data-mm-id=”_laz8rga2m”>Major League Baseball is back. The NBA is having scrimmages. Sports are back on television and zero NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19 since entering the Disney bubble over the last week. I'm actually allowing myself to get a little excited. I'm cautiously optimistic that somebody might be able to pull this off. It's a feeling I have really only experienced once in the the last few months, when it started to look promising that there would be a vaccine by late 2020 / early 2021. Yeah, shit's been dark. And I've been fortunate This hasn't affected me personally aside from being trapped in a house with small children and having our entire routine upended. Still, being in the Northeast it's not reassuring to hear that things are only bad when you look south and west. Those are the only two directions you can look.Over the last few months I've clumsily described what happened in the middle of March as "when the world fell apart" because I don't know how else to describe it. We throw around the new normal, but everything is constantly changing. In New York we have four phases for reopening and we're constantly on the verge of going backwards if something changes. And when I drive by a restaurant patio with a few too many people I think may we should and wonder how long until we do. That's our reality now. Just waiting for the wrong person to make a mistake and destroy all the shit we've been through. It's going to happen. It's only a matter of time. I'm sure that's how Adam Silver feels. Maybe Rob Manfred also considered having an emotion about all this. Obviously, my stake in all this isn't as big as the commissioners responsible for thousands of people right now. But mine is personal. I know people who have tested positive, but don't know anyone who has gotten sick yet. My kids are too young for school, but we were looking at preschools when the world fell apart. By the end of March I knew my son wasn't going in the fall.Just because Major League Baseball and the NBA have returned doesn't mean I'm changing my mind. These seasons are happening despite the worsening public health conditions around American. These leagues spending an ungodly amount of money to try and keep their athletes away from civilians is the exact reason schools should not be opening. There is no daily testing and quarantining is not as simple as staying in a hotel room for two weeks for teachers and students. The kids are going home to their families and those people are supposed to be going out into society. And the family is only quarantining if someone shows symptoms because the kids are not being tested every day with results coming back in 24 hours. Hell, even Major League Baseball is having trouble with that.Some colleges are asking kids to come back with proof of a negative test. There's already been an outbreak near me from a college party. If you check the calendar, you'll see that there isn't even college right now. Do you see any potential problems with this system?It seems pretty clear that kids of any age should not being going to schools this year. It's not that a ton of kids will die, but if one dies, it's too many. When I was in high school, one of my friends died unexpectedly. It was an unthinkable tragedy for his family. It devastated an entire school. It had a group of teenagers crying in hallways and classrooms as we dealt with the unthinkable — a healthy young person just going away forever. As school shootings (and let's not forget other mass shootings!) became the new normal over the last couple decades, we've probably all become a little numb to the idea of dead young people. Especially since people die from the flu and in car accidents every day. So seat belts and masks and going to school via video conference during a global pandemic are the kinds of things we do because its common sense backed up by numbers.Losing someone hurts. Losing someone long before you have to can haunt you. I know losing someone too early is not an experience individual to me and it doesn't make me special. I know this kind of thing happens for various reasons everywhere, but that doesn't make it better. It fucking sucks and nobody should have to go through it. If we can eliminate even one of those deaths where an entire community is rocked, it was worth it.
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Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement with FC Twente for the transfer of Belgium international winger Nacer Chadli, understands.
The deal, rumoured to be in the region of £7 million, is dependent on Chadli agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
Chadli, 23, is on the verge of becoming Spurs second signing of the summer, joining Brazil international midfielder Paulinho who joined Tottenham for a club-record transfer fee of £17 million from Corinthians at White Hart Lane.
The 23-year-old, who made his international debut against Finland on 9 February 2011, will join compatriots Moussa Dembélé and Jan Vertonghen in North London, adding to the formidable Belgian contingent in the English Premier League.
Chadli scored 12 goa…
Aston Villa will look for a response from back-to-back Premier League defeats when they travel to Stoke City on Saturday.
Despite sitting 11th in the table, Villa have lost consecutive matches to Fulham and Manchester United, failing to score and conceding five in the process.
Villa have won just two of their last 10, but have shown an ability to grind out draws and manager Paul Lambert is encouraged by his squad s attitude.
We re stronger as a group and we re growing stronger all the time, Lambert told the Birmingham Mail.
Defeats are part of the job, but you simply dust yourself down and get right back at it. This attitude is increasingly evident in our play and the way we can deal with adversity.
We re still a work in progress and we re nowhere near the …
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will be ready to put up a fight when they take on Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie at El Madrigal on Thursday.
The Premier League side are being plagued by injury problems and will be without a number of first-team regulars in Spain.
However, Klopp remains optimistic about his side s chances and does not think their busy schedule and injury concerns will be a major obstacle.
