Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 4/1/20
1 April 2020 Sports
Wisconsin Herd guards Shannon Bogues, Trevor Lacey and Brandon Randolph will take to the virtual court tomorrow, Wednesday, April 1, at 8 p.m. CT to participate in the NBA 2K League’s first-ever Three for All Showdown. The 3-on-3 knockout tournament features fan-organized teams, social media influencers, WNBA players, NBA G League players, NFL players and top female 2K players, all competing for a share of a $25,000 prize pool.
Bogues, Lacey and Randolph, who enter the showdown as the 22-seed in the PlayStation 4 bracket, will go up against the 11th-seeded Sugar Icy Ballas, an all-female team comprised of Las Vegas Aces guard Sugar Rodgers and Women In Gaming players Ayleesha “ABallaGirl” Harvey and Brianna “icygrl” Novin. Tomorrow’s contest will be streamed live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
The Three for All Showdown commences tonight and will run through Friday, April 3. A full list of participants and tournament bracket can be found
HERE<https://2kleague.nba.com/nba-2k-league-three-for-all-showdown-teams/>.
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NEW YORK— Major League Baseball is extending its financial support to minor league players through May while suspending their contracts because of the new coronavirus pandemic.
MLB announced March 19 that it was giving minor leaguers $400 weekly allowances through April 8, the day before the minor league season was scheduled to start. The commissioner’s office said Tuesday that minor leaguers will continue to receive those allowances and health benefits through May 31 or the minor league opening day, whichever comes first.
Minor league contracts have a provision allowing them to be suspended “during any national emergency.” MLB said Tuesday it had told the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the minor league governing body, that it was unable to supply players to minor league affiliates because of the emergency.
Major and minor league seasons are on hold due to the new coronavirus. Weekly minimum salaries on full-season minor league teams range from $290 at Class A to $502 at Triple-A over the five-month season, meaning many players are making more during this hiatus than they do in-season.
The allowances are meant to help players cover costs for housing, food and training. Most players were instructed to leave their spring training complexes just over two weeks ago, sending them scrambling to make ends meet because they hadn’t received a paycheck from teams since the end of the 2019 season. Exceptions were made for players from Venezuela and other high-risk areas, many of whom remained at the spring camps.
MLB reached an agreement last week with the Major League Baseball Players Association, which covers players in the minors who have big- league contracts. The teams are providing $170 million in advance salaries to that group.
MLB’s minor league initiative also does not cover players on the restricted, voluntary retired, disqualified or ineligible lists; and those already receiving housing or food from teams. In addition, each team will make arrangements for players on Dominican Summer League rosters.
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The Los Angeles Chargers on Monday agreed to terms with tackle Bryan Bulaga. Bulaga, a 2010 first-round selection, has started 111 regular-season games and an additional 18 postseason contests, all with the Green Bay Packers. As a rookie in 2010, Bulaga blocked along an offensive line that helped the Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. In doing so, the Iowa product became the first rookie in NFL history to start at right tackle in a Super Bowl victory.
Bulaga earned second-team All-Pro recognition from Pro Football Focus while blocking for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2011, Rodgers’ first NFL Most Valuable Player season. In 10 seasons on the Green Bay line, Bulaga has blocked for Rodgers to throw 4,000-plus yards six times, including a second NFL MVP season in 2014.
In joining Los Angeles, Bulaga is reunited with Chargers offensive line coach James Campen, who served as his position coach in Green Bay for the first nine seasons of his career.
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League owners voted to approve expanding the postseason to 14 teams beginning in the 2020 season, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source.
The decision came during a conference call Tuesday, which took place in lieu of the NFL’s Annual League Meeting, which was canceled earlier this month as part of the league’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Changing the playoff format required approval from three-quarters of the 32 NFL owners.
In the new format, AFC and NFC Wild Card games will feature the 2 seed hosting the 7 seed, the 3 seed hosting the 6 seed and the 4 seed hosting the 5 seed.
The league announced NBC and CBS would broadcast the additional wild card games. NFL Wild Card Weekend will include three games Saturday, Jan. 9 and another three games Sunday, Jan. 10. In addition to CBS’ extra broadcast on Jan. 9 — which also will be carried via a livestream on CBS All Access — the NFL noted a separately produced telecast of the game will air on Nickelodeon, tailored for a younger audience.
The NBC game on Jan. 10 also will be aired on the network’s new streaming service, Peacock, as well as Telemundo.
The expanded format, which was agreed to in the new CBA, added one team per conference, creating six total wild card slots. Per league data, since 1990, when the playoffs expanded from 10 to 12 teams, 44 of the 60 teams that would have claimed the seventh seeds had winning records, including 10 different 10-win teams. Only the 1990 Dallas Cowboys would have made the playoffs with a losing record over that span in a 14-team format.
Adding an additional playoff team in each conference means only the No.1 seeds in the AFC and NFC will earn a postseason bye, a massive advantage to the top club each year. While it’s been suggested that adding playoff teams could dilute the regular season, with the No. 1 spot earning an even bigger advantage than previous seasons, it could make the final weeks for vital for clubs battling for postseason position.
The move to 14 playoff teams means 43.7 percent of all NFL teams would qualify for the postseason, compared to 33.3 percent in MLB (33.3), 51.6 in NHL and 53.3 in NBA. Voting on other potential 2020 changes, including proposed rule adjustments, is currently expected to take place at the league meeting presently scheduled for mid-May, NFL Network’s Judy Battista previously reported.
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