“It’s been a really weird shift,” Jeff Attinella says, though as he has already conceded, there is a new context to the professional part of his life. “The gravity of everything going on in terms of the world, [it’s] something that is so much bigger than sports.” Within sports’ narrow focus, though, Attinella’s last 11 days have been more of a roller coaster than most.
On March 12, the day Major League Soccer eventually announced a suspension to its 2020 regular season, the Portland Timbers’ goalkeeper was back on the training field, participating in full practice for the first time in eight months.