The NBA is going to be the first of the major American team sports to get back to playing a "real" schedule. They’re going to restart on July 31 as a result of the owners voting to approve the plan. The plan is for 22 teams playing a creative schedule which I do not fully understand yet. All games will be played in Orlando.
You need a Masters degree to understand this plan, but at least they’re going to play out the season. It will be interesting having so many players and coaches in the same place at the same time. That perplexes me a bit, but we all hope this can work out.
The PGA tour officially starts up again next Thursday in Texas at the Colonial Country Club with the Charles Schwab challenge. There will be over 120 players in the field, but no fans. They will also have to deal with the same concerns the NBA had with their plan to start the season. It will be the best field in the tournament's history, because most of the top players want to start playing again as soon as possible, including Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, and Justin Thomas, to mention a few.
If you want to read a good golf book, you should read 97 Masters, coauthored by Tiger Woods. The book tells the history of Tiger's career all the way to 2017. It was published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first win at the Masters where he won by 12 shots. I'm hoping that sometime soon I will be able to stop talking about sports books to read. I have plenty more but would like to recommend them under different circumstances.
Major league soccer is going to play most of their season in a tournament format. They start their season on July 3. There was almost a lockout, but thankfully they came up with an agreement at the last second.
I'm really hoping this kind of thing happens in baseball too. I heard of the possibility of a 50-game season. I hope they come up with a way to make it longer, with 70 or 80 games, so it seems a lot more legitimate to get to a playoff. But at this point, I will take anything but no baseball!
Stay well and enjoy whatever your weekend has in store.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
