COVID-19

The New York Rangers, NHL, should follow the NBA’s ideas

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New York Rangers

If the NHL and the New York Rangers want to return to action, they may want to look at some of the ideas that the NBA is floating. As COVID-19 lingers, it is becoming apparent that the bigger metro areas may not be able to stage sporting events, even if fans are not permitted. For example, the city of Toronto on Tuesday banned all “city-led and permitted” events through June 30. A spokesman for Mayor John Tory later told reporters that the ban does not apply to sports events, but the province of Ontario has “banned organized public events and social gatherings of more than (five) people.” This is just one example of the difficulty that all professional sports organizations are facing as they try to resume or start their seasons.

What the NHL and the New York Rangers can learn from the NBA

Recent reports have stated that the NBA is considering clustering teams to play games in locations such as the Bahamas and Las Vegas. While of course, that won’t work too well for the NBA, the NHL can consider the same idea in locations that can provide rinks and facilities to handle clusters of teams. Single city locations and a cluster of a few cities allow leagues some flexibility. Holding all games in a single city, or a small group of cities allows the leagues to play within the confines of quarantine and eliminates the need for travel and the hurdles that come with the need to comply with different cities’ restrictions and regulations when it comes to the necessary pandemic response. Recent reports have the NBA looking toward a single city option, using Las Vegas and casino hotels as a way to house players and employees.  But of course, putting down a basketball court is much easier than creating ice hockey rinks. One of the ideas that the NBA has considered could work well for the NHL.  The NBA had considered “taking over” some college campuses in the Midwest, where reported cases of COVID-19 are lower for the moment. This could work for the NHL as states such as North Dakota and South Dakota do not have severe “stay-at-home” restrictions like other parts of the country have. These states also have nice size colleges and hockey facilities that could host one or more clusters of teams to play.

Hopefully, all leagues, including the NHL, will leave no stone unturned in an attempt to safely resume seasons and help us get back to some sort of normalcy.

MLB Rumors: Neutral Site Games Being Considered To Start Season

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New York Yankees

Zack Britton, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, told MLB Network radio that the MLB and the MLBPA have discussed hosting games at “four or five” neutral sites to begin the season.

Doing this could ultimately lead the season to begin sooner. The COVID-19 outbreak is worse in different parts of the country, and teams located where it’s still worse could play neutrally. This likely includes both the Yankees and the Mets.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo reported on Thursday that over 92,000 New Yorkers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Over 45,000 of those cases are in New York City alone.

If New York State and City continue to have the most cases in the country, then I don’t foresee any major sports being played in New York in the near future.

The neutral sites would be selected based on which cities have the lowest COVID-19 numbers. It’s too early to tell which ones could be suitable to host, but trends show that many cities should be safe enough in a few months to host games, at least without fans.

I don’t care if the Yankees or Mets play at a neutral site to start the season, or even if they play without fans. What we need to see is some baseball, but when it’s safe to do so. Keep social distancing and keep washing your hands. You do your part and hope others do theirs. Trust your government to lead you through this, whether it’s your local, state, or national. We can get through this, and hopefully, everything will be back to normal soon.

Stay safe, ESM Nation!

New York Jets: Sam Darnold self-quarantining with two other QBs

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In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is self-quarantining in Orange Couty with two fellow throwers.

The idea of two AFC East quarterbacks in relatively close quarters sounds like an intriguing sitcom concept. For Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, it’s a new reality.

According to a report from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Darnold is currently stationed in Orange County in Southern California, self-quarantining in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Joining the New York Jets quarterback is his Western New York counterpart Josh Allen, as well as new Washington Redskins thrower Kyle Allen.

Breer’s report states that Darnold and the unrelated Allens had been working out in SoCal since the Super Bowl. The recommendations of self-quarantine in the wake of the outbreak has them currently working together in Orange County. Darnold is living in a house he recently purchased, while Josh and Kyle Allen live with their significant others in a separate house. The group is training under former UTEP and NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer.

“This is really how we lived anyway,” Kyle Allen told Breer. “It’s just 24/7 now. It’s an interesting time. You talk to some people, and they’ll say the football part of it is similar to the (2011) lockout year, we might have nothing until camp. And maybe we’ll look around the league in August, and there’ll be some teams that took advantage of the time, and some teams that didn’t. That’s the most interesting part.”

