College Basketball
Basketball Hall of Famer and current Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing has coronavirus. In a statement, the 57-year-old said he wanted to share his diagnosis to emphasize the virus is serious and can affect anyone. He is recovering in isolation at a D.C. area hospital and is the only member of the men’s basketball program to test positive. Before taking over at his alma mater, Ewing was an 11-time NBA All-Star for the New York Knicks in the 1980’s and 90’s.
College Baseball
A group of Power Five coaches led by Michigan’s Erik Bakich is proposing a later start to the 2022 college baseball season. Under the proposal, there would be nine weeks of preseason practice instead of five, the regular season would run from the third week of March to the third week of June and the College World Series would wrap up the last week of July.Currently, regular season begins the third week of February and the CWS ends the last week of June.
The impetus to make the change is finances. In the last two weeks, Bowling Green and Furman have dropped baseball to trim costs. Moving the bulk of the season into warmer months would reduce travel costs for northern teams, help increase attendance and revenue from concessions and merchandise for most schools and allow players to
miss less class time.
NFL
The New York Jets signed Friday former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year deal. Flacco’s agency confirmed the news on Twitter. Currently battling health concerns, the 35-year-old will continue his NFL career after getting released by the Denver Broncos in March. He spent 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and led them to a Super Bowl title in 2013. Flacco will look to back up Jets’ starter Sam Darnold. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed, but ESPN reported the deal is worth $1.5 million and could reach $4.5 million with incentives.
A football fan is adding some pricey jewelry to their collection. An unnamed fan spent more than a million dollars in the All In Challenge to purchase New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl 51 championship ring. The ring features five Lombardi trophies and 283 diamonds to represent the team’s comeback from 28-3, the largest comeback in Super Bowl history. It was put up for auction by Kraft as part of the effort to raise money for a number of food-related charities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NHL
The National Hockey League’s Players Assocation has taken the first step toward the return to action. The board approved Friday a measure that would allow for a 24 team playoff. The top four seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conference would receive a first round bye. If the NHL signs off on this, an announcement would be made in the next few days.
Golf
Live golf will be on television Sunday for the second straight weekend. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will square off with two of the football world’s biggest quarterbacks by their side in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady at Florida’s Medalist Golf Club. Woods and Manning will take on Mickelson and Brady in best ball on the front nine and alternate shot on the back nine in The Match: Champions for Charity. It will air on TNT, TBS, Tru-TV, and HLN at 2 pm Central time.
Auto Racing
NASCAR is back in action Sunday as the drivers head to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin both won races at Darlington in NASCAR’s return amid the ongoing coronavirus.
The INDY 500 race is canceled this weekend due to coronavirus, however race fans in Speedway, Indiana are still gearing up. The Speedway Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring “It’s Still May In Speedway” competition, where neighbors compete over who has the most INDY 500 themed front yard. Neighbors showed off checkered flags, race car memorabilia and even a make shift Borg-Warner trophy. The Indianapolis 500 will take place later this year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 23rd.