Sports this 'n' that

Now, the pieces are starting to fall into place for the Triple Crown.

With the Kentucky Derby already moved to Labor Day weekend (September 5), where it may compete not just with baseball, but college football, too, the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel, will be run October 3. The New York Racing Association (NYRA), having just gotten the green light from Governor Cuomo to resume racing at Belmont on June 1, is exploring an appropriate date for this year's Belmont Stakes.

Since it's usually 3-4 weeks in between the Preakness and the Belmont, the latter usually run during the 2nd Saturday in June, the feeling here is that the race could take place no later than Halloween (October 31), with the Breeders' Cup due to follow about 2-3 weeks later. We'll see.
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Meanwhile, after weeks of virtual racing to give Fox some Sunday afternoon content, NASCAR will have its first live race since March this afternoon in Darlington, North Carolina. International soccer leagues are starting up their seasons. Some NBA teams are being given the go-ahead to re-open training facilities in an effort to finish the current season on time.

The Bundesliga soccer league is conducting their matches without fans, and today's NASCAR race will also be without fans. It'll be some time before paying customers will be admitted anywhere.
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Some sad news to close out this edition.

Phyllis George, the 1971 Miss America who transitioned to television in the mid-70's before becoming a business mogul, passed away Saturday at 70 from complications due to a blood disorder.

George was hired by CBS to join the broadcast team for The NFL Today in 1974, breaking the gender barrier in sports journalism. Her other television credits included co-hosting Candid Camera with Allen Funt for a time, and contributing to People Magazine's CBS talk show. Her low point at CBS was an embarrassing stint on the CBS Morning News, crossing over from the sports department, trying to make the same successful transition that NBC's Bryant Gumbel had made a few years earlier to anchor Today.

Here's a sample of The NFL Today, covering the NFC title game in 1976:



George served as the First Lady of Kentucky while married to Governor John Brown, and made an unsuccessful bid for Congress. Had she won, there's no guarantee current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be in office now.

Rest in peace, Phyllis.