0-

“NBA-Return to Play”

-0-

We will have basketball.
They will have rules.

Get ready to root for your favorite ‘team in a bubble’, as the NBA hands out a 113-page Health Protocol Book, and a calendar of events for all the teams.

Circle the dates: here comes basketball, in the bubble, in Orlando.

—————————–
Phase 1: June 12-22
All players will undergo mandatory coronavirus testing in their home markets beginning on June 23. All players who were outside the United States should have returned to their home market already (June 15 was the deadline) and all other players should return to their home market by June 22.

The Raptors are an exception, as they are the league’s only international franchise. The team will gather in Naples, Florida and use Florida Gulf Coast University’s facilities to practice.
During Phase 1, several guidelines are in play:

Team facilities are open to players and only individual workouts are permitted, though participation is voluntary. Virtual meetings/workouts are also allowed.
Once players return to their home market, they are expected to leave the house only for essentials and trips to the team’s facilities. That extends to anyone in their households.

Phase 2: June 23-30
By now, all players are expected to be utilizing their team facilities with the exception of the Raptors. Players are still expected to uphold the same guidelines for leaving their homes as in Phase 1. In Phase 2:

Mandatory COVID-19 testing will begin, which will consist of nasal swabs and oral swabs as well as blood drawn. There’s a long swab called the nasopharyngeal. That will not be used as it was reported to have caused discomfort. Players have the option of volunteering to participate in a Yale study that is designed to come up with a saliva-based test.
Players must self-report if they or a member of their household are feeling sick or have symptoms. That information will go to the team’s medical staff.

Phase 3: July 1-7
Head coaches enter the picture in Phase 3.

Workouts, which will still be conducted at the team’s home locations (again, with the exception of Toronto), will be mandatory. Group workouts are still not allowed and no more than eight players will be allowed in the facilities at any given time.

Phase 4: July 7-11
Teams will begin to head to Disney World. Travel will be staggered via either flight or bus to Orlando between July 7-9.

Once teams arrive in Florida, there are some unique guidelines and protocols:

Players and team staff will stay isolated in their rooms. That will be the case until they have two negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart.
It’s optional, but players can wear proximity alarms which will buzz if someone spends more than five seconds within six feet of another human being. For the alarm to work, the other person must also be wearing the alarm.
Team and league staff must wear the alarm. It remains to be seen whether referees will have to wear it.
Everyone on the campus will have to wear face masks. Some Disney employees will not be required to reside in the bubble nor undergo COVID-19 testing. Their temperature will be checked daily and they will be checked for symptoms.

Phase 4 Continued: July 11-21
By this point, everyone is at the NBA Campus. Group workouts will be allowed after the initial self isolation, though players will undergo COVID-19 testing routinely as well as undergoing daily temperature checks and other tests.

Players can only eat meals and participate in activities with other people staying in their hotel. The hotel situation is based on seeding, as Charania adds on Twitter. Here are the three groups:

Gran Destino:

Bucks
Lakers
Raptors
Clippers
Celtics
Nuggets
Jazz
Heat
Grand Floridian:

Thunder
76ers
Rockets
Pacers
Mavericks
Nets
Grizzlies
Magic
Yacht Club:

Blazers
Kings
Pelicans
Spurs
Suns
Wizards
The split means you won’t see Ben Simmons playing golf (one of the activities allowed, along with playing cards) with LeBron James before July 21. Some other restrictions include:

Any meal eaten with a player from another team must be done outside.
Players are not allowed to hang out in each other’s hotels.
There may be a few exceptions, but all food will be prepared on the NBA campus. However, players are allowed to hire a personal chef to prepare meals to be delivered to the campus.
Players are allowed to leave the campus, but the expectation is that they will stay on it. If a player leaves without prior approval, he will be subjected to testing, including that uncomfortable nasopharyngeal swab testing and a 10-to-14 day self-quarantine. The player could also be subjected to a reduction in pay for games he misses.

