Spittin' Sports and History

Billionaire owners and millionaire players finally have come to an agreement about when professional baseball will resume. From the time they quit playing in mid-March until now it has been a ridiculous exchange between two sides who wouldn't budge. Fans began to drop away because it seemed so silly that no one could come up with a plan. Now the decision agreed on is to be 60 games to start on July 28th or 29th. A usual season is 162 games(too long if you ask me), so this is going to be a shocker in some ways. Will there be a .400 hitter? Maybe. All spring training sites have been closed, so the question of where they will start to practice is a little vague now. But rules--yes, they have rules. If it is an extra inning game, there will be a runner on second base to start the inning. This is to stop any of the marathon games they had last year that lasted until 2 a.m.  But in regards to the virus, the rules are really picky: no licking of fingers by the pitchers, no touching bases ...

The NBA is trying to work out details so the multi-million dollar players can have a season in Florida for 3 months with no family or personal assistants. Who will pick up their dirty clothes and bring them things from the kitchen? Steph Curry($40,000,000), Chris Paul($38,000,000) and Russell Westbrook($38,000,000) can't be expected to do any of that. It's a long way from Naismith's invention of the game in 1891 when he wanted an outdoor exercise and used peach baskets as the goals. Maybe at the Florida Disney complex they can get extra peach baskets for all the stars to use doing their free time. The NBA began in 1946, and many thought it would never rival football or baseball since it had already flopped in 1898 after only one year. The Florida experiment will test all the hoopla that has gone on for so long. I played basketball in junior high. No comments about the covered wagon waiting to take me home. It, of course, was half-court, six player style with 3 forwards and ...

In 1956 the University of North Texas gave a football scholarship to Abner Haynes and his friend Leon, the first in all Texas colleges and universities. They couldn't stay in the dorm because blacks weren't allowed to live there, so he stayed with his sister in the east side of Denton. His freshman year the coaches were beginning to see what an amazing player he was. When the freshmen team played in Corsicana and won easily, after the game they went to eat at a local cafe. The owner told them that Abner and friend would have to eat in the kitchen and couldn't sit with the team. The team stood up and left. I love that.  Then the next year he was moved up to varsity and began a career resulting in All-American status. I had a class with him, a big Music Appreciation class that everyone took because it was fun and easy. He never had an entourage or made any kind of sign to show he was already being courted by pro-teams. Integration at North Texas was handled by Pres. Matthews ...

There's no baseball right now unless you count the Korean games which are interesting, but I can't pronounce the players' names except for the few Americans who are playing.  But the games come on ESPN because there is nothing else that is live except them, so we cheer for the Samsung Tigers or whatever team is leading.  In 1918 the Spanish flu swept the world, and more than 675,000 Americans died because of it with no vaccine. Baseball had started in March and kept on with everyone wearing masks: players, coaches, umpires, fans. Yes, they tried to stop it just as we are in 2020. The season got shortened, but there was a World Series. and just at that time a second wave hit the U. S., and even more people died. Football was only in October and November although some college teams didn't play at all. No high school games were played.  It would last for 18 months and made funerals a common occurrence.  So we can't say that we are going through anything more than they ...