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Good morning.
We’re now 84 days away from Vanderbilt football’s scheduled season opener against Mercer, but not if this keeps up:
NEWS: Houston has suspended voluntary workouts "out of an abundance of caution."
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) June 12, 2020
The school cites six symptomatic athletes testing positive for COVID-19 and the increase in cases in the Houston area over the last week as the reasons for the stoppage.
Oh, okay. By the way, #84 for Vanderbilt is redshirt freshman tight end Justin Ball, who came to Vanderbilt from Gonzaga Prep in Washington, D.C. (the same school as incoming basketball recruit Myles Stute) and did not play in 2019. Anyway, back to the news, but first...
Optional Musical Accompaniment
The doctor running the SEC’s coronavirus plan is on record saying that testing isn’t necessary. Good job fellas. https://t.co/NTACzrOpJM pic.twitter.com/SzKD3C27ty
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) June 12, 2020
Iowa State University acknowledges 10 student-athletes have coronavirus https://t.co/83tX0wVKL5 via @DMRegister
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) June 12, 2020
Yeah, this isn’t good. But is this just a college football thing? Haha no it isn’t.
What we've got: angry letters and excessive use of the words
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 13, 2020
"pro rata" and arguments and rejections and fighting and my god when did baseball turn into a divorce case?
What we don't have: balls, bats, games, normalcy.
The latest on MLB, same as ever: https://t.co/c3dEEO9ODL
Sources: Kyrie Irving led a call of 80-plus NBA players, including Chris Paul/Kevin Durant/Carmelo Anthony/Donovan Mitchell, and Irving and several players spoke up about not supporting resumed season due to nationwide unrest from social injustice/racism.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 13, 2020
Kyrie Irving told NBA players on call Friday, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: "I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. Something smells a little fishy."
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 13, 2020
Ah, okay, so we are going to have to keep ourselves entertained with golf and Costa Rican soccer.
In other news, longtime Vanderbilt football SID Larry Leathers is retiring. Seriously: 2020 sucks.
Actual Sports on TV
At 8:30 AM CT, German soccer: Fortuna Dusseldorf v. Borussia Dortmund on FS1, Hertha Berlin v. Eintracht Frankfurt on FS2. And then at 11:30 AM, Bayern Munich v. Borussia “Backup Catcher for the Orioles in the 1970s” Monchengladbach on FS1. The Colonial (golf) starts with coverage at 12:00 PM CT on the Golf Channel, then switches over to CBS at 2:00 PM. Also at 2:00 PM CT, on ESPN+, Napoli v. Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia. (Yep, Italy figured this out before we did.)