Momentum is not about having the best squad ready to play. Momentum is to be ready to fight, Klopp told the Liverpool website.
Villarreal also have had a lot of games. They play after our game against Real Sociedad and have a little fight for the Champions League.
We need to be prepared. It isn t about always havi…
Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted he wants to stay at Real Madrid for the rest of his career after signing a new five-year contract on Sunday.
The 28-year-old had been linked with a close-season return to Manchester United or a move to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, but has now put an end to speculation regarding his future by putting pen to paper on an extended deal at the Bernabeu.
And the Portuguese forward who has scored over 200 goals for Real since departing Old Trafford in 2009 said that while he was flattered to attract interest from other clubs, he never wanted to leave the Spanish capital.
Everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years, he said. It was a club that gave me many things and I don t forget that.
But Manchester is in the past. Real M…
Alberto Paloschi is set to leave Swansea City with Italian side Atalanta all but agreed a deal for the Italian, according to
The 26-year-old struggled to get his feet on the ground in the Premier League scoring only two goals following his £8 million January move from Chievo.
Swansea are willing to take a loss on Alberto Paloschi as the player looks set to return to Serie A with Atalanta undestrood to have already made arrangements with Swansea over the summer transfer worth £5 million plus an additional million in performance-rekated bonuses.
The Italian striker is set to arrive in Bergamo to undergo a medical and finalise his move according to the Italian media outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.
Paloschi will work under Atalanta new coach Gian Piero Gaspe…
Joachim Low refused to blame the referee for awarding a contentious penalty against Bastian Schweinsteiger in Thursday s Euro 2016 semi-final defeat to France and believes his side deserved to progress to the decider.
Antoine Griezmann was the hero for hosts France as he scored twice in Marseille to secure a 2-0 victory over the world champions.
There was an air of controversy over France s opening goal on the stroke of half-time, though, when captain Schweinsteiger was harshly penalised for handball in the penalty area.
However, head coach Low had no intention of pointing the finger of blame at ref Nicola Rizzoli and put the decision down to mere bad luck , but said Germany were the better team at Stade Velodrome.
I don t say anything about referees dec…
Al Ahly will be out to take control of CAF Confederation Cup Group B when they travel to Sewe Sport on Sunday.
The Egyptian giants are the only side to have registered a win in their group so far, which puts them top with four points.
As a result, the reigning CAF Champions League winners have managed to put their elimination from that competition behind them and forge ahead in their pool.
Since being unceremoniously dumped out of Africa s premier club competition by Al Ahli Benghazi 4-2 on aggregate, the Egyptians beat Nkana 2-0 on matchday one, before a 1-1 draw in Tunisia against Etoile Sahel.
Interim coach Fathy Mabrouk has underlined his desire to seal qualification for the semi-finals as quickly as possible, and a win in Ivory Coast could see them move four…
Verdict: Fulham
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Claudio Ranieri is set to make a bow as Fulham new boss this weekend with out-of-form Cottagers playing host to fellow strugglers Southampton.
Fulham
A consistent run of poor defensive displays have not only left Fulham at the bottom of the Premier League table but it also ended up costing Slavisa Jokanovic his job. Fulham officials have hired the man who wrote history with Leicester City in 2015/16 and will be hoping his vast experience would be enough to save Cottagers from relegation.
The Tinkerman had two weeks during the international break to lay grounds for a new chapter at Craven Cottage and his first test will be the Saturday’s game against Southampton. Fulham have lost six Premier League games o…
Alan Pardew says Jay Rodriguez could have a chance of making England s World Cup squad after the West Brom forward scored a brace in their FA Cup win over Liverpool.
Rodriguez scored after seven minutes at Anfield to cancel out Roberto Firmino s opener for the home side, and struck again four minutes later to give the Baggies the lead.
The game ended 3-2 to the visitors and former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said Rodriguez was showing the form that earned him his first and only England cap in 2013, during his time at Southampton.
Pardew told The Mirror: It s nice of Steven to say that. Jay is definitely starting to find his feet.
I don t know if he is at that level yet, but if he plays like that until the end of the season then he is going to have a…
Jurgen Klopp frustrated by a goalless draw against Man United / Image via express.co.uk
Liverpool’s Premier League four-match winning haul was put to a halt on Monday night at Anfield as the Reds were forced to settle for a goalless draw against Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp’s team was a better side in the fixture on a frustrating night as England’s most fierce rivals shared spoils in the league for the first time since 2011.
Here are the five things we learned from tonight’s blockbuster at Anfield:
Only one team wanted to play
Much to the contrast of high-pressure build-up, the encounter between Liverpool and Manchester United turned out to be quite a disappointing affair.
Having come to Anfield with clear instructions from their mana…