So in today's Blue Jays news, reports suggest that negotiations are ongoing to play at Baltimore's Camden Yards. The Orioles have apparently given their permission, but approval is still required by the state of Maryland. So will it be the Baltimore Blue Jays in 2020? And how do Blue Jays and Orioles cope with sharing a nest?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 01:39 pm: Edit

The news hit today: the Blue Jays will be playing their home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field.

By Andy Koch (Droid) on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 - 11:17 am: Edit

Jessica:
Nice!
Edit: I'm from Rochester..
I get the idea you're from Buffalo or something.

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 - 11:28 am: Edit

Allegedly Sahlen Field won't be ready in time for their first scheduled home-stand, and they'll play that one at National's park.

I don't know what the schedule for Buffalo MLB is or how many games will actually be played in Buffalo.

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 - 12:48 pm: Edit

With what is going on with the Florida Marlins (at last count, 13 players and a coach have tested positive for Covid-19), it would not surprise me if baseball gets shut down entirely before too long.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 - 06:39 pm: Edit

Andy: originally from Franklinville (about 20 miles north of Olean). Currently marooned in Missouri.

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Thursday, July 30, 2020 - 05:19 pm: Edit

The Florida Marlins's Covid-19 outbreak has now spread to 19 players and coaches on that team, as well as 2 more on the Philadelphia Phillies. This has led to a cancellation of this weekend's series between the Phillies and Blue Jays, as well as all Marlins games for the time being.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Thursday, July 30, 2020 - 06:10 pm: Edit

NFL has put out a number of restrictions (which they can be fined for) regarding social activities outside their football requirements (practice, meetings etc)...
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/07/25/nfl-nflpa-agreement-includes-specific-prohibitions-on-player-activities/

By Randy Green (Hollywood750) on Thursday, July 30, 2020 - 09:10 pm: Edit

No chicken wings while in Atlanta? .. haha ha.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Saturday, December 12, 2020 - 08:40 pm: Edit

Army shuts out Navy.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Thursday, December 31, 2020 - 03:59 pm: Edit

Rose Bowl Game is going to be played in Texas. HOPEfully someone's got their head on straight and the roses will be yellow.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Thursday, December 31, 2020 - 07:07 pm: Edit

i.e. Rose Bowl Game is going to be played in Texas.


Early report on that a couple weeks ago, even referenced having some fans in the stadium....

On that note...
Buffalo Bills announced a limited amount of fans will be allowed in their Playoff game.

By Randy Green (Hollywood750) on Thursday, December 31, 2020 - 07:57 pm: Edit

Jeff, it really doesn't matter if they start out as yellow roses. They'll be CRIMSON by the end. lol

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Tuesday, January 05, 2021 - 09:57 am: Edit

Word is, Tom Brady paid $17 Million for a house in Miami....
A House he plans to raze to the ground and build his "Dream Home"....

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Monday, February 08, 2021 - 09:15 am: Edit

So apparently a concert venue in Tampa Bay was "Abel" to put on a show this last week(e)nd on behalf of someone called "LiV"...

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Sunday, July 25, 2021 - 04:54 pm: Edit

It looks like the SEC is trying to corner the market on High Profile Universities....
Ohio State, Florida State, Clemson.. more
Looks like Texas and Oklahoma are already onboard...

It was mentioned they are looking at a 20 Team Conference....

Early report it will cost TX/OK $80million to leave their current conference... Don't know if that is individually or together....

By Kenneth Lin (Old_School) on Wednesday, September 08, 2021 - 12:24 am: Edit

For this 1st time in many years, I'm in a Fantasy Football league. Very excited, what a normal, pre-COVID activity to be doing...

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Monday, February 20, 2023 - 10:55 pm: Edit

Two questions for the baseball experts in the audience:

-----

Firstly, any thoughts on how the World Baseball Classic might pan out this time around?

For one thing, I gather that it had historically been somewhat more difficult to recruit MLB players eligible to play for the U.S. National Team in this competition, at least when compared to baseball players from countries like Japan or South Korea.

(Or, for that matter, when compared to U.S. players in sports such as soccer or ice hockey, where the concept of playing for one's country is more deeply embedded... at least when the NHL supports it in the latter case.)

Is that turning out to be an issue this time around, or are American players more motivated to sign up for the WBC nowadays than they might have been in years past?

