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.