Sports can't avoid issues any longer

You might prefer to keep politics out of sports, but at this point that's like asking to keep the coronavirus out of sports.

Good luck.

• Did you see that photo of the Chicago Red Stars' Casey Short kneeling before the team's tournament-opening game in Utah? In it Short, who is Black, is emotional about the events of this summer and she's being comforted by teammate Julie Ertz.

It's a powerful photo, and Short, a Naperville Central graduate, has alluded to the emotions involved on social media, as has Red Stars teammate Sarah Gorden, a Conant grad. They haven't shared to this point how their experiences growing up in the suburbs affected their reactions.

Most players in the National Women's Soccer League - the first pro league to resume playing in this country - have knelt for the anthem. It will be interesting to see if the momentum from the NWSL carries into other leagues when they begin playing again.

There have been reports that the NFL plans to play the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" - known as the Black national anthem - before Week 1 games. Reports say the league has other plans to recognize issues related to the Black Lives Matter movement.

This is an issue that isn't going away.

• The Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians announced last week they are looking into changing their team nicknames.

This decision is about as overdue as it gets, especially for Washington. It's been nearly 30 years since Naperville Central became the Redhawks. And there's no doubt the current Washington nickname is derogatory and demeaning.

Fortunately, reports out of Washington suggest a change will be made. And for that we likely have companies like FedEx (which has naming rights to the team's stadium) and Nike to thank for changing team owner Daniel Snyder's mind on this.

Money talks.

The next question becomes whether other nicknames will have to go also. Can anything related to Native Americans remain?

Pro teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Kansas City Chiefs might soon be pressured to make a tough decision also.

Can college nicknames like the Fighting Illini or Florida State Seminoles stand? Is there momentum to change high school nicknames like Warriors when they refer to Native Americans, as opposed to Romans?

It will be interesting to see how far this goes.

• Back to the coronavirus.

Naturally, it's been on many athletes' minds as they return to their training facilities in anticipation of playing a season in 2020.

You have to wonder how many college athletes feel the way Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler does.

"I understand that people want to see us play this season but in reality how can a team full of 100+ student athletes fully function during a pandemic. Trust, my teammates and I want to play. But schools around the country are showing blatant disregard for student athletes," Eifler wrote in a tweet last week, clarifying he was happy with what Illinois is doing to keep athletes safe.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein tweeted Wednesday that the Ivy League will cancel fall sports and that no sports will be played before January.

In fact it seems many athletes and athletic programs are taking the COVID-19 pandemic more seriously than the general United States population.

That might be why we end up without sports this summer, into the fall and possibly even this winter.