NFL Will Eliminate Preseason Games; NBA’s Safety Rules Are Working
In other sports news: NCAA paints a bleak picture of college football's future during the pandemic; and Dr. Anthony Fauci will throw out the first pitch on Opening Day for the champion Washington Nationals.
The NFL on Monday offered to eliminate its preseason entirely while agreeing with its players鈥 union on a novel coronavirus testing program for players. The moves to resolve the key remaining issues between the two sides came as rookies for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans reported to their training camps. The league鈥檚 concessions on the preseason and daily testing of players, at least at the outset of training camps, increased the likelihood that all teams鈥 camps will open fully by July 28 as scheduled. The NFL previously cut the preseason from four games per team to two and was planning for testing every other day. But the NFL Players Association had been adamant about daily testing for players and no preseason at all. (Maske, 7/20)
The bleakest picture to date of football鈥檚 uncertain future amid the coronavirus pandemic was painted by the NCAA, which posted on Twitter last week a graph illustrating the wide gap between two points: one, where the NCAA 鈥渢hought we鈥檇 be鈥 in terms of flattening the national curve of confirmed cases; and two, 鈥渨here we are,鈥 with cases surging nationwide since the end of June.鈥 Although testing and contact tracing infrastructure have expanded considerably,鈥 read the accompanying text, 鈥渢he variations in approach to reopening America for business and recreation have correlated with a considerable spike in cases in recent weeks.鈥 (Myerberg, 7/20)
NBA players and coaches have espoused a type of blind faith in the NBA鈥檚 health and safety protocols, the document governing the league鈥檚 attempted reboot amid a global pandemic. And Monday, that faith was rewarded with something concrete. Since July 13, the NBA has tested 346 players inside its Orlando bubble, and none have shown evidence of the coronavirus, the league announced in coordination with the NBPA, the union that represents the league鈥檚 players. (Woike, 7/20)
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Anthony Fauci, health care superstar and baseball superfan, will throw the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day for the Washington Nationals, the team announced Monday. "Dr. Fauci has been a true champion for our country during the Covid-19 pandemic and throughout his distinguished career, so it is only fitting that we honor him as we kick off the 2020 season and defend our World Series Championship title," the Nationals announced in a statement. (Choi, 7/20)
