Day 81: The Good and the Sports, Before I Have To Do The Bad and The Ugly

• Chris Jericho's 8th Saturday Night Special:  Subject, The Stadium Stampede main event of AEW's Double or Nothing...

• Olbermann's back...

If you need a break:

Tonight’s WiFi-Vexed #Thurbercast No. 53: the complete, clean edition: “No Standing Room Only” and his story of a trip to Abercrombie & Fitch: “Suli Suli”https://t.co/xifCl9QCt1

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 31, 2020

• Today is the final day of St. Jude's PLAY LIVE fundraiser -- also the final day of The Speed Gamers efforts in that regard.  They basically have been able to be on (with a couple small breaks) for the entire month of May.  The grand total, as of 4:17 AM PDT, meaning about 20 hours to go, for the entire PLAY LIVE movement, is $3,076,890.58
• Today is also the final day (about 12 hours to go, as I type) of the European Speedrunners Association Covid Relief event for Save the Children's emergency coronavirus fund.

Day 80: FUCKING AGITPROPS!!!

• Counter-riots have begun, and Donald Trump is openly provoking a showdown at the White House.

After last night's protests outside his door, he is putting together a social-media campaign for "MAGA NIGHT" at the White House.

Anyone with an IQ above 6 (meaning definitely nobody on the alt-Right and who knows how many of the initial rioters) has to know what that means.

He wants the agitprops to start a Second Amendment free-fire fest.

I said when this Coronavirus situation started that a major loss of order was an All-Stop Condition.

We're there.  And now you have a counter-riot of agitprops and provocateurs around on top of it.

It's so bad in Minneapolis that the Mayor has apparently reported that it is now believed 80% of the fires are being set by White counter-rioters and provocateurs.

Army on the ground -- NOW.  (Not even the first full mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard in history is going to be enough here.)  Shoot to kill, regardless of the race or motivation.  Get control while you still can.  Because if you lose the cities completely, you lose the infrastructure tying this country together.

• Two deaths, at this point, are confirmed from last night's riots. One was in St. Louis.
• They have started a fire under the Frank Rizzo statue in Philadelphia -- an openly pro-police and violent mayor, Rizzo represents much anti-Black sentiment in the city from his openly violent roots.  Police then decided to kettle the protesters there and that's when things started -- at least one small fire and a police car currently on fire.
• Police cars also on fire in Salt Lake City and Atlanta today.
• MAGA NIGHT has apparently not started yet, but the protests have again outside the White House.
• AND IT FINALLY GETS ADMITTED:  Former NFL Vice President of Communications Joe Lockhart finally admits the league has banned and blackballed Colin Kaepernick for his protests.  Would really like to know, on top of all the other ramifications, how they expect to play this Fall at that point with all this orbiting around!!!    
• National Guard and curfew (10 PM) declared in Columbus, OH.  You have to wonder what the long game is here.  There certainly are grounds for Continuity of Government/Martial Law here.     
• Things definitely appear to be still escalating. 
• Mayor of Los Angeles has just declared an 8 PM - 5:30 AM curfew in the city.  Philadelphia has also declared.
• Appears Starbucks is a target -- downtown LA and Philadelphia City Hall locations have been destroyed. 
• The Grove by CBS Television City is being looted.
• Unconfirmed report of a lynching of a police officer in Jacksonville, FL.

Night 4, George Floyd Protests/Probable All-Stop Condition

• The main officer in the death of George Floyd, now-fired Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged today with third-degree murder and manslaughter.  One, at least three days too late.  Two, I don't think it's going to matter.  Three, I don't think he survives to see trial.  Four, I don't think this is third-degree. 
• First reported site of outside protests tonight appears to be the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.  Oh boy, if THAT goes up...    
• And confirmed reports the Brooklyn protest is already getting testy.  Pepper spray, batons, etc.  
• Now unconfirmed reports the CNN Building in downtown Atlanta is being made a protest site.
• Oakland is preparing protests tonight as well.  That would be my second candidate for the next big violent flare-up.
• Not even the National Guard was clear on a mission, and the head of the Minnesota National Guard was not happy nor comfortable with that fact when activated this morning.  They now have "law and order" orders, according to Tom Hauser of KSTP.  Another part of his report has said they have cleared the area of the Third Precinct, but the fact is that the riot successfully felled the civilian law enforcement of at least a portion of a major American city.   
• Universal all-ages 8 PM to 6 AM curfew in Minneapolis, at least the next two nights.  And who or WHAT is going to enforce THAT?   
• The protests have hit Washington DC.  The White House is on lockdown.
• Atlanta is going up.  Police cars destroyed outside the CNN Center.  CNN Law Enforcement Expert James Gagliano is calling for state and Federal augmentation.  Very real chance the CNN Center might be lost by the end of the weekend at the rate things are going.     
• At least one Secret Service intervention as the situation outside the White House gets increasingly tenuous.
• They're about to lose the 84th and 88th Precincts in Brooklyn -- New York City is under a "Code 3".  At least one officer is reported "down" at the 84th.  Rumors of police being shot.  Oh, dear God, no...    
• The College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta has been breached and is probably being ransacked.
• San Jose is going violent in some pockets.
• Reports now coming in that police equipment is being stolen in St. Paul and being used against the police -- and the Minneapolis police and the National Guard are in retreat in Minneapolis, neither the tear gas nor the curfew of any effect. 
• Louisville news crew tear-gassed to try to get them away from covering the protests.

Day 79

• Starting with more ominous news from the Twin Cities:  A CNN news crew, led by reporter Omar Jimenez, was arrested this morning while they were trying to cover the Minneapolis riots.  That MAY be an indication that a lethal-force counter-move is close in Minneapolis and they don't want it broadcast live.    
• The world's largest gaming convention, Gen Con, threw in the towel on 2020 last week. 
• The NBA, Adam Silver has been told to have told the teams, is now looking at a July 31 restart. 
• It appears as if a formal owners' vote on an NBA restart is scheduled for Thursday, June 4.
• Olbermann's been taking several days off with the Thurbercasts because of real life.  Thinking of next episode tomorrow night.

Night 3, and we appear to be at the precipice

This is more for Night Three of the George Floyd unrest than anything else.

• Appears to have been at least one skirmish in New York City's demonstrations:

#ICantBreathe: Extreme violence during the Union Square rally.

Watch how a police officer breaks his nightstick after hitting a protester.#GeorgeFloyd #Minneapolis #NYC #MinneapolisPoliceMurderdHim #minneapolisriots #BlackLivesMater pic.twitter.com/HiwaEwFjxu

— RalphGM (@RalphGMWorks) May 29, 2020

• It appears as if shots have been fired in Denver -- not clear from which side at the moment. 

Will @donlemon endorse this violence too?#minneapolisriots #Denver https://t.co/bRG0F70u46

— The GayPatriot (@GayPatriotTM) May 29, 2020

• And THIS isn't going to help matters any, especially now that the National Guard has been called in to Minneapolis:

The @MNNationalGuard has been made aware of a video posted to social media involving two of our Guardsmen making racist statements.

— MN National Guard (@MNNationalGuard) May 26, 2020

• It now appears as if St. Paul is burning too.
• And there are reports that at least one St. Paul police officer has acted as an agent provocateur/agitprop in this situation.  If that's the case...     
• The building at the center of the Night Two protests, the Third Precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department, has been taken and burned to the ground.   Now you don't have a choice...   
• And Trump just tweeted, implying just that.  The problem is, he's at least 24 hours too late, if not 36...    
• Unconfirmed: Several critically injured (one report said two, another seven) after shots fired at the Louisville protest.  The cops fired live rounds into the crowd.  They've had enough...
• And now it's up to five precinct buildings burning in Minneapolis. 
• And, from one side or the other, at least one livestream report now has shots fired in Minneapolis.

Day 78 - and mark this one down if this gets worse and everything goes feral.

• We have probably lost a 20 square-block area, minimum, of Minneapolis.

The protests of the police murder of George Floyd have blossomed into a level of rioting which might make Rodney King's riots look pale in comparison.  I have been watching video and following social media on all this for several hours.

What I have seen is a mirror into our future as a society -- including entire city blocks up in flames and the real looting and full-scale taking of turf, as well as entire store stocks.

THIS is the (I believe third) All-Stop Condition I was talking about in earlier posts.

As far as the long-term planning of being around like-minded, etc., it's now too late to leave where you are in a meaningful fashion.

There has been at least one major satellite protest blocking the freeways in Los Angeles, but nothing of the scale going on right now.

