Monday, June 15, 2020

Day 96

  • BREAKING NEWS IN THE LAST TWO HOURS:  (Posted 9:15 PM PDT)  A militia member in New Mexico has shot a protester in Albuquerque -- the protest was trying to take down the statue of Conquistador Juan de Onate. 
  • Three NYPD officers were poisoned today at a New York City Shake Shack with bleach placed in their drinks by people working there.  CUT THIS FUCKING SHIT OUT NOW OR THIS FUCKING GOES FREEFIRE!!!!
  • It's only a matter of when Wile E. Coyote looks down now in MLB:  Manfred is ordering, as a condition of any season at all, the players to waive all legal claims.  Ladies and gentlemen, we have a LOCKOUT!     
  • Chuba Hubbard, an Oklahoma State running back, is threatening to boycott after his head coach, Mike Gundy, wore a T-shirt at some recent point advertising hard right Trumpie television network OAN. 
  • A letter from MLB has announced that "several" players are staff have tested positive for the coronavirus. 
  • As have a number of Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys, including Ezekiel Elliott.  Elliott DID, however, have some very real questions (and probable legal recourse under HIPAA) as to who gave out the information.  All apparent positives are feeling well at this time, however.
  • Sources are saying UEFA has picked Lisbon, Portugal, as the "bubble" site for the UEFA Champions' League completion.
  • Olbermann: 
  • UH OH!!!  WWE Performance Center has a coronavirus positive -- last on-site June 9th.  Everybody's being tested, no further symptoms, but there's at least another week to worry about in most cases. 
  • WNBA Players Union approves a 22-game regular season and playoff schedule -- IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL is now, as of tonight, the confirmed site for their "bubble". 
  • Highlights of the Sportscenter Return To Sports Special, hosted (very ably and well) by Mike Greenberg: 
  1. To no one's surprise, it started with Manfred and a very pessimistic view of the events of the last few days.  Manfred said the players intended to file an immediate grievance at the imposition of a schedule for an extra billion dollars.
  2. Manfred still will try to talk to the MLBPA in the next few days.  Last real talks were June 7 in person, in writing since.
  3. Manfred puts it all on the Players' Union...  "Not confident" on a continuance of the season.
  4. The MLBPA:  "This has always been about extracting additional pay cuts from players and this is just another day and another bad-faith tactic in their ongoing campaign."  They, unlike Manfred, do not believe the creation of protocols are an issue.
  5. Jeff Passan believes this is heading 1994 directions.  He believes the interview Mike Greenberg held with Manfred did the sport no favors.
  6. Next was the NHL.  Gary Bettman is together with the Players Association to follow health officials and their protocols, through extensive testing in the announced as two hub cities.
  7. Concerns are both with respect to COVID-19 and the players being rusty.
  8. If a positive test occurs in the NHL, the single person will be isolated.  A major outbreak will change everything, obviously. 
  9. Four rounds, best of 7, after the play-in round.  Really wants to try to keep the Stanley Cup of this season on level with the rest of the champions.
  10. Patrick Kane was then interviewed for the players' perspective.  Talked the no-fans environment, getting used to skating again, etc.
  11. The MLS was next on the list with it's MLS Is Back tournament.
  12. MLS Commissioner Don Garber says there will be additional cameras at the Orlando tournament to aid in the fan experience from home on ESPN.
  13. Alejandro Bedoya of the Philadelphia Union was brought on to give the players' side of THAT equation.
  14. Then the NWSL, who announced their own professional women's tournament in two sites in Utah starting June 27 and going a month, with all nine teams in the league involved in a 25-game tournament.  I would assume double-round robin in three groups of three, with one team being dropped and the other eight going knockout.
  15. NBA was next on the docket, with an explanation of their Return To Play, as has previously been announced.  Adam Silver was then interviewed, starting with the March decision to suspend everything.
  16. Some discussion on concerns (both health/safety and social justice) was discussed.
  17. Also a situation regarding the turnaround to whatever 2020-21 season exists was also talked about.
  18. The players' discussion was taken up with Damian Lillard of the Trail Blazers.
  19. Lillard's participation in a Portland rally allowed the show to pivot to the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor protests and the rioting, etc. which has followed.
  20. The WNBA's Brianna Turner was interviewed about the protests.  Turner had two Black police officers as parents -- who both denounce the brutality some of their cohorts are guilty of.
  21. Matt Ryan of the Falcons was then interviewed about the protests in Atlanta.
  22. The WNBA plan was then announced, confirming it will be at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.
  23. The League Humanitarian Leadership Award, a new Sports Humanitarian Award, was awarded to the NFL...  (awaiting punch line)  For their "Huddle for 100" campaign, getting 1,000,000 NFL fans to give back to their community through community service.  (Oh.  Never mind.  Carry on.)  The goal was a cumulative 100,000,000 minutes of community service.
  24. The total:  Over 397,000,000 minutes.  That's over 200,000 days, almost 300,000.
  25. Dovetailed into a significant conversation with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on both pandemic and social unrest subjects which went over 10 minutes.
  26. The players' perspective (on both fronts) was discussed with Jacksonville's Calais Campbell, including a discussion on Colin Kaepernick (and I can tell you I've seen his jersey at a number of these protests, including locally to myself)
  27. The show concluded with a discussion on fan safety.  I really can't see it until at least 2022 now.  You're already seeing spikes in case numbers wherever people are congregating (including Newsweek today reporting on cases from the Houston George Floyd protests.)  Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a senior ABC chief medical correspondent for several ABC programs, took the honors for this interview.
  28. Greenberg concluded with the words of Nelson Mandela:  "Sports have the power to change the world."  (Not only is Greenberg right to bring it to the present day, but Mandela would know first-hand from the South Africans winning rugby's World Cup on home soil in 1995.  That was the first allowed major world sport event after the country's blackballing due to apartheid.  He presented the trophy to the South African champions.)
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