Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Sports this 'n' that

Marcus Stroman may be following Yoenis Cespedes out of New York.

The pitcher, currently on the injured list with a torn calf muscle, announced Monday he was opting out of playing this season. He'll be a free agent after the season, but it's a question of whether or not the Mets, depending on who owns the team, be it the penny-pinching Wimpons or someone else, decides to take a mulligan and bring him back.

After getting shellacked by the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals to the tune of 16-4 last night, I'd say the Mets could use some help yesterday.
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It's becoming increasingly unlikely we'll see any college football this fall.

Earlier today, the Big 10 and Pac-12, two of the "Power 5" conferences, announced they would not play this season. In the Big 10's case, fall sports as a whole are on hold until at least the spring.

Normally, major college football teams hold spring practices and scrimmages to determine the next season's rosters. If they are going to follow the lead of smaller conferences and wait until, say for example, April, after the basketball tournament runs its course (if it does at all), there's no guarantee that'll work.

Stay tuned.
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The National Hockey League's post-season tournament this summer is giving NBC Sports Network plenty of fresh content.

That's because the league, realizing future generations of players (i.e. high school & college) are home for the summer, are scheduling as many as four games a day on NBCSN, all the better to get the playoffs over with, then move on to the draft, and the start of the 2020-1 season, which likely will start in November or December.

Because they're playing in two bubbles in Canada, we have to, like, say, bravo, eh?
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When he was a player, Houston Astros coach Alex Cintron (or, "Absolute" Cintron, as Chris Berman christened him) wasn't exactly superstar quality when he played in Arizona.

However, as a coach, he's a lightning rod for trouble.

After Sunday's Astros-Oakland brawl, Cintron, the instigator, was suspended 20 games by commissioner Rob Manfred earlier today. Oakland outfielder Ramon Laureano was hit with a 6 game ban, but it doesn't surprise anyone that he'll likely appeal. Why bother with appeals this year? Cintron got the worst of the deal, and it's the last thing manager Dusty Baker wanted to have happen. Cintron won't be back until probably early September.
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President Trump just doesn't get it, and doesn't want to.

"It", of course, is the point behind professional athletes, coaches, and managers taking a knee to protest racial inequality. Trump insists that it's about disrespecting the flag, which it really isn't. We will remind that when Colin Kaepernick started his quiet protests four years ago, he took his cues from an ex-Marine. Trump is intentionally subverting Kaepernick's mission, if you will, to appeal to his voter base. In an interview with Fox Sports Radio, America's Oldest Baby said that if the NFL players are going to kneel, they might as well not play.


                                               "WAAAHHH!!! They hate us! WAAAHH!!"

No, they don't, Mr. President. You are insisting on making this about you.

At the same time, Trump is trying his best, again butting in where he doesn't belong, to convince the lords of college football to go through with the 2020 season. The Big 12 is expected to make an announcement later today on whether or not they'll follow the Big 10 & Pac-12 (see above), and, before them, smaller leagues like the Mountain West, in opting out of the 2020 fall season.

We should mention, because we didn't earlier, that Trump's Monday briefing was interrupted when shots were fired not far from the White House, and the Secret Service, taking no chances, whisked him away for all of about 10 minutes before he was brought back out to finish his speech. He should consider himself fortunate that the shooter wasn't aiming at him. Lord knows he's made enough enemies over the last several years, more than any President before him.

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