NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently wrote a guest column in the New York Times with the title “We Should Let Some NBA Players Jump the Vaccine Queue.”

His main reason? To raise awareness to certain communities about the importance of the vaccine.

The NBA players, he reasons, are in a particularly strong position of influence and power, and therefore have a unique opportunity to affect change. By jumping the vaccine queue, and showing the rest of the world that they’re taking the shot, they can hopefully influence the citizens who are skeptical about it.

“Health policy professionals suggest that public health campaigns using celebrities should focus on celebrities who are influential in particular communities in order to build trust,” Abdul-Jabbar writes in his article.

He particularly notes that since African-American communities are especially influenced by NBA players, they can truly benefit from seeing these athletes in power taking the vaccine.

This is significant because according to a CDC report, African Americans are 1.4 times more likely to contract the coronavirus. The report also states that they’re 3.7 times more likely to be taken to the hospital as a result.

With this data, and knowing the influence NBA players can have over these communities, Abdul-Jabbar reasons that if they jump the line, it can only save lives in the process.

The post Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Says NBA Players Should Jump Vaccine Line For Good Cause appeared first on SportzBonanza.

One of the nation’s premier college conferences is preparing for a drastic change for its teams which will affect their schedules greatly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Big 10, which is the college sports home of some of the nation’s biggest athletic schools, like Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, is planning to have its teams only play their in-conference schedules for fall sports. This is, of course, if college sports even take place in the fall, a possibility which is not 100% certain considering the current situation in the United States.

The sports which this change would impact include cross country, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, and most notably, football. This means that planned encounters such as Oregon-Ohio State and Washington-Michigan won’t take place if sports are allowed to go forward.

The reasoning for the conference’s decision is to reduce travel for schools and also allow for greater cooperation and flexibility, something which the conference values greatly given the fluid situation.

It’s clear that sports and their schedules will have to be adapted in the near future due to the pandemic, but the Big 10’s Wednesday announcement is unprecedented and will have far-reaching effects for programs both within the conference and outside of it.

The post Big 10 Introduces Conference-only Sports Schedules for this Fall appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Given the current COVID-19 situation in Mexico, the 16 teams of the Mexican Baseball League made the difficult decision on Wednesday to cancel the 2020 season.

“The 16 teams of the circuit, together with the Mexican Baseball League, have made the difficult decision to not play the 2020 season. We will take advantage of the situation to return even stronger for 2021,” said the league in an official statement.

The LMB, which was established in 1925 and was set to celebrate its 95th anniversary season this year, simply could not put together a viable plan to play the season.

Mexico is one of the countries which is currently being worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with new cases continuing to rise rapidly.

The league, which was won by the Acereros de Monclova last season, is considered to be one of the top leagues in the world behind the MLB, along with South Korea’s KBO and Japan’s NPB.

The league, which would have begun in early August after being postponed from its original late March start date, would have seen massive financial losses along with the possibility of putting both fans and players in danger had it played this year.

So, the LMB will look to 2021 and hope that the situation has improved sufficiently in order to allow next season to go on without a hitch.

The post Mexican Baseball League Cancels 2020 Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While it has fallen into a bit of a shadow behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball over the past couple of months, Major League Soccer is another American sports league that has had its season put on hold thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The MLS, whose season began on February 29th, was only able to complete two matches before the suspension of the league in mid-March. It looks to be a virtual impossibility that the league will be completed with anything resembling its normal format.

However, MLS is reportedly sent to present an alternative idea to players and owners that could see them all convene in Orlando, Florida this summer for an all-inclusive tournament that would look to model the World Cup.

Florida, which was declared “open” for professional sports on May 13th, would serve as the base for all teams and players during the event. Games would take place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex and would be held without fans.

An initial group stage would give way to a knockout tournament whose champion would be crowned as a sort of “winner” of the 2020 season, which will almost certainly not take place with a normal format or number of games.

Teams will also reportedly all congregate in Florida for a preseason training camp before the beginning of games in late June.

The post MLS Reportedly Planning Summer Tournament in Orlando appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis became the second state executive in the United States to announce that his state is “open for sports” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday.

