Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday 6/18/20
18 June 2020 Sports
NFL Offseason Programs are set to end on June 26th, but Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur told the team’s website that he isn’t waiting. This week will finish with some reviews, and then the players will be on their own until they report for training camp; which as of now, is July 28th.
Players have been very complimentary of the virtual program that the 2nd year head coach and his staff put together. And LaFleur believes the team accomplished its’ goals.
“It’s really two things that we told our guys,” LaFleur told Packers.com Wednesday. “Number one, take care of your bodies, come back for training camp in the best possible shape. Also, it really gave us a chance for these players to learn the system at their own pace. It’s a credit to our coaches, it’s a credit to our players how attentive they were; we had great communication throughout.”
The next step is training camp, whenever and whatever that looks like. But it will look different, thanks to the long list of mandatory protocols and guidelines the NFL has put in place for teams. Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh criticzed those guidelines when they were given to teams, calling them “humanly impossible” to meet. On Wednesday, the league said they were still working on protocols, and revisions are likely as things change due to Covid-19.
Also Wednesday, the NFL Network reported the league is considering expanding practice squads this season due to Covid-19 concerns. The new CBA already called for an expansion from 10 players to 12. Wednesday’s report says there are discussions about expanding to as many as 16 players. The NFLPA would have to agree, but since it means more jobs for players, that should not be too difficult.
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The financial feud between Major League Baseball and its players took a step toward an agreement that could lead to a pandemic-delayed season after Commissioner Rob Manfred traveled to Arizona to meet with players’ union head Tony Clark. A day after the session, MLB made a new offer to the players’ association Wednesday that called for full prorated pay even if games are played in empty ballparks, a person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced. MLB’s offer included a 60-game schedule starting about July 19 that would result in players receiving about 37% of their salaries. That would come to roughly $1.48 billion from salaries originally totaling $4 billion. The union’s last offer on June 9 was for an 89-game schedule at full prorated pay, which would result in 55% of salaries and about $2.2 billion. MLB also wants the union to waive additional claims. Both sides have proposed expanding the playoffs from 10 teams to 16 in 2020 and 2021 if there is an agreement but have not defined the wild-card round’s format. The union did not comment on the new proposal. Players could counter with a higher amount of games.
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The NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday approved a plan to allow college basketball players to start working with their coaches for the first time since the pandemic wiped out March Madness. The summer access period for men’s and women’s players will begin July 20. The NCAA basketball tournaments were cancelled days before the fields were scheduled to be selected because of the coronavirus outbreak. The NCAA also announced the expected approval by the council of an extended preseason model for football teams that was finalized by that sport’s oversight committee last week. And the council introduced a legislative proposal to create a path for schools to transition straight from Division III to Division I, paving the way for D-III football powerhouse St. Thomas (Minn.) to make that jump as soon as next year.
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The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he actually was descending, federal investigators said in documents released Wednesday. Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) to get above clouds on Jan. 26 when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles. The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have “misperceived” the angles at which he was descending and banking, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan was disoriented. The 1,700 pages of reports do not offer a conclusion of what caused the crash but compile factual reports. A final report on the cause is due later. Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six of their friends were killed, along with Zobayan.
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The National Basketball Coaches Association fears new league standards and guidelines that could bar team staffers in high-risk categories for the coronavirus from attending the NBA season’s restart in Orlando, Florida, could “severely jeopardize” their future employment opportunities. NBCA executive director Dave Fogel and president Rick Carlisle have concerns that several assistants and three head coaches — Houston’s Mike D’Antoni (69 years old), New Orleans’ Alvin Gentry (65) and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (71) — could be restricted from leading their teams and some could face considerable challenges in resuming their careers.
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