Phase 5: July 22-29
Each team will play three scrimmages against other clubs that are staying at the same hotel. Starting July 22, players and team staff are allowed to socialize with anyone from any of the hotels. Players still can’t go into another person’s hotel.

Phase 6: July 30-Oct 13
We are playing basketball.

Teams will play eight regular-season contests to determine seeding (“seeding games”). If necessary, there will be a play-in tournament for the eighth seed.
After all is sorted out, we will have a traditional 16-team, four-round, best-of-seven playoff format.
Once a team is eliminated, its players and staff will be tested and then immediately depart from the NBA campus.

In years past, players of championship teams have looked at the camera and said “I’m going to Disney World.” This year, the last remaining team at the resort will be crowned the champion.

-0-

“Remembering Tony Gwynn”

-0-

San Diego reflects back on all the special qualities of ‘Mr. Padre’-Tony Gwynn, who passed away 6-years ago this week.

The smile, the laugh, the voice, the base-hits, the Hall of Fame speech.

It’s been 10-years since he was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth.

Below, my column on T-Gwynn the day we learned what he was facing, written for the San Diego News Network.

——————–

Mr. Padre faces chemo and radiation-fight of his life vs Cancer
By Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton

Stunning. Numbing. Saddening.

It was like standing in the batters box at home plate and taking a fastball on the side of the helmet. The force of a 97 mph pitch on the side of head knocks you down, makes you feel helpless, disoriented and woozy.

Tony Gwynn is fighting cancer.

Courtesy photo

The news about the greatest San Diego Padres ever, Tony Gwynn, was like taking a fastball to the head.

The 50-year-old Hall of Fame icon, facing the fight of his life, to fight off cancer.The insidious disease,everywhere in our society, has now surfaced at home plate, hitting the man who wore #19.

Gwynn was found to have a cancerous cell in a salivary gland in his mouth. Lymph nodes have been removed. And he now heads down the road for chemo therapy, then radiation.

The man, who starred for two enormous decades of accomplishment with the Padres, had been missing at Petco Park for the last 30 days. Not to be seen on the field around the batting practice cage. Not in the dugout, where he would shake hands with anyone and everyone. Not along press row, where virtually every member of the travelling media would stop by and look for an angle to a story. Nor along the stands where autograph seekers mobbed him daily.

Oddly, it was last week, when his name came up in one of my conversations with an out of towner. In this case, missing did not make the heart grow fonder, but cause me concern.

His son, Tony Gwynn Jr., shielded his inner emotions, never letting on his legendary father was ailing. Junior himself was battling back from a broken hamate bone in his wrist, trying to get back on the field, off the disabled list, and trying to help the Padres get into postseason play.

Gwynn, forever jolly, was missing to from the Padres TV booth, where you surely would have thought he might have been part of the rotation, while lead announcer Dick Enberg was off broadcasting tennis at the U.S. Open.

Shame on us, for being so caught up in the pennant race, we never noticed, nor asked, “Where is T?”

We are reminded often that the stars wearing the uniforms are just like us. They may be Padres players, and they may make enormous amounts of money. But they have children who get sick, wives with health problems, in laws dying.

The popular Dave Roberts, undergoing his own battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma, has staged the good fight and has been around the ballpark. His season was a mix of treatments and scouting for the Padres. Next spring, he will be the team’s first base coach.

Roberts spoke once this summer about the trials and tribulations of the fight against cancer, the great unknown in your body. He spoke of the outpourting of love by Padres fans, and baseball men. He talked of the enormous support by Larry Lucchino, the CEO of the Red Sox, who years ago in San Diego, won his own bout with cancer.

And now all those who supported Dave Roberts and were friends to Larry Lucchino, will be asked to do it again, and will joyfully, to support Tony Gwynn.

I pitched baseball from Little League, to Babe Ruth, to high school. I got hit in the face by a line drive and beaned at home plate too, and remember the helpless feelings.

