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Live sports are back. Live fans are (mostly) not.
You can catch some spectators projected digitally at N.B.A. games or cardboard cutouts “seated” in Major League Baseball stadiums. But it’s not the same.
The echoing “DEE-FENSE” chant can’t be heard in arenas or on TV broadcasts. Players don’t hear the roar for a home run, and there is no chest-pounding for thousands of adoring fans.
As live sports began returning in the United States, The New York Times asked sports fans to share what they missed about going to games. Responses were both wistful and hopeful.