Will virtual sports, the video simulation catch on with the lack of competition from sixth grade through the professional ranks? NASCAR brought together drivers to give simulation a look.
Somehow it may fill a void. It may be clever. It may be a one-time aspect, however, it never could be a full substitute for complete competition in our idea of sports. We will welcome the return of sports as we know it just as soon as possible. The COVID-19 must be defeated to bring back our lifestyles and our livelihoods.
What helped last weekend with the first full weekend of the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tournaments were the television broadcasts of previous NCAA championship games. Kansas-Memphis from 2008 brought together two outstanding teams and an overtime game. Derrick Rose played for Memphis and Sherron Collins played for Kansas. Even in 12 years later, Kansas rallied again to win in overtime. Both players were high school stars from Chicago who have played professional basketball the last 12 years. With the list in this week’s issue of The Voice college basketball fans can take a trip down memory lane. There will be no champion listed n the future for 2020. It will be a footnote into history.
• Reflection on the recent boys basketball season includes Brian Johnson of West Aurora High School . West Aurora won the est Aurora Regional tournament championship, including a first-round game against Waubonsie Valley, which ended the Warriors’ season with a record of 27-5 to end West Aurora’s season on a high note, in spite of its final won-loss record of 11-20. West Aurora kept improving. What were the West Aurora highlights, disappointments, and what will fans look forward to next season?
“First highlight of the season had to be winning on the road against Oswego,” Johnson said last week. “That was a big win for us against one of the top teams in our (Suburban Prairie West) league.
“The second highlight had to be Kelvin Balfour hitting the halfcourt shot to win the game at the buzzer against Yorkville at home. The crowd stormed the court and that game got us going for the remainder of the season.
“The last highlight of the season was the week of the regional tournaments. We beat top-ranked Waubonsie Valley (47-41) in the regional semis and then won an unlikely regional title by beating Plainfield Central (56-51) on our home floor. We were counted out coming into the State tournament and we were able to win a regional title.
“Disappointments: Obviously losing 20 games is tough. We didn’t end up where we wanted to in the conference standings (7-9, fourth in the six-team SPC West). Overall, we came together at the end of the season and made it a memorable year. So, we had a few disappointments, but, we were very happy with how we finished.
“Next season: There is a lot of potential coming into next season. The hope is our juniors work hard on their game and get better individually. Our sophomore team had a successful season and sophomores that were brought up to the varsity, played well with the minutes they received. Being a young team is always tough, but the returns and new varsity players can start to pave the way for success by having a strong Summer.”
• West Aurora had closure. A finality and encouragement for next year. The teams which remained alive for sectional tournament championship games when the season ended always will give thoughts to what might have been if the games had been played. They never will know. East Aurora and Joliet West would have been a dandy Lockport Sectional championship game. Joliet West had its best season in many decades. East Aurora won its first regional championship since 2011, the last Ryan Boatright year. Then there was Aurora Christian in Class 1A and Timothy Christian in Class 2A set to play in the four-team State tournaments in Peoria when the games stopped. They will remain an asterisk and always wonder what could have happened.
• Indian Creek, a Cinderella team, did not lose a game until the DeKalb Super-sectional in Class A when Aurora Christian ended Indian Creek’s season at 35-1. Nonetheless memories. Wait until next year.
• A grateful note to the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls organizations which will pay the combined 1,200 employees at the United Center who will not work because of the COVID-19 postponements which may last until May, or….