Keep eyes and ears on the actual news very closely through the weekend.  If this goes up nationwide, it's all over but the shouting right now.

• Over in Europe, the European Speedrunners Association is starting a 4-day video-game speedrunning marathon for an emergency coronavirus-relief fund of Save the Children. 
• The Nevada State Athletic Commission has approved the next two UFC events for their Apex building in Las Vegas, no fans.  This and next Saturday. 
• Once again, weather in the Southeast is making a meal out of the compressed NASCAR restart.  They'll try the second Charlotte Monster Cup series race again today. 
• The multimillion-dollar winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament WILL try to go on, with obvious necessary precautions. 
• Latest victim of this is a one-year push-back of the latest Basketball Hall of Fame inductions -- and that's Kobe/Garnett/Duncan. 
• The MLS is trying to compress the timeframe for any return Florida tournament they may attempt. 
• MLB:  Players' proposal apparently wants 100 games this season (and full pro-rated salaries). The latter will all but certainly kill the season, but one question on 100 games:  When would you like the World Series?  Christmas???  You're talking July, August, September, and October for the season at minimum...   
• Today was also the cutting of the first several hundred minor-league baseball players.  If this continues, there's a very real chance Minor League Baseball (all but kaput for this year anyway) may go to PERMANENTLY KAPUT.
• And the first announced Vegas casino reopenings for June 4:  New York, New York; Bellagio; MGM Grand; The Signature  Note:  That's four of the more upscale casinos -- they are not thinking of opening their "core" cheaper ones yet -- Excalibur/Luxor.     
• And NOW we're getting a report the relevant police internal-affairs in Toronto is investigating a Black female shoved off the balcony to her death in that city.  People need to be careful of a whip-saw effect -- shoot first, ask questions later!     
• And here's the big announcement in England:  English Premier League restart June 17th. 
• Boston, however, has thrown in the towel on any live 2020 Boston Marathon this year. 
• And while everything is going up in a number of American cities, this bombshell out of Mexico:  Cruz Azul may be disqualified from Liga MX because it's president and vice-president stand accused of being involved with drug trafficking.

Day 77

• The National Women's Soccer League (which I honestly felt had folded already) will become the first American field sport to return to play.  June 27th.
• Chris Jericho is going ahead with plans for his third wrestling cruise next February.  Good luck.  Hope you have cancellation insurance, etc. and so forth -- I don't see this cruise happening.    
• The NBA Board of Governors is meeting with regards to their return to play on Friday.  However, no decision is expected.
• One report has the NBA considering a 25-day window of restarting and retraining.  With a late-July start, it would appear to give the NBA another month before they do.
• The MLB Players Association has wholeheartedly rejected the initial plan of the owners salary-wise.  They want a longer season AND full pro-ration of salaries.  No 2020 season, and I don't hold much hope -- between second wave and lockout/strike, of 2021 starting on time either.    
• According to Keith Olbermann, Max Scherzer has all but thrown in the towel on the 2020 season, stating he doesn't even think it worth it to talk any further at this point.
• It's popping off in Minneapolis.  Looting and rioting have met the arrest and murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.  Looting, rioting, fires in Minneapolis -- governor has called for the National Guard.  Satellite protests at least in LA.  Blockage of the freeway only over there.  Here we go -- it may be too late as we speak now!!   
• Formula E driver Daniel Abt got stupid in one of the virtual races during the COVID crisis, using a professional sim driver to take over for him instead.  Disqualified from both virtual AND real racing.  You know, the more e-sports exposes how corrupt a lot of participants are, the more I begin to wonder the worth of either e-sports OR their real-life counterparts!    
• No Olbermann tonight -- SportsCenter.
• Emperor Oompa-Loompa Pussygrabber The First is going to try to executive-order away social media -- he doesn't seem to like that Twitter wants to fact-check his moron ass, so he's going to EO it away tomorrow, and possibly try to take Twitter with it.  Lawsuit in 3...  2...  1......     
• The Greek Theatre in LA is done for the year.  First time their schedule has had to be scrapped for a full season in over 90 years.

Current reality: The NHL's plan...

Gary Bettman is holding a press conference as I type, regarding the NHL's relaunch.

The 2019-20 regular season has officially ended.  Any restart, at this point, is playoffs only.

This is really going to foul up the calendar, but they probably have no choice.

• July 1 restart to training camp 
• 24 teams in two cities (one for the Eastern Conference, one for the Western Conference), still TBD.
• Two four teams in each conference go to the playoffs directly, and play round-robin to determine the seeding 1-4 for the actual First Round.
• The Qualifying Round of the situation will involve the 5-12 teams in each conference, best of 5.
• Eastern Conference:

1. Pittsburgh-Montreal
2. Carolina-Rangers
3. Islanders-Florida
4. Toronto-Columbus 

• Western Conference: 

1. Edmonton-Chicago
2. Nashville-Phoenix
3. Vancouver-Minnesota
4. Calgary-Winnipeg

• First two rounds best of 5, conference finals and Stanley Cup Best of 7.
• Draft Lottery June 26, with the eliminated teams and placeholders for the eight teams losing in the Qualifying Round.
• Plans are still to have a full 2020-21 season after this.  HA!  I don't care if they DO try to move the next season or two back a bit...   
• Early plans appear to indicate the 2021 season would begin January 1, 2021.

Day 76

• Japan has finally lifted the state of emergency due to the coronavirus.
• The Japanese baseball league, as a result, will return June 19th -- without fans.
• On the flip side of the coin, the Euroleague -- Europe's main professional basketball league -- is done for the season.
• KBO Free Agent Jung-Ho Kang has been suspended 1 full year (from when he signs a contract) for three DUIs.  Career probably over.
• Serie A's proposed restart will probably be without one of it's major stars:  Zlatan Ibrahimovic has an injured calf in pre-training.
• The May 30th UFC Fight Night has been announced for The Apex, the UFC's home for their own offices and an arena for an opportunity series last summer, where fighters could fight for UFC contracts.  This will involve stricter testing, though. 
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today that holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo at all will probably require a vaccine...  And that should do it.  No Tokyo Olympics, it looks like...  
• The EPL will be targeting later in the month of June for any potential relaunch.
• However, in a move which might be more in tune with the reality of any relaunch, the Miami Dolphins are actually going to turn their stadium into a 250-car drive-in theater! 
• The NBA, more and more, appears to be leaning in the direction (like the NHL, see above) of playoffs only.  Damien Lillard has already said that if meaningless games are eventually played, he won't. 
• The MLB negotiations, however, are snagging on a proposal that will knock down high-tier salaries far more than lower-tiered players. 

Potential salary cuts in MLB plan, sources tell @JesseRogersESPN and me:

Full-year Proposal

$563.5K $262K
$1M $434K
$2M $736K
$5M $1.64M
$10M $2.95M
$15M $4.05M
$20M $5.15M
$25M $6.05M
$30M $6.95M
$35M $7.84M

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 26, 2020

Oof.  With some of those numbers, it might be seriously time to consider junking the season.

• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 52: an old Vancouver Canucks shirt, tales of my grandfather the fireman, Thurber’s utterly non-PC “Indian Sign” and “Mr. Pendly and The Poindexter.”https://t.co/TH8JUXuyox

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 27, 2020

Day 75

• The crew chief, car chief, and engineer for Denny Hamlin have all been automatically suspended four races, by rule, for the tungsten ballast falling out of Hamlin's car during the warm-up.  Why Hamlin is being allowed to race at least two of those races, given the seriousness of this offense, is beyond me...     
• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 51 tonight includes his alchemy, turning a lost and found notice into “Guessing Game,” plus a reprise of his immortal “A Box To Hide In.” Also I kvetch about Aaron Sorkin and plug a feature on “Sports Night.”https://t.co/DpUZ2j8DSK

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 26, 2020

And I have to include this I saw on ESPN. A Rube Goldberg machine. Someone had WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS....