Cancer and baseball is not foreign to me either. My closest friend, a high draft pick with the Dodgers, died of cancer of the mouth at the age of 31. His brought on by use of chewing tobacco. He beat it once, it got him when it came back.

It struck down my father too, a minor league pitcher, and my best friend a first-round draft pick too.

Today, say a prayer for Tony Gwynn, for what is ahead of him. His relentless approach to hitting will come in handy, with his relentless desire to beat this cancer.

Hoping Tony Gwynn gets up from this beaning, and like that mystical .394-hitting season he had, knocks the disease thru the popular 5.5 hole on the left side of the infield.

Time for strength and support for a great player, and a greater man, Tony Gwynn.

=======================

-0-

“What Happens Next”

-0-

It’s ugly out there, everywhere, society and in sports.

Random thoughts on what is happening in the sports world.

BASEBALL…As bad as I have ever seen it, the vitrol between the Union and the Owners, the personality clash between Tony Clark and Rob Manfred, and the rage over money for a 3-month cut of the pie before the calendar runs out.  The two sides should agree to bring in a 3rd voice, a mediator, to sort out the crisis.  The enraged press releases each day serve no purpose.  This is now more than “I don’t agree with your offers-it has become I don’t like you nor trust you”

BASKETBALL…The Players are questioning alot of things, none of it is financial though.  They wonder about the Orlando-bubble proposal that puts players in isolation for the five weeks it might take to conduct the playoffs.  They also wonder if by playing basketball, they slowdown the message and impact they can have in the BLM movement.  Of big concern, players wanting to leave the bubble to be with family of friends, which could created another wave of the virus with that interaction.  I think the NBA could create an amazing platform-during the playoffs to deliver important messages.

NFL…Their problems are just around the corner, with the great unknown of how to conduct training camps involving 90-players and a support staff of maybe an additional 60-people.  That and controllilng players for their own safety so there is not an outbreak in these camps.  State governments could intervene with more outbreaks, and say camps cannot open, so Roger Goodell has another issue-crisis on his hands, beyond the Colin Kaeperneck conversation.

NCAA….You knew this might happen, the minute schools opened campuses to let players return for conditioning workouts….5-of-50 upper classmen at Alabama test positive after just a couple of days of workouts.  Houston shut their meetings down after 2-positive tests.  Iowa State has a problem too.  As June turns to July, will there be outbreaks within all the college programs?  On top of that, some brewing unrest at Clemson-Georgia-Oklahoma State-Iowa as players have spoken out against coaches who have made insensitive BLM statements.  We have not heard the end of this chapter.

NHL….The idea of 2-hub cities to host 24-teams sounds like a solid plan, but now this:  cross-border crossings from the US-to-Canada and back, and the 14-day quarantine limit Canada still has in effect.  Now the Canadian teams in the playoffs are discussing of holding their training camps in July, in US-cities so they don’t have border crossing situations.

PGA…It looks strange but they are playing golf with a fair degree of social distancing and no fans…no galleries.

NASCAR-Indy Car….Staging races and it feels strange with no fans in the stands, but it is working…there have been no flareups.

SOCCER…The MLS is the next on the radar with their 26-team tourney they wish to sponsor, a challenge, because you are bringing players back globally to train, live in the same hotels, then play games…imminent danger with players coming in from Mexico, Brazil and other South American venues.

===========================

“Baseball–On A Path to Destruction”

-0-

They all have it, a form of partnership in sports, all except Baseball.

The NFL fought thru years of labor dispute and a couple of work stoppages, but has labor peace brought on by the shared mega profits, called the ‘Salary Cap’.  Everyone is making money and the pie grows.

The NBA created their unique partnership by shared revenue formulas and the creation of a Soft Salary Cap, that allows freedom of movement, max contracts, super max contracts, and huge contracts for everyone.  It has worked, it saved the league after the NBA-ABA merger…and their players make the most money of anyone in sports

The NHL cancelled an entire season and the Stanley Cup playoffs but in the end, came up with its own form of Salary Cap and Escrow accounts that has taken the league from small time to big time, including making it a global sport with US and Canadian TV contracts.

