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When some people go to work, they go into an actual building or office of some type. Generally, you work with and around other people. There's always "water cooler talk" that takes place discussing the topics of the day that are most pressing. It could range anywhere from sports to politics to pop culture to whatever is hot in the news cycle. Lately, it's been the coronavirus (COVID-19). The virus originated in China and has spread all over the globe. It's similar to the flu, but has some differences. Nonetheless, it's still deadly and can be highly contagious unless proper precautions are taken.
Proper precautions being taken is what led me to this article in the first place. So many people let the media's coverage control their thinking. There's been reports of widespread outages of common items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, hand soap, water, and other various items you'd normally see on shelves. Price gouging is rampant as well. I've seen disinfectants, cleaners, bleach, and other necessities to combat the spreading of the virus go for as much as ten times their normal value! So how is it effecting sports?
Games without fans
Italy is one of the countries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. Italian based Serie A, one of the top soccer leagues in the world, has suspended all non-essential personnel to its matches, meaning, they have no fans and very few others in attendance. Other leagues around the world have similar statutes in places, or have canceled events altogether. Several non-sporting events have been canceled as well. Not all events have been this restricted or canceled however...
Restrictions in place
There are other restrictions placed upon other events that haven't been canceled. For example, media access to locker rooms have been instituted. Some leagues have mandated that the media will only be allowed to interview players in general media availibility before and/or after games instead of the locker room access. Players have self-imposed restrictions as well. C.J. McCollum of the Trailblazers came out and said he isn't signing autographs for the time being after the outbreak hit Oregon.
More potential fallout
When the NBA came out and said they may play games without non-essential personnel, LeBron James strongly disagreed. He went as far as saying he wouldn't play because he does it for the fans. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were thought to be in danger until the IOC came out and said the games will be played. Some organizations state-side have taken precautions, but no major cancellations or serious changes as of yet. There's been talk of making changes. I imagine leagues are monitoring the situation and will act accordingly.
All we can do as the public is stay calm and well-informed. All the unnecessary stuff, like clearing the shelves at stores and price gouging, needs to stop. Sports serve as a respite from our lives. If we can't have sports to serve as an escape, what do we have? Thank God sports radio hasn't been affected...yet. The fact that I even felt compelled enough to write this was too much for me. Sports is the one thing that helps us get through tough times. If those tough times begin to effect how and/or how much we consume our sports, you know things are getting bad. Bottom line: be careful, stay well-informed, and wash your nasty ass hands!
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C.J. Stroud threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 1-yard pass to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left, to give the Houston Texans a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Houston forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with less than three minutes to go.
Stroud then led a nine-play, 69-yard drive to give the Texans (3-1) their first points of the second half and survive a scare by the winless Jaguars (0-4).
The Texans bounced back from a 34-7 rout at Minnesota to get the victory despite fumbling a punt return early and committing 12 penalties to give them 35 combined in their past three games.
Nico Collins helped Houston to the win with 12 receptions for 151 yards and a TD for his third 100-yard game this season.
Trevor Lawrence threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns as his streak of consecutive starts without a win stretched to nine games.
The Jaguars fell to 0-4 for the first time since opening the 2021 season with five straight losses.
After getting blown out by the Bills on Monday, they had plenty of chances in this one. They led through much of the second half after a touchdown reception by Christian Kirk with about six minutes left in the third.
They had a chance to pad the lead after that when a 58-yard run by Tank Bigsby got them to the Houston 4. Two runs by Bigsby moved them to the 2 before an incomplete pass by Lawrence.
Jacksonville went for it, but Lawrence was stopped for no gain on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Ogunbowale grabbed a short pass and evaded three defenders for a 31-yard gain on third-and-18 on Houston’s next drive.
But the Texans couldn’t do anything after that. They had a run for no gain, a holding penalty on left tackle Laremy Tunsil and an incomplete pass before Stroud was sacked to force a punt.
Derek Stingley knocked down Lawrence’s pass to force a punt with about six minutes left.
The Texans couldn’t get anything going on their next drive that ended with a holding penalty on Tunsil followed by two incomplete passes.
Kirk put the Jaguars up 20-17 with an 8-yard TD grab with about six minutes left in the third quarter. Brian Thomas powered that drive with a 32-yard reception and a 13-yard run.
The Texans forced a punt on Jacksonville’s opening drive, but Steven Sims fumbled it, and it was recovered by Daniel Thomas at the 2. Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. on the next play to give the Jaguars an early lead.
Houston tied it when Stefon Diggs scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 6-yard run with about 7½ minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Jaguars were up 10-7 after a field goal before a 3-yard touchdown reception by Collins put Houston on top 14-10.
Jacksonville added a 52-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-13.
The Texans led 17-13 at halftime after a 30-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn with 3 seconds left in the second quarter.
Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the win!
Injuries
Jaguars: DE Josh Hines-Allen left the game in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion.
Texans: RBs Joe Mixon (ankle) and Dameon Pierce (hamstring) sat out with injuries. … Tank Dell missed the game with hand and rib injuries.
Up next
Jaguars: Host the Colts next Sunday.
Texans: Host the Bills next Sunday.