Day 74

• Today is the 22nd anniversary of my arrest in New York.  Usually, a day like this is filled with a lot of anger (hopefully for the proper parties, etc.) and the like -- this year, just too damn much else in the world going on and probably going to be able to get through it OK.  Don't confuse that with me being "better" about any of this (and I might well have an introspective post about a couple things soon), and Debbie still has a place in my heart.
• But will someone please get the weather to cooperate in Florida?  Ugh.  "The Match" is not in good shape, as the weather is absolute crud.
• And the weather in Charlotte isn't much better -- thunderstorms all over the place.  UPDATE:  They're getting it in -- weather will clear to get the entire 600 in.
• They got the golf in at least, Tiger and Peyton winning 1-Up.
• The race has been delayed somewhat, though. 
• And when they did get started, it sounds like Denny Hamlin's crew chief is in ban-level trouble:  He had to try to clip in some heavy metal -- tungsten, they said on the broadcast -- to make weight.  It fell off during the warm-up laps.  That's going to be major penalties for Hamlin and his team, and his crew chief might be thrown out of NASCAR for four races for it!  He was also technically penalized eight laps.  That is the standard penalty for losing ballast like that -- I think a parking should also apply as well.  Hamlin has already won the two biggest races this year:  The Daytona 500, and the post-virus restart in Darlington.     
• Olbermann:

It’s #Thurbercast No. 50 with Thurber’s best double-threat written/illustrated work: “The Pet Department.” Plus as sports blindly staggers towards reopening, the cautionary story of the abandoned 1919 Stanley Cup Finals.https://t.co/wvEXARuzmJ

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 25, 2020

• Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada says the casinos may open June 4th.
• ... with La Liga slated to join the PGA Tour in resuming June 11th.
• But four players from Spanish club Sevilla may be in serious trouble for breaking quarantine rules. 
• Olbermann, Part Deux, The Sunset: 

And just cuz - we did a live NYC Sunday Night Sunsetcasthttps://t.co/R1e4eIxuU9

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 25, 2020

Day 73

• In a statement of "football vs. social realities":  The coach of a state champion football program in Florida the last three years (6A in 2017 and 2018, 5A in 2019) has been suspended because Miami Northwestern High, coached by Max Edwards, held practices in violation of coronavirus rulings, allegedly.
• Tomorrow is both the charity doubles golf match with Tiger and Peyton vs. Phil and Tom -- and the Coca Cola 600.
• And 2020 continues to suck:  We lost Jerry Sloan (form of dementia), the legendary former coach of the Utah Jazz, a couple days ago.  Now we lose college basketball legend Eddie Sutton (natural causes at 84), the first coach to take four schools to the tournament.
• Olbermann (and his dogs):

Nominally, #Thurbercast No. 49 was the conclusion of James Thurber’s grammar satire “Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Guide to Modern English Usage.”

In fact, it’s mostly my dogs complaining about one another and recent haircuts, and thus interrupting me

Enjoy!https://t.co/SDTC0nJY4j

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 24, 2020

• Don't think there was a Chris Jericho "Saturday Night Special" tonight -- there was an AEW pay-per-view and a very good one.

Day 72

• A consortium of ESPN writers wrote the latest round of "the current reality of sports" on this Memorial Day Weekend.  Here's kind of the Cliff Notes:

1. The last one out and the first one back was actually the Professional Bull Rider's Association, which held an event the first weekend of all this back in March, and came back for another one in late April, with no fans present and only for TV/streaming.  And everyone came asking how they did it.
2. MLB:  A 67-page draft document has indicated the probable conditions under which it could safely return, and it has been fraught with problems, both realistic and a financial consideration by the players' union.  It's clear, as the article points out, that it is a clear "damn the torpedoes" moment (for example, one clause is that players don't even shower after the games on-site!), but the clock is definitely ticking.  We're at Memorial Day Weekend and they haven't started calling players back yet.  Even a half-season and a World Series may very well require that call back to come in the next 2-4 weeks at maximum.  And one team president, on anonymity, basically said it's in no one's positive interests to play this year -- except the very survival of the sport itself.  So my current prediction is no MLB season this year.  But if they start losing 2021 on top of it, then they will start having to contract.
3. World Soccer:  Everyone's keeping an eye on the Bundesliga's tentative restart, but the situation, at present, appears stable in Germany.  However, a number of other European leagues shuttered for the year, and the EPL, though it has started small-group training, still needs much approval.  (And an ancillary report, linked to the article, indicates even Manchester United is having some financial trouble.)  And Serie A WILL shut down if a player tests positive.  MLS is talking about a tournament later this year in Orlando, but the players appear recalcitrant.  Current prediction:  Bundesliga relaunch succeeds on some level, but EPL, Serie A, and MLS will all call it off, and none will probably play this calendar year.  Much past that, and you probably see a major reorganization of club football in Europe and an end to the MLS.
4. NBA:  Obviously, the whole Rudy Gobert positive is what blew this all up, so they're especially concerned about all the i's and t's needed to be dotted and crossed.  Though Adam Silver wants to be one of the first to reopen, to send a message that the door is opening (similar to his closure indicating the other direction back in March), the key is that he does not want a second shutdown, because that might financially kill the league.  Last update was a conference call on May 8, but the clock does appear to be ticking.  Current prediction:  Maybe Fall of 2021, especially after a second wave hits??  I could easily see the NBA the second league to lose teams before they can safely relaunch.
5. WNBA:  Appears to be leaning single-site, but many concerns, including child-care provisions, are on the table.  Current prediction:  No chance at 2020, we'll see from there.  Could end up benefiting if it's proposed -- if the entire sports calendar needs to be re-written, as to NBA/WNBA doubleheaders in a new calendar of season.    
6. NHL:  One player in six lives outside North America, so there's THAT challenge too.  It appears, IF play resumes for 2019-20, it will be a 24-team playoff.  My prediction:  I think the NHL is in existential trouble.  I think it easily could be the first league to lose teams or fold completely, partially because of the players outside North America and partially because I'm not sure any real "bubble" scenario could feasibly work -- and then you have the potential second wave.     (EDIT TO ADD 8:20 PM PDT:  The head board of the NHLPA has approved the 24-team playoff.  Some negotiations still have to be in progress, as well as that the top eight teams, who would get byes as the other 16 played best of 5s, would play each other to stay sharp.)
7. NFL:  When they had to move the Draft from an over-the-top introduction to Las Vegas for the league to a virtual telethon-ish event, that should've told you how different things were going to be.  That said, I do think the NFL, more than anyone, WANTS to play the 2020 season as scheduled and feels an obligation to do so.  They understand that there will be positive tests, and that no league which cannot tolerate them will be permitted to continue in any form.  Current prediction:  Oh yeah, they'll try.  A lot of people are going to probably hinge the entire social order of America on the relaunch of the "National Religion" in September.  That said...  Oof...     
8. NCAA:  A whole lot of murk.  Current prediction:  The end of college sports as you know them.  It won't take place in five minutes, but the fact is you, first, have to have a real discussion on the future of education at large in America -- kindergarten through college and beyond.  I think that's going to be one major factor in basically ending the NCAA and college sports as they've been constructed.  Now, SOMETHING will replace them -- the major sports other than baseball need some minor-league system.  But I can't assure that the entire educational system as it was pre-March does not come back in any form ever, so how can we say the same for the NCAA?     

• As one example of the unclarity of North American soccer, Liga MX called off it's Winter/Spring half-season and awarded it's CONCACAF Champions' League places recently. 
• If anyone wishes to continue to doubt the impact of all this:  Patrick Ewing was just announced as testing positive for COVID-19. 
• Add Hertz Rent-A-Car to list of bankruptcies.

Day 71

• It is now official from Thomas Bach, the chief of the IOC:  If the Tokyo Olympics cannot be held in 2021, they will not be held at all.  I don't like your chances...     
• And speaking of things I don't like the chances of holding together...  ESPN is reporting, as they are covering the Korean Baseball Organization as they await whether we will have American pro baseball this year:  The Doosan Bears appear they will be for sale.  The parent company is in serious financial trouble, and creditors are demanding the Bears be put up for sale to raise cash to pay them off. 
• Ohio State believes they can hold at least 20,000 fans for their games...  Beyond stupid.  We may be two full seasons, if not more, before we can allow 20,000 people to be anywhere in one place at one time for an event.     
• The current math has the NBA targeted for late July.  I probably said it before, but a Woj interview on ESPN this morning said 2 weeks of callback, 1-2 weeks of workouts, 2-3 weeks of training camp. 
• Something new in the "To Do" list -- more that I just found it, probably:  Seth McFarlane and the "At Home Variety Show" on the Peacock website - the new NBC-based streaming service.  All through the month of May, short-form variety-show skits by him with special guests are on Twitter to raise awareness for Americares, Feeding America, and the United Way.   Here's tonight's:

Which Bella Twin is the evil twin? You're about to find out. Then, watch @mattiseman and @Akbar_Gbaja give a play-by-play on a sunset. 😂 Watch the full #PeacockVarietyShow in support of @Americares, @FeedingAmerica & @UnitedWay at https://t.co/BZsHv7BcuG! pic.twitter.com/Hyq4hoNoYB