In a state government session, DeSantis adamantly defended his opinion that it is safe for sports teams to return to practicing and potentially playing games, effective immediately.

While it remains unclear what effect this move will have on sports actually being played in the state, it opens the door for leagues to potentially implement plans to return to action in either Florida or Arizona, or potentially both, as the latter state’s governor also announced the permission of sports in his state earlier in the week.

The league that could be most attracted to Florida’s call for action is Major League Baseball, which possesses a large network of Spring Training, professional, and minor league stadiums in the state. Previous plans discussed by the league have mentioned the possibility of grouping various teams together in the state of Florida to play games.

Florida is home to four professional major sports teams whose seasons are currently on hold, the MLB’s Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays and the NBA’s Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

The post Florida Governor: Our State is Also Open For Sports appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The top German professional soccer league is set to become the first major sports competition to return as it hosts eight games over the weekend behind closed doors, six of which will take place on Saturday.

With the exception of the Belarusian Premier League, which has taken place without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bundesliga will become the first European soccer league to take place during spring 2020.

German soccer has been paused since March 11th, when the last game took place before the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak that has paralyzed many facets of life throughout the world over the past couple of months.

The Bundesliga, which is currently experiencing a tight race at the top between Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Borussia Mönchengladbach, will restart with Matchday 26 action on Saturday with six games. On Sunday, two games will also be played.

The highlights of this weekend’s action include a derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 as well as an Eintracht Frankfurt-Borussia Mönchengladbach with European implications.

Although its games will not be played with the presence of fans, the Bundesliga’s restart over the weekend will be a small step towards normality, at least in terms of sports.

The post Bundesliga Returns on Saturday With 6 Matches appeared first on SportzBonanza.

In yet another blow to the world of sports thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, news leaked on Monday that the 2021 World Baseball Classic is set to be canceled.

This spring tradition, which normally takes place every four years in March as a lead-in to the Major League Baseball season, is going to be canceled next year due to the circumstances of this season and the preparations for next season.

MLB is set to go forward with an abbreviated regular season in 2020 which will hamper preparation plans and players’ normal routines for the 2021 season, which led to the decision about the 2021 World Baseball Classic.

Normally, players are forced to skip part of Spring Training in order to participate in the WBC, a step which they clearly will not feel inclined towards taking next spring.

The uncertainly revolving around sites for games and the possibility of crowds at games next March also factored into the decision.

The last edition of the WBC, held in 2017, saw the United States defeat Puerto Rico for the title.

It’s still unknown when the competition’s next tournament will take place, although tentative plans have it penciled in for 2023.

The post 2021 World Baseball Classic Set to Be Cancelled appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Spain’s domestic football league has returned to training over two months after the league was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak as teams prepare for a proposed June return date to action.

Last week, hundreds of players and staff members from Spain’s first and second division clubs underwent coronavirus testing as a prerequisite to return to training. Five players reportedly tested positive, with three of them being members of Real Betis.

These five players will be forced to remain quarantined in their homes and will have to receive two negative test results before they are allowed back to their teams’ training grounds.

The rest of players have returned to the pitch as part of reduced groups that will spend time training individually, maintaining a significant distance away from both coaches and teammates as they look to get back in shape before returning to a team practice.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that La Liga’s current plan for the return to competition is on June 12th. These games, which will be played without fans, are expected to take place every two to three days as the league looks to finish its season before August.

If everything goes well and all players obtain negative COVID-19 test results, it seems that Spanish soccer is closer than ever to returning.

The post La Liga Teams Return to Training Ahead of June Games appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The English Premier League is currently evaluating plans for the return to the competition after nearly two months of being postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has forced the cancellation of sports around the globe.

According to some reports, the Premier League could look to get creative with their plan to return to action, including the possibility of game times that are shorter than the habitual 90 minutes.

This plan would theoretically be put in place due to the increased number of games per week, a plan that the league could be forced to implement in order to finish the 2019-20 season before the end of the summer.

Reducing the number of minutes per match would theoretically reduce the physical toll on players’ bodies if they are forced to play two or three games per week, reducing the risk of injury and fatigue issues.

