Sports this 'n' that

The University of Connecticut, now a Big East school once more, announced Wednesday that they would not play football this season due to concerns over coronavirus.

The NCAA, in turn, announced that all Division II & III fall sports were cancelled for 2020 for the same reason, and there are those players in Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) that are opting out of playing, like their pro counterparts.

Some leagues, like the Big 12, SouthEastern Conference (SEC), and Sun Belt, are putting together schedules that would eliminate the traditional non-conference tomato cans, and go with league-only play for this season, shortening the season to as little as 10 games. Some leagues will start in early September, others in the second half of the month.

Stay tuned.
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It may only be a couple of weeks into the season, but the Mets have fallen victim to the mysterious injury curse at Citi Field yet again, only the injuries accumulated on the road.

Second baseman Robinson Cano was placed on the injured list Tuesday with a groin strain after being removed from Monday's 9-2 win over Atlanta. In the same game, shortstop Amed Rosario was lifted with a strained quadricep muscle, utility ace Jeff McNeil was a pre-game scratch due to a back issue, but both are, for now, day-to-day. The Braves, as noted, lost pitcher Mike Soroka for the season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon in his right leg.

However, it's been next man up for the Mets, and the prospect of a second straight Rookie of The Year emerged in infielder Andres Giminez, who teamed with outfielder Michael Conforto to cut down Washington star Juan Soto on a tag play at third in Wednesday's 3-1 Mets win, which was also Soto's season debut after sitting out the first few games due to coronavirus. Soto tried to go first to third on a base hit by ex-Met Asdrubal Cabrera against the strong arm of Conforto, but overslid the bag, and Giminez held the tag long enough to get the call. Soto didn't argue, knowing he was a dead duck.

The Mets are off today, and enter the danger zone for a weekend set in Miami tomorrow.
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Nearly 25 years ago, Lawrence Taylor, now in the NFL Hall of Fame, wrestled the late Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania. At the time, Taylor, whose playing career had ended by that point, was a hero against Bigelow, managed at that time by Ted DiBiase, and won the match. As you could guess, Vince McMahon wanted to get mainstream publicity for the "Show of Shows", and got it, and has repeated the process many times since, at different points in the calendar year.

The latest variation on this idea came Wednesday night at the end of the NXT broadcast on USA Network.

Another ex-football player, Pat McAfee, now a podcaster after retiring from the Indianapolis Colts, as well as a talk show host, was an invited guest, with the idea that he was to resolve an issue with former NXT champion Adam Cole. Anyone that recalls McAfee's turn as a guest analyst on Smackdown back in November would know he's got a bit of a cocky side to him. Cole was at ringside to cheer on his Undisputed Era teammates, Kyle O'Reilly, returning from a stint on the injured list (Type 2 diabetes, coronavirus concerns), and Saratoga resident Bobby Fish, against Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner). McAfee's antics drew the attention of Cole away from the match, which Imperium won.

It's the aftermath that everyone's talking about:



What this does is set up, in all probability, a match between Cole & McAfee at NXT Takeover XXX (30) on August 22. Given how celebrities and athletes usually win these kind of matches, expect shenanigans.

As for that boot to the face by McAfee on Cole? Somewhere, Randy Orton is taking notes........