The World of Sports

New on Sports Illustrated: MLB Still Planning to Play Field of Dreams Game in August

<a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/06/30/mlb-still-planning-field-of-dreams-game">
Construction on the field in Iowa is continuing despite the ongoing pandemic.
MLB is still planning to play the "Field of Dreams Game" in Iowa on Aug. 13 as scheduled.
The league confirmed the news in a statement Tuesday, saying construction on the field is continuing and those at the site are following health and safety protocols.
"To date, there has been no change in the status of the event, and we hope to have the option to play," the league said,
</a><a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1277995434515013633">per MLB Network's Jon Morosi</a>. "Construction is continuing and we are following all CDC and state protocols regarding recommended safety practices, including social distancing, washing hands, and temperature checks before arriving to the site. Safeguarding public health is our top priority. We are monitoring ongoing events and plan to remain as flexible as these circumstances demand."
Morosi pointed out that the teams involved could change from the <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/08/new-york-yankees-field-dreams">White Sox and Yankees, who were originally selected last year for the special event</a>. In the revised 2020 season schedule, Chicago and New York are not set to face each other. Plans for the game could be announced later this week, reports Morosi.
Last year, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci reported MLB <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/08/new-york-yankees-field-dreams">will host the game on the diamond in Dyersville, Iowa</a>, where the movie Field of Dreams was shot in 1988. The league is constructing a temporary ballpark at the Dyersville site, which has served as a tourist attraction since the movie became a hit with fans.
MLB has hosted regular-season games in special locations in recent years, including Fort Bragg, N.C., Williamsport, Pa., Omaha, Neb., and last season's Yankees-Red Sox series in London.

New on Sports Illustrated: MLB Still Planning to Play Field of Dreams Game in August

Construction on the field in Iowa is continuing despite the ongoing pandemic. MLB is still planning to play the "Field of Dreams Game...

New on Sports Illustrated: Ron Rivera: Cam Newton 'Ready to Bust Out' with Patriots

<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/30/cam-newton-ron-rivera-panthers-patriots">
Ron Rivera says Cam Newton will thrive in New England now that the quarterback seems healthy again.
Washington head coach Ron Rivera believes Cam Newton is poised to thrive with the Patriots. 
Rivera, who coached Newton for nine seasons in Carolina before he was fired last December, says he believes the quarterback seems fully healthy based on workout footage. 
"He's headed in the right direction," Rivera said on the
</a><a href="https://670thescore.radio.com/ron-rivera-cam-newton-ready-to-bust-out-new-england-patriots">McNeil & Parkins Show on 670 The Score on Monday</a>. "I mean, he's probably about as healthy as it gets from what I've seen on video. I think he's ready to bust out.
"I would never bet against the young man, that's for sure."
ESPN reported Sunday that Newton signed a one-year contract with the Patriots, who were looking for a new quarterback after Tom Brady departed for the Buccaneers in free agency.
The Panthers released Newton in March. The quarterback had one year remaining on the $100 million contract extension he signed in 2015. 
Newton's throwing shoulder has been operated on twice, and he played in only two games last season due to a Lisfranc sprain in his foot. The previous season, he started 14 games, completing 68% of his passes for nearly 4,000 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Carolina selected Newton with the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft. During his Panthers tenure, Newton captured Rookie of the Year honors, three Pro Bowl selections and the league MVP award in 2015. His 29,041 career passing yards are the most in franchise history.
"Don't bet against him," Rivera said. "I really wouldn't. First of all, you got to know who he is and understand what all he's gone through. He's a guy that's always tried to do things, I think, because he's felt the pressure. He felt the pressure of being the No. 1 overall pick. He felt the pressure of having won the Heisman Trophy and being the No. 1 overall pick. He felt the pressure of being a black quarterback, with all the stuff that's been heaped on him.
"He's really had to find his way through it, and he's done a great job with it."

New on Sports Illustrated: Ron Rivera: Cam Newton 'Ready to Bust Out' with Patriots

Ron Rivera says Cam Newton will thrive in New England now that the quarterback seems healthy again. Washington head coach Ron Rivera belie...