No definitive plan has been put in place, however, as Premier League teams are still waiting to find out when their season will get back underway and when teams will be able to return to training sessions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced leagues around the world to deal with unprecedented situations, some of which, as this case demonstrates, may require unprecedented solutions.

The post Premier League Reportedly in Talks to Shorten Games Post-Return appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having postponed and canceled nearly all soccer leagues across the planet, decision makers have a tough task ahead of them. They must choose whether to restart their leagues in the coming months, scrap them and act as if 2019-20 never happened, or end the leagues with the current standings intact.

While some European leagues are looking to continue their competitions, such as Spain’s La Liga, others like France’s Ligue 1 have already announced their plans to not continue with the rest of the season.

In the case of the UEFA Champions League, the best solution to the dilemma would be to simply cancel the rest of the competition and look ahead to next season.

The last UEFA Champions League games that were played took place in early March, with half of the Round of 16 matches having had both legs completed. Four of the eight matchups, however, were unable to complete the second leg of draws.

That means that the Round of 16 would have to be completed, and the entirety of the two legs of quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups would have to be completed before two teams could even be decided for a theoretical final.

In total, five sets of games remain between a potential final, something that seems nearly impossible considering the current context of the sport.

Most European leagues that would be allowed to continue play will not be able to restart their leagues until early June at the earliest, meaning that the Champions League would be on a similar time table. These leagues will have to pack a lot of games into a short amount of time, requiring that at least two be played per week in most potential scenarios.

So, how would the Champions League even be able to fit into this potential scenario? It seems nearly impossible, and teams whose leagues do continue play would be at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to teams like Paris Saint-Germain, who won’t have domestic play to worry about.

While it might seem sacrilegious to end a Champions League campaign in his way, the circumstances resulting from the current global health crisis will make uncomfortable and unprecedented solutions necessary. Instead of putting players’ health at risk, both from a COVID-19 and a fitness perspective, the best solution is to simply write down this competition as a loss and look forward to starting anew in the fall.

The post Canceling the Remainder of the 2019-20 Champions League is the Fairest Solution For All appeared first on SportzBonanza.

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently wrote a guest column in the New York Times with the title “We Should Let Some NBA Players Jump the Vaccine Queue.”

His main reason? To raise awareness to certain communities about the importance of the vaccine.

The NBA players, he reasons, are in a particularly strong position of influence and power, and therefore have a unique opportunity to affect change. By jumping the vaccine queue, and showing the rest of the world that they’re taking the shot, they can hopefully influence the citizens who are skeptical about it.

“Health policy professionals suggest that public health campaigns using celebrities should focus on celebrities who are influential in particular communities in order to build trust,” Abdul-Jabbar writes in his article.

He particularly notes that since African-American communities are especially influenced by NBA players, they can truly benefit from seeing these athletes in power taking the vaccine.

This is significant because according to a CDC report, African Americans are 1.4 times more likely to contract the coronavirus. The report also states that they’re 3.7 times more likely to be taken to the hospital as a result.

With this data, and knowing the influence NBA players can have over these communities, Abdul-Jabbar reasons that if they jump the line, it can only save lives in the process.

The post Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Says NBA Players Should Jump Vaccine Line For Good Cause appeared first on SportzBonanza.

One of the nation’s premier college conferences is preparing for a drastic change for its teams which will affect their schedules greatly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Big 10, which is the college sports home of some of the nation’s biggest athletic schools, like Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, is planning to have its teams only play their in-conference schedules for fall sports. This is, of course, if college sports even take place in the fall, a possibility which is not 100% certain considering the current situation in the United States.

The sports which this change would impact include cross country, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, and most notably, football. This means that planned encounters such as Oregon-Ohio State and Washington-Michigan won’t take place if sports are allowed to go forward.

The reasoning for the conference’s decision is to reduce travel for schools and also allow for greater cooperation and flexibility, something which the conference values greatly given the fluid situation.

It’s clear that sports and their schedules will have to be adapted in the near future due to the pandemic, but the Big 10’s Wednesday announcement is unprecedented and will have far-reaching effects for programs both within the conference and outside of it.

