Thursday’s Sports

NBA

The games start Thursday night at Walt Disney World for the NBA. A few things to know as the season enters its restart phase. In case you forgot, the hottest team when the NBA shut down for the coronavirus pandemic was the Toronto Raptors. If all the seeding games got played, this NBA season would include 1,059 games, a drop of 171 from what they planned when the season began. That means they will not have 14% of the season’s games.

MLB

Things settled down yesterday after the Astros and Dodgers opener. Until the loud crack of Edwin Ríos’ bat for a two-run homer in the 13th inning lifted the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory. The teams showed no carry-over from a brawl the previous evening.

The MLB players’ association is surveying members and may propose two seven-inning games for a twin bill or nine innings for the opener and seven for the nightcap. Major League Baseball is checking opinions at the owner and general manager levels, and staff hopes for a decision by Saturday to make a change or leave it as is.

NFL

Dallas Cowboy’s new head coach Mike McCarthy is safety first. Players and team personnel wear wrist monitors that will alert them if they are not standing six feet from another person inside the facility. It is one of several steps the team is taking to combat COVID-19.

NCAA

Baylor’s Brian Boland resigned from his position as men’s tennis head coach, the school announced Wednesday. Boland led the Bears for the past two seasons, leading them to a 38-9 record overall. Michael Woodson has been named Baylor interim head coach after spending the past four years with the program as an assistant coach, but more recently, the associate head coach in 2019.

HIGH SCHOOL

If you plan on attending high school sports, like football, you might want to check with your school on their ticket sale policies.  Since the UIL is cutting schools back on capacity in the stadium, some are allowing parents of students participating to have first grabbed. The public will get what’s left.