Hometown Broadcasting Sports Friday 6/19/20
19 June 2020 Sports
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has released guidance and recommendations for member high schools to resume summertime athletics programming and other activities beginning July 1, 2020. The guidelines were produced and reviewed by the collaborative efforts and contributions of the doctors on the WIAA Sports Medical Advisory Committee, the WIAA Executive Staff, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Department of Public Instruction, and the office of Governor Evers. The recommendations are best practices when returning to summertime sports activities in accordance with state, local and tribal restrictions and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Federation of State High School Associations. The WIAA has shared these guidelines with athletic directors, principals and district administrators of all member schools. It will be the decision of each school’s district administrator to determine if athletics and other activities may operate in compliance with state, local and tribal health department directives as determined by each community’s most current level of risk. The health and safety of student-athletes, staff and community remains the top priority in determining all return-to-play considerations.
The guidelines also include identifying the level of risk associated for each sport as recommended and modified by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Sports competitions, by their nature, are categorized as lower, moderate and higher risk based on potential exposure to respiratory droplets, the amount of physical contact and the duration of contact. The WIAA guidance document also addresses the progression for returning to summertime training and conditioning; team practices; competitions; disinfection of facility, equipment and implements; hygiene practices; transportation to-and-from events, and social-distancing expectations. Additional information, including sport-specific guidelines and other best-practice resources will be provided to member schools as they become available in the coming days and weeks, or when new information from leading health organizations requires amending.
The “Guidance for Summer Activities” can be accessed on the WIAA website at: www.wiaawi.org. Navigate to the “Health” page link at the top of the homepage and navigate to the “Infectious Disease” page. Additional information, including sport-specific guidelines and other best-practice resources, will be provided as they become available in the coming days or when new information from leading health organizations requires amending
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Baseball players proposed a 70-game regular-season schedule Thursday, leaving them and management 10 games and about $275 million apart on plans to start the coronavirus-delayed season. As part of the union proposal, players would wear advertisement patches on their uniforms during all games for the first time in major league history. After baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met with players’ association head Tony Clark in Arizona, MLB said Wednesday that there was a framework for the season, but the union said only that there was no agreement. That proposal included a 60-game regular-season schedule that would have $1.48 billion in salaries plus a $25 million players’ postseason pool, people familiar with that proposal told The Associated Press. he people spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcements of the details were made. Both MLB and the union proposed starting the season on July 19, and players said it should end Sept. 30, three days later than management. Players said pitchers and catchers should report for the resumption of spring training on June 26, followed two days later by position players. Both sides would expand use of the designated hitter to games involving National League teams, and both sides would expand the playoffs to 16 teams this year.
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Green Bay Packers legends Brett Favre and Jordy Nelson are set to be inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame at newly scheduled event this summer. The ceremony was originally scheduled for early June, but because of the pandemic, the event was pushed back to August. The new ceremony is to take place at the Lac La Belle Golf Club in Oconomowoc on Aug. 21. The event is supposed to be socially distanced outside the golf club, according to a release. While Favre and Nelson are inducted, Packer Donald Driver is set to emcee the event. UW athletic director Barry Alvarez is also set to receive a lifetime achievement award.
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The Green Bay Packers shareholders meeting in July is moving from Titletown to the World Wide Web. The Packers announced on their website, Packers.com, Thursday the annual meeting will be held virtually because of concerns about bringing thousands of shareholders together during the pandemic. The meeting will be held online on Thursday, July 23, starting at 11 a.m. Central Time. Information for joining the meeting was sent directly to shareholders.
In the letter to shareholders, president/CEO Mark Murphy wrote, “We are pleased to be able to still hold our meeting and deliver all the reports you are accustomed to receiving. We invite you to join us via our exclusive webcast. As you may know, thousands of you have viewed the meeting online the past five years. This year’s meeting will expand on that capability.” Murphy said he and the Board of Directors made the decision because health experts currently recommend against large gatherings of more than 50 people, and they don’t know if that recommendation would be lifted before the meeting.
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The NFL is still planning for a 2020 season despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Training camps are scheduled to open in a little over a month. But should they? And should there be even be a season? Those questions were raised Thursday by the nation’s top infectious disease doctor. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading voice in the United States’ response to the pandemic, said in an interview with CNN that without some type of isolation policy, he doesn’t see how football can operate safely.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” said Fauci. “If there is a second wave (of Coronavirus), which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”
The NFL maintains that a bubble environment, like the ones planned for the NBA and NHL, will not work for football. Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, responded to Dr. Fauci’s statements later on Thursday. “Dr. Fauci has identified the important health and safety issues we and the NFL Players Association, together with our joint medical advisors, are addressing to mitigate the health risk to players, coaches and other essential personnel,” Sills said in a statement to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. “We are developing a comprehensive and rapid-result testing program and rigorous protocols that call for a shared responsibility from everyone inside our football ecosystem. This is based on the collective guidance of public health officials, including the White House task force, the CDC, infectious disease experts, and other sports leagues.”
“Make no mistake, this is no easy task. We will make adjustments as necessary to meet the public health environment as we prepare to play the 2020 season as scheduled with increased protocols and safety measures for all players, personnel and attendees. We will be flexible and adaptable in this environment to adjust to the virus as needed.”
The Packers are scheduled to report for training camp in Green Bay on July 28th.
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The RBC Heritage began two month later than usual with a little rain, a little sunshine and a lot of birdies, most of them from Jordan Spieth to turn a rough start into a furious finish. Ian Poulter holed a 30-foot birdie putt and followed with a 5-iron to 4 feet for a birdie that closed out his round of 7-under 64, giving him a share of the lead Thursday with Mark Hubbard at Hilton Head. The RBC Heritage, typically a week after the Masters in April, is the second tournament since the PGA Tour returned after 90 days from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top three players in the world are at Hilton Head – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – and none broke par on a day in which 66 players in the 151-man field shot in the 60s. A year ago, only 38 players in the 132-man field opened with rounds in the 60s.
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