has postponed basketball until further notice. Everybody else? We don’t know. A whole lot of questions are on the table. Concerns, too. The topic led the way in “Polling Place,” your weekly home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter. On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Do you support the IHSA’s announcement that the basketball season can start on time, which contradicts guidelines outlined by Gov. Pritzker and the IDPH?

Upshot: “They’ll start,” commented @outlawbooster, “then will have to stop when outbreaks start at all the schools.” That’s no fun to think about. What’s most important here? Is it the games? The high school athletics experience? College ball? Clearly, most respondents aren’t thinking along public-health lines.

Poll No. 2: Who’s the biggest culprit in the Bears’ 29th-ranked offense?

Upshot: “None of the above — it’s the offensive line,” commented @0010Delta, who wasn’t alone in expressing that opinion. One snarky voter even placed the blame on Jerry Reinsdorf. Mostly, though, Nagy is the man. And by “the man” we mean the head screw-up in charge.

Poll No. 3: Bears host the Saints on Sunday. Who wins?

Upshot: A thorough beating at the hands of the Rams last week still has Bears fans shaken. More than a two-thirds majority in Saints camp? That’s the kind of give-up one would expect in Week 14, maybe, but not Week 8. Or maybe the Bears are simply going to get their rear ends handed to them again.