Sports fans relegated to home comforts as waiting game starts

Binge-watching television shows has become a popular pastime during coronavirus containment around the world, but it's not easy when you'd rather watch rugby and there are no games being played anywhere.

It seems the only professional sport being played right now is in Belarus, where its top soccer league is still kicking. If your definition of sport is somewhat broader, you could throw in World Wrestling Entertainment, which has been included in a list of essential services by Florida in the United States (next stop Olympic accreditation?), and I guess Turkmenistan's tiddlywinks title is still up for grabs, given no cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia have been reported in that country.

Between watching the (Australian) National Rugby League's desperate attempts to restart its season next month－which give the distinct impression it's as much a Ponzi scheme as a sporting body－and the Australian Rugby Union's battle to stave off bankruptcy, there has been one other fixture of the sporting calendar that's been progressing more or less as normal.

And that's the buildup to the annual draft in that other form of what is known in China as ganlanqiu－olive ball－the (US) National Football League, with the steady procession of mock drafts on various websites seemingly undiminished this year. By last week, CBS Sports had produced more than 30 of them, and it is far from alone.

This is important to me because I lived for a while in the Australian town of Cleveland, and that led to me becoming trapped in the sporting equivalent of Stockholm syndrome－the psychological condition that sees those taken hostage sympathize, or become emotionally involved, with their captors.

In my case, it made me a fan of the Cleveland Browns, a US football team most recently known for years of stunning ineptitude.

I had it so bad that I watched every game of the team's winless 2017 season live on TV, even though they were broadcast in the small hours in this part of the world.

After a while it became an even more morbid fandom fascination than usual, with comic relief provided during the broadcasts by a steady stream of TV advertisements for pizza, beer, pickup trucks and impotence remedies－not necessarily in that order.

Despite glimmers of hope－ultimately dashed－in the past two seasons, that ineptitude has generally made the preseason and its accompanying speculation the happiest time for Browns fans. When the season actually kicks off and reality kicks in, many choose to hide their identities by wearing paper bags on their heads.

For what it's worth, I'm betting they sit pat at No 10 and pick the best left tackle available. That would be the sensible option, but with the Browns it doesn't always work out that way. The team owner once famously insisted on drafting a flaky quarterback with alcohol issues because a homeless man he passed on the street suggested it was a good idea.

Back in Australia, one TV network reported earlier this month that the NRL's plans to re-launch the season have government backing.

The deputy premier of the state of New South Wales, John Barilaro, told Nine News: "The NRL is so important to the psyche of Australians at a time where we're all doing it pretty tough in self isolation."

In the meantime, Netflix and Amazon have a few documentary or drama series to entertain sports fans. There's The English Game and Sunderland 'Til I Die for soccer fans on Netflix, while Amazon is offering cricket aficionados The Test and Inside Edge.

The NFL draft, in novel coronavirus-friendly online mode, begins on Friday morning (Beijing time).