— Peacock (@peacockTV) May 21, 2020

• Speaking of Twitter, Olbermann's back...

https://t.co/Kb29Efj6BE

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 22, 2020

Day 70

• Shad Gaspard, formerly of Cryme Tyme of the WWE, passed away when he was swept away in a riptide when he and his son were swimming off the coast of California.  Shad, as his last act alive, was able to get his son rescued by lifeguards who were getting a bunch of swimmers rescued before he succumbed.  And may every report of this tragedy by accompanied by that fact, unless new information is found out to the contrary.     
• The Speed Gamers are still going, over $6900 now for St. Jude's Children's Hospitals.  The maximum their "Generations" home event will go is the rest of the month.
• OH, NOW WE GET IT...  This is part of a larger St. Jude fundraising event -- a month-long Play Live summit of streamers to raise money for the charity -- which, this afternoon, passed two million dollars for the month in record time.
• An unnamed NFL player has sued United Airlines for allowing a sexual assault to go unreported and unresponded against him by a female passenger on the plane.  Apparently, he and another man were assaulted by a woman who was the third passenger in their row.
• Luke Hill is charged with first-degree attempted murder of another high-school student.  He was (until earlier this Spring -- the incident was Monday, so the decision to revoke his signing and this incident are not cause-effect) signed to play football at the University of Oregon -- his alleged victim, at whom Hill is charged with attempting to shoot from his car several times, a basketball signee to Rhode Island.  He faces nine charges from the incident.  You fuckers are going to make it easier by the day for people to walk away from sports.  Just saying...     
• When will some of these Korean teams and athletes understand you don't screw with Korean customs?  FC Seoul, as the Korean soccer league has returned to play as well, tried a little stunt as they tried a variation of the "mannequins in the stands" routine.  They dressed up about 20 sex dolls in that vein.  They got caught.  Fined $82,000, a record fine for the league, for bringing the game into disrepute.  And if that's not enough, they WERE using the Korean World Cup Stadium.  They may be EXPELLED from the stadium for this stunt.  They could be docked points by the league as well.  The staffers who did it were fired. 
• The NCAA has approved voluntary workouts for the month of June in football and basketball.  Good luck.  No guarantee the schools will even exist in the Fall, at least for that term.     
• Reports are now surfacing that MLS may not be the only American sports league playing at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando.  The NBA is now also looking at that possibility as well.  It's a risky proposition, more on the basis that if somebody gets infected, you now have two leagues full of problems.  My position is still that the NBA will cancel the 2019-20 season and a good part, if not all, of 2020-21.     
• Olbermann is now making standard that it is Wednesdays off of his Thurber readings. 
• Aldon Smith has been reinstated by the NFL, sources claim.  He's been out FIVE YEARS. 
• If the Italian soccer league is to finish, the 2019-20 season must end by August 20.
• Appears the current plan in the NBA is to resume in late July, with the beginnings of plans to return players to whereever they will be (for a 2-week quarantine to start) in early June.
• Several major neutral-site early college basketball games have been cancelled already.

Some questions still demand to be answered: A SuperCut

Four days from now (my time), it will have been 21 years since Owen Hart died.

Tonight, as the conclusion of the second season of the acclaimed VICE documentary Dark Side of the Ring series, the show goes into another of pro wrestling's darkest moments -- Owen Hart's 80-foot fall to his death in Kansas City.

First, I'm going to embed the video of the show here so you can watch it.  There's one thing I want you to watch for -- and it's Owen's attitude as he leaves for Kansas City the day before...



When he goes to his son (as he's going to the airport to KC -- which was not normal for him to take his son) and tells him to take care of everybody.

Owen's widow Martha, for the first time, really goes into detail about this event.

Martha has taken a significant stand against the WWE -- has made sure to raise her children to hate professional wrestling.

Even though they are Harts, would that not stand to reason if your mother believed with all her soul that Vince McMahon murdered Owen Hart for not being enough of a company man?

Owen was one of the few people in the company to refuse racy angles in the "Attitude Era", because he wanted to remain faithful to his wife Martha, and to his children.

Because in a year or two, he was going to leave pro wrestling, by design.  Not for a rival company, but to have a real life as a father and as a husband.

And that, to me, is the two biggest mortal sins against Vince McMahon that you can have.

And when you listen to how his son relates the story about what would be their last goodbye, the more you have to conclude that Vince McMahon and all that tragedy may well have been malfeasance and a direct effort to put an end to an unfaithful employee, even one as loved as Owen.

Don't believe me?  I'll give you another episode of Dark Side here...  This one covers one of the great mysteries and probable coverups of a career which would've aided in the rise of Hulkamania and the national expansion of the World Wrestling Federation -- the murder of Nancy Argentino by Jimmy Snuka...



I make no secret that I want Vince McMahon and his company to burn in flames. I now believe he was, in fact, culpable in a probable murder of Owen Hart.

Owen Hart wanted to play by his rules (and this after his brother was so publicly screwed in Montreal), and wanted a life beyond wrestling I am certain Vince was not going to allow.

Day 69

• And the bad news keeps coming:  The USGA has cancelled all regional and sectional qualifying plans for the 2020 US Open of golf.
• Khabib Nurmagedov has announced his mother correction: father is gravely ill in the hospital with COVID-19 complications after heart surgery.  (UPDATE:  Medically induced coma now.)
• Tonight's ESPN Classic Baseball:  2011 World Series Game 6 -- the David Freese Game.
• Venezuela and Scotland have cancelled the remainder of their 2019-2020 soccer campaigns. 
• Pier 1 Imports is finished -- once and if stores can reopen, it will be a liquidation sale. 
• Taylor Swift is the latest road casualty of all this -- no 2020 tour, which was going to be featured by the first live event at the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. 
• It appears the current MLS plan (with the announcement today that the MLS vs. Liga MX All-Star Game has been called off for this season) is a full-league tournament, including group phase, starting in July -- with 3-4 weeks of training in June in Orlando.
• Olbermann: 

Live #Thurbercast No. 47 https://t.co/y4Wj1Ktrj8

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 20, 2020

• The appeal on Manchester City's 2-year European ban for Financial Fair Play will be June 8-10.
• And NASCAR has run into the one problem this abbreviated restart can give -- weather!  Xfinity race for Darlington now rescheduled Thursday noon. 
• In news which is going to chill the expectations of the English Premier League restarting -- the first wave of tests came back with 6 positives from 3 clubs. 
• Mike Trout admits he does not believe that Major League Baseball can return without enough testing to test everyone DAILY.  And that should be all for 2020 for MLB.     
• And if that's not enough...   The A's have defaulted on their annual rent payment to the Oakland Coliseum Authority.  That one will probably end up in court eventually, it's obvious it's because of COVID-19 and the like, but...    
• Well, this is interesting:  The Belmont Stakes is going to be on June 20th...  Marking the first time in history the Belmont is actually the FIRST leg of the Triple Crown.     

Day 68

• Broadway theatre has it's first casualty -- and it's Disney.  They will NOT re-launch the musical version of Frozen after theatres reopen.  Current word of the New York Times is that a possible re-launch of Broadway is months and months away -- "considerably after Labor Day"...  Let it go, people...     
• Last week, Broadway called off all shows through the summer.
• One of the "revelations" (ha ha) of the final episodes of "The Last Dance" is that Jordan's famous "flu game" was actually due to food-poisoning, bad pizza.  Yeah, and if you believe that, I have a nice parcel of beach to sell you...  In Lincoln, Nebraska.     
• ESPN confirms the earliest NASCAR will even THINK of having audiences is June 21st -- after this five-week restart. 
• It appears as if Arizona will be the next site for UFC cards, according to ESPN's "Golic and Wingo" mini-Sportscenter this morning. 
• Today is the first day of training for Aussie Rules Football players under obvious limitations.  Round 2 of the 2020 season is now scheduled to start June 11th.  Four teams will have to relocate to the Gold Coast.
• In an effort not to be left out when pro sports restarts, it appears New York and California are willing to start up again in the next few weeks.  This is a complete reversal of Newsom's position on the subject -- it appears he knows if he tries to keep California teams out of the pro sports to keep everybody safe, that probably WILL be the tipping point.     
• One of the "name" restaurants in Chicago -- Ditka's Restaurant -- will not reopen.  The coronavirus will permanently close the restaurant. 
• Olbermann:

#Thurbercast No. 46 tonight featuring advice gone horribly wrong: “Helpful Hints And The Hoveys” https://t.co/gazFmmAXOH

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 19, 2020

• And a message from the Trek universe that I feel is necessary for today:

Be like Spock. pic.twitter.com/3PmywBM7t5

— Bill Smith @ 🏡 (@TrekGeekBill) May 17, 2020

Only logical.     

