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Bryce Harper Proposes 135-Game MLB Regular Season with Round-Robin Playoffs

Sometimes when I’m hit by a late-night stroke of genius, I’ll use the Note function on my iPhone or text myself a one or two-word reminder to keep the idea from escaping. But Bryce Harper’s bedtime brainstorm Friday night was too good not to share with his 1.7 million Instagram followers. View this post on Instagram Baseball Season:⠀ Beyond the health and safety which comes first for all players, staff, workers, fans, and families. ⠀ ⠀ Just an idea I have been thinking about. ⠀ ⠀ East/West like NBA. ⠀ ⠀ July 31 days⠀ August 31 days ⠀ September 30 days ⠀ October 31 days ⠀ November 15 days ⠀ 135 games. ⠀ Off day every 2 weeks on a Monday and Sunday double header 7 innings. ⠀ ⠀ 30 players. 6 man rotation. Save arms. IF pitchers wanted this. If not no big deal. DH and any other ideas possible.⠀ ⠀ Playoffs ⠀ 2 week World Series. Like Super bowl week. ⠀ ⠀ 10 teams round robin format College World Series kinda style at the new Texas Stadium or whatever stadium/ stadiums are best. 3 game series. You win the series you move on. You lose you play the other loser in a 1 game wildcard. Winner of that moves on. Other team is out. ⠀ Or you could play it in Vegas so you have the Strip Hotels and could use one hotel for all the guys and contain possibly? ⠀ ⠀ 2 teams left 7 game World Series. They get 2 days off before the series. With those 2 days off you do a All Star Game and homerun derby. Could do the MLB awards as well at that time. ⠀ ⠀ Open this up on all platforms. No blackouts. Open it for everybody to watch. ⠀ Then you back up season the next 2 years. May 1st 2021. April 1st 2022. Maybe I’m crazy. Just fun to think about and throw around ideas🤪 A post shared by Bryce Harper (@bryceharper3) on May 15, 2020 at 10:27pm PDTHarper heard the league’s proposed 82-game mini-season and did them one better. The Phillies outfielder laid out an ambitious 135-game schedule for the upcoming 2020 campaign featuring a number of new wrinkles including an East/West alignment reminiscent of the NBA’s two-conference structure and expanded 30-man rosters. Harper also advocates for six-man starting rotations, a necessary measure in a highly condensed regular season. The six-time All-Star’s plan doesn’t call for much rest, though it does allow for a reprieve every other Monday. Borrowing a page from the minor leagues’ playbook, Harper suggested Sunday double-headers with each game lasting a mere seven innings. Some baseball purists aren’t in favor of the National League’s plan to adopt a designated hitter in 2020, but Harper (who will probably do a fair amount of DHing for the Phillies this season) doesn’t put himself in that category. Harper’s hypothetical 135-game slate would run from July to mid-November with 10 teams qualifying for postseason play. The playoffs would have a twist as well with a round-robin format (conceptually similar to the College World Series) consisting of best-of-three rounds with losers facing off in a one-game Wild Card. Harper sees all this playing out in a single location, with Las Vegas (players could shack up on the Strip) and Arlington, Texas (home of newly-built Globe Life Field) floated as potential host cities. To give the remaining teams a breather, Harper suggested the league stage an All-Star Game and Home Run Derby before the World Series. MLB could also hold its annual awards ceremony during that two-day window. One of the biggest hurdles MLB faces, beyond the obvious safety concerns amid COVID-19, is how subsequent seasons would be affected given the league’s unusually late start to 2020. Well Harper has a fix for that too. He favors a gradual approach to restoring normalcy, calling for a May 1st start to the 2021 campaign and an April 1st opening the following year with the league reverting to its usual start time (typically late March) in 2023. To make the action more accessible to fans, Harper thinks games should be available on all platforms with no television blackouts. Harper’s idea is quite thorough and the star right-fielder deserves plenty of credit for his creative call to action. Squeezing in 135 games in just over four months would be a tall order and Harper’s plan doesn’t address the elephant in the room, which is ownership and players’ ongoing tug-of-war over revenue sharing. But even if it never comes to fruition, the 27-year-old’s eye-opening proposal is at least fun to envision. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

