The six-month mark came and went with hardly any notice, but it did come and go. It’s now been more than half a year since Rudy Gobert, days after jokingly touching all the microphones at a press conference, tested positive for COVID-19 and effectively shut down the sports world. If you’d said then that six months later, we’d be watching the tail end of reorganized NBA and NHL playoffs, the stretch run of a truncated baseball season, and the NFL kicking off in mostly empty stadiums, it would have been believable. Put sports on pause, get the virus under control, and pick things back up with some extra precautions in place to guard against a second wave of outbreaks. Except, we never got the virus under control. The last day with fewer than 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the United States was June 15, and the last day under 10,000 was March 24. At least 200 people in America have died from this virus every day since March 25, and the total death toll in this country is on the verge of hitting 200,000. The virus situation is worse than when sports stopped, but sports came back anyway. Because those TV contracts are big money and athletes are like everyone else in not wanting to be cooped up at home. And the government, characteristic of a failed response to the pandemic, encouraged it, both to satisfy corporate interests and to serve as a distraction for the masses. That brings us to now, and the Big Ten, forever torn between wanting to be seen as a pillar of academic integrity and a powerhouse of athletics. Having put off athletics for this fall, the conference now may be ready to announce the return of football… unless it isn’t. It doesn’t really matter. The fact that the conversation is happening, that sports are just plowing ahead all over America, shows just how thoroughly divorced from reality we are, in the country with, by far, the most total cases of coronavirus and the most total deaths from a disease that the president knew in February was airborne and deadly. The same president now holds indoor rallies in flagrant violation of local health ordinances because there’s not a single piece of law or common sense that Donald Trump won’t flush down his golden toilet. We’ve sadly gotten used to the law being plainly disregarded when doing so serves the interests of the powerful, but the demise of any sort of sense is a whole other kind of galling. The Big Ten has schools in 11 states. All except Northwestern are public universities. Here’s the last date that each Big Ten state recorded fewer than 100 new cases of COVID-19. Illinois: March 17 Iowa: June 3 Indiana: March 23 Maryland: March 25 Michigan: June 15 Minnesota: Sept. 6 Nebraska: Sept. 13 New Jersey: Aug. 15 Ohio: March 23 Pennsylvania: March 20 Wisconsin: April 13 Lest anyone believe that Minnesota and Nebraska really have things under control here, those dips below triple-digits are pretty clearly the result of lagging reporting on weekends. Even in Iowa’s case, that June 3 date that featured 60 new positives was followed by 695 on June 4, which together make for a daily average of 377. That’s right in line with where Iowa was at that time — below the 397 cases that were reported in the state on Monday of this week. But this isn’t just about the Big Ten. Sports continue all over America without regard for reality, even when reality encroaches upon the field of play. Take Monday’s doubleheader of seven-inning pandemicball games between the Mariners and A’s in Seattle, where the air quality was at “ very unhealthy” levels, and Oakland pitcher Jesus Luzardo said, “I’m a healthy 22-year-old. I shouldn’t be gasping for air or missing oxygen. I’ll leave it at that.” Except, don’t leave it at that. Playing those games in Seattle, because Major League Baseball is doing all it can to push through this farce of a season before a second wave of coronavirus hits — again, as if we’ve ever gotten past the first wave — is ludicrous and another sign of how far gone we are when it comes to the connection between circumstances and action. In 2003, the Monday Night Football game between the Chargers and Dolphins was moved to Arizona because of fires in the San Diego area. “Clearly the priority in San Diego is on health and public safety, not playing football, and we certainly understand that,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said at the time. Does anyone understand that now? Or are baseball players, team staff, media, and everyone else who needs to go to the ballpark for A’s-Mariners games exempt from consideration of health and public safety? Of course, if you can play through a pandemic and constantly expose everyone to hazardous conditions, what’s a little smoke? Or a lot of smoke? Where does it stop? UPDATE: The Mariners finally postponed their two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Giants, because, as team president Kevin Mather explained, “the air quality in Seattle has gotten worse overnight … and it is not clearing at all today.” The AQI in Seattle was 241 on Tuesday, up from 220 on Monday, still in the Very Unhealthy range, but yes, slightly more so. “As always, the health and safety of the players, and our staff is our first priority,” Mather said. We all learned 24 hours earlier that wasn’t true, but this is 2020, where the truth and observable reality have no bearing on people’s actions. A couple of weeks ago, sports ground to a halt again as players went on strike in the name of racial justice. “WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT,” LeBron James tweeted. But there wasn’t enough appetite to call off the season entirely, and now here we are with the Los Angeles sheriff calling on James to put up reward money in the case of two L.A. County deputies being shot. James has been in Orlando for two months, and now waits with the Lakers to start the Western Conference Finals in the bubble there. To be fair, the bubble setup has been successful, as there hasn’t been a massive outbreak of coronavirus ravaging the NBA. The lesson to be learned from that is taking extensive precautions works. Instead, the takeaway we’ve gotten has been to muddle through it all, as the pandemic continues to rage, the fires continue to burn, and the police continue to murder innocent people with no consequences other than their city making a settlement and a slap on the wrist for the officers involved in the “officer-involved shooting,” a weasel term as distant from reality as most of what we’re seeing in sports.
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UEFA has removed the restrictions on the transfer spending and Champions League squad sizes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain after the two clubs met their Financial Fair Play (FFP) targets.
Both City and PSG competed in last season s Champions League with just 21 players instead of the usual 25 and also had their spending capped at £49million for breaches of FFP regulations.
In addition, the clubs agreed that their wage bill for the 2014-15 Champions League squad would not exceed that of the 2013-14 campaign, while fines of £16.3m a year were levied.
