Day 329

• They will have to find another venue for Liverpool vs. Leipzig for the Champions' League.  The German government has banned all flights from the UK, because of the new coronavirus strains.  The match is scheduled for February 16th.
• #2 Baylor has postponed two games due to the coronavirus.
• Michigan could be out an entire further week.
• The All-England Lawn Tennis Club thinks they can pull off limited fans for Wimbeldon.
• The US Federal government has officially advised MLB to delay the start of the regular season at least one month.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: KA... BLAMMO...

Word came across the wire about 1:15 Pacific today, Adam Schefter:

There were over 20 Chiefs players and staffers, including QB Patrick Mahomes, scheduled Sunday to get a haircut with the barber who tested positive for COVID, per sources. The Chiefs acted wisely and aggressively, and pulled the barber - mid-cut - once his test results came in.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2021

I need to check the protocols, though -- this would probably be the ABSOLUTE LIMIT as to putting someone in the COVID protocol, getting the five days of negative tests, and them playing on Sunday.

But hoo boy....

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: The Madden sim is in ...

• ... and it has Kansas City repeating, 37-27.  That sounds about right.   
• Will someone PLEASE get some of these dickheads under control??!?!?!??  Over ONE HUNDRED TWENTY Super Bowl parties, IN THIS PANDEMIC???   
• Joe Biden will be interviewed during the Super Bowl pregame.
• Applebee's has a nice offer for pickup or delivery on Sunday:  Order $40, which isn't as much as one would think on Applebee's (web or app), and get 40 boneless wings for free.  (Which, if I'm reading this right from the menu and prices I'm see, could be a $40 value!!!)
• One piece of evidence Tampa COULD win on Sunday:  Merchandise outlets are reporting record sales...  specifically for Tom Brady gear.  Could be getting into Foolish Jordon territory with this one.   
• NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith has said the game WILL BE PLAYED on Sunday, even if Brady and/or Mahomes are positive for the virus and out.  Bet accordingly.   
• Kyle Rittenhouse has violated bail at least twice and is now AWOL.  Someone SHOOT THE FUCKER.   

Day 328

• The Australian Open tennis tournament is in some jeopardy -- now, a hotel worker in the hotel "bubble" for the event has tested positive for the coronavirus.  Call.  It.  Off.   
• Controversial WWE Superstar Lars Sullivan has, apparently, finally been fired for misconduct.  Apparently, this happened about a month ago, and was attempted to have been kept quiet.
• Dr. Fauci has asked for Super Bowl parties to be cancelled to try to stop the spread of the virus...
• ... which is why, according to an e-mail I've been sent (God knows why!), there are over 120 events scheduled this weekend in Tampa.
• There was an incident in Atlanta involving a couple front-row fans and LeBron James -- apparently, at least one, now named "Courtside Karen", wasn't masked -- they were tossed and the team is investigating.
• And now the Minnesota Wild are going to have to postpone games -- at least six cases on the team of COVID-19.

Day 327: Starting With Two Similar Stories...

 Let's see if you can catch the common thread in these two:

• Should've posted this one a few days ago when it came out, but almost glad I didn't now.  A Northwestern cheerleader has sued the university for being paraded around like a "sex kitten".

There are going to be those who are going to say "That's what you signed up for, missy.", and I hope the judge here is not one of them.

That said, however, maybe FINALLY we are going to confront the use of supposed "cheerleaders" in our schools -- and don't think this is limited to the colleges.  I remember, my freshman year in small-town Wisconsin high-school, a senior football player put a plastic hockey stick square up a cheerleader's skirt IN PUBLIC.  Nothing was done to him.

Why?  I think you know your answer.

Reminds me of the cheerleader (I want to say she was in Texas, IIRC.) who got raped by a member of the basketball team, sued to keep him off the team and refuse to cheer for him (and was fired for doing so), lost on grounds she (as a cheerleader) is only an instrument of the school and MUST do as they ask, and had to pay their legal fees up on top of it.   

• And this gem today from Deadspin:  It now appears there is FAR MORE to the story of the New York Mets than we knew.  Former manager Mickey Callway has been sexually harassive in at least three MLB franchises, and that his sexual harassment spread all the way to this just-concluded season as a pitching coach with the Angels!!!

And a colonic, Deadspin?  Try an amputation, in exactly the part of men's bodies you would suspect!!!   

• And, unlike the Mets, the Angels have only SUSPENDED Callaway.
• EA Sports is back in the college football game.  Too bad college football is all but moribund at this point.   
• In the "You have got to be KIDDING ME" Department:  A small businessman clothes retailer in New York received a most interesting shipment from China.  Specially-made hockey sticks -- the tallest imaginable.  Why?  Because they were going to be used in professional games by Zdeno Chara!!  Somehow, the goofs in China mixed this clothier up with the Washington Capitals hockey team!  The team and the clothier are in contact -- Chara will get his sticks, and the clothier will get something, to be determined.
• Sports Illustrated has given us the Good News and the Bad News.
• The Good News:  A new website design.
• The Bad News:  Behind a metered paywall.  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...  

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: The first two Corona names have hit...

• On the present COVID protocol list for Kansas City:  WR Demarcus Robinson and C Daniel Kilgore -- for close contacts with current COVID cases.  They must test negative each of the next five days to play Sunday.

Day 326

• Yep.  Took a couple days off.
• There are people who actually believe that getting Matthew Stafford and jettisoning Jared Goff will bring the Rams to the Promised Land????
• The Rams actually contacted the Packers about the availability of Aaron Rodgers.  Hoo boy.   
• There is now at least some speculation an AFC executive has said that if DeShaun Watson wants out of Houston, he better be prepared to lose every penny of his 2021 salary and not play next entire season.
• MLB is now looking to delay the start of the 2021 season -- the players' union is balking.  Regular season would be delayed about 3 1/2 weeks, with a 154 game season and all the stupid quirks of last year.  Sounds like someone wants to move the labor unrest to right damn now!   
• Patrick Reed is an asshole.  Water is wet.  Film at 11.   
• Add Dustin Diamond to the "2021 refuses to leave 2020" In Memoriam list.  His cancer took him today at 44.
• Dustin Pedroia has called it a career after needing his knee partially replaced.
• And the next major NHL casualty -- the Devils will not be playing any games this week under COVID protocols.