We’ve Marched into April.

That should be a happy time. March should have brought us a lot of memories of madness, not sadness. And we usually take that athletic inspiration into this current month when spring has sprung.

Instead, all those March dates yours truly laid out for you a month ago went up in smoke due to the horrific COVID-19 pandemic.

Let’s review, because this is history, a time that none of us will ever forget. We’re upset with the loss of a lot of sporting events — please, there’s still sports news, especially from the NFL – but also in fear after reading over and over the numbers of infected and the fatalities. Horrible.

Now, the month began innocently enough. Locally, the tournaments hit full stride. The high school hockey and Division I and II girls basketball tournaments were in full swing. Nashua South pulled an upset over Manchester Central in the girls Division I prelims. Unfortunately, on the flip side, the Hollis Brookline girls were upset on the month’s first Friday in the quarterfinals by Bishop Brady.

Bishop Guertin knocked off Exeter in the hockey quarters. The Cardinals girls hoop team actually shut out Concord in the final quarter and were thrilled to learn that contender Manchester Memorial was knocked off on the same night in the hoop quarters. Things were on course, even with the coronavirus in the news.

And then came Monday, March 9. The first sign of apprehension came that day as Hollis Brookline was forced to postpone its Division II boys hoop quarterfinal vs. Laconia due to a school district employee being tested for COVID-19. The next day came the announcement that the test was negative, and the Cavaliers were able to play the next night, edging Laconia in overtime.

As it turns out, that was the end, as the crisis was just beginning.

Wednesday, March 11 will be a night that will live in infamy. Guertin had just fizzled in the third period of what had been a classic 2-2 Division I semifinal hockey game at JFK, and lost 5-2. About 20 minutes after the final buzzer came the word that the NBA was halting its season thanks to Utah Jazz Rudy Gobert testing positive for the virus. His name will be forever associatied, because it began a spiral that continues to this day. First the NBA. Then March Madness and the NHL. Then that Friday baseball basically shut down, beginning with the minor leagues.

The NHIAA tried to hold on. Executive Director Jeff Collins was adamant that somehow, some way, the games would be played, gosh darn it. They weren’t. First postponed. Then suspended. Then on Monday, March 16, everything went dark. Later that week co-champions were declared. All unprecedented. As Guertin girls hoop coach Brad Kreick said, “I knew we were in a race to the finish line, but we blew a tire on the last lap.”

Of course, to add insult to injury, sports fans in New England couldn’t even enjoy the NFL’s determination to have its offseason machinations proceed as usual. How could they, the opponents said. They have to, the proponents countered, we need it. And during the ensuing argument one Tom Brady slipped out the back door and wound up in Tampa Bay.

If someone were to tell you a year ago that the world would be held prisoner by a virus, on the brink of economic ruin, and Tom Brady would be a Tampa Buccaneer, what would you have thought? Or that the New York Post would have a front page headline that says “Thank You Pats”?

And last week we were robbed of baseball’s Opening Day. Still not used to the March thing, so 11 days ago it took some doing to remember March 26 was supposed to be baseball’s big day. so So we ended the month of March almost a week ago with the NHIAA declaring a revised plan for the spring, after the schools were closed until May 4. Again, Collins showed his determination to get the student athletes back out there if even for just a couple of games. Gotta give him credit, he has a passion to give the athletes a chance. But of course, he tempers that desire with the knowledge it’s really in the hands of the CDC and the state. But hope is hope is hope.

What will the rest of April bring? There will be more postponements, cancellations, but also stories of heroism. Heck, even the Kraft family is now beloved in the Big Apple after delivering some 350,000 N95 masks the other day.

And now we begin its first full week after a weekend during which President Trump told the pro sports commissioners that the NFL would be able to start its season on time, and in front of fans, and other leagues could play in front of fans too in August and September.

Yeah, sure. And remember, we were all supposed to be able to gather again on Easter, right?

That’s this Sunday.

It should have been Masters Sunday.

Can we please wake up now?

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251, or@Telegraph_TomK, or tking@nashuatelegraph.com

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