New on Sports Illustrated: Was LeBron James' 'The Decision' Really That Bad?: Unchecked

<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/30/lebron-james-the-decision-espn-not-that-bad">
Ten years later it is hard argue against 'The Decision' LeBron James made.
Let’s be honest, no one was mad about "The Decision" until LeBron James
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/nba/lakers/news/lebron-james-felt-mixed-emotions-his-first-season-in-miami-after-leaving-cleveland">didn’t say what they wanted him to</a>. Not one, not two, not three, not any of y’all were that upset going in.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EYe8B--jrbs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
I didn’t talk to a single person before the show aired on ESPN who was angered by the idea. In fact, everyone I had a conversation with was excited to see where he would go and if it would be their team. Sorry Knicks fans. 
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1277635689207812097"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
And as it turns out, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29375906/espn-show-confirms-decision-was-fan-idea-not-lebron-james">the whole thing was a fan's idea</a> in the first place.
Look, I’m not even saying I wasn’t a little agitated for a minute too after it aired, though I certainly didn't burn any jerseys. But I believe that's more a testament to what we all knew LeBron could do. And the idea of him playing with prime Dwyane Wade (and Chris Bosh) seemed more unfair than it actually was—which is why the pep rally I referenced was what really may have rubbed the most people the wrong way.
However, in retrospect, one can take umbrage with how it went down I guess, but it’s hard to say James made the wrong decision. He went to eight straight NBA Finals immediately after, both establishing himself as a champion in Miami with the Heat and then making things right with Cleveland and the Cavaliers, <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/04/02/lebron-cavaliers-beat-warriors-nba-finals-greatest">in historic fashion of course</a>. 
And for anyone who still laments that it all originated from a show, no one has stopped talking about James in the media on every program essentially every day since, myself included. 
As ten years later, one thing is for sure, we all care wherever LeBron James takes his talents. Next stop, Orlando.

New on Sports Illustrated: Was LeBron James' 'The Decision' Really That Bad?: Unchecked

Ten years later it is hard argue against 'The Decision' LeBron James made. Let’s be honest, no one was mad about "The Decisio...

New on Sports Illustrated: Has Morehouse Paved the Way for Other Schools to Cancel Their College Football Season?

