Music, video games and boredom: How athletes and coaches are coping with coronavirus

Perhaps the most jarring thing among a million jarring things regarding our new (temporary, have to keep writing that) coronavirus-related normal is the pace at which all of this accelerated.

A week ago, for instance, every player in every major U.S. league was preparing to play games. Sure, there were adjustments such as locker rooms being closed to media and there was talk of large batches of games being played in empty arenas and stadiums, but it wasn't until Wednesday night — when Rudy Gobert tested positive — that the NBA postponed its season.

Others quickly followed suit from there: among them MLB, Major League Soccer, the NHL and all NCAA sports, including March Madness — the last of which was canceled altogether instead of just delayed.

If you feel like you are operating in a hazy mixture of apprehension, boredom and — in fits and spurts — resourcefulness, Twitter is reinforcing that athletes and coaches are very much in the same head space. At a time when everything has been put on hold, including practices, here's a rundown of what some of those who planned to be playing or coaching are up to now:

MUSIC

Let's start upbeat. We're finding out that a good number of athletes have musical interests and varying degrees of talent.

Timberwolves guard Josh Okogie posted on Twitter a short video (just 14 seconds) of him playing a keyboard. "Day 4 w/o basketball. Guess imma be a producer. Who tryna hop on this beat?" he tweeted along with an admittedly catchy sequence.

The best part? Someone wrote lyrics for it and someone else actually put a beat to it and it sounds good. These are the heroes we need right now.

Giannis Antetokounmpo played a VERY rudimentary opening riff of "Smoke on the Water," but he gets 1 million points for trying.

That seems to have inspired fellow NBA player Patty Mills to post his own guitar video. "I'm also free and available for any group in need of a guitarist. In box me for booking @Giannis_An34."

Golfer Erik van Rooyen can legitimately shred. "No golf……. Might as well have some @foofighters in your life!" he wrote.

FUN AND GAMES

Karl-Anthony Towns, a known video game enthusiast, posted a video on an Instagram story with teammate and buddy D'Angelo Russell dominating a game of FIFA soccer — with 20 pushups on the line.

Giannis prefers to take his gaming offline. He posted a picture of a chess board and a late night game (1:59 a.m.).

BOREDOM SETTING IN

Alas, sometimes the down time gets the best of all of us. Under the ideal circumstances, with a bunch of unexpected time off, we could all be our best selves. Social distancing, closures and travel restrictions — all of them necessary in the battle against a global pandemic — create less-than-ideal circumstances and in many cases isolation.

Gophers men's basketball coach Richard Pitino tweeted Tuesday night at KFAN's Justin Gaard and Dan Barreiro: "You guys free this week? I'll talk about anything. You can make fun of my contract, career, ….anything. Give me an excuse to drive around Edina for a few minutes."

That made me actually laugh out loud, which is a nice feeling.

Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak tweeted: "Hey Alexa, what do people typically do during the spring months?"

And just a few hours after Okogie posted the video of his piano skills, he admitted on Twitter: "Took three naps today. … Don't got nothing else to do."

The pandemic is creating FAR more serious health and economic problems, but these examples illustrate some fundamental, less serious every day struggles that are natural offshoots of our new (temporary, still have to keep writing that) reality.