Wednesday’s Sports

MLB

Major League Baseball is back. You’ll have to accept a 60-game schedule agreed on Tuesday night that will start July 23 or 24 in empty ballparks. A dramatically altered season with games full of new rules was the final result of failed financial negotiations. The announcement by MLB came while more players continue to test positive for the virus, at least seven on the Philadelphia Phillies alone. And a stark realization remained, that if health situations deteriorate, all games could still be wiped out.

NBA

Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley has decided to sit out the NBA’s upcoming start of the season in Florida. On Tuesday night, he told ESPN that he wants to remain with his wife and three children, including a six-year-old son with a history of respiratory illnesses. By sitting out, Bradley figures to lose a projected $650,000 in salary. Bradley averaged 8.6 points and 2.3 rebounds while starting 44 games before the season hit the COVID wall in March. The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference heading into the 22-team restart.

NASCAR

NASCAR moved quickly when one of Bubba Wallace’s crew members discovered a rope that resembled a noose in their garage stall. The sanctioning body called in federal authorities, who ruled Tuesday it had been hanging there since at least last October and was not a hate crime. There was no way anyone knew last October that Wallace would be assigned that garage. Wallace is not agreeing 100 percent.

COLLEGE

The 11th oldest bowl game in the country, Shreveport’s Independence Bowl, will be sponsored for the next five years, thanks to Radiance Technologies. The commitment is the second-longest in the game’s history, following Poulan’s run of seven years. CEO Bill Bailey says this is just proof that they’re in this for the long haul. Radiance Technologies is an employee-owned security contractor that works with the Department of Defense and other government sectors. The partnership with the bowl and its Army tie-ins was the perfect storm for the company.