Advantages and Disadvantages of Creating a ‘Bubble’ for Sports Teams
Brandi Norton
Who would have thought there would be basketball played by the NBA, but no fans? Back in March the pandemic of COVID-19 changed the world and even the game of basketball.
COVID stopped a lot of events from happening, but the NBA managed to keep the competition alive by creating a bubble. Inside the bubble are the players and coaches only, and of course the refs and mediators.
But fan wise, they all attend the game through Zoom. I personally feel like this way is better.
I say that because you can actually see who the better teams are. When there are games and fans can attend, that gives the team who’s home more of an advantage because their fans are there to support.
It gives the away team more of a disadvantage because they have to hear these fans talk trash the whole game, and no one is cheering for them, so it is just kind of miserable. Away games are always the hardest.
Being a former athlete, I know how it feels to go to away games and your crowd isn’t as big as the home team’s crowd. Basically the crowd gets you into the game more, and they do a good job of getting in the heads of the away players.
With there being no fans, the guys can actually play their game and don’t have to worry about anything else. The bubble turned out to be a great idea, in my opinion, but I wanted to see what someone else had to say about this bubble, and the rules that come with it.
DeMoines Whitney is a 6’6” junior on Manchester’s basketball team. How does he feel about the bubble? “It’s cool,” he said. “It doesn’t preview the other players, but it’s okay.”
Whitney mentioned that all the players are not inside the bubble, which means only a certain number of men are on each team.
He also thinks the fans play a huge role. “They have something to play for when the fans are there,” Whitney said. “Since no one is allowed inside the bubble, they’re kind of just playing for nothing at this point.” Whitney didn’t sound pleased with the players playing with basically no energy from the nonexistent crowd. “The fans boost your stamina,” he said.
With Whitney being a MU basketball player, he had some thoughts on how the bubble would affect him and his team if they had to play in one. He said very confidently that he thinks the bubble would help his team because they would be more connected.
Whitney also mentioned that the teams who are inside that bubble are only with their teammates, which makes more time for team bonding and building team chemistry. But he’s not recommending that MU create one any time soon.