The passing trio’s days mostly consist of throwing on the nearby beach and working out in the garage of a friend of their trainer. While it’s early to speculate on the status of the upcoming NFL season, offseason workouts are likely to be delayed or canceled outright. The situation is particularly tough on Kyle Allen, who was traded to Washington from Carolina earlier this week. He and Josh Allen’s lease on their California home expires this week, but Kyle Allen isn’t sure when he’ll be able to get in the Redskins’ Virginia territory due to travel concerns left in COVID-19’s devastating wake. Kyle Allen remarked that rooming with Darnold could be an option.

Darnold’s career with probably be closely linked with Josh Allen’s for years to come. The pair each went to AFC East rivals during the 2018 draft and will now compete to see who can unseat the New England Patriots from the divisional throne. They’ve faced off against each other twice so far, with Darnold taking a December 2018 meeting in Buffalo. Allen opened last season with a win over Darnold and the Jets at MetLife Stadium en route a wild-card playoff berth.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

Update on the Brooklyn Nets in Quarantine

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Brooklyn Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie

Obviously, the biggest news of this suspended season for the Brooklyn Nets has been Kevin Durant and the other 3 anonymous Nets players who contracted Covid-19. KD put out an optimistic message last Tuesday regarding his status, and Quinn Cook gave an update yesterday (Cook’s full quote) regarding his friend’s Durant’s positive mentality towards everything.

Let’s check up on how several Nets players and coaches are doing in Quarantine with the help of Twitter and some other media outlets:

  • Spencer Dinwiddie on his favorite thing to do during the quarantine: “Be a Dad.” Bleacher Report grabbed the quote from Dinwiddie and posted a picture of Dinwiddie and his son here. Dinwiddie took issue (sarcastically) with the angle the picture was taken, tweeting “Expressionless faceI don’t like this camera angle. Y’all made the greatest baby in history look like he has a wide face… Unamused faceI love you son.” Spencer has been one of the more active Nets on Twitter.

 

  • Garrett Temple has decided to use this forced break to hone in on his preparation for Law School. Temple recently told YES’s Michael Grady during an interview that he has “been practicing for the LSAT Prep.” (NY Post article here) Temple went on to say “I’m a person who’s thought about going to law school when I finish playing, and what’s a better time than now to be able to put in 3-4 hours a day of studying for a test that allows me to get into law school. That’s what I’m doing right now.” Great to see Temple is improving his skills off the court.

 

  • Deandre Jordan hasn’t been too active on Twitter, but his profile is extremely telling of what he’s probably been up to during this break. His profile bio reads “1/4 Twist Boy I love Judge Judy, Netflix, and Gluten-free Cookies.” (Deandre Jordan Twitter)

 

  • Adam Harrington, an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, seemed to share Dinwiddie’s sentiment, as he tweeted “There is no doubt I miss my / our normal routine. I miss everything Nets, & miss the NBA! But I am absolutely loving my family time with wife & kids. In our profession this is almost impossible and it has allowed me some INCREDIBLE time to be a hand on / present FATHER!🙌🏻 (Adam Harrington Twitter

This is a quick recap on just a few members of the Nets organization. Follow Fireside Nets on Twitter for all your latest updates on everything Brooklyn Nets.

What COVID-19 Is Doing to NY Athlete’s Bodies

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Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

When the Brooklyn Nets announced that 4 of their players tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus, it was more evidence as to 1) Just how quickly this disease spreads, but 2) Just how little testing was made available in this time of a health crisis. And when Kevin Durant announced, after showing no symptoms synonymous with the disease, that he was one of those 4, it only will inevitably delay the restart to the 2020 season. By how long? I’m not sure. But I feel like it’ll be closer to May before we see the NBA start up again.

So, let’s take a look at what the research is telling us is doing to these Nets players, as well as those two confirmed Yankee minor leaguers.

This Is NOT Like the Flu

A terrible misinformation campaign surrounded initial reporting of the coronavirus in this country. Without getting overtly political, many were pontificating that the coronavirus (which originated in China) was a political left wing conspiracy to bring down the president. But one that persists today is that the “coronavirus is just a respiratory flu, and that more people die from the flu than the coronavirus.”

According to emerging research, both statements are wrong.

