Written by Braidan Lewis (Features Writer) This Coronavirus outbreak has turned bad for many sports fans who were anticipating the sporting world heading into the spring and summer. For starters, the NBA and NHL were heading into the end of their respective seasons and into the playoffs. Personally for me, and many other NBA fans, we were excited to see how the NBA playoffs went down. The MLB Spring Training was just a few weeks in, and I was enjoying seeing teams take out their anger towards the Astros after their recent scandals were publicized. I have to say, the biggest thing the sports world is missing, is the NCAA Tournament. The upsets, the buzzer beaters, and the Cinderella runs, who doesn’t love March Madness? There is a constant feeling that there is nothing to watch just because sports are gone, but don’t worry, there is an alternative to fill that void.
Fortunately, major sports leagues are doing what they can to help encourage fans to stay indoors. The NFL released a statement saying that it would make its Game Pass service available for free to fans without a specific timeline for the offer to end. Game Pass includes every NFL game from the past eleven seasons, original programming like “Hard Knocks” and “A Football Life,” and access to the NFL’s “All-22” footage, the camera angle that players and teams use to break down film. The NBA jumped on soon after. It revealed in a statement that it would make NBA League Pass available for free through April 22. League Pass is the NBA’s equivalent to the NFL’s Game Pass, and with it comes access to every game played this season as well as a selection of classic games. Even hockey got in on the action with a statement that said starting on Friday, the league will make replays of all 2019-20 games available for free through April 30 via NHL.tv. They will also make classic games available along with selected longform content, and they’re showing content from the 2020 NHL Gaming World Championship. The NCAA even uploaded many vintage and classic games to their YouTube channel for fans to watch and reminisce on some of the most famous moments in college basketball history. And if that’s not enough, here’s a list of sports movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix. Miracle: The 1980 US Olympic Hockey teams underdog story versus the Soviets. All American: Series inspired by the real life story of NFL star Spencer Paysinger and his journey from South Crenshaw to Beverly Hills. Any Given Sunday: With an all-star cast that includes Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Quaid and Cameron Diaz. Steamin’ Willie Beamen is the mobile quarterback that now dominates the NFL, but has undergone an identity crisis as Beamen when he dealt with his newfound fame.
Check out some of these options to help you stay sane during this time!
The Claw 