Star jockeys Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez lost their mounts for Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup after Saudi race organizers abruptly changed their COVID-19 testing protocols. That takes Rispoli off Max Player and removes Velazquez from Tacitus. Rispoli had three mounts on the Saudi Cup card, including Cowan in the […]
Tag: COVID-19
NBA Postpones Multiple Games to Contain COVID-19 Outbreak Among San Antonio Spurs
Four members of the San Antonio Spurs tested positive for COVID-19 and the NBA postponed the team’s next four games in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols. The NBA also postponed tomorrow night’s game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls, and bumped Friday night’s Charlotte game […]
Positive COVID Test at Hotel Pauses Australian Open Tune-Up Tournaments
A worker at a Melbourne hotel tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, halting play at six different events leading up to next week’s Australian Open. The individual in question works at the Grand Hyatt, one of three Melbourne hotels being used to quarantine players, coaches, and officials for the […]
NHL Shorthanded as COVID-19 Issues Plague League, Causes Cancellations
Several teams will miss action this week as the NHL grapples with multiple squads who have players in the league’s COVID-19 protocols. The league cancelled all games for the New Jersey Devils through Saturday, which impacts two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and another with the New York Rangers. Sabres […]
LA Clippers Lose Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for a Week (COVID-19 Protocols)
The red-hot LA Clippers won seven games in a row and are about to embark on a six-game road trip, but they won’t have Kawhi Leonard (25.9 ppg) or Paul George (23.9 ppg) with them for at least a week until both star players clear COVID-19 safety protocols. Neither player […]
Aqueduct Racetrack Doubles as State COVID-19 Vaccination Center
Aqueduct Racetrack once played host to a Pope and the only triple dead heat in a stakes race. Now, the New York track plays host to a state-run COVID-19 vaccination distribution center. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) opened Aqueduct’s first floor to state health officials, who began distributing the […]
COVID Protocols Cancel Men’s Alpine World Cup Stop at Wengen, Kitzbühel to Replace Circuit’s Oldest Venue
Even as economic impacts on tiny European villages, dependent on yearly World Cup stops, are incalculable, the alpine World Cup has soldiered on, creating a safe and COVID-free environment for its athletes and staff thus far this season. So, it came as a bit of a surprise Monday evening to […]
Golden Gate Fields Gets Go-Ahead to Restart After COVID-19 Outbreak
Golden Gate Fields, shut down in November after a COVID-19 breakout ravaged its workforce, will resume racing Jan. 15, according to track owners, The Stronach Group. That ends a two-month shutdown of the Northern California track imposed when 24 workers initially tested positive for COVID-19. In the wake of that, […]
Oaklawn Park Will Allow Limited Spectators Inside for 2021 Meet
Oaklawn Park officials said Wednesday they plan on admitting limited spectators inside the gates for their 2021 meet, keeping in line with an Arkansas Department of Health directive allowing the move. The 57-day Oaklawn meet begins Jan. 22 and runs through May 1. Last year, Oaklawn was one of only […]
USWNT’s Alex Morgan Contracted COVID-19 Over Holiday Break
Alex Morgan, perhaps the most recognizable athlete on the US Women’s Soccer team, revealed Tuesday she contracted the COVID-19 virus over the holiday break while spending time with family in California. Morgan, 31, had recently come back to the US from England, where she played striker for Tottenham in the […]
NBA Joins NFL in Decision to Wait Their Turn for COVID-19 Vaccine
The NBA gave its franchises and individuals a warning Christmas Eve that nobody in the league could cut in line for the first round of COVID-19 vaccines. In a memo released Thursday afternoon, the league made official their position on the FDA-approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which started to be […]
Pac-12 Sees Postseason Prospects Fade as Bowl Cancellations Pile Up Nationwide
In a year where every college football team still standing is bowl eligible, the number of games for them to play in is shrinking daily. Bowl cancellations started in earnest this week. The inflection point came on the West Coast, where COVID-19 cases are spiking to untenable highs and a […]
ESPN’s Herbstreit Walks Back Comments Saying Michigan Would Use COVID-19 Outbreak as Excuse To Bow Out of ‘The Game’
Since news broke Monday that the University of Michigan football team would pause “in-person activity” due to a rash of positive COVID-19 tests, social media has lit up with speculation that the Wolverines’ effort to ensure the safety of its players, coaches, and staff is just a way to get […]
Lamar Jackson Tests Positive for COVID-19, RG3 to Start for Ravens
Lamar Jackson, the reigning MVP from the Baltimore Ravens, tested positive for COVID-19. Jackson is one of nearly a dozen players and staff who contracted coronavirus. Backup QB Robert Griffin III, aka RG3, will start for the Ravens against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. On Wednesday, the NFL postponed the […]
Weather, COVID-19 Puts an Early End to Woodbine’s Racing Season
Mere hours after announcing the premature end of its Thoroughbred meet due to provincial COVID-19 restrictions, Woodbine Racetrack abruptly ended its meet on Sunday due to inclement weather rolling through the Province of Ontario. Track officials canceled the last seven races after a storm front brought snow and mixed precipitation […]
Golden Gate Fields Extends Closure After COVID-19 Outbreak Worsens
Golden Gate Fields officials extended their closure at least another two weeks after another coronavirus outbreak ravaged the Northern California track’s backstretch workers. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least 100 workers were infected. That’s a four-fold increase from the 24 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported last week when the […]
With Precautions, Tampa Bay Downs Open to Fans for 2020-21 Meet
With new health plans in place, Tampa Bay Downs announced Wednesday it will admit spectators for its 2020-21 winter/spring meet that begins Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. This season is the track’s 95th-anniversary campaign. Headlining that campaign is the 41st Tampa Bay Derby, the track’s marquee event, and a […]
Why Aren’t College Football Playoff Officials Making COVID-Era Adjustments?
As elite college programs continue to recover from COVID-19 outbreaks heading into Week 12, conference schedulers are running out of time to fit in make-up games, leaving the College Football Playoff struggling to justify a pro forma, four-team playoff. School and conference officials are still holding out hope that the […]
Golden Gate Fields Shuts Down for Second Time Due to COVID-19
Golden Gate Fields in Northern California abruptly shut down Friday after 24 positive COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the Berkeley track’s stable area. The suspension announcement came 20 minutes before Friday’s first race on Golden Gate Fields’ weekend card. The track announced the closure runs through Friday, Nov. 20. Racing […]
Ivy League Cancels Winter Sports, Including Basketball, Postpones Start of Spring Seasons
The Ivy League became the first college sports conference to cancel all winter sports, in what could be a sign of things to come for other schools and leagues heading into a difficult stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ivy League Council of Presidents agreed unanimously to cancel all of […]