There are many issues in America today. Some of these issues are quite embarrassing, infuriating, and negative. Despite those issues, there are some positive topics to discuss in the world of sports this week that make us look forward in time just a few more days.
What a month of July we have instore. The sports leagues will be in action at the end of the month playing real games. Practice and conditioning will take place the bulk of the month, but that last week will be amazing. MLB opens their season on July 23. Not all the teams will play that day making July 24th, the traditional opening day. Yet MLB has scheduled a prodigious game to open the season. The New York Yankees will travel to play the new defending champion Washington Nationals. The starting pitcher match up will be incredible as NY Yankee Gerrit Cole will make his 1st start as a Yankee. His counterpart will be Max Scherzer. There will star players all over the field. WSH OF Juan Soto who could be the best young OF in the National League. The Yankees will have Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Giancarlo Stanton. A game to look forward to. The early line on this game in NYY -110 and a total of 7.
The NBA has released the seeding games schedule. These are games played in a round-robin format. The better the teams play, the lower their seed will be in the playoff tournament improving their chances of moving on to an NBA Championship. Remember, their season is coming to a close, so this is a way to finish it and to get the teams in playing shape prior to the Championship tournament start. The schedule will start on July 31st. There are 2 scheduled games. Utah Jazz/New Orleans Pelicans and the nightcap is the Los Angeles Clippers/Los Angeles Lakers. We get star power in Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. On Thurs. July 31st, they are playing 6 games starting at 2:30 pm with the last one starting at 9 pm. Once they get going, there will be NBA all day and MLB all night!
The NHL is going to have its start at the end of July as well (bantered but not finalized). They too will be finishing a season and playing a playoff tournament. They have yet to settle on the “hub cities: these games will be played, but that is only a function of the selecting process. This means that ALL 3 major sports will be in action at all times of the day and night!
If you like soccer, the MLS opens on July 8th. The WNBA will also have its start in July. They will play a 22-game season where games will be played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. The exact date and schedule of games has not been released. NASCAR, PGA, UFC, and other soccer leagues have already started.
In another area of good news, the KBO released a statement that July or end of June that fans will be allowed back into the stands. They will meter the number of fans based on the seating capacity of the stadiums. The plan is to allow anywhere from 25%-35% of seat capacity for the fans. I personally would like to witness this. After following the KBO for a month or so now, the passion for the sport is real. The video clips of the fans cheering, and singing are amazing. I would like to see them at full song live in a game.
The goal for me will be to see how July leads into August. We need positive momentum so we can get fans in the stands at American sporting events. We need to be safe and we need to be out enjoying our lives. All of this could lead to a shut down of the games if the payers get sick or their risk is intolerable. Or this could lead to the process of opening the economy up and giving the people a positive experience in the year 2020 that has been full of disappointments. I am hoping for the latter as NCAAF and NFL will be right around the corner of August. July with games day and night will lead into August which should be the Championship season time of year for NBA and NHL. Quality action. The best players in the world. All of them playing all day long! What a time to look forward to!