• There will be no attempt at the BIG3 3 on 3 league this year.
• ESPN, on it's Classic NBA Night, is showing "Game 6:  The Movie".  1998's Game 6, the final game of the rigged Bulls dynasty.  Hey, why not?  So scripted of an event that you could make it into a movie, so ESPN is going to???     
• This Cody Latimer thing sounds like it's pretty deep.  Apparently, the gunshots and other incidents were part of a poker game Latimer was involved with, but it goes far deeper than that.  There is an ongoing criminal investigation of a sexual assault of Latimer's son by one of the players at the poker game!!!
• Cody Latimer's son is aged FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 67

• Looks like the beginning of that ambitious NASCAR relaunch is going off well.  Kevin Harvick won.
• Mark Cuban is proposing an interesting idea for stimulus of businesses -- every household gets $1000 every other week for three months.  One catch:  The money must be spent in 10 days or it is lost.  Cover for the possibility of directly cashing out the money and declaring that "spending it" -- because this is intended to help relaunch American (especially small) business -- and this might even be better for the back end of what's going on...    
• And on the day the Giants prepared to fire DeAndre Baker by telling him he was no longer welcome at team meetings...
• The THIRD high-profile NFL arrest incident in the last four days.  Ed Oliver.  DWI and an illegal weapon in Houston.  You guys are giving the racist #NFLBoycott crowd all the fucking ammo they need NOT to want the NFL back this Fall.  Are you basically going by the "Murderer" Ray Lewis playbook, threatening to go criminal if the NFL is shut down like he said would happen if the game was locked out that one season?     
• Baker and Quinton Dunbar are out on $200,000 bond apiece, but required to remain in Florida. 
• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 45 live https://t.co/lKYU5P4PKL

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 18, 2020

• And there was a Part Two!! 

And part two of #Thurbercast No. 45https://t.co/pYjHvnSPFj

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 18, 2020

• Olbermann is also slamming NHL negotiations -- it appears that a 24-team playoff system is being considered as one of the "Return To Play" options.  And I have nothing against Olbermann objecting...  The only question I have is:  With a near-certain "second wave" or continuation of the first this winter, if it's this bad now, does that not seal the deal on the 2020-2021 season too -- at which point you begin to talk existential threats to the Big Four professional sports...  and far more????     
• If this is any indication of how people are going to be as things reopen, we are beyond fucked.  Cape Cod ice-cream store, quietly reopens.  First day in, they re-close after losing a three-year employee who was saving money for college.  The customers refused all social-distancing limitations and the fact that people were supposed to call in an hour in advance for ice-cream orders.  The aforementioned ex-employee, according to the owner, was given language "you wouldn't even say in a men's locker room".  If there's one saving grace, the owner set up a GoFundMe for money for that girl's college fund.  It's got at least $40,000 raised (now that CNN has picked up on the story).   (Thank you to my anonymous friend for that story from GO Media's The Takeout).

Day 66

• The Bundesliga returned without many hitches today.
• Add Washington Redskins receiver Cody Latimer to the crime docket:  Assault and illegal discharge of a firearm.  Does the NFL REALLY want to return this Fall and have people want it to?     
• You can add Miroslav Barnyashev to the list of pro wrestlers using Twitch as a side project.  You may have known him better before his WWE release as Rusev. 
• At the end of the rebroadcast of American Pharoah's Preakness victory, it was announced that the 2020 Preakness Stakes is now scheduled for October 3rd.
• Today marked the finals of the Madden 20 professional circuit, the Madden Bowl.  Given lack of programming, ESPN2 carried the semifinals and finals.  The winner wins $65,000, second place $25,000.
• The winner?  One of the best in Madden:  Raidel "Joke" Brito.  The players used Madden Ultimate Teams, and Brito only ran the ball.  So much so that when he had to have a quarterback, he used the punter for the Redskins.  That and stingy defense won the top prize and the championship.
• Sad news in sports:  Phyllis George, the first large-scale female commentator when she was on the NFL Today, passed due to probable leukemia today...  One of the greatest benefits of the former Miss America is that she was a legitimate broadcast reporter -- not a "Tits McGhee" with long legs and the like.  She was an integral part of the CBS pregame presentation and well-respected and accepted.
• As did former Chicago Bears Chairman Mike McCaskey passed today, also due to complications of leukemia.
• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 44: Outdoor Edition. come for “What’s So Funny?,” “Look At That Darling Thing!,” and “The Girls In The Closet” from Thurber Country...stay for the spectacular sunset!https://t.co/Se1OINcSlu

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 17, 2020

• Chris Jericho's latest Saturday Night Special -- featuring his new band, Kuarantine:

Day 65

• And the Bundesliga starts Saturday too, joining NASCAR and a third Jacksonville UFC card this weekend in live sports.  So a big weekend to see where we are in all this crap.
• BUT HOLD EVERYTHING IN GERMANY (7:50 PM PDT):  At least one player is being quarantined for two weeks, and one political official is saying the restart IS in danger.  Appears several shortcuts have been caught in the process of trying to restart.  First games are less than 11 hours away now.
• Now James Harrison is backtracking on some of his story.  So if he didn't give any money -- what WAS in the envelope Mike Tomlin gave you, Mr. Harrison?  I don't know if this is WORSE.  Certainly has the potential to be.
• Some point today or tomorrow...  (I don't know because I don't know if the people at Vimeo are working in his time zone (Australia) or ours...), but the documentary that I was a part of (and the major hook for -- the first words in the trailer are mine...), "Repeat Attenders", is going on Vimeo for it's worldwide release.  Yep, all plans of theatrical release here in the States went up in smoke the moment the coronavirus hit.
• Standing warning:  The story's not pretty.  I am not the "good guy" here.  In fact, I don't think I exaggerate in saying that my involvement in the project (though even I knew, back when I did the interview, I was the major hook to get people interested in the discussion) probably has significantly damaged the reputations of a number of the other "repeat attenders" (people who attend theatrical performances on numerous occasions -- several others are profiled in the movie).  You may hate me when it's all over.  You'll not only know what I look like, but some very bad things about me.  Do what you need to do with that information.  I'll watch it...  someday.
• Looks like The Speed Gamers are wrapping up their Generations marathon on Monday finally.  Raised the better part of $6000 so far. 
• Russia will continue their soccer league in a month, playing two games a week for a month and allowing 5 substitutions per game.
• Italy will allow limited international travel in and out of the country in about three weeks (June 3).
• Belgium, however, has awarded the season championship to Club Brugge and called it off. 
• The International Tennis Hall of Fame will add Goran Ivanisevic and Conchita Martinez next year -- both were to be inducted in July, but the ceremony has been called off.
• And now all major professional tennis is off til the end of July, at minimum.  And with the US Open scheduled shortly thereafter, you may have lost the rest of the tennis season.    

Day 64

• NASCAR's ambitious relaunch begins Sunday, and has now expanded to five Southern states, and 19 total races in five weeks -- nine Cup, six Xfinity, three Truck Series races, and an ARCA race.
• A message from someone near and dear to my heart -- and who has probably cheated death by cancer at least twice:

• Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell refuses to play for any reduced salary -- which appears to be an owners' condition of there being a 2020 MLB season.  He claims to have the support of several others, and, though he understands the disgust, stands behind his comments.
• James Harrison claimed to Barstool Sports that a 2010 hit to Mohammed Massquoi was followed by the giving of an envelope by coach Mike Tomlin.  (ESPN)  He was fined $75,000 for the hit, reduced to $50,000 -- and says he would've killed Massaquoi (who was knocked out of the game with a concussion) if he knew it would get that kind of a fine.  Art Rooney, the owner of the Steelers, obviously denies this -- the NFL has no comment.  Sean Payton thinks this will get swept under the rug...  ... and I think Payton is correct.   

