Virtual Leagues

Since the sports world ceased play over a month ago different leagues have been toying with different ideas as to how to keep fans engaged. The MLB launched its players only league where each team selects a player on their roster to represent them in the online league. The participants will play the game MLB The Show against each other often live online for fans to enjoy. The NBA also had their own version of online competitions. They had a players only 2k Tournament. Different players throughout the league went head to head with which ever NBA team they desired. Suns star Devin Booker went on to beat his teammate Deandre Ayton in a best of three matchup. You can find streams on twitch.tv or recaps on youtube such as this one.

For the foreseeable future this the only sports content we can have. Some countries have restarted their sports leagues such as the Taiwan Baseball League. However in the United States we don’t seem to be close to reopening. And when we do the timetables will be different and we may get some sports during what would normally be in the offseason. All in all the virtual leagues aren’t going anywhere anytime soon so it may be time to dust off the old xbox.

The Year without Fans

As everyone is aware of the pandemic facing our world. The sports world is no different. The 2020 season is one that will go down in infamy. Sports leagues all across the globe have been shut down with no real time tables for resuming play. Leauges are currently trying to figure out ways to conclude the 2020 season with out pushing into the 2021 season. The NHL recently came out and said there might not even be a finish to this season and everything will restart next year. The NCAA tournament has been out right canceled with no champion being crowned. On the other hand the NBA is working on ways to finish the season and crown a champion. Opposite to these leagues is the NFL. While the NHL, NBA and NCAAB were all in the middle of the season the NFL is in the middle of the off season and they have said they will not alter the league schedule and the upcoming season will go on as planned. The 2020 NFL draft will be held on time but for the first time ever it will be done completely online. This has left some NFL executives frustrated as they will not be able to meet prospects face to face or participate in workouts. This also leaves all first year head coaches behind the 8 ball because they cannot go into work and begin the restart process that has to happen with new coaches.

The President recently had a conference call with the commissioner of the four major sports leagues. The details of this conversation haven’t yet been made public but from what insiders have gathered the President would like all sports to restart play in May but without the fans.

This would be groundbreaking as no league has ever gone a full season without fans. The financial burden this would put on teams would be large however steps need to made to get these leagues back to normal. However for now we all have to wait with bated breath for the return of our favorite teams just this time we will all be watching from home.

Covid-19 in Sports

As the COVID-19 virus continues to rip through the country and all over the globe the sports world continues to hibernate.  In Germany the Bundesliga, the national soccer federation just announced that they aren’t sure when or if the season will resume.  This is true in the rest of soccer crazy Europe and it is especially difficult for one sport fans.  American have five top-flight leagues in baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey and football plus college sports so we have alternatives.  But to have them all stopped at once with no idea if they finish the season is a strange feeling for all American sports fan.  The Philadelphia Phillies, with hopes for a potentially good season remain shut down.  In fact, just this week the Major League Baseball offices requested that if possible all players report to their offseason or full-time homes.  For many players they were still at the spring training locations.  For the Phillies who have spring training in Clearwater, Florida it was especially concerning with the news reports of Floridians and spring break kids still going out to restaurants, bars, and tanning on the beach and swimming in the ocean.  With reports and science suggesting that social distancing works it was hard for baseball to overlook the threat of community spread being created in Florida.  Major League Baseball has yet to set a date for when the sport will start for the 2020 season but some talkers on the sports talk radio stations are thinking the Fourth of July.  That is effectively eliminating half of the season.  For the Phillies who have two pitchers coming off injuries the additional months of healing would help.  This would make the regular season a spring to the playoffs.  For a team like the Phillies mixed with youth and veterans led by a brand new manager a short season could be beneficial.  But for now the season is a dream not yet realized as we all continue to live through the night mare of a global pandemic. 

Home Cooking!

Sixers back at home without Embiid or Simmons

The 76ers come back home tonight after a tough road loss to the new life Cavaliers. A rough game where they were down by ten plus points for most of the game. To add insult to injury the Sixers saw their star center Joel Embiid go down to a torn rotator cuff. His timetable is still to be determined. Look for the Sixers to be led tonight by Josh Richardson and Al Horford with the Sixers two biggest names sidelined with injuries. (Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid) #Sixers

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

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