-----

And secondly:

Over in Japan's NPB, the Fighters are moving out of Sapporo Dome and into a newly-built baseball stadium: Es Con Field, in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido.

There is an overview video showing the construction of the new stadium over on the Fighters' YouTube channel.

Any thoughts on how this stadium is shaping up?

It was designed by the same architectural firm that designed the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, so I was curious as to how those more familiar with their stadia built on this side of the Pacific might view it by comparison.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 - 07:50 am: Edit

I( was the (substitute) safety guy for the first 300 tons of structural steel at the Washington Wizards Arena & last 700 tons, including the topping out.

Very cool. By the way, Iron workers are crazy!

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 - 11:13 am: Edit

I haven't looked at the teams in detail, but Kershaw (for example) will not be playing for Team USA because allegedly they can't get insurance for his MLB contract against injury (I assume this means they can't get it for a reasonable rate, since you can insure pretty much anything if you're willing to pay a high enough premium).

By Jean Sexton Beddow (Jsexton) on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 04:21 pm: Edit

All posts prior to 2023 will be deleted June 27, 2023.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, July 13, 2023 - 11:43 am: Edit

Major League Cricket - a new professional T20 cricket league in the United States - is set to launch later this evening in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Just as baseball has sought to expand its presence internationally through the likes of the World Baseball Classic, so too is cricket seeking to widen its global reach through ventures like MLC. (There is a set of comparisons and contrasts between baseball and cricket listed here.)

A number of the six inaugural MLC teams are backed by ownership groups from the Indian Premier League; beyond the recently-renovated stadium in Grand Prairie (which in its former life was a baseball park), new cricket grounds are in the process of being constructed to host these teams in different parts of the US.

No word yet on plans for further expansion - to include whether or not any teams on this side of the border might join in someday.

I confess to not exactly being much of a cricket fan, though I do wish them luck in getting this new league up and running.

By Terry O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Thursday, June 06, 2024 - 04:14 pm: Edit

This just in: USA beats Pakistan at... CRICKET?! I don't follow cricket, but I know that Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka all have a very strong cricket tradition and tend to field strong teams. So while the game was close, it's still an achievement for the USA team.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 02:41 pm: Edit

Two major continental soccer tournaments are running in parallel at present: Euro 2024 over in Germany, and the 2024 Copa America in the United States.

In particular, the Copa America is being used as a "warm-up" for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is to be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Notably, a number of the American stadiums being used to host matches both in 2024 and in 2026 are typically used for NFL teams. Since several of those have artificial playing surfaces, they have had natural grass pitches set up for the duration of the tournament. FIFA mandates that natural grass be used for the (men's) World Cup, so this is also a practice run for 2026.

On the one hand, at least one stadium has seen several months' worth of work put in, so as to cultivate a healthy grass surface in time for the tournament. While others have seen much less forward planning put in. So far, the result has been quite striking, in terms of showing how well (or otherwise) each field is being judged by fans and players alike.

Although, I suppose the NFL could solve the problem between now and 2026, by mandating a league-wide switch to natural grass - as could at least one CFL stadium on this side of the border...

That said, BMO Field in Toronto has possessed a hybrid grass surface, ever since the CFL's Argonauts became co-tenants alongside MLS' Toronto FC. While local soccer purists might have preferred the natural grass surface the stadium had installed prior to the Argos' arrival, the results so far appear to be reasonably amicable for the demands of both codes of football.

So, to those NFL experts in the audience, I ask this: would you prefer to see that league switch to a "full" grass field setup; a "hybrid" grass approach akin to that seen at BMO Field; or stick with the current allowances for artificial turf - regardless of whether your home team shares their stadium with another code or not?

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 03:26 pm: Edit

I prefer natural grass, but that's partly based on distant memories of my youth when astroturf was blammed for an increase in injuries to players. I gather modern artificial surfaces are better, so I don't have a strong opinion as I don't think I know enough about current state of the art artificial surfaces to justify a strong opinion.

I'm a Patriot's Fan (father is from Boston, no team close enough growing up to make me loyal), they are currently on something called FieldTurf, which apprears to increase rates of some injuries, but may also decrease others. Soccer players appear to prefer grass based on the Wikipedia article on FieldTurf, so I have no objection to FIFA insisting on grass.