Not baseball though, where the Union has decided to have a turf war over every little thing in baseball.  They want to be compensated for this-that and the other.  The mistrust, that used to be part of the NFL-NBA-NHL, is gone as they have become partners.  Not so in baseball, it still exists today, maybe more so than ever .  The collateral damage could wind up being everywhere, like toxic fallout.

Sadly this war coincides with the Covid War and the Civil unrest and the destruction on Wall Street.  The average citizen may wake up and say my problems are worse than yours, and I no longer care about baseball and its 4M a year players and filthy rich owners.

The Union has rejected all four offers from the owners to get back on the field, arguing over pennies, when in reality the longterm almighty dollar of the sport is being threatened by the shutdown.  Talks have been replaced by nasty letters headed by the words bad-faith bargaining.

Tiough to say who violated the initial agreemet in early March.  The Unon says Manfred didn’t make the ‘best effort’ to play as many games as possible.  The owners lawyer responded it wasn’t fair to owners and the employees of teams to lose even greater amounts of money by playing more games.  Then the union responded by saying the owners were using the ‘pandemic to limit the amount of play’.  Ugly-ugly.

The tweets and responses are everywhere.  Players say ‘full work-full pay’.  Baseball sources use words like ‘ablaze with ill-will’.

Manfred proposed 72-76-82 games and now is looking at maybe a 50-game package.  Clark wanted 89-games and then 114.  And his last response, ‘tell us when we play-where we play’.

The proposals at times have been bizarre too.  Dissolving the American and National League; playing just at spring trainiing sights in the Catcus League and Grapefruit Circuit; playing in 3-divisions and 3-cities.  For everyday there is a new idea.  But for each new idea, it’s as if there are then 3-questions.

Distrust has been part of the baseball lexicon like balls-strikes-home runs.  Stretching as far back as Jim Crow Laws, to the court led imposition of free agency, the game has dissolved into an ugly Civil War.

The owners wanted it done one way, the union wanted everything to be bargaining chips, whether it was steroid testing to today’s ridiculous raging argument over pro-rated pay.

The season is teetering on collapse.  Of bigger concern should be what happens in the bigger picture.  A compressed free agent market a year from now because of the economic pandemic we have and crushed revenues..  The renewed outbreak of the virus further if we don’t get to a vaccine.  and the intangible damage done to the game, the fans psyche and the credibility of both sides.

It’s like Tony Clark and the Union want to ‘win the moment’, this scrap over the number of games played and what we get paid.  They risk losing the big game, the longterm health of the sport.

Rob Manfred will invoke his power and put in play a 50 or 60- game season so they can get to postseason.  Players will have to decide if they are going to forfeit the rest of their pay this year and just not play, and give up a year service time to free agency.

Where is baseball today.  The rich teams get richer.  The rich players get richer.  More than two thirds of the players make 1-M less, and they get hurt worse by this war than the Bryce Harper-Manny Machado-Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout’s of the world.  And baseball’s recognition factor gets further damaged.

I grew up in the Yankees-Dodgers-Giants era, Jackie Robinson, Boys of Summer etc.  I followed thru decades of greatness.  McGwire-Sosa-Bonds home run derby.  Great teams, personalities, stadiums.  Great profits and paydays.

But the work stoppages have soured people.  The fight between millionaires and billionaires has become numbing.  No one wants to hear about your wants and needs during this time of 120,000 deaths, 43M unemployment and the worst divisiveness seen in our society’s modern times.

Where do we go from here?

The scariest part, and they better both pay attention to this. because I don’t think the MLB owners nor the Union are viewing it thru the proper lens any longer.

Baseball’s falls in relevance on the American sporting landscape.

We know how the NFL and College Football are now the marquee sporting events, in terms of crowd draw, TV ratings, and revenue streams.

We know the enormous gains made by the NBA coming back from the dead.

Hockey survived, saved itself, and made itself an important global game.

