Month: March 2020

Rick Pitino wants to schedule Kentucky to play Iona, but not Louisville —

Rick Pitino has a new college basketball coaching job, and he hopes John Calipari will consider scheduling Kentucky to play his Iona team.

Rick Pitino wants to schedule Kentucky to play Iona, but not Louisville —

Louisville Courier Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rick Pitino is looking to upgrade the basketball schedule at his new program, Iona. 

“I would love to schedule Kentucky in (Madison Square) Garden in the Jimmy V Classic,” Pitino said Monday morning in an interview on the Dan Patrick Show. “I think that would be a great draw and would be exciting to see. I hope John (Calipari) would entertain that.”

Pitino said Calipari called him on Sunday to congratulate him about his new position.

The suggestion about scheduling Kentucky came after Patrick asked Pitino if he planned to schedule Louisville, where Pitino’s coaching stint ended after multiple scandals.

“No,” Pitino said immediately. “How quick was that answer?”

Pitino had previously told Patrick in a 2018 interview he did not expect to coach in college basketball again after he was fired by Louisville in the wake of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball.

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, right, shakes hands with Kentucky head coach John Calipari before the first half of an NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball tournament game in New Orleans.

He said Monday that testimony in the federal trial resulting from that investigation that he had no direct knowledge of Adidas payments to Louisville player Brian Bowen II’s father was enough to put him back on the radar of college programs. He also had a connection to Iona president Seamus Carey from Carey’s time as president of Transylvania University in Lexington.

More:Rick Pitino ‘incredibly excited’ for new Iona job, his first in college since Louisville

Patrick closed the interview by suggesting a four-team event with Iona and the three teams Pitino previously coached to Final Fours (Kentucky, Louisville and Providence). 

“How about we have Kentucky, Providence, Iona and St John’s?” Pitino countered instead.

The idea of Iona and Kentucky playing might not be as unlikely as it initially seems. While the rivalry between Pitino and Calipari was intense while Pitino was at Louisville, Calipari said in December 2018 he thought Kentucky should honor Pitino for his role in rebuilding the program from probation to the 1996 national title.

“He was with family and he had things going on,” Calipari said when Pitino did not come to Rupp Arena for a celebration of the 1993 UK Final Four team. “I just said, ‘Look, you need to get up here. This will be respectful here.’ What that program did to change this back, we should recognize it. You may be mad he went to coach at Louisville. So, what? When he was here and when we needed this program on a different track, he put it (there).”

Report: Rays giving $800 to minor leaguers to help with expenses — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

The Rays are reportedly giving their minor league players $800 each to help with expenses while most aspects of life are shut down amid COVID-19.

Report: Rays giving $800 to minor leaguers to help with expenses — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

According to a player source for More Than Baseball, an organization focused on assisting minor league players, the Rays will give every one of their minor leaguers $800 in a one-time payment to help with expenses while operations are shut down because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While it is certainly better than nothing, and it’s great that the Rays acted on their own without waiting for a league directive, it is not enough.

The Rays have nine minor league teams, though the lower level teams play fewer games and have fewer roster spots. As a very rough estimate, we may be talking about 250 players, which amounts to a $200,000 overall expenditure for the Rays. Even the small-market Rays have a team value in excess of $1 billion, according to Forbes. A 15-year TV deal with Fox that began last year will pay the Rays $87 million per year on average.

$800 helps, but it barely covers a month of rent, even if a player is sharing an apartment with others. Considering all of the other expenses players have — utilities, Internet, food, transportation/gas, etc. — like all of us, they will tear through that $800 in the first month just for basic living necessities. And they will still be expected to remain in shape despite not being allowed to use team facilities in order to slow the spread of the virus (the right call).

Every team should be following the Rays’ lead here, but the amount given to minor leaguers needs to be much greater than $800. Frankly, the Rays and the 29 other teams can’t afford not to provide more. Some — probably many — of their minor leaguers will have to take public-facing jobs in the interim in order to keep the lights on, like giving instructions, stocking shelves, driving for a rideshare app, etc. In doing so, they become vectors for spreading the infection, making it harder for us to flatten the curve. That’s why some, including Ilhan Omar, have suggested an emergency universal basic income (UBI). There was already a moral imperative before to pay minor leaguers more, but there certainly is now as we stare down the barrel of a pandemic.

