Well, today the MLB and the MLBPA have broken off talks. It only means that MLB will set forth a strategy for the season. They have contended that 48-50 will be the right number. So, there will likely be baseball, however, there is also reports that several owners are now in the camp of scrapping this season altogether. My understanding is that it will take a vote of 8 owners for this to happen. If we play this out, MLBPA will file a grievance and likely win sometime in 2021, therefore, getting the money they were wanting for lost wages anyway. Once they do that, the 2021 season will likely have much less attendance thus hurt the money flow in the game, which in turn will need for the old system to be scrapped and rethought out. Good thing the CBA ends at the end of the 2021 season so we can go through this entire thing again! Baseball, as we know, has now changed and will become something else. It was a splendid time in the game where the youth of the payers were just taking hold and the future on the field was extremely bright. Now there is a dark cloud over the entire sport and the future of the game is in doubt. Think about this, NCAA baseball was cut short due to the pandemic. Minor league baseball was canceled. The draft was only 5 rounds. Where is all talent going to come from now? Why would you want to play baseball as a kid anymore? The future is very murky.
In other news, the NBA Orlando, Fl deal, which was thought to be done, is NOT done. There are now grumblings from the players that they do not want to participate in the “bubble” effect. This goes back to the MLB player's first responses to the spring training sites as the locations for the games. The payers would have had to play all their games in Arizona or Florida and be quarantined away so they were safe. They would not have been able to even have family around. They immediately put an end to that idea. Now the NBA players are voicing their concerns over the same type of situation. The players would be quarantined in the Orlando area. The players are now not comfortable with that idea. Kyrie Irving led a conference call and quickly gained support on this topic. So, we don’t have an official NBA start yet. I wonder if we will get to a point in which they can agree to something and play this tournament? It is not like they will play an entire season. They are finishing one. Yes, there will be expanded teams in the playoff tournament but still will not see that many games or days having to be in Micky Mouse land.
The PGA started up again and by all accounts is having a good tournament. The leaderboard has some solid names among the top. They include Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Gary Woodland, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, and Bryson DeChambeau. After Saturday, the leader Xander Schaufeli is -13 but he is only one stroke ahead of 5 others. There are 14 players at -10 or better so anything can happen on Sunday. An exciting tournament and a great start for the PGA return for sure.
In sports across the world, New Zealand opened their live sports return with their rugby league. However, they did it with full stadiums of fans. The video clips are amazing. Seeing the fans waving flags in the stands and loudly cheering was a sight for sore eyes. It put a smile on my face. The KBO (Korean Baseball League) has played now 30 games or so since its return from the Covid19 break. It has been well received here in the US and ESPN has done an admirable job of connecting their sport to us. They too were going to allow 30% capacity of fans into their stadiums but have put that plan on hold for now. South Korea had a spike of virus cases that put it to an immediate halt. The KBO will likely have fans at some point. Their season is 144 games (take note MLB) which gives them plenty of time to progress their situation allowing the fans in the stands. Although, it is unique to see the cardboard cutouts of people, stuff animals, or whatever else they are using to imply there are fans at the games. It is also kind of comical that the cheer squads do their dances and cheers for no one in the audience, but I think that is part of the culture there and I am very interested to see it when the fans are there and in full song!
There were 6 NCAAF players at the University of Houston who tested positive for coronavirus. This has now ended their voluntary workouts. I know there are SEC schools who have already said they were going to play and have their seasons go as regularly planned, but I can only speculate that Houston will not be the only school where the virus makes an appearance. Due to the athletes' age, and not being a professional; I would expect that some schools will be making it safe before they allow their “kids” to be exposed. This means there will likely be forfeits in this year's mix of games. Weird but likely true. For us gamblers, make sure you know the rules to your wagers. Do not be betting on teams that aren’t going to show up!
What does next week bring? If today has anything to do with it, it will likely have more to do with the BLM movement and rioting (Atlanta, Ga is burning as I write this). I am exhausted from all this going on. Tired of the political bulls***. Tired of everyone trying to demean every viewpoint. Tired of the “armchair” experts in every field. Tired of the media. It makes me have to work extremely hard every day just to receive the happenings then decipher what is real. However, it is very important to realize a skill we have at Next Level humans. It is the skill of toughmindedness. This is often the deciding factor in winners and losers. Don’t give in. Work hard. Stay to your way. You decide your attitudes and your actions, thus you create your results. If you do not like the results, change either your attitude or your actions! You own you. Make every decision count. Make every action worthwhile. Let’s get through this together is for the birds and a crock of crap. Get through this because you chose to, and you chose the proper actions! Let’s hope for a better week to speak about next time!
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