Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday 5/28/20
28 May 2020 Sports
Major League Baseball drew the ire of the players’ union Tuesday with an economic proposal that called for a significant cut in salaries that would affect all players and particularly the game’s highest paid, sources familiar with the proposal told ESPN.
The long-awaited plan, the first volley in an expected back-and-forth that will determine whether baseball returns in 2020, proposed a marginal salary structure in which the lowest-paid players would receive close to a full share of their prorated salary and the game’s stars receive far less than expected.
Players immediately bristled at the proposal, which includes an 82-game schedule that would begin in early July after a 21-day spring training, sources familiar with the plan said. Teams would play three exhibition games in the final week before starting a regular season that would finish Sept. 27.
The union is expected to reject the plan and counter in the coming days with a proposal that could include a longer season.
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The Basketball Tournament, an event that has featured former college stars and overseas standouts competing for a seven-figure prize, will proceed this summer with the assistance of a comprehensive health and safety plan to minimize the risk of contracting or spreading the coronavirus, organizers announced Wednesday.
Keys to the plan will be multiple rounds of testing for competitors before entering a sanitized venue, separating the participants and eliminating a team if one of its players tests positive.
Starting in July, the TBT says it will host a 24-team, single-elimination tournament at a location to be determined, which organizers are calling “inner island,” a quarantined “campus.” Organizers are considering multiple locations.
Jonathan Mugar, the event’s founder, said they are looking at cities with local officials who are willing to “partner” with the event.
Staffers intend to monitor players’ social media accounts and ask them to use contact tracing apps, where available, to ensure they are complying with the event’s health and safety plan.
Last year, Carmen’s Crew, a team anchored by former Ohio State stars Aaron Craft and William Buford, defeated the Golden Eagles, a group of Marquette alumni, in the title game in Chicago to win the $2 million prize. Organizers have not determined the payout for this year’s event, Mugar said.
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The National Women’s Soccer League announced on Wednesday its plan to start the 2020 season and become the first United States sports league to return to play.
The NWSL season, which never officially began due to the COVID-19 shutdown, will take the form of a 25-game tournament for the Challenge Cup, the NWSL’s yearly championship. All nine NWSL teams will play four games to determine seeding, then the top eight teams will advance to the quarterfinal knockout round.
The tournament will begin on June 27 and last for 30 days. The preliminary games and quarterfinals will be played at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, and the semifinals and final will be played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. No fans will be allowed at any games.
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Former Wisconsin star J.J. Watt doesn’t want in on the party.
After the Houston Texans made left tackle Laremy Tunsil the highest-paid lineman in football, Watt says he’s not looking to cash in on a contract extension.
Watt, 31, has two non-guaranteed years remaining on a six-year, $100 million deal. He’s due $15.5 million in 2020 and $17.5 million in 2021. By comparison, Demarcus Lawrence is the highest-paid defensive end in football averaging $21 million per year with the Dallas Cowboys.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year has played more than eight games in a season just once over the past four years as injuries have limited him to appearing in 32 of 64 regular season games in that time span.
When healthy, Watt is still one of the league’s most dominant defensive players. He made his fifth All-Pro team in 2018 when he played a full 16 games.
Whenever Watt does seek a new deal, he’ll presumably be doing so in a tightened salary cap situation in Houston with quarterback Deshaun Watson expecting to command a massive deal when his rookie contract expires in 2021.
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Packers running back Aaron Jones is entering his final year of his rookie contract with the Packers. He spoke with the media on Wednesday and confirmed there is no where else he wants to be.
A source told ESPN at the NFL combine in February that both sides were open to discussing a contract extension. On Wednesday, one of Jones’ agents, Chris Cabott, told ESPN that talks have taken place.
Jones also added a new member to his family. He and his girlfriend welcomed a baby boy, Aaron Jones Jr. back in April.
Jones, a fifth-round pick in 2017, had a breakout season in 2019, when he totaled 1,558 yards from scrimmage and tied with Christian McCaffrey for the NFL’s touchdown lead. Jones registered his first 1,000-yard rushing season and needed the fewest carries (236) by a Packers running back to hit that mark since John Brockington in 1971 (1,105 yards on 216 carries).
McCaffrey reset the running back market with a four-year, $64 million extension earlier this offseason. At $16 million per year, it made him the NFL’s highest-paid running back. The Packers haven’t given a second contract to a running back they drafted since James Starks, a sixth-round pick in 2010.
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