Royals Rumblings - News for March 13, 2020

So, uh, it’s been quite a week.

I think Wednesday night was a real kicker for everyone. Within the span of an hour, we were hit with news of President Trump’s travel ban, the NBA being suspended, and Tom Hanks testing positive. That cut a swath across our social consciousness in the way that few moments have in most of our lives. What was just a “not here” and “over there” problem became very real all at once.

Yesterday brought another spate of bad news:

The stock market took its biggest hit since Black Monday.

MLS suspended their season. As did the NHL. And then the NCAA tournament was cancelled. There’s more, if you want the list.

Baseball was not immune, as Max covered yesterday.

Needless to say, there’s not a lot of sports news to go around.

Flanny had a handy little FAQ about this.

When will the season start?

There is no official start date for the season at this time. What we do know is that the start of the season will be delayed at least two weeks. Opening Day had been scheduled for Thursday, March 26.

MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to all 30 clubs in the coming days.

Though, let’s be honest - no one really knows what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Sports Illustrated posted their season preview for the Royals entitled “New Owner, New Manager, Same Bleak Outlook”. Joke’s on them!

Sorry, I warned yesterday that today would be a bit scant on content. Like most of you, I’ve had some upheaval of routine at work and home, trying to prepare as best I can.

Take care of yourself - self-care will go a long way to helping make these weeks (and possibly months) better. But also, be good to one another, as much as you are safely able. Everyone else is also suffering in ways both similar and dissimilar to you.

I’m sure this is going to get worse before it gets better. But, hopefully, next week we can get back to our usual tomfoolery. A new Animal Crossing game drops for the Switch so you can guess what the music will be.

So let’s try something a little different today - more akin to a Friday Off Topic thread. Let’s help each other find some good ideas. My wife and I each described our FMLA after the kid was born as a “life sabbatical” - things were on hold, life moved at a different pace, and there was some shift of priorities. But we also discovered new things, even in the middle of all that exhaustion.

1. What TV shows are you watching right now or plan to watch soon? Or maybe a movie series? Going to watch Harry Potter from start to finish? Start on Game of Thrones because you never got around to it before and need to know where to stop before it gets widely panned?
2. Got any new hobbies or life adjustments you have to make around a new schedule? Going to take up meditation like you’ve always wanted? Looking forward to getting up an hour later because you don’t have to commute?
3. What’s the one thing you’ve done in the last year that you’ve been most happy with or proud of or satisfied with? What about one thing in the next year you have to look forward to?

I at least wanted to do something for Song of the Day. It was a full moon earlier this week. It’s Friday the 13th. How about some Ozzy, the “final boss” song on the original Guitar Hero. Look out for the Orange Note of Freedom at around 2:55.