However, UEFA relaxed its regulations on Tuesday and the organisation s Club Financial Control Body has now decided that the remaining two years fines for City and PSG will not be imposed.
Ligue 1 clubs Ajaccio and Reims were knocked out of the Coupe de France as unlikely winners Rouen and Plabennec prevailed on Saturday.
Ajaccio, under the guidance of new manager Albert Emon for the first time, went down 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at third-tier Rouen in the last 64 of the competition.
Former Olympique Marseille boss Emon, who replaced the sacked Alex Dupont last month, watched his new team go a goal down when Zahir Zerdab opened the scoring for Rouen in the 63rd minute.
Wilfried Zahibo s 89th-minute equaliser forced the match into a goalless extra time before Rouen goalkeeper Theo Defourny saved three penalties in the shootout to thwart Ajaccio.
We have achieved something beautiful. I just tried to relax and luck was on my side, D…
Racing Club forward Lautaro Martinez has claimed Real Madrid have tabled an offer for him, but the 18-year-old believes his club are unlikely to let go of him unless his €8 million buyout clause is met.
The attacker is regarded as one of the most promising youngsters in Argentina and Martinez s potential has seemingly not gone unnoticed at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It is true that I received a rough draft of an offer from Real Madrid to play a year on loan, with an option to buy, Martinez told Marca.
But my buy-out clause was a bit high at €8 million. If they really want me, they ll have to pay that amount as Racing won t accept anything less.
I m constantly talking with the president of my club and I know that my coach is counting on me for the seaso…
Juventus great Gianluigi Buffon took to the field to play a Champions League match for a landmark 100th time in Wednesday s 1-1 draw against Lyon.
Two of those appearances came in finals, but ultimately the Italy legend fell short against AC Milan in 2003 and Barcelona in 2015.
However, Buffon remains a stalwart in Europe s premier competition and using Opta stats we look at some of the numbers behind his brilliant century of appearances.
100 – number of appearances in the Champions League, still some 60 shy of friend Iker Casillas who holds the record for a keeper.
94 – Buffon s tally of matches played for Juve in the Champions League, the most of any player for the Bianconeri.
42 – Of the 100 matches Buffon has played, he has ke…
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In what is a mouth-watering way to open this year s Premier League campaign, Tottenham will welcome Manchester City to North London on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham
Starting with the hosts, while most of the headlines in the build-up to Sunday s opener might have been stollen by Harry Kane s potential move to The Sky Blues, the North London outfit are beginning a new adventure this season. With it confirmed over the summer that former Wolves boss Nuno Espírito Santo would be the man to replace Ryan Mason as the new permanent coach in their dugout, The Lilywhites have enjoyed an eye-catching pre-season run. Managing to pick up what was a real morale-boost last weekend as they secured a 1-0 victory against bitter rivals Arsenal, Spurs we…
Manchester City have submitted a planning application for the expansion of the Etihad Stadium, the club announced on Tuesday.
City s statement described the development of a best-in-class fan experience and year-round entertainment and leisure destination .
The work centres around the Etihad s North Stand, which would be expanded to increase the stadium s capacity to over 60,000, City added.
A revamped fan zone, a new club shop, a club museum and a hotel also form part of the proposal.
We are delighted to announce a planning application has been submitted for an entertainment destination at the Etihad Stadium.
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
City estimate it will bring more than £300million investment into the area, with the work set to t…
Real Madrid captain Raul is looking for the goal that will take him level with the great Alfredo di Stefano as the club s all-time leading scorer when Real travel to Numancia on Saturday.
Raul scored his 306th goal last weekend and has the chance to equal di Stefano s mark and help Real cut Barcelona s lead at the top to 12 points.
At the moment maybe it is easier to win a tenth European Cup than the league when you consider that Barca s form is not dipping, explained Raul.
It s not impossible to overcome a deficit of 12 points, but if they (Barca) don t lose points it is not going to be possible to catch them.
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David Beckham has left only a modest footprint on the North American football landscape in two ineffective seasons so far with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
The Galaxy will be without the league s highest-paid player when they open their 2009 Major League Soccer campaign Sunday against DC United.
The MLS season kicked off Thursday in Seattle when the league s newest club, the Seattle Sounders, host the New York Red Bulls.
Beckham, who turns 34 in May, won t be available until half way through the season to the Galaxy who have failed to make the playoffs since his arrival in 2007.
Even when he has suited up for Los Angeles, Beckham has had little impact. He played just five games of an injury-filled first season and had five goals and 10 assists last season.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar made merry as Barcelona regained the winning habit in LaLiga with a 5-1 thrashing of Leganes.
Luis Enrique s men suffered a shock 2-1 home loss to Alaves last weekend and made a shaky start at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque.
But their attacking stars, who started together for the first time this season in Wednesday s 7-0 Champions League demolition of Celtic, picked up from where they left off in midweek and combined for a goal apiece to establish a 3-0 lead and end the game as a contest before half-time.
Messi then netted his eighth of the season from the penalty spot and Rafinha added a picturebook fifth as Barca pulled level with Real Madrid at the top of the table ahead of their bitter rivals travelling to Espanyol on…
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard fears Philippe Coutinho is destined to follow in the footsteps of Luis Suarez and leave Anfield for La Liga at some point in the future.
The Brazil international has developed into one of Liverpool s key men since joining them from Inter in January 2013 and Gerrard has urged the Reds to treasure the 23-year-old until he opts to move on.
Philippe is wonderfully gifted and I expect him to become Liverpool s leading player, Gerrard writes in his new autobiography that is being serialised in the Daily Mail.
Many Liverpool fans already regard him as our main man. He has just signed a new deal and he and his wife seem settled here.
But I also know that the Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, will come looking for Ph…