Empty stadiums may not be the first choice, and not even a good option, however, just knowing that there are games being played is a bit of comfort in this COVID-19 times. We all may ask where do we go from here? Major League Baseball, following a handful of preseason games (Spring training in July) will begin a 60-game schedule Thursday and Friday. Precautions are being utilized with masks and physical distance. If the season can be completed with playoffs and a World Series it must be considered successful. Both the revamped and youth-infused Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs must consider themselves playoff contenders. Where it goes in 60 games is a new experiment.
• The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) remains in the middle of seeking its level for Fall sports, just as should be expected. Schools must open first, for there to be Fall Sports. Each school district in the coming weeks will make those decisions.
For now, the IHSA will participate in round-table discussions Friday, July 24 with both representatives of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education for clarity of school activities. “We expect this meeting will provide important guidance,” IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said Tuesday, “on how the IHSA will proceed with Fall sports.”
If plans continue for Fall sports, team practices would begin in early August and interscholastic competition would begin in late August.
• Familiar names were in the seventh annual Summer event, The Basketball Tournament, which concluded July 14. The 24-team tournament started July 4. The post-college tournament’s prize was a $1 Million award in a winner-take all event in Columbus, Ohio. There were no fans allowed at the games. The Golden Eagles, Marquette University alumni, captured the championship with a 78-73 victory over Sideline Cancer, a collection of players from the East Coast and Midwest. Former Northern Illinois University star Xavier Silas, 2009-2011, played for No. 2 seeded Overseas Elite, which reached the semifinals prior to bowing out to Sideline Cancer, seeded No. 22. House of ‘Paine, former University of Illinois players, to include Malcolm Hill, Michael Finke, Andres Feliz, and Nnanna Egwu, made it to the quarterfinals, not before defeating No. 1 seeded Carmen Crew, 76-68.
• Al Carius of national powerhouse North Central College men’s cross country teams since 1966, more than a half-century, Tuesday this week said he will relinquish head coaching duties to become an assistant coach. The legendary coach in both cross country and track, is a 1961 graduate of North Central. Frank Gramarosso, the school’s head men’s track and field coach since 2010 and a member of the coaching staff since 1983, will be the cross country head coach. Carius handed head coaching duties for men’s track and field to Gramarosso after 44 years as head track coach. The school has won 12 track and field national championships and 19 in men’s cross country.