Quarterback Tommy Stevens signs with Saskatchewan Roughriders
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Sports are back in full force once again.
Not only are the four big North American sports leagues — the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA — underway but so are a wide variety of other choices like the WNBA, tennis and golf. English Premier League soccer also gets underway on Saturday.
It’s a far cry from the world facing sports fans six months ago when the entire sporting world was shut down due to COVID-19.
4Seasons owner George Yannitsos said people have been excited to get out, have some drinks and cheer on sports again.
“We’ve been so excited. (Thursday) was the first time the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, tennis, MLS (and) WNBA, all these sports, were on on the same day,” Yannitsos said.
“Sports has given us why we always love sports and that’s because it gives us an escape and something to look forward to.”
And while he has to make the difficult choice as to which game to have on the main TV with the sound on throughout the bar, he’s not complaining.
“These games are certainly special and not to be taken for granted because we saw what happens when they can be taken away,” Yannitsos said.
Yannitsos said some people couldn’t believe the NFL was able to pull it off on Thursday night with all the restrictions in place due to COVID-19. The Kansas City Chiefs opened the NFL season by beating the Houston Texans 34-20.
“Even though all the other leagues had kind of pulled it off, (the NFL) with the fans in the stands, it seemed a little bit normal and you just started talking about football again,” Yannitsos said.
The Canadian Brewhouse on Sept. 11, 2020. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)
The Canadian Brewhouse in Grasslands is also noticing people are excited to get a chance to watch their favourite players score touchdowns, score the game-winning goal and hit the clutch three-pointer.
“People were watching (the Thursday night football game) pretty intently, especially getting near the end of the game. It was nice to have sports back on and really have people here for the atmosphere we have going on,” said Krista Sandercock, the location’s assistant general manager.
“People are looking everywhere. They don’t even know what to watch with so many sports on.”
She said the NBA crowd has been getting bigger and bigger, especially with the Toronto Raptors making a push for a berth in the NBA final. The Raptors are to meet the Boston Celtics at 7 p.m. Friday in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
“I expect we will fill up pretty quick and I imagine it will stay pretty busy just with the other sports on as well,” Sandercock said.
While the Brewhouse can only have one feed going through the main sound system, Sandercock said it has mini-speakers that people can have on their tables to have the audio feed for whatever game they want.
As the calendar inches closer to fall, Sandercock said people are still wanting to sit out on the patio.
“Whether heaters have to be on or not, people are pushing for that last couple of days of summer here before they’re cooped up for winter,” Sandercock said.
And she said the hope is that business continues to trend in an upward direction.
“I don’t see any reason why not. With all these sports going crazy right now, people are looking for somewhere to watch them and see some friends,” Sandercock said.