• University of Akron has cut men's cross-country and golf and women's tennis to try to stay in Division I. 
• DeAndre Baker (New York Giants) and Quinton Dunbar (Seattle Seahawks) had arrest warrants issued for an armed robbery which allegedly happened at a party last night.  Four counts each of armed robbery and aggravated assault with a firearm.  Keep it up, fuckers, and there may be fewer people than you think missing the NFL if it can't play this fall...     
• The owner of Italian football club Udinese does not believe Serie A should be started until Italy has passed the "critical phase". 
• On the other hand, the CPBL in Taiwan will now allow 2000 fans to attend each game, will sell some concessions, and allow family members to sit next to each other. 
• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 43 tonight: “Mr. Monroe Holds The Fort” and his weird unadorned tale of the unexplained “Mrs. Phelps.”https://t.co/joTnfrgPrE

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 15, 2020

Day 63

• The Hollywood Bowl has cancelled it's entire schedule for 2020.
• Olbermann is called off tonight due to allergies.
• When Vegas casinos reopen, the MGM hotels will be at only one-fourth capacity for the beginnings of the restart.  Next few weeks appears to be the timetable.  Some Nevada businesses have been allowed to reopen.
• The idiots at the Wisconsin Supreme Court nullified all further extensions to the Safer At Home orders as unconstitutional.  So it's unconstitutional to protect people from infecting everybody around them.  You may just have sickened members of my family with that shit -- just saying.  And I'm the YOUNGEST child of five, and at least one of my brothers is in the state and over 60!  But FUCK US, right??!?!?!?!??    
• Calm, now...  Serene...
• Rolling Stone:  The fucking Idiot in Chief is using Axl Rose's version of  "Live and Let Die" as a rallying point for his "Kill the unfit!" Covidiots!!  Well, the band is pissed, and Axl has directly confronted Adolf Twitler on his favorite communications medium...  Also, they made a shirt:  "Live and Let Die With COVID-45"  ALL proceeds from the sale of the shirts go to the Recording Academy's MusicCares charity -- providing aid and assistance to people in the industry impacted by events like the coronavirus.

Another sports Sacred Cow may just have been felled. Don Larsen's perfect game may have been tainted.

Olbermann tonight:

The rebroadcast of Larsen’s Perfect Game in the ‘56 World Series features the best piece of unintentional historical research ever in baseball.

How did an “imperfect man” throw the perfect game? As Mel Allen explained in the bottom of the 3rd THE YANKEES REMOVED THE BATTERS’ EYE pic.twitter.com/Xi2GLOqIOc

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 13, 2020

Why is this important?

Because, without the batter's eye, no one could see the ball, much less be able to hit it.

Is this another of the great Sacred Cows of Sports which, like "The Guarantee", does not stand up to the scrutiny of truth?

Day 62

• The Speed Gamers are now going until at least SATURDAY the 16th for their Generations marathon.  I think, at this point, the end of the situation will be when they no longer can have people stream from at home.  They've raised $5,800 so far for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
• Fantasy Faire for Second Life's Relay For Life wrapped up over the weekend, and -- to the surprise of all, including those running the event, all records were broken!  The official final total for the event (with at least a few hundred still coming in!) was $73,572 -- over $5,500 more than the record from last year, and that included a $20,000 corporate lump donation which was NOT present this year.
• There's actually ANOTHER UFC Fight Night card tomorrow night (both cards this week at the same venue as the pay-per-view last Saturday!).
• On the pay-per-view, there were T-shirts being sold "What is Fight Island?"  Apparently, plans for that are still in the works, and a major fight is probably scheduled for...  whatever the Island is...  upon completion next month.  Why does the concept of "Fight Island" creep me out, in a "Running Man"/"Battle Royale" way?    
• Sports Illustrated reports today that a "bubble scenario" is the current plan to bring back Major League Soccer.  The 26 teams would be quarantined at Disney Resorts in Florida and play at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex.  ESPN would gladly lap up the programming.  Timing is still uncertain.  One source says June, another says September!
• Congratulations to the WWE's Becky Lynch (and her fiance, Seth Rollins), expecting her first child in December.  That ends her 14-month Raw Women's Championship reign, as the Money in the Bank ladder match for the women was rewritten into a direct awarding of the title to the winner, Asuka.  Since no one basically knew what the circumstances were, when Lynch told Asuka she was expecting, Asuka broke all character.
• According to Woj (Adrian Wojnarowski), the NBPA (the National Basketball Players Association) is taking a poll they hope will remain confidential of basically all the NBA players, asking if they want to try to complete the season. 
• Los Angeles is looking at keeping it's stay-at-home order all the way through AUGUST!  Which gives you an idea of what might well happen if MLB does try the home-parks situation.  
• Also to that vein, the California State University system will do the Fall semester online.
• And, by that ruling, there's a very real chance that none of the Cal State colleges will be playing football this Fall either.  And that includes three schools in the Mountain West Conference.    
• And now a report the first major college football cancellation:  Because of the nature of the California situation, it appears the season-opening TV game in Arlington, TX between USC and Alabama has been cancelled.  And if that's the case, that might portend no college football at all in the state of California this Fall. 
• The Alameda (CA) County Fair is off the first time in over a century. 
• Olbermann:

Tonight’s #Thurbercast No. 42 featured “If Grant Had Been Drinking At Appomattox” and his entirely justifiable diatribe against English teachers who ignore content “Here Lies Miss Groby”https://t.co/XZ10owlg33

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 13, 2020

No post Sunday, and these are the developments from Monday, Day 61...

I think part of all this is that things are beginning to wear quite a bit.  It really did seem that things started with everybody trying to pitch in, and now I think a lot of these "FREEDUMB" types have really pissed all over it -- and they're getting their way with a lot of people going to pay the ultimate price.  Just had two jack-offs arrested for taking out a security guard as they were being escorted out of a Los Angeles store for not wearing masks.

• One example of this is MLB.  They announced what they had planned.  Owners have approved it, it appears the players will strongly oppose it.  This portends a full-scale showdown.  I think it's clear that the owners and the political forces behind them want sports relaunched, at whatever human cost, in- or outside of the actual games themselves.   
• The AHL called the season off yesterday... It is the first time in the history of the league (going back to 1936) that the championship will not be awarded.  And there's almost no chance the NHL and NBA don't follow suit. I think, right now, the very real question has to be whether either of these leagues can play again for the next 24 months! (As in, if they relaunch, it's Fall/Winter 2022.)
• The UFC has a Fight Night this weekend.
• Olbermann, last night:

It’s #Thurbercast No. 41 including his marvelous tale of imagination run wild “The Lady On 142” and “Memoirs Of A Drudge” plus my farewell to the great and loyal Jerry Stillerhttps://t.co/NveVMYvEnK

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 12, 2020

• And Sunday night:

#Thurbercast No. 41 at 8 PM EDT

We hit the big 4-0 last night with “How To Adjust To Your Work” and “The Remarkable Case Of Mr. Bruhl”https://t.co/OLqyHT5mJI

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 11, 2020

• Florida Tech of the Gulf South Conference (Division II) has dropped football completely over coronavirus concerns.  What I'm beginning to wonder is when this actually gets to DI or even FBS...  I could very easily see a future, as early as a couple years from now, where there may be 30 schools (mostly in the Southeast of some of the other major powers -- nothing out West) as a fuller feeder system to the NFL.    
• Both Korea and Taiwan have started their baseball seasons, to the hope of the world.
• Catching up a bit:  The NBA Draft Lottery and Combine were cancelled on the first of the month.

Day 59 -- Saturday

• Well, the UFC card went off without a hitch -- and even had a stoppage some felt was too quick.  Ah, some degree of normalcy.
• Seen at my local county board meeting to reverse some of the stay-at-home, masks, etc.:  "Open Up Or Else"...  OR ELSE WHAT, BITCH???    
• Olbermann's back...

#Thurbercast is back and No. 39 is his nearly prophetic “The Pleasure Cruise - And How To Survive It” plus where I’ve been the last three days. https://t.co/0RwFWMe0aV

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 10, 2020

• Elon Musk wants out of California, not liking the restrictions. Fucking con artist.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, unlike SOME PEOPLE, actually is going to semi-quarantine himself after possibly being exposed to the virus.
• Korean baseball continues fanless for now, but bars and nightclubs have been asked to close again in the country.
• Latest MLB developments mean a conference call with the owners on Monday.  According to The Athletic, 80 game regular season starting in July, World Series probably ending around Thanksgiving.  At the home ballparks...  Fucking forget it, kid.  #1, you run the risk of being at least six or eight teams short.  Governor Newsom is probably not going to allow the California teams to play at all, if he can get away with it.  #2, Can't think the Washington Governor is far different.  #3, And then there's this little thing of New York...  If MLB is "Home stadiums or bust", best to prepare for 2021 and let golf, NASCAR, etc. carry us through.