MLB and the Union better be aware of what might happen.

If they don’t forge a true partnership, develop some real form of revenue sharing on all baseball fronts, in essence a true formula for Growth Plans, they might not survive. The arrow might be pointed down.

America’s past-time, as we called it during the Yankees dynasty,  might become America’s passed-time, because of the greed that exists at this hour on both sides in this trench war-fare.

Baseball’s on a path to destruction.  People better see the big picture going forward.  It should not be about today’s dollar grab but about tomorrow’s growth potential.

===========================

-0-

“NASCAR–About Time”

-0-

They grew up in the sport.  It is part of their culture.  It has always been part of their life.  It represents where they lived, grew up, and live now.

And now it is going to change now whether they like it or not.

They were part of the good ole boy culture.  The way it was always done forever.  They rooted for the Flock Brothers, the Petty Family, the Alabama Gang.

Moonshiners became race card drivers.  Out running the cops was just like out running the rest of the pack in a Saturday night trophy dash.

What was, won’t be the same starting next week.

NASCAR is removing all things linked to the Confederate Flag, removing something that has part of Southern auto racing since the 1950s, when the Daytona Beach race moved to the massive complex known as Daytona International Speedway.

It’s hard to believe, that in 2020, some are still living and using symbols that was part of life in 1950.

It stunned me a year ago this spring, while driving across West Virginia and into coal mine country of Southern Virginia, to see it everywhere.

It, Confederate Flags, flying off buildings, in town’s squares, in front yards, and cars driven on highways and trucks on back roads.

Bubba Wallace is the lone African-American driver on the NASCAR circuit.  He drove an all ‘Black Lives Matter’ sponsored car in the Atlanta 500 on Wednesday night.  It was a statement that suddenly many others in NASCAR wrapped their arms around.

Black drivers have been few and far between.  Curtis Turner was the first to drive across the color barrier, but that was in the 1950s and 60s.  Aside from former Indy car driver Willy Tee-Ribbs, there have been none on the starting grid.  They single-handedly fought to be on the track and compete.

They are now revolting in the hot bed of NASCAR support in the Carolina’s, Virginia, Florida and probably elsewhere in the Mid-South.

But what happened quickly in NASCAR, is no different than what is happening nationwide about history and the south.

Monument Avenue in downtown Richmond was picturesque, a salute to history.  But now the monuments given to honor Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others linked to the Confederacy and Civil War, things honoring them, are coming down.

It is a great debate whether we are honoring the history of the 1800s in the South, or honoring the men who served the Confederacy in the Civil War, fighting to retain slavery..

It is an argument, it may have signified an evil time in our country’s history, but it is also a sign of how far our country has supposedly come, so therefore we should not forget it, or act like it never happened.

And so too the arguments about removing the names of people on our great military training facilities, Fort Benning…Bragg…Hood.  Those military bases have served our country since before World War i.

The greatest founders of our time, Lincoln and Jefferson owned slaves.  Are we to eradicate monuments to them too, because of what was happening in 1776 or 1824?

Or should we retain those monuments as a reminder of patriotic legacy and how times should not be forgotten, but time should change us.

I don’t like what the Confederate Flag stood for.  I believe however that stripping an Episcopal church of its honorable name for Robert E. Lee steps over the line.  He may have been a General in the war, but he was an educator, a minister, a leader, a politician.  There seemed to be alot more good to him, beyond the fact he fought on the wrong side.

Our weeks of protest will continue, and now some will happen at NASCAR tracks, where longtime fans will demand to be able to express their opinions, with their campers and flags, be they Red-White-Blue or the ones that remember the Confederacy.

Yesterday is gone.  Fireball Roberts, Jim Weatherly, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are gone too.  New superstars are front of center Now NASCAR wants to rid the sport of its historical decor that takes us back to an era of White Supremacy..

A fight is surely coming in auto racing, not over the green flag or checkered flag, but what the Bars-and-Stars represents.

=====================================.