The post Big 10 Introduces Conference-only Sports Schedules for this Fall appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Given the current COVID-19 situation in Mexico, the 16 teams of the Mexican Baseball League made the difficult decision on Wednesday to cancel the 2020 season.

“The 16 teams of the circuit, together with the Mexican Baseball League, have made the difficult decision to not play the 2020 season. We will take advantage of the situation to return even stronger for 2021,” said the league in an official statement.

The LMB, which was established in 1925 and was set to celebrate its 95th anniversary season this year, simply could not put together a viable plan to play the season.

Mexico is one of the countries which is currently being worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with new cases continuing to rise rapidly.

The league, which was won by the Acereros de Monclova last season, is considered to be one of the top leagues in the world behind the MLB, along with South Korea’s KBO and Japan’s NPB.

The league, which would have begun in early August after being postponed from its original late March start date, would have seen massive financial losses along with the possibility of putting both fans and players in danger had it played this year.

So, the LMB will look to 2021 and hope that the situation has improved sufficiently in order to allow next season to go on without a hitch.

The post Mexican Baseball League Cancels 2020 Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While it has fallen into a bit of a shadow behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball over the past couple of months, Major League Soccer is another American sports league that has had its season put on hold thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The MLS, whose season began on February 29th, was only able to complete two matches before the suspension of the league in mid-March. It looks to be a virtual impossibility that the league will be completed with anything resembling its normal format.

However, MLS is reportedly sent to present an alternative idea to players and owners that could see them all convene in Orlando, Florida this summer for an all-inclusive tournament that would look to model the World Cup.

Florida, which was declared “open” for professional sports on May 13th, would serve as the base for all teams and players during the event. Games would take place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex and would be held without fans.

An initial group stage would give way to a knockout tournament whose champion would be crowned as a sort of “winner” of the 2020 season, which will almost certainly not take place with a normal format or number of games.

Teams will also reportedly all congregate in Florida for a preseason training camp before the beginning of games in late June.

The post MLS Reportedly Planning Summer Tournament in Orlando appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis became the second state executive in the United States to announce that his state is “open for sports” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday.

In a state government session, DeSantis adamantly defended his opinion that it is safe for sports teams to return to practicing and potentially playing games, effective immediately.

While it remains unclear what effect this move will have on sports actually being played in the state, it opens the door for leagues to potentially implement plans to return to action in either Florida or Arizona, or potentially both, as the latter state’s governor also announced the permission of sports in his state earlier in the week.

The league that could be most attracted to Florida’s call for action is Major League Baseball, which possesses a large network of Spring Training, professional, and minor league stadiums in the state. Previous plans discussed by the league have mentioned the possibility of grouping various teams together in the state of Florida to play games.

Florida is home to four professional major sports teams whose seasons are currently on hold, the MLB’s Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays and the NBA’s Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

The post Florida Governor: Our State is Also Open For Sports appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The top German professional soccer league is set to become the first major sports competition to return as it hosts eight games over the weekend behind closed doors, six of which will take place on Saturday.

With the exception of the Belarusian Premier League, which has taken place without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bundesliga will become the first European soccer league to take place during spring 2020.

German soccer has been paused since March 11th, when the last game took place before the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak that has paralyzed many facets of life throughout the world over the past couple of months.

The Bundesliga, which is currently experiencing a tight race at the top between Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Borussia Mönchengladbach, will restart with Matchday 26 action on Saturday with six games. On Sunday, two games will also be played.

The highlights of this weekend’s action include a derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 as well as an Eintracht Frankfurt-Borussia Mönchengladbach with European implications.

Although its games will not be played with the presence of fans, the Bundesliga’s restart over the weekend will be a small step towards normality, at least in terms of sports.

The post Bundesliga Returns on Saturday With 6 Matches appeared first on SportzBonanza.

In yet another blow to the world of sports thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, news leaked on Monday that the 2021 World Baseball Classic is set to be canceled.

This spring tradition, which normally takes place every four years in March as a lead-in to the Major League Baseball season, is going to be canceled next year due to the circumstances of this season and the preparations for next season.

MLB is set to go forward with an abbreviated regular season in 2020 which will hamper preparation plans and players’ normal routines for the 2021 season, which led to the decision about the 2021 World Baseball Classic.