According to National Geographic and backed up by The Atlantic is that COVID-19 has much more in common with SARS than it does with the flu. And that COVID-19 is 23 times more lethal than the common flu.

What COVID-19 is inevitably doing to our New York athletes is puncturing holes in their lungs. While they won’t experience the same collapsed lung that Aaron Judge experienced, it does explain reporting out of China that patients are recovering with 20-30% less lung capacity. And it also explains the scar tissue being discovered in American patients.

Now, unlike normal respiratory infections (which infect either the upper or lower airways) is that this disease, which originated from SARS-CoV-2, infects both upper and lower airways in individuals.

Again, I’m frustrated with just how much of normalcy was taken away from us in response to this pandemic. But medical professionals are just that, professionals. They’re paid to research and understand diseases because they know more about it than the rest of us. Just like athletes who excel at a particular sport are paid to play the game. Trust me, you do NOT want to see me in right field for the Yankees, as I’m a fraction of the player Aaron Judge is, when healthy. The fact that this new information is coming out shows a scary new twist to what was commonly thought about COVID-19 explains a lot of what I was initially discovering about the disease, it puts a new level on my frustrations.

And as always, stay healthy, and stay safe.

New York Mets Legend Shares His COVID-19 Experience, Applauds Healthcare Workers

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What should be a shocker to no one, New York Mets legend, and baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Mike Piazza is Italian. But what may shock some people is that Mike Piazza was THIS CLOSE (holds up thumb and pointer finger really close together to emphasize the point) to being trapped in Italy, as the country is still on lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Coach of the Italian Baseball Team Left Just in Time, Kept Out

In a sit down on the Jim Rome Show, Piazza reflects about how he left just in time prior to the Italian government shutting the country down. Piazza, as head coach for the Italian national baseball team since November, has been living in Parma Italy.

“I live in Miami when I’m here in the States, and my wife was like ‘Why don’t you go home for Super Bowl and hang out with your boys?’ and I was like ‘Really?’ And she was like ‘yeah,’ so then I got on a plane a few days before the Super Bowl and was hanging out with a couple of guys,” Piazza said.

Piazza Applauds Healthcare Workers

Later in the interview, Piazza was asked if the response to the coronavirus pandemic has been similar to the response we as a nation showed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Piazza had this to say:

“Many, many healthcare workers, doctors, people who are caring for the sick, who are exposing themselves to possibly getting sick, that to me is true selflessness and bravery in a way, that they’re not allowing the fear to overcome what they need to do,” said Piazza.

“So even though maybe in a crisis situation like 9/11 it was more about first responders, police, firemen, and people who were racing to try to rescue people in a terrorist attack, here it’s the doctors, nurses, people who are giving up themselves and putting themselves in harm’s way to try to comfort the sick and the researchers in the companies that are looking for some sort, hopefully, of protection from it, and ultimately, hopefully, a cure.”

The State of Baseball During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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New York Yankees

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has created a scenario never before seen in the sports world. Sports have always been the one constant, no matter what the tragedy or circumstances have been across the globe. 

Unfortunately, for the first time, all four major sports have been suspended, and it leaves baseball in an eerie place, as opening day was only two weeks away. 

Two weeks is a very optimistic point for Major League Baseball to restart activities, but a starting point of May is more realistic for America’s Pastime to return. MLB also has to work within the constraints of what the government will allow. 

Washington, New York, and California have banned gatherings of over 250 people from taking place. Along with these restrictions, there is no set date on when they will end, which makes starting the season an even tougher decision. 

Will We See Baseball Soon?

Some of these restrictions could extend through April, which forces games to be delayed more or played in front of limited fans. Illinois has even been instructed to halt sporting events or play them without fans until May. 

For the players, they are either going home, head to their team’s cities, or stay in camp. Many organizations closed their Spring Training facilities in Arizona and Florida on Friday but will reopen them on Monday for any remaining players. 

There are plenty of variables that go into MLB’s decision to open their doors again. Does the season start with empty stadiums? Are they playing in infected cities? Does the season just begin in the Spring Training cities?

It is too soon to develop a concrete answer to exactly when baseball will resume. All baseball, along with every sport, can do is continue to wait things out and see what happens. Life, not just sports, is in unchartered territory, and we just had a Yankee’s minor leaguer become the first baseball player to test positive. He remains unidentified. 