May 16, 2020

LeBron James Reportedly Among Stars in Favor of Resuming NBA Season

A cadre of NBA superstars, including the likes of Stephen Curry and LeBron James held a conference call on Monday night in which it was decided that the coalition of players are in favor or restarting the season, when the proper safety measures are in place, per a report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The call, put together by Chris Paul, the president of the players association, also included Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook. Earlier on Tuesday, Woj had reported that the players association was putting out feelers, to get the lay of the land across the league. National Basketball Players Association regional representatives started texting NBA players today with a 'yes or no' question it says will be kept confidential: Do you want to try and play again this season? The union's trying to gauge broader sentiment of its 400-plus players.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 12, 2020LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

May 12, 2020

Shaq: The NBA Should Not Return This Season

It remains to be seen when, or if, the NBA will resume the 2019-20 season, but is returning after this long of a layoff a good idea? “I don’t think it is,” Shaquille O’Neal said on The DA Show. “We still have a lot of unanswered questions. One thing I hate seeing and hate hearing is, ‘Oh, it’s going to come back.’ What’s going to come back? I want it to be gone. I want it to be gone forever. There’s still a lot of uncertainty with this thing. I hear a lot of states are opening up. I hate seeing the numbers of the people that pass away. I lost a couple people during this. Whoever is listening, if you lost somebody to COVID-19, my heart goes out to you.” The NBA suspended its season March 11. Almost two months later, the league’s return date remains in limbo. “I think Adam Silver did a great job of being the first commissioner to worry about the safety of the players and the people,” O’Neal said. “I think we should just call it this year and make sure this thing is behind us and come back next year. But I’m not in charge. I hear that they’re talking about Disney or Vegas. We’ll see what happens, but I think you know the old saying: better safe than sorry.” While O’Neal would err on the side of caution now, he likely wouldn’t have during his prime. “I would say come back because I realize that sports do a lot for people,” he said. “Whenever I played, I never worried about me. I worried about the guy that brought his son to a game. I worried about the guy that brought his family to a game. I worried about the corporate guys that’s been sitting in the office all day. You just want to come to the game, grab a beer and relax. So I would say, ‘Yeah, let’s come back – because it’s not about me. It’s about the people.’” LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

May 08, 2020

Report: NHL Team President Says League Looking at July for Season Restart

A good signifier that the NHL season is coming to an end is when the weather just becomes too warm to be "hockey weather." The Stanley Cup, usually held in late May and throughout June (depending on the length of the playoffs), ends right before the summer officially begins, and marks the start of the waiting period until NHL action starts up again in October. Hockey in July? That may be what the coronavirus pandemic has officially pushed us to. Rumored to be a potential plan for a while, one team president has confirmed that the league is looking to lay out a plan that would allow this resumption of action to occur. JUST IN: NHL looking at restarting season in July.Games would be played at 4 or 5 neutral sites with limited or no fans, according to Florida Panthers president Matt Caldwell. On the conference call, he said this plan is not finalized.— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) April 22, 2020However, soon after this report, ESPN posted that the idea of "neutral sites" had fizzled out and that the league is no longer considering this possibility. According to what sources told ESPN, regional home rinks would represent each division. As it stands, the current favorites are the home rinks for the Carolina Hurricanes (Metropolitan Division), Edmonton Oilers (Pacific Division) and Minnesota Wild (Central Division), whereas there aren't any reports of what would be used for the Atlantic Division. Similarly to what MLB is looking to do in order to bring baseball back in a timely fashion, the contests would take place in limited spaces so as to limit travel and widespread activity. No fans means no gate revenue, which is obviously an issue that any league will have to overcome as a result of this process, but many athletes, fans and executives have agreed that sports is better than no sports. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the effort to fight coronavirus, has previously supported the idea of playing sports in isolation without any fans, though he was asked about Fall sports like football. "There's a way of doing that," Fauci said. "Nobody comes to the stadium -- put [the players] in big hotels, you know, wherever you want to play -- keep them very well surveilled, have them tested like every week." No plan has been finalized, as Slater mentioned in his tweet, but the fact that a team president has publicly stated that the idea is in motion, we could have NHL action this summer. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