Normally, players are forced to skip part of Spring Training in order to participate in the WBC, a step which they clearly will not feel inclined towards taking next spring.

The uncertainly revolving around sites for games and the possibility of crowds at games next March also factored into the decision.

The last edition of the WBC, held in 2017, saw the United States defeat Puerto Rico for the title.

It’s still unknown when the competition’s next tournament will take place, although tentative plans have it penciled in for 2023.

The post 2021 World Baseball Classic Set to Be Cancelled appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Spain’s domestic football league has returned to training over two months after the league was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak as teams prepare for a proposed June return date to action.

Last week, hundreds of players and staff members from Spain’s first and second division clubs underwent coronavirus testing as a prerequisite to return to training. Five players reportedly tested positive, with three of them being members of Real Betis.

These five players will be forced to remain quarantined in their homes and will have to receive two negative test results before they are allowed back to their teams’ training grounds.

The rest of players have returned to the pitch as part of reduced groups that will spend time training individually, maintaining a significant distance away from both coaches and teammates as they look to get back in shape before returning to a team practice.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that La Liga’s current plan for the return to competition is on June 12th. These games, which will be played without fans, are expected to take place every two to three days as the league looks to finish its season before August.

If everything goes well and all players obtain negative COVID-19 test results, it seems that Spanish soccer is closer than ever to returning.

The post La Liga Teams Return to Training Ahead of June Games appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The English Premier League is currently evaluating plans for the return to the competition after nearly two months of being postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has forced the cancellation of sports around the globe.

According to some reports, the Premier League could look to get creative with their plan to return to action, including the possibility of game times that are shorter than the habitual 90 minutes.

This plan would theoretically be put in place due to the increased number of games per week, a plan that the league could be forced to implement in order to finish the 2019-20 season before the end of the summer.

Reducing the number of minutes per match would theoretically reduce the physical toll on players’ bodies if they are forced to play two or three games per week, reducing the risk of injury and fatigue issues.

No definitive plan has been put in place, however, as Premier League teams are still waiting to find out when their season will get back underway and when teams will be able to return to training sessions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced leagues around the world to deal with unprecedented situations, some of which, as this case demonstrates, may require unprecedented solutions.

The post Premier League Reportedly in Talks to Shorten Games Post-Return appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having postponed and canceled nearly all soccer leagues across the planet, decision makers have a tough task ahead of them. They must choose whether to restart their leagues in the coming months, scrap them and act as if 2019-20 never happened, or end the leagues with the current standings intact.

While some European leagues are looking to continue their competitions, such as Spain’s La Liga, others like France’s Ligue 1 have already announced their plans to not continue with the rest of the season.

In the case of the UEFA Champions League, the best solution to the dilemma would be to simply cancel the rest of the competition and look ahead to next season.

The last UEFA Champions League games that were played took place in early March, with half of the Round of 16 matches having had both legs completed. Four of the eight matchups, however, were unable to complete the second leg of draws.

That means that the Round of 16 would have to be completed, and the entirety of the two legs of quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups would have to be completed before two teams could even be decided for a theoretical final.

In total, five sets of games remain between a potential final, something that seems nearly impossible considering the current context of the sport.

Most European leagues that would be allowed to continue play will not be able to restart their leagues until early June at the earliest, meaning that the Champions League would be on a similar time table. These leagues will have to pack a lot of games into a short amount of time, requiring that at least two be played per week in most potential scenarios.

So, how would the Champions League even be able to fit into this potential scenario? It seems nearly impossible, and teams whose leagues do continue play would be at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to teams like Paris Saint-Germain, who won’t have domestic play to worry about.

While it might seem sacrilegious to end a Champions League campaign in his way, the circumstances resulting from the current global health crisis will make uncomfortable and unprecedented solutions necessary. Instead of putting players’ health at risk, both from a COVID-19 and a fitness perspective, the best solution is to simply write down this competition as a loss and look forward to starting anew in the fall.

The post Canceling the Remainder of the 2019-20 Champions League is the Fairest Solution For All appeared first on SportzBonanza.