Delay’s of the Past

The season’s delay will be the first shortened season for MLB since 1995 when 144 games were on the schedule. 144 is a very optimistic number, and MLB is looking at a number closer to the 107 played during the 1981 strike-shortened season. 

The players themselves still have a lot of questions. When to resume training? When to report back to camp? Most importantly, are they getting paid? These are still relatively unanswered since all of this is brand new to everyone involved. Even scouts and other personnel stopped traveling to limit the spread of COVID-19. 

The effect of the virus is felt beyond the Major League level. Minor League Baseball will also delay the start of their season. They carry four to five times more teams than MLB, which makes containing COVID-19 even tougher and essential. 

College Baseball’s Loss

The most painful of all is the cancellation of the entire college baseball season. So many young, talented, and hard-working players are losing their seasons due to the brutal virus. Even more so, the seniors, who will now get an unprecedented extra year of eligibility but lose out on what was supposed to be their senior season. More than likely, these seniors are not going to return unless everything plays out perfectly for them.

The one outlier is the National Club Baseball Association, which is still allowing games to continue. Their crowd sizes and travel is much smaller compared to NCAA sports, but at least offers hope that baseball can return soon. Despite the chance to play, so many universities have either canceled travel, club sports, or both altogether. 

Unfortunately, for the first time in baseball’s history, we will see empty baseball fields across the nation.

New York Yankees: COVID-19 just beginning to disrupt the Yankees, it will get worse!

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

Could the Yankee season be canceled altogether?

With the increase in COVID-19 infection, the New York Yankees and all of MLB  found that spring training had been canceled.  In additional steps to prevent the spread of the disease, the start of the regular season was delayed by two weeks.  With increasing concern and restrictions popping up around the country, the two-week delay may turn into two months.

Since the MLB initiated their action plan to prevent the spread of the virus, the situation has changed dramatically.  A Yankee player in the minor league has been tested positive and the entire team has been ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks.  The Yankee major league team that had originally planned to continue workouts and simulated games at the George M. Steinbrenner complex in Tampa, during the delay now may shut down.

Yankees and the sports world now affected!

The sports world in the past few days has been affected around the world, from soccer in Europe to the NBA who has three players with the virus, and now the Yankees.  The Yankee minor league case will surely send shockwaves throughout all of MLB.  It appears that all players in the Yankee organization will now be tested for the virus in the coming days.

With the ripple effect of all that is happening due to the virus, cruise lines have been shut down, the airline industry has cut flights substantially and supermarkets are running out of essentials as residents stock up for the long haul and practice social distancing and even self-quarantine.

The Yankees are re-evaluating their plan to keep practicing as restrictions increase and their ability to continue as a group has been decreased.  On Sunday, MLB issued an advisory that stated that all 30 teams should avoid any activities that involve players and people gathering in significant numbers.  The Yankee front office believes if the team cannot practice in mass, then the benefits to continue are reduced and may disband and send players that do not live in the Tampa area home.

The Yankees may shut down the training complex and send players home!

Because of the speed of the changes surrounding the virus, when you read this the Yankee Tampa complex may already be shut down.  With the projected spread of the virus even with the increasing restrictions on public gatherings, the virus spread will get worse before it gets better.  It is not unreasonable to assume that the delay in the start of the baseball season may reach the first day of summer in June, or in the worst-case scenario that the season may be canceled altogether.

MLB Considering Suspending Remaining Grapefruit Games Amid COVID-19 Fears

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The NBA has suspended their season. So has MLS. March Madness will be played in empty arenas. The PGA has announced that events for the next three weeks will not have galleries of fans lined up at each hole. The COVID-19 virus has caused the major sports bodies to curtail activities to safeguard the public and minimize the spread of the deadly infection.

Major League Baseball and its owners are currently behind in making a decision. They are still playing spring training games in Arizona and Florida but veteran beat writer Jon Heyman has tweeted that may be about to change.

The Grapefruit League is, of course, refers to the Florida-based spring training action. The New York Mets and the New York Yankees are both members as are Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and the Washington Nationals.

The teams training in Arizona are also expected to be shut down and are expected to remain at their facilities and can always have intrasquad and simulated games. Whether or not the regular season will start on time and if the teams will be able to play in their major league ballparks is still in question.