The first glimpse of normalcy came in a form letter from Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Brent Mizutani Friday afternoon.
The letter stated the KIF was giving The Garden Island a season pass to cover games for the 2020-21 season.
Early March and late February seem a lifetime ago with everything that has transpired. The TGI sports calendar was full then, with reporters and photographers covering baseball, softball and tennis matches. Since then there has been a deafening silence.
The crowds, the local games and competitive-sports atmosphere were all replaced with an extended period of no contact, and for obvious reasons.
Nothing in the sports world, from high school, college, Amateur Athletic Union to National Basketball Association even had the look and feel of normalcy.
The exception is the National Football League, which lives in a bubble all its own and continues to carry on business as usual.
Even the NFL players wear high-tech gadgets for contact tracing and had no official preseason for arguably the most influential professional sports organization on the planet.
The NFL regular season appears to be ready to carry on without interruption as we inch closer and closer to the start of the season.
The KIF letter leaves some lingering questions about local sports’ future, and what they will look like.
Presumably, the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association will begin the football and volleyball seasons scheduled in January without fans.
What will they do with the various ventilation systems to ensure they are safe?
These questions are asked under the assumption that we don’t have a magical COVID-19 vaccine by then that will allow the general population to return to “normalcy.”
Maybe the word “normalcy” shouldn’t even exist, as it were.
The word is just too vague.
The form letter provided the glimmer of hope that some day we will all return to our games and enjoy our weekends with a coping mechanism for reality, something the world of sports used to provide.
Tagovailoa ready for the spotlight
The Miami Dolphins’ organization continues to show its commitment to its top draft pick Tua Tagovailoa.
The former St. Louis standout from Honolulu will no longer have to compete with former first-round-pick Josh Rosen.
The Dolphins were unable to successfully find a suitor for Rosen, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and chose to release him.
Rosen signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad, and the 23-year-old could eventually replace legendary Tom Brady whenever he chooses to retire.
Tagovailoa, who suffered a career-threatening hip injury playing at the University of Alabama, chose to enter the 2020 NFL draft. Now, he will wait for the Dolphins to lose patience with their 37-year-old quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and eventually turn to him this season.
Barring injury, Tagovailoa will be the undisputed star of the team moving forward and, eventually, he will not only be the face of the franchise but the face of the league.
Order Tagovailoa’s jersey now if you can find one.
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
