MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We have had so much taken away this year, but this weekend, we get celebrate something coming back.
The Memphis Grizzlies played their first scrimmage Friday. Major League Baseball has a full slate of games again. AutoZone Park will host a soccer match--and fans Saturday.
Tiger Woods or no Tiger Woods (and it will be no Tiger Woods), the first World Golf Championship since COVID-19 will take place in Memphis next week.
No one can say how long we will have this, or what the fall season will hold. I can say this: cherish today, and cherish the now. We live in a world with sports again.
"I missed this so much," Grizzlies fan Katee Forbis said with jubilation. "I missed this so (bleeping) much."
You do not have to miss it anymore: the Grizzlies are back. Yes, it was a seven-point loss to the Sixers, but that does not matter (and not only because it was a scrimmage).
It is a victory that the Grizzlies can play a basketball game, even if they are inside a bubble.
901 FC will be under the microscope Saturday, as they make the first attempt to host fans at a game in Memphis. Sure there are risks; there are risks in anything we do amid COVID-19.
Former Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp was willing to take the risk to be in St. Louis for Cardinals Opening Night Friday, resuming his duties as first base coach.
"That's why I came back, because I want to be part of something special," Clapp said. "I have to contribute somehow, and why not contribute here in baseball."
So who cares if Tiger Woods is not coming to Memphis--a World Golf Championship is either way. Win, lose, or draw; sports can contribute to our lives again. For many of us, it is exactly the reprieve we need. That alone is something to celebrate.