Newspaper Sports Covers From Around the United States on the Day Sports Stopped
The sports world was put on halt Thursday as the pandemic known as coronavirus, or COVID-19, forced every league to postpone or cancel events to help halt the possibility of spreading the disease further.
Of course, this put editors and journalists in an awkward position: how do you cover sports when no sports are being played? Today, on newspapers around the nation, we got our answer.
Below is a collection of sports front pages from around the United States. Everyone focused on different areas, but overall, the message was similar -- sports are canceled.
Los Angeles Times
There's no photo on the cover of tomorrow's @latimessports cover, because as the headline says, "Games over." Love this design treatment by Allison Hong (@allimyh). pic.twitter.com/CQdAsJQhvC
— Hamlet Nalbandyan (@hnalbandyan) March 13, 2020
Detroit Free Press
I knew today was going to be a whirlwind day, expecting all the cancellations, but damn. The early editions of Friday's @freep and @freepsports, with plenty of info... pic.twitter.com/fvOmIib8hf
— Ryan Ford (@theford) March 13, 2020
The Philadelphia Inquirer
GAME OVER@PhillyInquirer Sports March 13: @jensenoffcampus @JoeJulesinq @thegoalkeeper @bobfordsports @ByDavidMurphy @BroadStBull on sports being postponed indefinitely. @APSE_sportmedia @PrideInPrint pic.twitter.com/UiKIUd9n5M
— Todd Shaner (@Tshanerbeer) March 13, 2020
The New York Times
A sobering and sad @NYTSports dress page. pic.twitter.com/Ls79ypSLDM
— Alan Blinder (@alanblinder) March 13, 2020
The Washington Post
Friday’s @postsports front: “FULL STOP” pic.twitter.com/1J54NTHTAT
— Brianna Schroer (@briannaschroer) March 13, 2020
New York Post
The back page: The day the sports world stopped https://t.co/CwASjpVcgZ pic.twitter.com/kIrr8K2GMs
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) March 13, 2020
Houston Chronicle
Friday's @HoustonChron Sports cover // Shuttered: One shining moment overtaken by grim reality pic.twitter.com/AWZbf5EQ9p
— Tom Fox (@foxt78) March 13, 2020
Louisville Courier Journal
The design on today’s @sports_cj cover. Yesterday was unprecedented, and we responded in kind. We vary rarely don’t have stories on our cover. Today, it makes sense. pic.twitter.com/RlkSuHs40p
— Kelly Ward (@kellynnward) March 13, 2020
A sobering reminder of what happened over the last 24 hours or so.
The interesting thing will be: what happens next? Obviously covering the news of the day filled the sports pages. But after that news has faded, where do these sports pages go next? Also as interesting to think about, what will they look like when sports resume? "Game on" will likely be a common header. But until that day comes, we'll only have the reminders of what happened when sports was canceled.