You’re at Galen Center. The game is beginning as players head to the center of the stadium. Attention quickly shifts to the left side of the court as the Trojans break out, their shoes squeaking as they shuffle toward the basket. A 3-pointer is scored and as you celebrate, looking around for other fans and applause to share the moment with, you’re greeted with the stiffness of cardboard cutouts sitting next to you. The 10,000 seats housed by Galen Center are practically empty, only inhabited by the players, media personnel and a few essential staff members. The sounds of the basketball ricocheting off the backboard and bouncing off the floor are the only noises that echo throughout the building. It’s eerie.

This uncomfortable emptiness has become the new norm for sports at USC, with tight restrictions such as the NBA’s Disney World “Bubble” setting the status quo. USC is no exception and student athletes have had to face rigorous protocols with the return of sports this semester. Games carry on with a coarse and serious energy, but bleachers lack the enthusiastic fans that once boosted players’ and viewers’ morale. A sense of stability has been occasionally, but still too frequently, upended, with games having to be postponed or canceled last-minute to maintain the health and safety of teams.

Even as restrictions at sporting events begin to decrease, presaging a potential return to normalcy in our collective fight against the pandemic, times still seem bleak at USC athletic events. While some students have been able to recreate a little bit of the game day essence by watching together at home, their experiences still lack the same energy of the packed sports stadiums we were all once accustomed to. Here are the perspectives Daily Trojan photographers captured as players tried to put on a show for their fans in a time of unprecedented abnormality.

Header photos by Ling Luo and Simon Park.