Watch Donovan Mitchell Detail His Coronavirus Symptoms In New Interview — NESN.com

Donovan Mitchell on Monday provided a fascinating update on his COVID-19 recovery. The Utah Jazz guard tested positive last week for the new coronavirus, which has caused a global pandemic and a total upending of United States sports. Mitchell, fellow Jazz star Rudy Gobert and Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood are the only NBA…

Watch Donovan Mitchell Detail His Coronavirus Symptoms In New Interview — NESN.com

FRIESEN: Jets finally end self-inflicted PR nightmare — Winnipeg Sun

It took three days, a torrent of public criticism on social media and a fundraising campaign by an embarrassed fan, but the Winnipeg Jets are finally doing the right thing. Perhaps being linked to Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk was what finally pushed the Jets to reach the land of common sense. On Thursday when the […]

FRIESEN: Jets finally end self-inflicted PR nightmare — Winnipeg Sun

Karl-Anthony Towns Donates $100K To Mayo Clinic For Coronavirus Testing — NESN.com

Tests for COVID-19 currently are limited in the United States, but Karl-Anthony Towns is hoping to help change that. The Minnesota Timberwolves star has donated $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic to help fund testing for the coronavirus amid the recent outbreak. Towns took to Twitter on Sunday to announce the decision four days after the…

Karl-Anthony Towns Donates $100K To Mayo Clinic For Coronavirus Testing — NESN.com

Here’s How Celtics’ Tacko Fall Is Staying Entertained During Quarantine — NESN.com

Getting stuck inside for extended periods of time certainly isn’t ideal, but it’s the reality many people face in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Boston Celtics players are among those after coming in contact with Utah Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell days before the two players tested positive for COVID-19. So, some…

Here’s How Celtics’ Tacko Fall Is Staying Entertained During Quarantine — NESN.com

Rudy Gobert Shares Positive Update On Coronavirus Condition In New Video — NESN.com

Rudy Gobert’s condition has improved, but the Utah Jazz star still feels plenty of regret. Gubert on Wednesday tested positive for the new coronavirus, upending United States sports as we know it. In the days since, two additional NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19, as did a young Rhode Islander who got Gobert’s autograph…

Rudy Gobert Shares Positive Update On Coronavirus Condition In New Video — NESN.com

Christian Wood Reportedly Showed Symptoms, Played Anyway Before Positive Coronavirus Test — NESN.com

Christian Wood apparently knew something was off. On Saturday, the Detroit Pistons forward became the third NBA player to test positive for the new coronavirus, joining Utah Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. The Pistons and Jazz played each other Saturday, March 7, four days before Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test upended sports in the…

Christian Wood Reportedly Showed Symptoms, Played Anyway Before Positive Coronavirus Test — NESN.com

MLB memo tells teams to end organized workouts — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

The league has instructed teams to practice social distancing and end group activities that could enable the further spread of COVID-19.

MLB memo tells teams to end organized workouts — HardballTalk | NBC Sports…

MLB sent a memo to all 30 teams in which the league said that teams should “avoid all actives in which players congregate in significant numbers.” The memo advocated that players, coaches and staffers engage in the social distancing practices advocated by the CDC. Evan Drellich has the memo here:Evan Drellich✔@EvanDrellich

The full memo Major League Baseball has sent to teams about spring training:

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There’s a lot to unpack here. Non-roster players are being sent home unless travel is too great a risk or they live in a COVID-19 hotspot, or they are receiving medial treatment from the team. The memo also states that players on the 40-man roster must be allowed to stay at the facility if they choose to do so, and that they be given continued spring training allowances.

Yet the most telling nugget may be that the league anticipates that those players will decide to go home as the pandemic unfolds and they are given more information about the dangers of the disease. Indeed, the memo states in the opening paragraphs that future restrictions imposed by the government will likely further impede the sport’s ability to operate.

The moratorium on group activities extends to the teams’ facilities in the Dominican Republic, and some of the athletes at those facilities will be sent home.

Commissioner Rob Manfred will be hosting a conference call at 12:00 ET on Monday to discuss the new further discuss the ongoing crisis. Given the speed at which the pandemic is unfolding, there will likely be new matters to consider by that time.

The end to group activities comes as some players elect to stay in camp and work out, including the entirety of the Yankees’ roster. The instructions also come the same afternoon as the news that a minor leaguer in Yankees camp has tested positive for COVID-19

Jets ownership doubles down on decision not to pay casual, part-time staffers — Winnipeg Sun

True North Sports + Entertainment is doubling down on its decision to shun its casual and part-time employees. Read More

Jets ownership doubles down on decision not to pay casual, part-time staffers — Winnipeg Sun

True North Sports + Entertainment is doubling down on its decision to shun its casual and part-time employees.

In a letter obtained by the Winnipeg Sun and sent to the company’s 1,050 casual and part-time staff on Saturday, TNSE reaffirmed its position on not paying its staff for the remaining four NHL games plus affected dates for the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, as well as other events such as concerts that have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The letter, signed by TNSE president and chief operating officer John Olfert, states that “for approximately 97% (of the 1,050 casual and part-time employees who worth at True North venues), income from True North is not their primary source of income.

“For this group, True North shared that the principle of paying employees when shifts are worked will remain,” the letter read.

The letter said for the other 3% of employees who count on the income for their livelihood, “other arrangements have and are being explored.”

The letter does not mention how TNSE arrived at the numbers it did.

It can be read in full here:

Jets ownership doubles down on decision not to pay casual, part-time staffers — Winnipeg Sun