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.