Wednesday’s Sports

NFL

Reportedly, the NFL Players Association and league owners agreed to cancel the entire 2020 preseason and reduce training camp rosters. Players learned the news Tuesday evening during a call. They now expect each training camp roster to drop 80 players.

CFL

The Edmonton Eskimos will change their name. The Canadian Football League team announced the decision on Tuesday, following a decision to do the same by Washington’s NFL team. Teams across sports have been under increasing pressure to drop racist or stereotypical names. Critics say the Edmonton team’s name is a derogatory, colonial-era term for Inuit.

NCAA

Officials at the University of Texas at Austin say they will kick off the football season Sept. 5, with a stadium open at half its capacity. Both the NCAA and Big 12 Conference officials have yet announced a firm decision on how college football will proceed with the pandemic. Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte sent an email Monday to season ticket holders announcing the season would move forward as planned.

HIGH SCHOOL

The University Interscholastic League presented modifications to the 2020-2021 UIL calendar and updated COVID-19 risk mitigation guidelines to take effect on August 1, 2020. The 2020-2021 schedule changes differ by activity and conference, and you can find it on the UIL website and our website at easttexasradio.com. The plan provides a delay for schools in highly-populated metro areas, primarily conferences 5A-6A, given the challenges with COVID-19 those communities face while providing schools in other regions, mainly 1A-4A, an opportunity to start seasons on schedule.

Face coverings will be required at Texas stadiums this fall, and capacity will be limited to 50 percent if the proper spacing between people is maintained, according to new UIL guidelines released Tuesday. Marching bands, drill teams, and others participating in the event will count toward capacity with every other row of seats skipped, and seating blocked off to maintain a minimum of six-feet between groups, according to the UIL guidelines.