Winter Watch: Optimism, realism are sharing a table at Harvard

Gerry Byrne's first season as Harvard University's coach was halted after just four games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gil Talbot)

Gerry Byrne’s first season as Harvard University men’s lacrosse coach was over after four games when the coronavirus health crisis struck.

Nearly 10 months later, Byrne still hasn’t seen many of the players in person who left campus that harrowing week in March and have yet to return.

The Ivy League was the first in college sports to cancel the spring athletic season on March 11. It was also among the first to call off the fall season in August even as the power football conferences forged ahead with a schedule that would ultimately be riddled with virus-related postponements and cancellations.