A FEW weeks ago, the family’s PS4 crashed.

That means that the club I’m managing on FIFA20 would stay inactive indefinitely, just like in a lockdown.

I tried troubleshooting the console using Safe Mode, trying Option 3 (Update System), Option 4 (Restore Default Settings) and Option 5 (Rebuild Database).

None of these options worked.

That means I had to “Initialize PS4” to reinstall system software using Option 6 (Option 7 followed the same process but via USB).

But then the moment of dread came: the error code that flashed on the black screen after initializing PS4 meant the hard drive is damaged beyond repair.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the HDD can be replaced.

For quite a spell during the pandemic, FIFA20 was my only source of football entertainment.

Good thing that the European leagues have resumed playing as quarantine measures have eased.

In the country, there’s the 2020 Philippines Football League (PFL) kickoff to look forward to on Oct. 25.

The six-club PFL, with its format revised anew to a mere single round robin, might be heavily streamlined, but the fact that the struggling league still exists despite the financially crippling pandemic is quite a miracle.

It does remind me of our damaged PS4 console.

How many times has the PFL gone through a Safe Mode troubleshoot since its inception?

It certainly went through a couple of reboots.

For now, the PFL with its major sponsor Qatar Airways, has secured a financial patch to address one of its many issues.

That means there’s no system breakdown yet that would require an overhaul, or worse, a major upgrade.

Like replacing a PS4 with a PS5.