Baseball: MLS trouble getting restarted. Iowa allows HS practices. Major leaguers looking out for the minor leaguers. D-backs money troubles.
Basketball: JR Smith’s car. NBA votes to return on Thurs. Mass opens its pro facilities.
Football: DeSean wants players mic’d up. EA delaying Madden release in protest. Floyd has cancer. Kittle’s money talks.
Olympic Sports: Morrow dies. Iditarod winner still stuck in Alaska.
Baseball:
- MLB is having trouble getting started. As it deals with cash flow problems, players are wrestling with payment issues. MLB proposed a 82 game season starting in July with big pay cuts affecting all players. The MLB and the Players Association are going back and forth to find a suitable solution for both. So stay tuned!
- The MLBPA put forth a proposal that has am 114 game season, ending Oct 31, players can opt out of the season due to virus concerns. Some ideas being tossed around are the possibility for a deferral of salaries if the post season was canceled (for players making more than $10MM) and an agreement for expansion of the postseason for this and next season.
- Iowa was the first to let high school sports continue, starting with baseball and softball on Monday! To symbolize their happiness, Collins-Maxwell baseball and softball teams started a practice at 12:01am the day and the first minute they could start! The rules are strict but hey better than nothing. For example, if a pitcher blows into his hands on a cold day, the ump will stop play until the pitcher sanitizes his hands. And no sunflower shell spitting this season.
- The National major league players have banded together to cover the minor league players’ lost wages. The organization cut stipends from $400 to $300/week and that was after many many minor league players lost their jobs entirely. Dodgers’ pitcher David Price plans to give every minor league player not on the 40 man roster $1000 in the month of June. The major league players have said that they were all minor leaguers once and remember how important those stipends were for their families. What a great act of kindness!
- The Diamondbacks have cut its employees by 25%, furloughed more and asked the remaining employees to take a pay cut. The team will pay their minor league players through June.
Basketball:
- JR Smith, former Cav’s guard, beat up a man who damaged his truck during the LA riots/protests. Unfortunately, this was all caught on camera by TMZ. Gotta love the quote from Smith “I chased him down and whupped his ass.”
- The NBA is expected to vote on a restart plan on Thursday at their board meeting. Rumors have been swirling that the 22 teams would be brought to the Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in July that would include regular season and post season play. The majority of GMs want to start post season immediately. But no decision has been made yet.
- Massachusetts will reopen its facilities for pro sports to practice on June 6. That means the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots will all go back soon!
Football:
- DeSean Jackson, Eagles WR, has an interesting idea. If the NFL must play without fans, he wants players to be miked up to give fans a cool new behind the scenes view of play. This would certainly help the culture shock we (fans and the players alike) will get if fans cannot attend games.
- EA is delaying their Madden NFL 2021 in support for the protests over the death of George Floyd. The event that was slated for today was supposed to reveal their new game but they want to see change. Lamar Jackson is rumored to be on the cover but no details have been confirmed yet. EA recently signed a deal with the NFL to be their exclusive football simulation game producer through 2026.
- HoF Bronco Floyd Little has been diagnosed with cancer at the age of 77. He played at Syracuse and was inducted into the College HoF and Pro HoF.
- 49ers TE, George Kittle, is on his final year of his rookie contract where he is set to make $735k. However, as one of the most lethal weapons on the Superbowl runner up team last year, he says he wants to be paid ‘not just TE money.’ TE money currently sits with Browns TE Austin Hooper who has the largest contract at $42MM and Chargers TE Hunter Henry will make the most this year with $10.6MM. TBD on Kittle so far most would argue, he has a point.
Olympic Sports:
- Bobby Morrow died at the age of 84. He won 3 gold medals at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay. He died of natural causes at his home. He ran for Abilene Christian University and was into the National Track & Field HoF in 1989.
- The Iditarod winner, Thomas Waerner, has been stranded in Alaska after his win trying to return home to Norway. Waerner and his 16 dogs have been stranded due to travel restrictions and flight cancellations since March. That is a long time to be away from his 5 kids and 35 other sled dogs! So far he has a flight booked home – hopefully it doesn’t get canceled!
Soccer:
- The Premier League will return on June 17 after 100 days on break.
- The MLB isn’t the only league that is having problems with payments for players. The MLS is currently in a lockout with its players.
What to Watch this Week
Baseball:
- Tues 6/2 – KBO: Lotte Giants vs Kia Tigers @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Wed 6/3 – KBO: Kiwoom Heroes vs Hanwha Eagles @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Thurs 6/4 – KBO: Lotte Giants vs Kia Tigers @ 12pm on ESPN2
- Fri 6/5 – KBO: NC Dinos vs Hanwha Eagles @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Sat 6/6 – KBO: LG Twins vs Kiwoom Heroes @ 11:55pm on ESPN
Football:
- Mon 6/1 – Replay of 2014 Pats vs Seahawks @ 8pm on NBCSN
- Tues 6/2 – Replay of Super Bowl XLII: Cardinals vs Steelers @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Wed 6/3 – Replay of Super Bowl XXXII: Broncos vs Packers @ 8pm on NBCSN
- Thurs 6/4 – Replay of Super Bowl XXIII: Bengals vs 49ers @ 8pm on NCBSN
- Sat 6/6 – Replay of Super Bowl III: Colts vs Jets @ 8pm on NBCSN
Motorsports:
- Tues 6/2 – Monster Energy Supercross @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Sat 6/6
- Monster Energy Supercross @ 5pm on NBCSN
- IndyCar Genesys 300 @ 7pm on NBC
