Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday 7/21/20
21 July 2020 Sports
The NFL has offered to scrap all preseason games, a person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press. The players’ association had sought no preseason games and the league had reduced the exhibition schedule to two games. But on Monday evening, the NFL said it would eliminate those preseason contests and also would offer players 18 days for acclimation, up from seven days. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the offer has not been made public. Another part of the offer is to provide a means for players concerned about participating in training camp and/or games to opt out and receive a stipend. The union has not yet accepted the offers. Should it do so, both sides would have taken a major step toward starting the season on time.
Earlier Monday, the league said players will be tested daily for the coronavirus for at least the first two weeks of training camp, per the league’s new testing protocols. The NFL and the players’ union reached an agreement as rookies for Houston and Kansas City were set to report to camp. Rookies for other teams begin arriving Tuesday. Players and all Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2M or Tier 3 individuals must test negative two times separated by 72 hours using a nasal swab before initially entering the building to begin physical exams or any form of team activity. After two weeks of daily testing, if the positivity rate of those tests falls below 5% among players and Tier I and Tier II individuals, as described previously in NFL protocols, testing would go to every other day. If the positivity rate doesn’t fall below that threshold, daily testing would continue until it drops.
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Packer rookies will not report for training camp on Tuesday as originally scheduled. The delay in an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on health and safety protocols is the reason. But with an agreement on testing procedures being reached on Monday that clears the way for rookies to report, according to a report by PackersNews.com.
As of now, the rest of the team is scheduled to report on July 28th. But that too would be for testing only, as the new agreement requires that all players have two negative tests three days apart before being allowed to enter the team facility to take their physical. It is unclear when the first practice would be as players could have a longer acclimation period under a proposal from the NFL on Monday. That proposal, which reportedly includes no preseason games, still needs to be approved by the NFLPA.
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While states work out whether fans can be in the stands, the New York Giants and New York Jets already know. There won’t be any fans allowed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy’s order restricting public gatherings. The Giants and Jets put out a statement acknowledging there will be no fans at their games until circumstances change. Other teams will be finding out if fans are allowed, and how many, as the season draws closer.
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With NBA play scheduled to resume on July 30, the league announced on Monday that its latest round of testing produced zero positive COVID-19 cases. The results are based on testing of 346 players within the Disney World bubble since results were last announced on July 13. Those tests produced two positive cases out of 322 players tested since July 7th. The players who tested positive in the initial round of bubble testing were in quarantine and left the bubble to self-isolate, according to the NBA. Those players were not identified.
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The National Hockey League released its first COVID-19 test results since training camps opened on July 13 and the numbers were encouraging, as only two players had tested positive.
The NHL concluded the first five days of testing from Phase 3 of its return-to-play protocol from July 13-17. The league said that 2,618 tests were administered to more than 800 players, returning only two positive COVID-19 tests. Both players had self-isolated and are following the protocols set forth by the CDC and Health Canada. The timeline for a return to the team greatly varies if the player was symptomatic or asymptomatic.
Players in Phase 3 are tested on an every other day basis, along with daily checks for fever and symptoms. The NHL announced the results Monday.
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Nine former or current Nebraska students, including one former volleyball player, filed a lawsuit against the university on Monday alleging that it improperly handled sexual harassment, sexual assault and racial discrimination complaints — including several that brought against male athletes, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Nebraska, also alleged that officials at the school made errors in their investigations, didn’t provide them with academic help and “handled sexual misconduct complaints against student-athletes in a different manner than how other complaints were handled,” according to ESPN.
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A four-run sixth inning paired with five scoreless innings pitched by the Dock Spiders (11-9) propelled them to an 8-2 win over the Woodchucks (5-15) on Monday night in Fond du Lac. The Dock Spiders will enjoy their leaguewide day off on Tuesday before they host the Rockford Rivets for a two-game homestand starting on Thursday at 6:35 pm.
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