And here we go: The first test of the new reality of sports...

Tonight is the first American sport in almost two months -- UFC 239 pay-per-view.

And one fighter is out -- positive for the coronavirus.

Ronaldo Souza was positive when he was tested.

First real test of the new reality of American sports. 

Day 58

• And there goes SummerSlam for Boston in August.  That's not happening -- the mayor has basically kiboshed it already.  No large gatherings at all through the summer.  Festivals, parades, etc. cancelled in Boston through September 7.
• The NBA now IS going to allow for testing of players and staff...
• But Mark Cuban (who did a study, showing the Texas reopening is NOT going according to needed standards) is not opening Mavericks' facilities today.

People are going to have to get used to the concept of, if these leagues relaunch at all, it could be two seasons, maybe even THREE (IF EVER!) before all the franchises can return.  California Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday said there is almost no chance the NFL can be allowed to play in California until a vaccine or immunity is developed.  This probably means any NBA/NFL/MLB relaunch loses all the California teams.

• No Olbermann tonight either -- recovering from a knee procedure.

OK. SOMEONE HAS GOT TO GET THIS ENTITLEMENT CULTURE UNDER CONTROL OR WE'RE GOING FREEFIRE AS I SPEAK...

McDonalds in Oklahoma City.  Shot up because a stupid bitch is pissed the dining room was closed!

Get this damn bullshit under control because it's starting, as we speak...  You are getting an increasing intersection of African-American thug life (this one WAS an African-American), MAGAt culture, and the intersecting dopey-faced YOLO bullshit...

Get a handle on this before you lose it all!!  You do NOT have long!!!

Four were injured in the shooting -- all expected to survive.

(CBS News)

Day 57

More indications of the restart:

• The Turkish Soccer League wants to start June 12th so the 2019-20 season can be completed by July.
• Croatia wants to restart it's soccer league with the league Cup semifinals later this month as well.
• Confirmation:  The Bundesliga wants to restart May 16th.
• But word the English Premier League may not restart at all this season -- at least three clubs, including Aston Villa, are opposing the plans to restart the league.
• The NFL is having it's Schedule Reveal Party tonight on ESPN.  yay...   twirls little finger  
• Penn State Football Coach James Franklin is proposing that college football can reopen even if some of the schools in conferences do not return.  Could this be the setting of the table for getting rid of "lesser programs" once and for all -- one of several "unintended" (HA!) consequences of all this??   
• Speaking of that, a real discussion of the end of the Pac-12 Conference on today's ESPN2 and ESPN Radio's "Golic and Wingo":

“The PAC-12 is done”

“The only way the PAC-12 can somewhat survive this is that they go to the BIG-12 and say we’ve gotta merge.”

-@PeterBurnsESPN pic.twitter.com/2bnfCWZdD2

— Golic and Wingo (@GolicAndWingo) May 7, 2020

Frankly and bluntly, not a moment too soon.  The only reason they are Power 5 is the Rose Bowl tie-in.  Otherwise, they have nothing to bring to the table of any kind.  They'd be the Mountain West at best, and the WAC is not far behind...

• Some MLS facilities are opening up for a possible beginning of a road to starting the season.
• And the NFL has come out with plans to open it's facilities so they can start on schedule. 
• And Jeff Passan with MLB's latest: 

Went on @GetUpESPN this morning to talk about the latest on how baseball could proceed as it tries to return and why playing in home stadiums has become the preferred option of many in the game.

For more details, check out the news story at ESPN dot com: https://t.co/fHiasxlS1A pic.twitter.com/v6hT4WjudT

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 7, 2020

Sorry, MLB, that's not going to be realistic at this time.

Your best bet, at that point, is actually truncating the league where many teams will not be able to play at all.  (Every California team would probably be out, but, to the chagrin of Manfred, so would probably the Yankees!!!)  Forcing teams to play in their own stadiums would force local regulations on it, and I can't think California, for one example, could even do fanless this year.

(One of the reasons I am not optimistic about where we'll be for the NFL as they try to satiate the masses tonight with a full 2020 schedule reveal.)

However:

• New Japan Pro Wrestling has now announced the cancellation of both it's "Best of the Super Juniors" round-robin cruiserweight tournament AND it's scheduled "Wrestle Dynasty" show for Madison Square Garden for August.  The company, off since March 1, now has suspended all shows until past June 6.  They also have no shows scheduled of any kind past then.  When the Olympics were scheduled for this year, New Japan was proposing their classic G1 tournament to be held later in the Fall. 
• The status of the 2021 Australian Open tennis tournament is already up in the air, with discussions both centering on allowing only Australians in the crowd (to prevent tourists who may come from then-higher infected areas) or cancelling the tournament altogether already! 
• The head of the Knott's Berry Farm chain of theme parks has admitted there's a very real chance some or all of the parks in the chain may not reopen at all this calendar year!
• And another violent incident to report:  Bus driver in Miami spat upon by an idiot passenger she ordered to wear a mask.  Has not been able to return to work.  Another Miami driver went further -- taking a pipe after a person on their cellphone with mask lowered.  That driver faces charges.  (CNN)
• Another night of no Olbermann, and it could be a while before it continues.  He just posted he did a lot of work for ESPN today -- and he's hoarse.  Could be a while.

An update on something to do:

• The Speed Gamers are now into the seventh day of their round-the-clock at-home marathon "Generations", celebrating over 40 years of video game history and raising money for St. Jude's Children's Hospitals.  Total raised so far has exceeded $3,500, and the marathon now is scheduled to go through at least May (just announced!)  14th!!!
• I see at least two additional WWE talents on Twitch playing video games for a little extra on the side:  NXT Champion Adam Cole (BAYBAY!!!), and Cesaro.

The Pro-Death Cult tries to take more. They need to be stopped.

Gun-waving terrorist Republican motherfucker tries to run down a parade of nurses in Pennsylvania.

Motherfucker then leads police on a chase and flips his vehicle.

Here's hoping he didn't survive.  Cocksucking bitch...

Day 56

• It appears as if the Bundesliga will try to restart -- either May 15 or May 22.
• Premier League discussing how to go forward, but concerned of liability.
• NBA will have an all-player call on Friday for progress for the future.
• And Major League Baseball is finalizing a plan to go forward.

Sounds like it's in the infancy stages of ramping back up.  I think it's a little too soon yet.

No Olbermann tonight -- other commitments.

Day 55

• MLB Dream Bracket Roster Challenge is over.  The Yankees beat the Reds in 7.
• Olbermann: 

#Thurbercast No. 38 https://t.co/keNDKZcuPa

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 6, 2020

We are precariously close to losing it all to the Rule of Violence.

One thing I learned in Riker's Island was a sad reality of the lives we live:  Violence is the sole law.

We are about to see that in practice as this bullshit by the Covidiots has taken on enough life that it now appears that this country will have the millions of deceased due to the virus that the Branch Covidians, MAGAts, and YOLO Culture desire.

Don't believe me?  Here's Assault With A Deadly Weapon by a Branch Covidian MAGAt in Michigan:

Police in Michigan asking for help identifying assault suspect who wiped his nose and face on a Dollar Tree employee's shirt after authorities say she informed him of the store's face-mask policy. https://t.co/SUpzE1UT4C pic.twitter.com/jDHg1miAT9

— ABC News (@ABC) May 5, 2020

Is told the policy, flips off the storekeeper, then wipes himself on her shirt, possibly exposing her to the virus.

You know, if you have that much of a problem with the whole thing, why not just ransack the place and be done with it, you fucking piece of shit?

Of course, you could also be the father and daughter three people who killed a security guard elsewhere in the state.  Guy threw the daughter woman out of the store for no mask and the like, she came back with her dad husband and son...  and a gun.

EDITS were for more information -- and, as of about noon PDT on Tuesday, she's in custody but the other two are still on the loose...

And then, of course, the incident with the Michigan State Senate last week.

And now, burgeoning protests and violence have finally gotten Gavin Newsom to begin to reopen California later this week -- WEEKS before we even can remotely be ready.

---

You're going to get 10,000,000 killed by this virus alone.

And I think it's clear that's what you want.

I've heard all forms of bigotry, racism, up to even eugenics and the talk of that we have prevented those with "defects" dying, etc. and so forth.

You are teetering and toppling toward a hot Civil War in this country with the 70-80-90% of people who understand the situation we are in and cooperating.

If you know me, you know I'm a rebel, an asshole, and a conspiracy theorist.  I think it is clear the government is hiding tens of thousands of COVID-19 deaths, one reason or another.

