NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It’s approximately 8:30 local time. It’s dark outside my hotel here in Brentwood. The hunger pains have finally subsided after I've munched on some half-baked chicken wings. At least the beer was cold.

However, an empty feeling remains, one that’s a trifle difficult to explain.

Hollow is perhaps the best way.

In the 30-plus years I’ve been fortunate enough to do this for a living, the past 24 hours have been unlike anything I have witnessed before.

The rapidity in which COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus, has turned the sports world upside is indescribable. The unprecedented actions taken by the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference are still difficult to comprehend.

Overaction? Yeah, maybe. But that’s not a snapshot opinion. I’m not nearly smart enough to understand the ins and outs, what makes the disease so deadly, and why it’s such a huge concern. That’s a subject for wiser folks than I to examine.

Heck, before last week, I didn’t know if the coronavirus needed a lime to trigger a response.

Everyone is being affected.

A quick personal story. The senior living facility in Marietta where my 83-year-old mom resides has banned visitors for an unspecified length of time. Stories like this are everywhere.

For the Bulldog coaches and athletes, my heart truly aches.

One of the favorite aspects about my job is getting to know the participants. Although I take great pride in being the best, unbiased professional I can be, I do get to know people. I see the work they put in. I see the desire to succeed.

So yes, when something gets taken away, that hurts to see, especially for the seniors.

Although we’re still waiting to get official word whether the SEC will follow the lead of the NCAA and go ahead and cancel the rest of the regular seasons, the very thought of such a decision is difficult to comprehend.

As I write this, we still don’t know about spring football. As you know, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are scheduled to begin practice on Tuesday. But with campus now closed for the next two weeks, one wonders if we won’t see a delay.

Auburn has made the decision to delay. So has South Carolina, with others in the conference expected to follow suit.

I had the opportunity to speak with Bulldog baseball coach Scott Stricklin twice today. First, we just spoke about having to play a highly anticipated series against Florida with no fans in the stands. The second time, we spoke after the decision was made by the SEC to suspend all spring sports until March 30.

I didn’t check back to ask about the NCAA’s call to cancel its remaining winter and spring championships, including the College World Series in Omaha.

One of the reasons I didn’t: the pain in his voice was apparent. He hurts for his players.

I get it. It pains me to think we might not get to see Emerson Hancock or Cole Wilcox pitch again in a Georgia uniform. Special in talent as both players are, they’re even better guys who have worked their rear ends off to be in this position.

For players such as Cam Shepherd who can’t back for his senior year and catcher Mason Meadows, knowing how hard he’s worked to come back after nearly losing his sight—it hurts.

I hate it for players such as basketball freshman Anthony Edwards.

Sure, Edwards figures to be a very, very rich man here in the next few months, but realizing how much he genuinely cared for his teammates, the fact they didn’t get to play one more game after the work they put in—it hurts.

For every tennis player, to every equestrian rider, to every gymnast and swimmer who represents the Red and Black—it hurts.

Yes, the games will continue. This time next year, we’ll be extolling the benefits of our heroes and berating the ones who don’t live up to our personal expectations. It will be like nothing ever happened.

But now is a time for mourning. The games we love to watch, the athletes we love to cheer for, are canceled—at least for now—as we wonder what might have been.

Damn you, coronavirus, damn you.