After 133 days of not knowing exactly what to do with ourselves, it looks like the return of sports is finally a reality. Well, professional sports, that is. ESPN has done a great job of filling the void with quality programming including fishing, corn hole, darts, and anything else that could even loosely be considered a sport. It will all begin with Opening Day of the MLB, scheduled for tonight, followed by the return of the NBA on July 31 and the NHL on August 1. It caps off a long month of preparation and setbacks for all three leagues, with positive tests and bubble hubs plaguing the NBA and NHL until this week. The NBA has now received zero positive tests, and the NHL has very few, setting both up for a successful restart and playoff run.
While the NHL and NBA get to "restart", the MLB, its teams, owners, and players have waited for the start of their season after it was originally scheduled for late March. Their season will start now and be reduced to 60 games, over 100 fewer than a typical season. This will undoubtedly help those players who weren't able to keep in the tip-top shape they are usually in, following several months of strict quarantine enforcement. Each team will play only nine different opponents over the course of the abridged season, in an effort to reduce travel and the likelihood of the virus spreading. A team will play the teams in their own division and their inter-league counterpart, so teams in the AL East will only play AL East and NL East clubs. The Blue Jays are now looking for somewhere to play their home games to avoid border issues, so that all teams can be in the United States and travel issues can be held to a minimum. The only withstanding issue, as is present in most other sports attempting to come back, is the possibility of players deciding to opt-out. If most of the regular talent seen in the league is back, there is no reason this shortened season shouldn't be considered at least somewhat of a success.
NBA players have spent most of the month preparing for and settling into their new homes in "the bubble" in Orlando, Florida. All 22 teams are in the same place at the same time, with several courts being laid down at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Adding to the unusual circumstances is the additional teams that will be participating in the "restart". Six extra teams, five from the Western Conference and one from the East, will be joining the typical 16 playoff teams to finish the regular season and embark on a playoff run. Eight games will be played by each team to determine the seeding, with ultimately the top 16 teams making the playoffs, one of the few normalcies seen in this restart. With scrimmages already underway and tip-off to wrap up the regular season less than a week away, there's plenty to get excited about over the next few weeks.
The NHL will jump right into the Stanley Cup qualifying round when play returns on August 1st. Training camps have been open for about two weeks, and no significant news about positive cases has emerged, leading to optimism that they too will be able to start up over the next week. The NHL has 24 teams on their way to their two hub cities, Edmonton for Western Conference teams and Toronto for those in the East. Their schedule called for the top four teams in each conference to play each other for seeding, while the other eight teams participate in "play-in" rounds to qualify for the playoffs. So, only those top four teams in each conference are guaranteed to make the first round, while the others are focusing on their entry opponent before worrying about who's next. The eight losing teams still have a chance for a different kind of win, as each will be given a one in eight (12.5%) chance to select first overall in the upcoming entry draft. After the five-game qualifying series, the remainder of the playoff games will be in traditional best-of-seven format. Since that was confusing even for me, here's a visual aid:
Phew, that's a lot of information to take in. Ultimately the takeaway should be that three of the four major sports in the United States will be back in full swing by the time you realize it's August. And, pending that most players decide to return to their respective leagues, we'll be seeing some pretty good action as well. Now, back to counting down the days until I can see it for myself.
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