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It has been nearly two months since I’ve covered a live sporting event and I’m starting to get a little desperate.

I’ve kept my sanity by looking into the past, checking in on how athletes are keeping up in down time and watching ‘The Last Dance” on ESPN.

There are many things I miss about sports. I no longer wake up each day with the anticipation of covering or watching an unpredictable event with kids giving it their all. I no longer get to witness growth from athletes from game to game and I no longer get to make postseason predictions with Herald editor Eric Johnson.

There are a lot of things I haven’t gotten to do in the last two months, but I feel even worse for the families that rally around sports. In the communities we cover at the Herald, there are many types of support groups. Parents begin watching their children compete with their classmates at a young age and they gradually form their own family together as time passes and those children rise to the varsity ranks.

In every sport, there is always a family section of parents, cousins, uncles, aunts and siblings that shows up and demonstrates big time support for the team. It’s a dynamic that can only be obtained through sports, as I doubt family members will show up and cheer on these students while they are bagging groceries or mowing lawns over the summer.

Beyond families, sports bring the community together. Educators, alumni and parents with younger children often flocking to the stands when the local team takes the field. It’s an exercise in common interest, which is getting rarer and rarer these days.

I miss those crowds and I miss watching those athletes. Come back soon, sports.