Marble racing: The "sport" that has the won the hearts of fans worldwide

With the coronavirus resulting in a ban on public gatherings, many sporting events have been postponed or canceled, and as a Sports Communication major, I have been left incredibly bored in recent days.The NBA and NHL regular seasons were winding down, the NCAA Tournament was set to begin, and MLB Opening Day was right around the corner.  With virtually nothing to watch, some sports fans like myself have resorted to marble racing, which, as it turns out, is actually very entertaining to watch, especially in a time like this.

A video of marble racing went viral on Twitter on Sunday, and thousands of people, including myself, immediately became attached to it.  While zero athleticism is involved on the human's part, it is still thrilling to watch the marbles race each other down a hill or across a set.  A YouTube account, Jelle's Marble Runs, posts videos of what are essentially seasons where each marble gets tallied for points across multiple races, culminating in the one with the most points being named champion.

In recent weeks, Jelle's Marble Runs has uploaded videos of Marbula One, a parody of Formula One Racing, where the marbles go around a track that's similarly designed and scored the same way as well.  I became a fan of the O'Rangers (the orange marble "team") after the team had an exceptional first-place finish in their most recent race.  The channel had half a million subscribers before I discovered its existence, and its cult-like following has earned many new members in recent days.

As the world currently lives in fear of the coronavirus, marble racing is quite literally the only thing that can keep sports fans occupied.  The YouTube channel even released a statement that they would be continuing to record and upload marble races, as it is essentially the only sports organization that has not experienced an interruption in its season.  If people would rather get involved with marble racing, they can certainly do so on their own rather than just watch videos of it.  Of, course, sports fans could also just watch highlights of old games, but since we have long known the outcomes of various sporting seasons, all the marble racing videos give us the new thrill of not knowing the outcome of how the event is going to go.

Jelle's Marble Runs has welcomed thousands of new subscribers, as well as a ton of social media attention.  They have experienced the most success in all the years of doing marble racing, which has genuinely served as a positive mean of entertainment for sports fans worldwide.  Of course, there is no guarantee that the people who are suddenly interested in marble racing will stay once the coronavirus is gone and our regular sporting events return, but I have developed an interest that will at least keep me coming to the channel regularly.  Hundreds of thousands of people were subscribed for years before this moment, and will continue to watch videos going forward, as this is more than just a fad or small hobby.  Many people find joy and satisfaction in marble racing, and I hope that if any positives comes from a time like this, it's that the "sport" continues to grow from here.

A video of marbles racing down a hill.  The "sport" has witnessed a sharp increase in fans, and will likely maintain this new viewership base for at least a few weeks.    

 https://twitter.com/davdchristmas/status/1239196410857340933?s=20
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g/videos