As someone who doesn’t follow sports, my normal interactions with the sports world include brief glimpses of professional and college level games while I switch the channels on my TV or in the headlines of news stories that make the front folds of major news sources. However, even from my passing glances or short reads, it is abundantly clear that COVID-19 has dramatically impacted how we watch sports.
From delayed seasons to players pulled out after testing positive for the virus, nothing speaks to the magnitude of how much has changed like the silent cardboard fans who have replaced the scores of cheering sports fanatics in the stands of every live game.
When I first saw the cardboard cutouts of fans propped awkwardly in the stadium seats in the background of a professional sporting event, I thought it was hilarious. Back in March, when everything spiraled out of control, the thought of sports teams continuing to play despite the pandemic, let alone holding in-person games, seemed ludicrous. However, sports teams made do, adjusting to their new normal.
Cutouts of people propped or taped to the seats began to make an appearance at a variety of live games that otherwise would have had full, lively stands of people. Some organizations, including the MLB, have even given fans a way to still feel involved. Now, diehard sports fans can call in and have a cardboard cutout made of themselves to be displayed during games, a touching tribute to days passed when a Sunday afternoon could be spent overpaying for hotdogs and cheering on your favorite baseball team.
Perhaps it has been the passage of time or the months of quarantining that have left me contemplative of the world around me, but now, when I think about the silent cardboard fans, I’m stuck with a certain twinge of sadness.
To me, they represent an innate desire for human connection that COVID-19 has made nearly impossible in so many facets of life. Fans want to be involved and crave the exhilaration of being in a crowd surrounded by others who love the game. Sporting events aren’t the same without a rowdy crowd to create a fun and competitive atmosphere. If there’s one thing that COVID-19 has shown, it is that people yearn to interact with others. While cardboard cutouts may seem silly, they are a physical embodiment of that desire and a form of coping with the new normal that we must all somehow learn to live with.
