The COVID-19 outbreak has millions of Americans staying home in an effort to curb the virus. That said, some people haven’t exactly been abiding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation to limit social exposure as the coronavirus spreads. And that does not sit well with Enes Kanter whatsoever. The Boston Celtics big…
Enes Kanter Calls People ‘Selfish’ For Not Self-Quarantining Amid COVID-19 Crisis — NESN.com.
There’s no clear answer as to if, and when, the NHL will return to action after the league paused its season March 12 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The playoffs were slated to start in April. But it’s unknown if the regular season will pick up where it left off or if the league will…
NHL Rumors: League Asks All 31 Teams For Available August Home Dates — NESN.com
The playoffs were slated to start in April. But it’s unknown if the regular season will pick up where it left off or if the league will go into an altered playoff format. For what it’s worth, commissioner Gary Bettman is optimistic a 2019-20 Stanley Cup champion will be crowned. But could the league be looking at playing games late into the summer?
TSN’s Bob McKenzie on Tuesday alluded to such on “Insider Trading.” “Earlier (Tuesday), the National Hockey League did request from each of its 31 member clubs to provide available home dates for the month of August,” McKenzie said. Of course, teams would need to figure out how to handle players who contracts expire June 30 if games were to be played well into the summer. The NHL also reportedly asked its players to continue self-quarantining until April 6 — an additional 10 days than the original March 27 plan. Even if games go into August and beyond, the NHL still plans to have a full 2020-21 season.
Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/nhl-rumors-league-asks-all-31-teams-for-available-august-home-dates/
There’s no baseball, but there’s still bad news for the New York Mets
Noah Syndergaard has torn UCL and will have Tommy John surgery — HardballTalk | NBC Sports.
Mets ace Noah Syndergaard has a torn UCL and will likely undergo Tommy John surgery. The procedure will keep him out until at earliest April 2021 and likely into the summer months.
Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen said moments ago that Syndergaard experienced the discomfort in his elbow before Spring Training was suspended and that he had, quietly, been getting examinations and second opinions. He also said that Syndergaard will have the surgery on Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Which is a bit odd given that elective surgeries are currently prohibited in New York under governor’s orders due to the pandemic, but I suppose whether this is “elective” is a matter of nuance. It would be for you or me, but maybe not for a professional athlete. Just throw that onto the pile of things about which we are uncertain in the current situation.
Syndergaard, who is under team control through 2021, had a down year in 2019, posting a 4.28 ERA, but his peripherals were still strong. There was speculation last season and heading into this past offseason that the team would trade him, but the club shot those rumors down and said they had no intention of dealing him.
Now, no matter their intentions, he is not an option available to them for any reason at all for over a year.
The Astros suggest they sincerely apologized for their sign-stealing operation in recent court filings. They are being sued by some season-ticket holders.
In court filings, Astros claim they sincerely apologized for cheating — HardballTalk | NBC Sports
By Bill BaerMar 23, 2020, 9:04 PM EDT2 Comments
The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan reports that, in recent court filings pertaining to a lawsuit filed against the team, the Astros claim they sincerely apologized for their elaborate sign-stealing operation. It is the team’s first official response to the litigation.
Astros lawyers wrote, “The ‘sign-stealing’ controversy has been a source of great disappointment to Astros fans as well as to the Astros organization. On several occasions, members of the Astros organization – including individual players and its Owner, Jim Crane – have expressed their sincere apologies and remorse for the events described in the report by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.”
Crane didn’t really apologize. At a press conference last month, Crane said, “Our opinion is this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series and we’ll leave it at that.”
In extremely brief statements to the media, both Alex Bregman and José Altuve spoke in the passive voice in an attempt to shirk responsibility. As if the whole cheating scheme was something that just happened to occur as opposed to being a concerted effort by players that went unchecked by several levels of management.
The Astros have a history of not apologizing when caught with their pants around their ankles. When they have had their arm twisted into giving an apology, their apologies have been weak. Consider that it took the Astros nearly a week to rescind a statement in which it accused Sports Illustrated journalist Stephanie Apstein of a “misleading and completely irresponsible” report about then-assistant GM Brandon Taubman taunting female reporters about Roberto Osuna — arrested for domestic violence in 2018 — when the Astros defeated the Yankees in the ALCS. The report turned out to be entirely accurate and Taubman was fired not long thereafter.
An apology should be heartfelt, acknowledge the bad behavior as well as those negatively impacted by it, and state what corrected actions will be taken in the future. None of the Astros’ apologies — if you can call them that — for any of their nefarious behavior in recent years, has passed muster.
Don’t just take my word for it, though. After hearing Crane, Bregman, and Altuve last month, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant said, “There’s no sincerity, there’s no genuineness when it comes to it.”
Alex Rodriguez, who was wrapped up in a cheating scandal of his own back in 2013-14, acknowledged on ESPN during a spring training telecast that he handled his situation poorly. He offered the Astros an opportunity to learn from his mistakes, saying, “People want to see remorse, they want a real, authentic apology, and they have not received that thus far.”
This is all mostly immaterial as the lawsuit is about whether or not the Astros owe season ticket holders recompense. That being said, the Astros wanting official credit for apologizing is to want credit for doing the absolute bare minimum. And they didn’t even do that well, if one can say they did it at all.