(CDC is reporting all cause deaths are about double, at least, what they are normally this time of year.)

I ask a lot of the pro-Trump types if they want a war.

Sounds like we are about to get it.

We lost Don Shula today.

Don Shula, the coach of the only Super Bowl champion to run the table...

... the winningest coach in NFL history...

passed today at age 90.

It's kinda tough to write about with the virus and the state of football even without it and all that stuff.

But that's one/another of the pillars of the Super Bowl Era now gone...

Day 54 -- yes, there was no post yesterday...

• ESPN will be telecasting Korean baseball to fill the programming for a while.  The games begin tonight with the NC Dinos vs. the Samsung Lions.
• For the next eight days, Dallas-based video-game group The Speed Gamers are doing round-the-clock video-game streams from their homes around the country to support St. Jude.
• For the "Good Lord!" file:  After breaking the world deadlift record on Saturday, Halfthor Bjornsson challenged former record-holder Eddie "The Beast" Hall to a boxing match.  Hall has accepted -- preliminary thought is to make it September in Las Vegas. There's no way the Nevada State Athletic Commission is going to allow that shit.  They'd pop for so many steroids...  Are you fuckers serious???    

• Couple of things on the e-sports front:  The good news:  Villanova University's last two national championship teams will play on a modified NBA2K build to "settle the score" -- and raise money for a Philadelphia kids hunger-relief charity.  Should start at 4 on both YouTube and Twitch.
• The bad news:  Five men, four of them 20 years old, have been arrested in Australia for attempting to fix e-sports matches.  Hmmm...
• Chris Jericho with Fozzy on his Saturday Night Special last Saturday night: 

• Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays won the MLB: The Show Players League championship three games to none over the White Sox' Lucas Giolito (5-1, 3-2, 6-0)  Snell won $25,000 for the Tampa Bay Boys and Girls Club. 
• Staying in baseball, over the last two to two and a half weeks, MLB Network has had the Dream Bracket series, in which all 30 teams put together their best all-time roster.  The other two spots were left to an all-time roster of the Negro Leagues, and a current roster of the best of the best players 25 and under.  7-game series, single elimination.  All games simulated on Out of the Park 2020.
• The final two teams?  Yankees (4-3 over the Red Sox) vs. Reds (4-2 over the Dodgers).  The Grand Final series is 2-2, the rest will air tomorrow.
• After they finish this, it's on to the 64 best single-season teams in a similar tournament.
• Olbermann: 

Two great Thurber stories read aloud in tonight’s #Thurbercast No. 38: “The Casebook of James Thurber” and “A Ride With Olympy”https://t.co/FMvG9N9GYW

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 5, 2020

• Rory McIlroy, Ricky Fowler, and Dustin Johnson will one-up Tiger, Phil, Peyton, and Tom.  May 17, they and Matthew Wolff will play a 2 on 2 skins game for COVID-19 relief charities, $3,000,000 on the line, live on NBC and streamed for free.

Day 52

• Well (if the weight is correct), The Mountain did it.  Hafthor Bjornsson lifted 501 kg (1,104.52 pounds) to break the deadlift world record in his gymnasium in Iceland today.  The question is:  He made it look EASY!!!  The attempt is a subject of much controversy in the powerlifting world.  Some do question whether someone might fudge the weight and the like, and even people sympathetic to Bjornsson question whether an out-of-competition lift should be counted.  On the other hand, there is the point of whether another such competition might ever feasibly be held!    
• The Peachtree Road Race, the largest 10-kilometer race in the world, held in Atlanta, will be run on Thanksgiving instead of the Fourth of July this year.  Doubt that VERY seriously.   
• Speaking of things I have to doubt VERY seriously...  According to Tampa Bay beat write Marc Topkin:

With cautious optimism, MLB's latest plan for a season has most teams playing in home parks with no fans and competing in current divisions https://t.co/UKzeFaUSht

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 2, 2020

• And the countdown to rioting continues:  Guns were pulled on Oklahoma City storekeepers in the last several days, so the city pulled back it's limitation on masks.  Word is that less-violent idiots are going to get our county to revoke that on Tuesday night.  Somebody wants a lot of people killed this summer, and they're going to get it! Martial.  Law.  NOW.    
• And the eugenicists are out in full force:  Antioch (California, right near the Bay Area) City Planning Commission member Ken Turnage has called for the elimination of the unfit through COVID-19 -- both of the aged and of the mentally-ill and homeless to reduce the burden on society.  (And just in case you think I'm joking:  New York Daily News)  Turnage was expelled from the Commission last night.
• As widely expected, Secretariat won the virtual Kentucky Derby (called The Triple Crown Showdown) between all 13 Triple Crown winners.  Secretariat won by a head over Citation, and largely because Secretariat got boxed in for most of the race, including a bump between two horses in front of him which could've caused an inquiry. 

• Chris Jericho brings members of his band Fozzy to the Saturday Night Special on his Facebook at 6 PM PDT tonight. 
• The quarterfinals and semifinals of the month-long MLB: The Show Players League were held today. 

1. (1) Blake Snell (Tampa Bay) defeated (8) Gavin Lux (LA Dodgers) two games to none.  (3-2, 5-4)
2. (4) Jeff McNeil (NY Mets) defeated (5) Dwight Smith Jr. (Baltimore) two games to none.  (3-2. 3-1)
3. (7) Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs) defeated (2) Joey Gallo (Texas) two games to one.  (2-3, 4-3, 7-0)
4. (6) Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox) defeated (3) Bo Bichette (Toronto) two games to one.  (3-2, 0-1, 5-3)
5. Semifinal One: Snell defeated McNeil two games to one (1-4, 8-0, 7-0)
6. Semifinal Two:  Giolito defeated Happ two games to one (8-4, 0-1, 3-1)
7. The Grand Final:  Blake Snell vs. Lucas Giolito, will take place tomorrow on ESPN at 2:30 Eastern.  It is best of 5, the winner gets $25,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of either Tampa, FL if Snell wins or Chicago if Giolito wins.  Every player in the 30-man league got a $5,000 donation for their city's Boys and Girls Club.

And you can add English football to the list.

One major English footballer has been banned from soccer for four months and another faces the same ban.  Both for providing inside information about impending transfers to people betting on such markets.

Daniel Sturridge provided inside information regarding a potential 2018 transfer and has been banned for four months of soccer, and now Kieran Trippier faces the same ban after transferring to Atletico Madrid.

So what ELSE are these people talking about?

Day 51

• The Kentucky Derby will take place tomorrow on NBC...  kinda.

All 13 Triple Crown winners will engage in a computer-generated virtual horse race on the first Saturday of May, and it will be broadcast on NBC.

"Bets" on the winners will be donations to COVID-19 relief charities, with all donators put into a drawing for a VIP experience the next time the real Derby is actually held.  Churchill Downs is matching all donations to $1,000,000, according to the official Kentucky Derby website.

A full list of the day's social-media activities and broadcasts is on Lifehacker.

Odds have been placed, and, to what should be no one's surprise, Secretariat is the favorite.

• English Premier League will probably decide how to complete the 2019-20 season on May 8 (next Friday), but all remaining games will probably be played at neutral grounds to prevent fan congregation. 
• ESPN is doing "The Ocho" again tomorrow.  This time, it has a twist!  There will be one live event!  "The Mountain" from Game of Thrones, World's Strongest Man Thor Bjornsson, will attempt a world-record deadlift of 1,104 pounds  (500.68 kg). Ouch, that is not a misprint.  He's going to try to become the first human being in history to deadlift 500 kilograms.  Oops, I stand corrected.  The current record, held by Eddie "The Beast" Hall, is 1,102.31 pounds (An exact 500 kg), set in July of 2016.  
• To give you an idea of how much a beast Bjornsson is, he posted on Tuesday to his social media a video in which he successfully deadlifted for 3 reps 440 kilograms.   NINE HUNDRED SEVENTY POUNDS -- for three reps!
• This is NOT his first attempt at this weight.  He failed at last year's Arnold Classic. 
• Large-scale streaming comedy event to benefit Americares tonight: 

This looks awesome 💙💙 pic.twitter.com/refBTVpnJy

— tara strong (@tarastrong) May 1, 2020

• Evo 2020, the largest fighting-game tournament in the world, will be held online.  No Las Vegas this year.
• Olbermann taking a couple days off. He, like many of the rest of us, are now seeing one day blend into the next. We feel you, Keith. Rest well.