Day 183

• On this date, the first day of the NFL regular season, we reach half a year since the coronavirus shut down American sports.
• Many will see today as a victory -- call me in about four months.
• The Atlanta Braves scored 29 runs yesterday in a 29-9 win over the Miami Marlins.  Only the classic 30-3 game Texas had over Baltimore did more in 2007.  You'd have go back to the 1950's to find two more games in which the winning team scored 29 runs.
• This, according to Baseball Almanac, would have broken the American League record for most runs in a game by both teams (36, twice), but the National League record is FORTY-NINE, when Chicago beat Philadelphia 26-23 on August 25, 1922.  Chicago needed two double-digit innings to get it done:  10 in the second, 14 in the fourth.  They were ahead 25-6 at one point and gave up 14 runs themselves in the final two innings.
• An interesting statistic from that game:  Jimmy Ring gave up 16 runs in the first 3 1/3 innings.  Only SIX were earned.
• 27 of the 29 runs were earned for the Braves yesterday.
• And this, on the same day the Brewers hung a 19-run shutout on the Tigers in an inter-league matchup!!  The MLB record for that is 22-0, Pittsburgh over the Cubs, on Sept. 16, 1975.  Two AL games, one in 1901 and one in 1935), ended 21-0.  The most recent 19-0, according to SABR, before yesterday was two of them in 1969.
• The NBA is preparing to ban Danuel House Jr. of the Houston Rockets and quarantine him for 10 days due to a bubble violation.  No one is saying what it was, House is claiming he never left the Disney Wide World of Sports campus.  He was already suspended for Game 3, a late scratch, upon discovery.
• With the completely fouled-up schedule and all, today is a historic day in American sports.
• According to ESPN, this will be the first time in history that an actual counting game (regular season or playoffs) will take place in all of the following leagues in one day: NFL (Game 1 regular season), MLB (Getaway Day Slate, about two weeks to go in the season), NBA (Game 4 Western semis Lakers-Rockets), WNBA (20th game or so in the regular season), MLS (Seattle at San Jose), and NHL (Game 3 West Finals, Vegas vs. Dallas (1-1).
• Checking Sunday and Monday on that regard, now that I'm curious:  NBA has Game 6's in the West if necessary (Clippers 3-1, Lakers 2-1).  MLB is still playing obviously.  WNBA, Sunday is the last day of the regular season, no games Monday.  MLS has four games on Sunday.  NHL, Game 4 East Finals (TB 2-0).  So that means, if Denver beats the Clippers Friday, we will have another day like today on Sunday in the six leagues.
• Bubba Wallace will not return to the #43 car next season in NASCAR.
• And because we have to be FUCKING STUPID and cater to the Covidiots...  Los Angeles County has, at least for now, reversed it's ban on trick-or-treating.  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???    
• Western Michigan University has suspended all sports activities until an undetermined date -- positive tests for the virus across several sports, including football. 
• "The White Buffalo" Tanner Beard sank a 100-foot snaking putt on the Egyptian-themed "Tomb of Nepher-Tee-Tee" to win the second season of ABC's Holey Moley, the Egyptian treasure of a jeweled putter...  Oh, and a $250,000 winner-take-all prize!!!
• Yes, I watched that INSTEAD OF the first High Mass of the year.  After booing the fuck out of the moment of unity (see other post), the announced 15,895 fans in attendance watched the Chiefs win a non-competitive opener in which they raced to a 31-7 lead and won 34-20.