April 22, 2020

“The Rematch”? Phil Mickelson Hints at Another Clash With Tiger Woods

Golf fans, in search of a way to consume the sport during the stay-at-home coronavirus quarantine, have several tournaments to watch on YouTube and through other streaming services. It's likely that several of the contests they select include one or both of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson due to their incredible talent. In fact, one of the most fun matches to watch was a face-off between these two stars in 2018, pegged as "The Match." Instead of rewatching "The Match", however, golf lovers may be able to watch "The Rematch" -- an unofficial name that I came up with using a ton of creativity -- after Mickelson hinted at the idea over social media. Chris Yurko, evidently a golf fan, was able to catch the interest of Mickelson on Twitter and start the entire conversation. Working on it— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020But "working on it" doesn't seem like an entirely convincing response, does it? I don’t tease. I’m kinda a sure thing— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020That's better. The first time around, the match was held at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas with a prize fund of $9 million, which are two aspects of the event that will be very difficult to replicate given the circumstances. However, with the appropriate conditions including a very limited audience and proper social distancing tactics, such a match would do more than satisfy the desires of loyal golf viewers. If the match were to occur, it would hopefully play out similarly to how the first go-around went. The two golfers were tied after 18 holes back in 2018, and it wasn't until four extra holes that Mickelson won by a stroke and surprised the golf world. With all PGA events canceled until mid-May for now, such an exciting clash would be a pleasant surprise and a great distraction while the world continues to recover and attempt to flatten the curve of COVID-19. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

March 30, 2020

Miami Records First Coronavirus Death After Man, 40, Attends Beach Party

Miami has reported its first coronavirus-related death. According to NBC, Israel Carreras died in the hospital on Friday after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The 40-year-old is believed to have caught the virus while attending the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach between the dates of March 4 and the 10. His partner, Franco Conquista, said one of the first symptoms was a fever and “then very quickly he was having problems with breathing.” “Everybody loves him. His personality just shined”, says boyfriend of Israel Carreras. Israel, who was 40 years old, is the first person in Miami-Dade to die due to complications from COVID-19. I’ll share his story tonight at 4, 6, and 7 on @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/IgLieqmW4b— Jamie Guirola (@jamieNBC6) March 27, 2020It led to a horrible cough that made breathing so difficult for Carreras that he had to use sign language to communicate. “He could not breathe, and then they put tubes in his nose and his mouth," Conquista recalled, adding, “he couldn't even get the tubes out to eat. Because he couldn't breathe.” With the virus being highly contagious, Conquista was not able to spend time with Carreras in person. He said the virus is like “somebody sucks the will of wanting to live out of you.” He described Carreras as healthy with no underlying issues aside from possible high blood pressure. His advice to others, "Just stay home. Don’t just think of yourself. Don’t just think because you’re not affected directly this is not happening. It is happening. People are suffering, people are dying." While many of Miami’s events like Ultra Music Festival and Calle Ocho Festival were canceled immediately, the beach party still attracted thousands of attendees. So far, nine attendees have also tested positive for COVID-19. The U.S is now leading in coronavirus cases surpassing both China and Italy, two areas heavily affected. New York remains the nation’s epicenter with more than 44,000 cases, however, Florida is seeing an increasing number of cases that has led some experts to fear it will become the new hotspot very soon. NBC reported that as of late Friday, cases in Miami-Dade County surged to over 760 with the state nearing 3,000. Daily Mail added that the high number of elderly residents and the influx of tourists makes Florida particularly vulnerable. Up until recently, many spring breakers ignored the dire warnings and flocked to the beaches anyway. Shortly after Carreras’ death, the Miami Herald reported a second coronavirus death of a 79-year-old man who was not yet identified.

March 28, 2020

IOC and Japan Officially Postpone 2020 Olympics

The 2020 Olympics will not take place in 2020 after all. Tuesday morning, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shared that his proposal of a one-year postponement was met with support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and that the organization's president, Thomas Bach, agreed "100%" to the concept (via the Associated Press). Soon after, a statement was issued on the official website of the Olympic Games. In the joint statement between the IOC and Japan, it is stated that a conclusion was made that the "Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community". No date has been announced yet as to an official rescheduling of the games. Abe brought up his proposal on Monday after an outpouring of concern from various countries' Olympic teams. Among those teams were the US Swim and Track and Field teams, speaking to the safety and health of the athletes and the inadequacy of such an environment in providing proper conditions. pic.twitter.com/VMXaTyRcJN— USATF (@usatf) March 21, 2020Countries such as Canada and Australia publicly stated that they would opt not to participate in the 2020 Olympics at all under such difficult circumstances, leading to a feeling that a postponement or cancellation was becoming more and more inevitable by the day. A decision from the IOC was reportedly to come in the next four weeks, but action has been taken more quickly. This goes against what IOC senior member Dick Pound had said late in February, stating that the games were more likely to be canceled entirely than postponed or simply moved. However, as circumstances have rapidly developed and our knowledge of the illness has evolved, a year-long delay may be enough of a postponement to ensure athlete safety barring another decision down the stretch. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter I Facebook I Instagram

