Despite the dark clouds that have loomed over the world recently, there is a silver lining: the same Tiffany silver of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The sports equinox has graced our lives in a time we needed it most. For the first time in history, the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, PGA, and tennis all played on the same day of Sept. 11.  

The final week of the 2016 NBA regular season saw many fans choose between two historic games to watch. Some chose to watch the Golden State Warriors set the record for the most wins in a regular season with 73, surpassing the 1996 Bulls record of 72. Others saw Kobe Bryant’s last game in his illustrious career shocking the sports world with a 60-point virtuoso. This time in sports is that exact day on loop. 

Whether it is the beginning of a new season in the NFL, the playoffs in the NBA/WNBA, or the teams in the MLB in a race to the Fall Classic, there is something for everyone. 

With the abundance of options, journalism students, primarily sports reporters, are salivating at the opportunities set in front of them. 88.1 the ‘Burg podcaster Danny Debock has been anticipating excitement at the games available. 

“It’s a dream. There is always a sporting event to be tuned in to the TV. It’s not a question of, ‘Is there gonna be a game that I’m interested in?’, but ‘what game am I going to watch?’” DeBock said. 

Each day of the week has brought some form of event to watch. Some leagues have even been forced to play games outside of their normal schedules, such as the postponements of the NBA and MLB seasons. The NFL has even been forced to act. 

With the breaking news Thursday evening per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Titans-Bills matchup has been moved from Sunday Oct. 11 to Tuesday Oct. 13 evening following the rash of positive COVID-19 tests throughout the Titans organization. This is just the second time since World War II to see an NFL game played on a Tuesday. 

“There is just so much information to take in. Oh, you have the Penguins loss one night and they are out of the playoffs. Then you have the Lakers against Portland. For sports junkies, you really have to be on your A-game to remember everything that’s going on in the course of a given sports day,” DeBock said. 

Another host at 88.1 the ‘Burg and starting offensive lineman for the Wildcats Will Ortner sees this as a time in sports as more of a puzzle for fans to piece together. 

“The U.S Open for tennis, I didn’t even know it was going on. Naiomi Osaki won. I was like wow, that was going on this whole time,” Ortner said. 

It was only a matter of time before the leagues began overlapping. This caused ratings to drop for certain sports. 

“You’re having an NBA game at 4 o’clock on a Sunday, you’re not going to beat football. You’ve got no chance. People would rather tune it to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Denver Broncos at that time than watch Lebron play the Heat,” Ortner said.

Regardless of which sport or league draws the most views, each one has at this point found a balance with player safety to continue playing each day and week. This is a historic time for everyone watching. Only time will tell if we ever see another year of every league’s schedule aligning together again. For now, sit back, watch and may the best team win.