The start of the thoroughbred racing season in Ontario has been postponed, Woodbine Entertainment announced on Monday. Read More
Start to Woodbine thoroughbred season put on hold — Toronto Sun
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac is stepping up in a big way. The 22-year-old is leading a relief effort to help feed children in the city of Orlando who are at risk of going hungry with school cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why Isaac is our VA Hero of the Week, proudly…
VA Hero Of The Week: Jonathan Isaac Leading Coronavirus Relief Efforts — NESN.com
Major League Baseball currently is on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and players are finding ways to give back to those on the front line. Pittsburgh Pirates players had more than 400 pizzas (and a bunch of pasta) delivered to Allegheny General Hospital on Monday, per MLB.com’s Adam Berry. It’s unclear which players contributed…
Cubs, Pirates Players Donate Food To Hospital Workers Facing COVID-19 — NESN.com
Major League Baseball currently is on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and players are finding ways to give back to those on the front line. Pittsburgh Pirates players had more than 400 pizzas (and a bunch of pasta) delivered to Allegheny General Hospital on Monday, per MLB.com’s Adam Berry. It’s unclear which players contributed to the cause, but their goal was simple. “We thought this was a way to help. Two birds with one stone,” Pirates player rep Jameson Taillon said Monday, per Berry. “We can help local restaurants. We can help the hospitals and the workers and show our appreciation. We started throwing the idea around, and everyone got excited and made it happen.” Meanwhile, Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo and his foundation supplied 150 meals to staff and patients at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. on Monday. Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/cubs-pirates-players-donate-food-to-hospital-workers-facing-covid-19/ Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/cubs-pirates-players-donate-food-to-hospital-workers-facing-covid-19/ Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/cubs-pirates-players-donate-food-to-hospital-workers-facing-covid-19/
Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/03/cubs-pirates-players-donate-food-to-hospital-workers-facing-covid-19/
Former Auburn great and NBA superstar Charles Barkley was feeling ill recently. He decided to get tested since he believed he might have the coronavirus. Thankfully, the tests came back today negative. Barkley encouraged people to stay safe after he received his news.
Charles Barkley tests negative after feeling ill — War Eagle Daily
Some of the most anticipated games of the season by Raptors fans were supposed to happen right about now. Read More
No Murray, no LeBron, no Green ring ceremony for Raptors this week — Toronto Sun
Normally, when Queen’s Plate-winning jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson does an interview, it’s done either at Woodbine Racetrack or over the phone from her home office. Read More
Emma-Jayne Wilson still fired up for the start of the season and finding ways to stay fit — Toronto Sun
Vassell is a terrific 3-point shooter and long wing with upside as an NBA-caliber 3-and-D player
2020 NBA Draft: Florida State’s Devin Vassell, the Seminoles’ leading scorer and rebounder, declares —
The star of Florida State’s first ACC title-winning team has announced he’s turning pro. On Monday, Devin Vassell, FSU’s leading scorer and rebounder, made the declaration to take his talents to the next level, formally entering the draft in a decision that had been expected for months.
“It is with a heart full of gratitude that I am entering the 2020 NBA Draft,” Vassell said. “I’ll never forget the amazing ride of these last two years, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Justin Maskulinski March 20, 2020
One week ago, it was business as usual for Magnolia High School graduate Adam Kloffenstein.
The right-handed pitcher was at spring training in Dunedin, Fla., along with other players in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. His second season — and first full one in the minor leagues — was less than a month away.
Then, along with the rest of the country, Kloffenstein’s situation began to change because of cancellations aimed to thwart the spread of COVID-19, the upper-respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
“Everything was business as normal (last) Thursday,” Kloffenstein said in a phone interview. “A little bit more caution around hand washing and all that, but as far as activity, Thursday was full-go. On Friday, they said to just come in at noon for a meeting.”
That meeting was a check-in of sorts. After another off-day Saturday, there was a scheduled workout Sunday and another meeting set for Monday. But those plans, like so many others around the country and world, also changed.
“By Saturday morning, they said, ‘Go home,’” Kloffenstein said.
Kloffenstein went 4-4 and had a 2.24 ERA last year with the Vancouver Canadians, the Blue Jays’ Class A short-season affiliate. It was a good year for the 2018 third-round pick.
“I started off a little shaky, just kind of getting my feet planted,” he said. “After that, I had some success and was able to execute my plans a lot better and was a lot more clear on how to get guys out. I was just kind of simplifying the game. We had a fun team. We didn’t do all that great as far as record goes, but in the minor leagues, they’re not really too worried about that. We had some good, young talent up there.”
Kloffenstein was working toward a big change during the offseason. Had this season been a full one, he would’ve been making a jump from about 72 games to 144.
“That’s a long time and a lot of ups and downs to have to go through as far as mechanics and performance goes,” he said. “The biggest thing I was working on this offseason was really just trying to simplify things and figure out what my weaknesses are so I could focus on that and make adjustments.”
Physically, the 6-foot-5 pitcher was working on staying flexible and cutting a few pounds. It was all part of a plan to maintain health throughout a longer season.
It was looking like he’d be with the Lansing Lugnuts in Class A for the 2020 season, but the second-year pro hoped to work his way up to the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Class A Advanced squad in Florida.
Last Friday, when Minor League Baseball officially announced its season would not start on April 9 as originally scheduled, Kloffenstein was still a couple weeks from learning where he’d start.
Now, after a change of plans caused by the coronavirus, he hopes to stay sharp and gain an edge while he’s back at home in Texas with his parents for the foreseeable future.
“Obviously the first couple days, it was really weird, and it’s still kind of weird,” Kloffenstein said. “After the smoke clears here and things kind of get settled down, which for me, they have, you’ve got no other option other than to get better. My goal was to skip Lansing, and I view this as another chance to prove to them that I don’t need to go there. I think I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
As of Thursday, neither Major League nor Minor League Baseball had announced plans for a return to training or play. Whenever baseball does resume, Kloffenstein hopes to come back better.
“It’s four, six, eight, 10 weeks, however long it is, for me to get an edge on whoever,” he said. “I have no choice but to keep to myself, so I’m just going to hang out with my family a little bit here and there and keep myself in shape. Hopefully, I can hit the ground running whenever this is all said and done.”
The view from left field 