The Coronavirus Crisis and Sports: March 30, 2020
The NCAA has sent a message to schools not following the recruiting dead period it enacted two weeks ago: cut it out
The NCAA declared a recruiting dead period through April 15 due to coronavirus, but it's heard not everyone is following, reports @ByPatForde
Meanwhile, the NCAA Division I Council Committee is expected to vote Monday on eligibility relief for all student-athletes who participate in spring sports.
College Football
Sports Illustrated kicked off an eight-part series to determine the best and worst at producing talent.
It crunched 10 years’ worth of data to determine — based solely on the numbers — which programs have the right to brand themselves the modern “U.”
First up, Quarterback U.
Pro Football
Something that could directly impact the ongoing work at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Jason Hirschhorn of ChargerReport Jason obtained an email saying that a worker at the SoFi Stadium construction project had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
SoFi is the massive stadium and entertainment complex being built in Inglewood, California, which will be home to the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.
So far, work on Alabama's stadium renovations continue as it attempts to meet a late summer deadline in time for the 2020 football serason.
Basketball
Now that we have a date for the Olympics in 2021, @RohanNadkarni joins @lmechegaray on the Coronavirus + Sports podcast to discuss Team USA's men's basketball and how it affects the NBA calendar.
Plus: A weekend recap from around the globe:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1503391421
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BWP4CkzC9cknBvc8MFSFj
RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/siplussports
Television
Michael Crane cut TV highlight reels at the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Olympics. But, says one coworker: “You had a feeling things could go south for him at any moment.” Then came the 2007 Masters… @jon_wertheim with the #TrueCrime longform
On the morning he was supposed to start cutting highlight reels for CBS at the Masters in 2007, Michael Crane instead walked up to a bank teller with a scribbled-out demand: “$1,500. Do not say a word. Be quick and we leave.” @jon_wertheim with the #TrueCrime story: Holed up.
Golf
Larry David, creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm and co-creator of Seinfeld, has created a GoFundMe for golf caddies, who have lost income in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The fundraiser is meant to aid employees of the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and was started by David and media executive Lloyd Braun.
It's already received over $111,000 in donations to date, making it seem very likely that David will reach his target goal.
Meanwhile, an XFL linebacker is donating half of his remaining paychecks to novel coronavirus efforts, and Stephon Marbury has a plan to deliver 10 million N95 masks to first responders and healthcare professionals in need.
The lighter side
• He's such a dummy ...
• Aaron Rodgers got out of Peru just a few minutes before the airport closed.
• A New Mexico high school wrestling champ pinned a kidnapping suspect to the ground until cops could arrive.
• We think they already do ...