March 24, 2020

The NHL Has Its First Confirmed Positive Test for Coronavirus

(WGR 550) - The National Hockey League has its first player testing positive for COVID-19. In a statement on Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators say that one of their players has had mild symptoms and is in isolation. The team released this statement: “The Ottawa Senators are in the process of notifying anyone who has had known close contact with the athlete and are working with our team doctors and public health officials. As a result of this positive case, all members of the Ottawa Senators are requested to remain isolated, to monitor their health and seek advice from our team medical staff. The health of our players, fans, and community remains our highest priority. We will continue to do everything we can to help ensure our players, staff, fans and the greater community remain safe and healthy during this time of uncertainty due to the spread of the coronavirus.” The last game the Senators played before the break was in Los Angeles, where they used the same dressing room or transportation as the NBA Brooklyn Nets. The Nets have four confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Athletic is reporting that multiple Ottawa players have symptoms and are awaiting test results. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

March 17, 2020

NCAA Basketball Tournaments Canceled In Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

A surreal week in sports continued Thursday with the NCAA announcing that it’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments scheduled for next week will no longer take place. NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to report the event’s cancellation. The NCAA has canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and March Madness.— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020This was the expected outcome after Duke University and others (top-ranked Kansas among them) announced they would not participate in this year’s NCAA field amid safety concerns related to the growing coronavirus outbreak, a widespread epidemic that has already claimed over 4,000 lives worldwide. The writing was on the wall after conference tournament play came to a standstill this afternoon with the AAC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Pac-12, SEC, WAC and others announcing plans to close shop. The NCAA’s decision to call off March Madness marks the latest sports domino to fall with most major leagues including the NBA, NHL and MLB suspending play until further notice. These drastic measures are in response to COVID-19, a global emergency (it's been classified as a pandemic) spanning 100-plus countries. The NBA has been hit particularly hard by the illness with two of its more prominent players—Jazz All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell—both testing positive for the virus. The world of entertainment has also been impacted with two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, among those affected. The NCAA had hoped to keep March Madness afloat, making tentative plans to play the 68-team tournament without fans present. But with fear escalating nationwide, hosting the much-anticipated event no longer became feasible. The decision to pull the plug on this year’s men’s and women’s tournaments—not a postponement but an outright cancellation—looks like it could be just the tip of the iceberg for college sports. NCAA President Mark Emmert has since canceled the remainder of this year’s winter and spring athletic calendar across all collegiate levels. Abandoning an entire sports season is unprecedented but for the NCAA, there was no other choice. Coronavirus continues to expand its reach in the U.S. with over 1,400 cases confirmed nationally, affecting 45 states with a death toll approaching 40. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

March 12, 2020

NBA Season Suspended Likely At Least 30 Days After Positive Coronavirus Tests

The NBA has suspended its season for at least 30 days, the league reportedly told teams on Thursday. The season was initially suspended indefinitely on Wednesday after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19 prior to a game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA has told its teams that the league will be suspended for 30 days, minimum.— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) March 12, 2020The NBA postponed the game shortly before tip-off, and later decided that all games will be suspended following the conclusion of Wednesday night's schedule, although the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans game never tipped off. The NBA has suspended the season pic.twitter.com/BQpPYkPqWv— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) March 12, 2020Gobert was not in the arena Wednesday night, but Royce Young of ESPN reported taht players on both the Jazz and Thunder were being quarantined in the locker room to be tested for the coronavirus. On Thursday, Gobert's teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive for the coronavirus. He is the only other positive test in the NBA that is known. Over the last eight days, the Jazz have played Toronto, Detroit, Boston and New York. Prior to the NBA's decision to suspend the season, there were reports that the league was considering pushing back the calendar and playing games without fan attendance — which is what the NCAA has decided to do for all Division I games, including the March Madness tournament. Since the NBA's decision, the MLS, NHL and several NCAA conference tournaments have followed suit, while Duke and Kansas have suspended all sports until further notice. Whether or not the NBA will return to the regular season or go straight into the postseason is still unknown. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

March 12, 2020