Who would have thought, prior to whatever we want to call this time that is the year 2020, that “bubble” would be such a buzzword in professional sports?

Yet here we are, with the world of pro sports finally returning, worried that athletes will be leaving their prospective bubbles.

Keeping the topic limited to the Big Four North American leagues, the MLB is back in front of empty ballparks. The NHL and NBA’s training camps will soon transition into actual games (real games? Against real teams? What a concept!)

Restrictions are through the roof for all three, as they should be. Teams are being kept in their bubbles: for the most part. Some seem to be having more trouble with the concept than others. These are men that are millionaires used to having the freedom to do anything, and go anywhere, that they want.

I, for one, find it hard to sympathize with men who often make more in one game than the average joe makes in an entire year. NBA players, who will be playing their entire rest of the season in Orlando, seem to be struggling with the concept. The first major case of “breaking the bubble” came a few weeks ago when Richaun Holmes of the Sacramento Kings passed what is called the ‘campus line’ to pick up a food delivery. Really? A food delivery? The penalty for passing the line is a two-week quarantine. Clearly, some professional athletes are not taking the rules too seriously.

Albeit, to play my own devil’s advocate, he did admit in a statement that he crossed the line inadvertently. Perhaps the rules have not been laid out well enough.

The Houston Rockets Bruno Caboclo, formerly of the Toronto Raptors, also claims to have accidentally crossed the line.

In what may have been the biggest sense of confusion so far among bubble rules comes with the case of the Toronto Blue Jays. Similarly to the Raps, they are the only Canadian team in their league, frequently crossing the border to play American squads.

Though the MLB’s return to play format is entirely different from the NBA’s. While the Raptors will be spending the entire rest of the season playing in Walt Disney World with the rest of the league, the Jays would have been crossing into the States frequently: a big no-no at the moment.

At first, it was said that if the Jays left the vicinity of Rogers Stadium while in Canada during the season they would be imposed a hefty, hefty fine. Complaints were made by certain players, and now it was recently announced that the Jays will not be playing in Toronto at all this year: rumours then swirled that they would be playing out the season in Pittsburgh, of all places. That was quickly dashed, and as of writing this, the Toronto Blue Jays are homeless.

What an odd, odd world.

As for the NHL’s return to play plan, the plan to move into the two hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto has not yet provided much controversy. Hockey and controversy rarely go hand-in-hand, really. Basically the biggest question that has come out of the NHL’s bubble is what the players will wear now that the dress code is relaxed. Long live the NHL.