Every-Thing Sports
Gov. Abbott's soft reopen: what does this mean for sports?
Apr 28, 2020, 6:55 am
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott
On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott decided to let his stay-at-home order, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to expire Thursday April 30. Per his orders, businesses like retail stores, malls, restaurants and theaters to reopen Friday May 1, but limits occupancy to 25%. Museums and libraries are allowed to reopen as well. I'm assuming they'll be under the 25% limit as well. Barbershops, salons, gyms and bars are to remained closed, but it's his hope to have them reopen mid-May. Some places have defied the stay-at-home orders. Culture Map's Eric Sandler wrote about a restaurant in Houston that decided to reopen its doors on Friday April 24. There have also been protests around the country about the right to gather, wanting to get back to work, and playing in public parks. So what are the possible effects this soft reopening will have on the sports world?
Trial Run
Allowing for some public places to reopen at a 25% capacity will let us see if we're ready to go back in public. If we see the number of positive cases go down or stagnate, it could allow for things open back up more quickly. On the flip side, if we see a spike, things will get shut back down. Maybe if the former happens, stadiums and arenas could reopen at the same 25% capacity with the same social distancing orders in place.
Texas Could Be A Host Site
Let's say all goes well and the soft reopen lasts for the month of May. Could we see leagues wanting to come to Texas to resume their seasons? Would the NBA consider using Houston and it's numerous world class facilities to finish its season? Would MLB follow suit? Other potential sites mentioned like Vegas for the NBA, and the traditional Spring Training states of Arizona and Florida may be behind in reopening. This could entice those leagues to come here and get some sort of revenue going.
Setting the Standard
This could set the standard for the rest of the country. If all goes well in May, standards loosen in June, we could see schools reopening soon after. If the schools are open, everything else would follow suit, more specifically, football. Football is as engrained in the fabric of this country as anything. Even if the NCAA and NFL seasons get off to a delayed start, it'll be a welcomed sight. Schools reopening is a major key. Maybe Gov. Abbott will reopen schools at a capacity limit. If that goes as planned, sports will be sure to follow.
This could always go south. Positive test numbers could spike dramatically leaving us in a worse position than before. That would restart the clock on quarantining. Sports have always been our escape from reality. During the Harvey aftermath, we had the Astros and football started soon after. When you're dealing with a worldwide pandemic, the game changes. Personally, I think this soft reopen is a bad idea. However, the capacity limits give me hope. But people are dumbasses and will find a way to ruin things. My family and I won't be out there standing in lines to get in any of these places initially. Besides getting live sports back in some form, I am looking forward to one of my guilty pleasures returning: mall Chinese food.
How Astros constructed statement win over Brewers in critical stretch
May 19, 2024, 6:53 pm
One presumes the Chicken Littles have stopped clucking about the Astros’ season being a goner, or if not gone, on life support. It wasn’t when they were 7-19. It wasn’t when they were 12-24. It certainly isn’t now that they’ve won six straight games and eight of their last nine. Another three or four weeks of inept play could have doomed them, but the worm has turned. A 20-25 record is no cause for celebration, but it has the Astros within four games of first place. Yes, getting to play the A’s four times this week helped. And?
I detailed the schedule issue on our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast this week. The Astros were flat lousy for the season’s first six weeks. But… Starting the week the Astros had played a whopping 32 of their 40 games against teams with a winning record as of Monday. The Seattle Mariners had played 23 such games, the Texas Rangers only 16. The Philadelphia Phillies have been sensational so far and are fully legit. But… The Phillies entered the weekend having played three games vs. teams now sporting a winning record. Three! Out of 45 games. Going into this weekend's series only the Blue Jays, White Sox, and Angels had played more games against winning teams than had the Astros. It’s not mere coincidence that the Blue Jays, White Sox, and Angels are the three last place teams in the American League. The Astros were not up to the challenge of their first quarter schedule, but by no means did it render them dead, particularly in the thus far Mild, Mild, American League West.
A good Brewers team visits Minute Maid Park for three games this weekend. The Astros beat their best starter Friday night. Next the Astros get the pathetic Angels here for three before a three-game series at Oakland. Meanwhile the West leading Mariners start a ten-game road trip this weekend: three at the excellent Orioles, four at the excellent Yankees, three at the respectable Nationals. The Astros stand a good chance of overtaking the M’s by the end of this month if they can win the four-game series they open Memorial Day in Seattle.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers snapped a five game losing streak Wednesday to eke back over .500 at 23-22. The reigning World Series champs hope to get somewhat well vs. the Angels in Arlington this weekend but dropped the series opener to drop back to .500. For their sake they better because the Rangers then hit the road for Philadelphia and Minnesota.
Naturally, many Astros fans are upset with Ronel Blanco serving a 10 game suspension for illegally using whatever substance on his glove and non-pitching hand. The suspension is basically automatic. The suspension is also not a big problem. Blanco has been fantastic since getting a starting rotation spot only because of Justin Verlander’s delayed start to his season. It’s said that all life owes us is opportunity. Man, did Blanco seize his. With just seven big league starts to his name before entering this season as a 30-year old, Blanco has made eight this season with a sparkling 2.09 earned run average. So, what’s that about the suspension is not a big problem?
Blanco will miss one start and have another pushed back a day or two. That’s just not a big deal. In fact it may be helpful in the bigger picture. With last year being the first time in his professional career that Blanco topped 100 innings pitched (125 1/3), the Astros need to be wary of Blanco’s workload which is on pace to blow past last year’s career-high innings total. J.P. France probably pitched over his head for a while last year, but went well past his prior career-high innings total and faded badly. Cristian Javier was tremendous in 2022 while pitching more than in any previous year, but he pitched even more in 2023 and faded badly.
Alex Bregman lives! After being nearly inconceivably inept through the first quarter of the season, the Alex awakening in the Oakland series was not shocking but most welcomed. Over his first 37 games Bregman had a paltry seven extra base hits. Even with a feeble .201 batting average and .534 OPS, that Bregman had scored just eight runs over those 37 games was hard to believe. Then Monday and Tuesday saw five extra base hits and four runs scored.
In a trade not commanding any headlines, Dana Brown Wednesday sent outfielder Corey Julks to the White Sox for 20-year-old low minor league pitcher Luis Rodriguez. There is now no reason to call it a great Astros trade but Brown made a smart deal. Julks had no future here, hence he would have been released if no deal was struck. Taking a flyer on a young arm can’t hurt. Frankly, the White Sox are dumb to trade a young arm of any promise whatsoever for a 28-year-old outfielder with limited value. Julks was a nice story for parts of last season. The Clear Brook High School grad and UH product had a couple windows of production, highlighted by a sizzling nine game 17 for 34 stretch straddling June and July. Alas, not two weeks later Julks began what would become an 0 for 36 nightmare. He was sent to the minors for good in late-August.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.