On the afternoon of the 30th, Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do, where the regular league match between Goyang Carrot and Seoul Samsung was held, will remain as a site with special meaning in the history of professional basketball for 26 years.
This is because it is the first game in which the league, which has suffered ups and downs for three years due to the unprecedented novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic, has loosened the mandatory mask for spectators and other indoor personnel.
The crowd welcomed the start of the professional basketball ‘Post Mask’, but said in unison that they could not easily take off the mask.
In fact, there were far more people in the audience wearing masks.
While most of them were cheering with masks on, there were some people watching the game with their bare faces mixed in places. However, in the second half of the game, the proportion of spectators who took off their masks increased slightly.
Bang Bang-heung (42) knew that today was the first day to take off his mask, so he went to the gym with his 12-year-old daughter.
Mr. Bang laughed, “I have felt the discomfort more than the anxiety about infection. (The measure) is more welcome.” “Everyone is wearing a mask, so I can’t take it off blindly.
He added, “I think I will take it off naturally while watching the game because I plan to eat something.”
Mother-in-law (23), who visited the venue with a friend of the same age, looked back at the number of people not wearing masks and expressed her anxiety.
He said, “I feel anxious that droplets will spread next to me while cheering for no reason,” and “I think I will gradually stop using it, but I can’t take it off now.”
In fact, the people who were most excited about the removal of the mandatory mask on this day were the coaches of both teams rather than the audience.
Samsung coach Eun Hee-seok met with reporters before the game and laughed, saying, “I want to take it off right now.”
Coach Eun, who mentioned the team’s 12-game losing streak, said, “It’s a situation where the heat is rising.”
He cited the biggest inconvenience 메이저사이트 of not being able to show the ‘mouth shape’ to the players because of the mask.
In fact, it is impossible to convey one’s intentions only through voice acting on a court that is noisy with music and cheering. The players used to infer the meaning by looking at the shape of the coach’s mouth from a distance.
Home team Carrot coach Kim Seung-gi also agreed with this. Director Kim looked back and said, “Since I gave orders in a noisy place with my mouth covered, the delivery didn’t go well.”
At the same time, he also joked about the merits of the ‘mask era’, saying, “It was good that I couldn’t guess what he was saying because I couldn’t see his mouth when he was angry.”
Another member of professional basketball, the cheering staff in the hall, could not hide their excitement.
On this day, all of the cheerleaders from Carrot devoted themselves to cheering with bright smiles without masks.
Kim Jeong-seok, the cheerleader of Carrot, said, “It seems that the expression that was covered by the mask seems to attract more responses from the crowd.”
Director Kim said, “Even the cheerleaders had a hard time because they were out of breath because of the mask. I am also happy to be able to show them a bright smile.”
At the same time, he added, “The support for fostering has decreased compared to before the Corona 19 epidemic,” and added, “Looking at today, I can’t compare it to 3 years ago right away, but I believe it will come back gradually.”
Aunt Lee (23) and Yoo (20) from Deokyang-gu and Ilsan-seo-gu, Goyang City, also expressed their anticipation for fostering support.
Mr. Lee, who will be taking off his mask as much as possible, said, “Especially, I tend to shout while watching the game, but since I have been wearing a mask, I have become less and less like that.”
Yoo, who said, “Actually, I’ve gotten used to wearing a mask recently,” also added, “For now, it’s important that both eating and cheering at the stadium are less uncomfortable than now.”