This Is Really Scary ... No, Really

The Schloss-Blog is looking back at last week's post and wondering if sports is really coming back, especially after hearing that the United States set a single-day record for coronavirus reporting with 57,000 new cases.

No, Mr. President, it is not going away magically anytime soon.

But sports might be.

Remember Spencer Dinwiddie? His buzzer-beater defeated the Lakers for the Brooklyn Nets, in Los Angeles, in the last game before the league shut down.

Yeah, Spencer Dinwiddie, and the Nets.

Now though, he has tested positive. So did teammate DeAndre Jordan, an all-star-caliber center, and six other Nets (including KD).

Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len of the Sacramento Kings, part of the NBA's Pre-postseason tournament to determine who gets to play LeBron for the title, all tested positive.

That Orlando tournament "bubble" the NBA is building is looking flimsy and about to burst.

Baseball's Colorado Rockies had all-star outfielder Charlie Blackmon test positive.

I'll bet division-mates the Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Padres can't wait to go to the Mile High City to play them.

And when the Dodgers do go, they'll go without top-flight all-star pitcher David Price, who has opted out of the 2020 shortened season because of coronavirus hesitation. Now, Atlanta Braves all-star first baseman and leading hitter Freddie Freeman is out indefinitely with the virus, maybe all season.

Not good.

ESPN is reporting that two Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on the eve of NFL training camps, have tested positive. No, not Tom Brady. Or Gronk. But the NFL has already canceled its Hall-of-Fame induction ceremonies and accompanying preseason game and now has taken two more preseason games off the board for all teams, leaving them all with just two to evaluate rosters. 

For the Bears, that leaves the Nick Foles-Mitchell Trubisky question up in the air, literally. Good luck with that, Matt Nagy.

The National Hockey League, also set to have teams begin training for its makeshift postseason tournament, reports that 11 players, at minimum, reported to their respective facilities having tested positive.

Baseball's Astros and Blue Jays each had at least one player test positive and the Phillies had eight people report positive, five of them players, three from the front office. The Rangers also locked down their facilities for scrubbing after reports of players having tested positive.

Clemson has had 47 positive tests returned and Alabama at least 30. Talk about a crimson tide, it's running through Tuscaloosa.

Without them, or weakened versions thereof,  is there even a college football playoff about which to debate who should be included?

Yet, Tennessee's athletic director says the football team will likely play in front of full houses of 100,000 all season long.

Good luck with that. I guess he believes in magic.

Even Dallas star running back Ezekiel Elliott reportedly tested positive. Not good news for franchise-designee quarterback Dak Prescott or new head coach Mike McCarthy.

Von Miller, the Broncos' star linebacker, and even Knicks owner James Dolan have reportedly tested positive (Knicks fans reportedly not crying).

It's a long list and it goes on and on. Your favorite team, or players, have probably been impacted. In Arizona, high school football, which draws the kind of media and Division I attention coveted by so many, has had its season-openers pushed back three weeks, to Friday, Sept. 11. The delay is a sobering reminder of the virus’ impact at any and all levels of competition and raises an eyebrow as to whether they'll even play this year.

Anyone up for spring football, that counts? Pro, college and prep?

With that, this would be a good place to say "Good night, Mrs. Calabash," and "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson."

But it's neither a good night nor a toast-raising occasion. Money is what is driving all these attempts to get these sports in and wind up putting people at risk, perhaps fans, if they're ever allowed back in.

I'm hoping sports return, but like so many others, I'm hoping for the best.

And planning for the worst. 

More on my Radio Free Phoenix show at 9 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Fifty-thousand-plus in one day. Fifty. Thousand.

Que Dieu te garde!