If all goes well — “well” being quite the relative term in 2020 — there will be a return to pro sports in America fairly soon.
The NBA and NHL will reawaken in time to play out their postseasons. Baseball will come — perhaps in early July — to big-league ballparks from coast to coast. The NFL will stay on schedule — or close to it — for its season.
And away we’ll go.
Again, that’s if all goes well. From this page to God’s ears, right?
Even in the best-case scenario, though, we’ll have to get used to seeing major pro sports played in largely empty arenas and stadiums. How will that look? Sound? Feel?
Does one of these sports stand to lose more than the others, in terms of the TV viewing experience, if no fans are in the seats? That’s question No. 1 in “Polling Place,” your weekly home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter.
“I think you feel the energy and the players’ [tendency] to be affected by it more in the NBA,” @riczaj01 commented. “Some NFL stadiums are like that also, but not on average.”
“With so much downtime, I would think MLB scans the crowd more than any other sport,” @StevesFitz noted.
The most votes, however, went to football. In the NFL, according to @nativehoosier, the “fans are like extras in an entertainment show, like [with] movie crowd shots.”
Aren’t crowd shots standard fare in pretty much all sports flicks? There’s always a love interest nervously hoping for the best, a yahoo dad yelling angrily about his kid’s playing time and a moment or three when the masses leap to their feet in unrestrained applause.
What the heck were we talking about again?
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: As a TV product, which of these sports would be hurt the most by having no fans in the seats?
It's "Polling Place" time again, people. Vote like the very fate of the free world hangs in the balance! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's @suntimes.
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) May 14, 2020
1/3: As a TV product, which of these sports would be hurt the most by having no fans in the seats?
Upshot:“ALL OF THE ABOVE!” tweeted @stevesher6, making a mockery of the time-honored “Polling Place” rules. But, hey, we get it. The truth is, we might not know unless — and until — we’ve seen ’em all fan-free. By the way, will any of these networks use recorded crowd music? Or mike up the benches, dugouts and sidelines? Or get really creative with sound effects? Just spitballing here.
Poll No. 2: Once I’m convinced it’s safe, I’ll probably attend pro sports events …
2/3: Once I'm convinced it's safe, I'll probably attend pro sports events:
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) May 14, 2020
Upshot:“Same” received by far the most votes, but “less” beating “more” by a 3½-to-1 margin seems worth paying attention to — especially because, for so many people, disposable income ain’t what it used to be.
Poll No. 3: What do you think of Scottie Pippen’s ranking — 21st — on ESPN’s list of the top 74 players in NBA history?
3/3: What do you think of Scottie Pippen's ranking — 21st — on ESPN's list of the top 74 players in NBA history?
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) May 14, 2020
Upshot:That’s some mighty fine company the Pipster is keeping, though voters in this case clearly are on board with it. One wonders whether the massive interest in ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary series on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Bulls has given Pippen’s reputation a real boost.