Years from now, we will look back at 2020 and have very little nice to say about it. People right now are frustrated and miserable, and many seem to be one tense encounter with another person away from snapping.
Hopefully, when that time for reflection comes, we'll be able to take a few minutes to say "Well it wasn't all bad, and here's why."
For some, there will be real life. For others, there will be sports.
Designated hitter: The DH will go away next season in the National League, but then there is a new MLB collective bargaining agreement to be negotiated. I can't imagine that after getting a taste of what it looks like this year anyone will want to go back to the nonsense of pitchers hitting.
Pitchers are good at pitching. They stink at hitting. They are so bad that there is a Bronx cheer and laughter when they actually manage to hit the ball. Nobody wants to watch that anymore.
Adding a DH makes sense for a bunch of reasons, and here is one that nobody talks about. Pitchers were at least at one point useful as bunters. Now, most of them can't even do that. It is ridiculous that pitchers can't even work on that simple part of their game enough to contribute something offensively.
God willing, I'll take my grandkids to an NL baseball game and tell them all about how stupid baseball used to be when pitchers were allowed to hit. They will laugh at me and say '"That never happened' because by then it will hopefully be a long distant memory.
And we'll have this crazy 2020 to thank for that. We can all look back and laugh at the people who actually tried to make the case that the game was better when pitchers were out there flailing at pitches and striking out at the plate.
Shortened preseason: Here is another thing we can thank 2020 for: I'm almost 100% positive that we will never see the four-game (five-game for two teams) preseason in the NFL again. The NFL has cut the preseason down to just two games this year. Training camp will also be a little bit modified, so there will be a fewer players invited to camps.
Coaches will figure out they don't need four preseason games to get ready for the season. The NFL will also realize that teams can still charge whatever they want for season tickets, even though they don't have 10 games. I mean, if season tickets for the Steelers are $1,000 now, they could still charge $1,000 with one less preseason game and nobody would care.
They wouldn't lose money that way, and we all know the preseason games are only about making money. That's why a shorter preseason will become a win/win.
Speaking out: This will be remembered as the year that athletes really came to understand that they hold a lot of power, can make demands without retribution and use their voices.
The athletes at Texas, Iowa, Florida State, Clemson, Oklahoma State and even Pitt all showed this year that they are empowered. They all spoke out against what they perceived as mistreatment, and all got results. That is something we will look back on fondly in 2020 as well.
We all may not appreciate these right now, but we will learn to eventually. It's a good thing to remember at a time when we are trying to forget.