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Curve franchise future stable, even if 2020 season canceled

These are the most tumultuous times minor league baseball has ever encountered during the modern era, facing not one, but two calamities at once — the threat of missing an entire season, plus the likelihood of severe contraction that will lead to extensive reshuffling of leagues. Let me preface what I’m about to say with old adage “knock on wood,” so as if to not jinx the good news. Here’s the good news, from a local perspective: The Curve appear to be in position to come out of all this in relatively good shape. Not necessarily great shape. No minor league team in the ...

Spitting image may disappear from sports

We come not to praise the loogie, but to bury it. Already banned on sidewalks, outlawed indoors and pooh-poohed by polite society, that gob of saliva and Lord-knows-what-else is done mucking up sports. In the wake of the new coronavirus, teams are revoking the germ-landing privileges that turned dugouts, benches, boxing rings and even grass fields into potential biohazard sites. No sharing towels, hats, bats, gloves or water bottles. Which could mean the golden era of spitting, slobbering, gleaking, glanding, hawking, hocking, venoming and expectorating is about to dry up. Or ...

Play all games as scheduled, but keep the fans away

We are not out of the woods yet with the coronavirus. Not by a long, long shot. This thing isn’t just miraculously going to go away. Tragically, people are still going to die. The death toll already has topped 75,000, and that number could reach 200,000 or more by the end of the year. We’re nowhere close to a vaccine, or broad-based testing followed by extensive contact tracing. This bottom line will not change for some time: If you come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus, there’s a good chance you could contract it and pass it along to people you know — ...

Cut non-conference, trim season, start all teams on Sept. 26

More than anything, I would like to see uniformity across college football. I don’t think it’s fair for the SEC or Pac-12 to be playing if the Big Ten or ACC is not. James Franklin said the other day he’s seeking “NCAA guidance,” and we all should be. The organization that has provided either too little or too much supervision in the past now faces its most important leadership opportunity. This is not one where, unlike our country, the onus can shift to the state governments. Picture if part of Major League Baseball would begin playing a season and teams in more ...

It’s a fun time revisiting Penn State football’s finest hour

With live sports on hold due to the coronavirus, many media outlets, including the Mirror, are digging into their archives to provide meaningful content and filling up newspaper pages and TV time slots. Penn State fans got a treat the other night when NBCSN (NBC Sports Network) replayed the Nittany Lions’ 14-10 victory over Miami in the national championship game from Jan. 2, 1987. It remains, without question, the greatest night in Penn State history. Though admittedly lacking Miami’s star-studded talent, the Lions rode their defense and special teams, especially punter John ...

Warriors wouldn’t stand chance against Jordan’s Bulls dynasty

This is a fun and timely topic with the Michael Jordan documentary currently airing on ESPN, but I also believe it’s somewhat of a silly debate. The Warriors of recent years wouldn’t stand a chance against Jordan’s Bulls of the ’90s in a seven-game series. I’ve long said the most entertaining sports team of my life was the run-and-gun Loyola Marymount hoops squad from 30 years ago led by Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. Second on my most entertaining list would in fact be the Warriors of the past five years. I work late nights, so I’ve watched a ton of Warriors games out ...