<a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/30/morehouse-college-canceled-season-hbcu-coronavirus">
Will other D-II schools, or even D-I, follow in the footsteps of Morehouse football and forgo the 2020 season?
David Thomas isn’t your normal academic. President of one of the nation’s most esteemed Black colleges, Thomas once played center and linebacker on the football field and, as a foreign-exchange student, competed overseas in basketball. He realizes the cultural significance of sports and understands its place in the world.
That’s why his
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/26/morehouse-cancels-football-season-fall-sports-coronavirus">decision to cancel Morehouse College’s 2020 football season</a> is so jarring.
While hundreds of NCAA universities feverishly debate contingency plans to play football around a pandemic, Thomas last week ended all discussion on the topic at his Division II school in Atlanta. More than two months before the season was scheduled to kickoff, he pulled the plug. Though unrelated, Morehouse’s announcement Friday came amid unrest in the college sports world, as well as the nation. COVID-19 cases are surging across the country, with at least five states suspending reopening plans, including football-playing behemoths Texas and Florida. Dozens of FBS schools that reopened for voluntary workouts are now battling outbreaks in the double figures. Four teams have suspended workouts, and three more have had or have at least 20 players in quarantine or isolation.
After a month of forward movement toward an on-time kickoff, the backpedaling has begun. It’s left administrators asking one daunting question. Can we really play a fall football season? “We can’t,” answers Thomas in an interview this weekend with Sports Illustrated, “or at least I’m not smart enough to know how we can. Every president and athletic director needs to look at [the positive tests]. We’re only in the training portion, and we’re having these test results come back. How can we go forward with a season, given what we know about the virus, and think we won’t accelerate transmission?”
The immediate fate of college football has never felt so fragile. In the small-college ranks of the sport, many believe Morehouse has paved the way for other programs to do the same. Small universities and historically black colleges are seriously toying with the idea of scrapping the 2020 season.
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjI2MDk5NDkyNzI2NTQ5/morehouse-college-football.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
While these institutions exist on a different economical stratosphere as FBS schools, they hold similarities to Morehouse. They lack the financial incentive, from rich TV deals, to take the risk of playing a contact sport amid a pandemic; administrators fear infections starting on the football field and spreading into the classroom, a full-blown outbreak on a campus of predominantly Black students (the Black population has proven to be more vulnerable); and some schools can’t commit to the additional testing and sanitation protocols because of a lack of resources.
Decision time looms. For those in Division I, a <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/08/college-football-ncaa-return-preseason-plan-camp">six-week preseason program</a> is scheduled to begin in less than a month, July 24, while those at Division II are planning for an early-August start. “I don’t think the Morehouse announcement is going to be the last such announcement,” says Charles McClelland, the commissioner of the SWAC, one of four HBCU conferences in the NCAA—two in D-I and two in D-II. “There will be some schools that won’t participate in football.”
Morehouse isn’t the only NCAA college to cancel its football season. It is one of three, so far. The other two programs are on the Division III level, the lowest rung of the NCAA that is prohibited from offering athletic scholarships. Bowdoin College, located in Maine, announced its decision earlier in June, while New York-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute made its announcement Tuesday. 
On the D-I and D-II level, at least five games have been canceled already, including four featuring HBCU programs. Several schools are anticipating a late start to the season, including those in the <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/22/patriot-league-football-non-conference-fbs-games">FCS Patriot League</a>, whose athletes won’t return to campus until its students do. Some D-II HBCU teams are considering playing the minimum of seven games this season and potentially kicking off two weeks after Labor Day weekend. That list includes Clark Atlanta, a sister school of Morehouse, both of them members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
George T. French, the president at Clark Atlanta, expects the move will have an impact on other SIAC schools. Within the next week, the conference is expected to make a league-wide ruling on the 2020 season, says French, chairman of the SIAC’s Council of Presidents. Clark Atlanta has not yet announced plans for its season, but French is in full support of Thomas’s decision, calling it “courageous” and rooted in science. “It doesn’t make sense to me to have a football season this year—for any school—with the virus rates going up,” he says.
Another D-II HBCU conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, is still gathering information before making a decision on its season, says commissioner Jacqie McWilliams. If a majority of the conference can’t play football, she believes that the CIAA governing board will want to suspend or postpone the season. She is concerned about the spiking virus cases in North Carolina, home to seven of the conference’s 12 members. She worries, too, about the CIAA’s cozy campus environments. The conference’s largest institution has an enrollment of about 6,000. “We’re all going to be in the same boat of having to isolate students. Well, where can you?” she asks. “A lot of our campuses are small.”
In the D-I SWAC, McClelland has his own hot spots to worry about. Many of his schools are located in southern states whose numbers are surging. A tentative plan to return to voluntary workouts July 6 has already been delayed to July 20. The SWAC has a drop-dead date of Oct. 17 to start its season before the league seriously considers a spring season, says McClelland.
The NCAA is advising schools to create a “bubble” around their football team, distancing staff and players from community and on-campus contacts. That’s more difficult for programs without separate athletic dining halls and dormitories. “When it comes to playing, resources will be a factor,” McClelland says. “The more resources you have, the better bubble you can create.”
Morehouse couldn’t create a bubble at all, one of the primary reasons for Thomas’s decision—six weeks in the making, he says. He made the decision out of fear that he couldn’t keep his general student body safe. Without an athlete-only dining hall and residential building, he had no way of separating Morehouse’s 2,000 some-odd students from its student-athletes. During the process of making the move, he asked himself a fairly easy question. Why am I in this business? The answer is to educate, not to produce athletic opportunities, he says. “I would hope every president asks themselves the same.”
However, Thomas acknowledges that each school must make its own decision in accordance with its situation. Football at Morehouse is not a revenue-generating operation as it is at many programs on the FBS level. In fact, Morehouse football loses roughly $2 million each year, Thomas says. Already, the pandemic shutdown has cost the school at least $5 million, and officials are expecting enrollment to drop by at least 25% this fall. Only underclassmen will take on-campus classes with all others learning virtually. All students and staff will be tested and required to wear a mask while on campus.
The frequency in which a football team would need testing drove the price high enough that Thomas feared he couldn’t afford it. Tests were priced at $100 each. Morehouse dresses 67 players for a home game, putting the cost at more than $30,000 to test each player before home games. For many FBS athletic departments, that’s chump change. Not for Morehouse, which has very little sponsorships and no million-dollar television deal.
“I can see my D-I counterparts saying, ‘Yeah, you can make that decision because it’s not going to matter to 10 million people who want to tune in and watch Alabama-Clemson or Michigan-Michigan State and down the line,’” he says. “I don’t want to get on any high horse. I’m thankful for the luxury. I don’t have the same complications as the president of UGA, Alabama or Ohio State in making this decision.”
For Thomas, another factor was attendance, Morehouse’s only real revenue-generating football endeavor. In fact, for many programs, attendance is their only money-making athletic venture. Limited attendance or no crowd at all may signal significant red numbers for those athletic departments that cannot lean on rich TV deals and big-money donations. Many officials at HBCU and small-college programs are asking themselves a question: Is it worth it? “All of our schools depend on attendance,” says McWilliams, with the CIAA. “We need bodies on campus and in dorms and in stadiums.”
For some officials, even a limited attendance model makes playing worth it because of their stadiums' physical layouts. Jackson State is one of the lucky ones. The Tigers play in a 60,000-seat stadium, normally only filling it by one-third. JSU athletic director Ashley Robinson can space out his fans to adhere to social distancing regulations. “But if you got a 10,000-seat stadium,” Robinson says, “that’s going to affect you a lot.”
As for testing, many HBCU programs are receiving grants, and some have even found insurers to cover the cost, says McClelland. Almost all schools are slashing on travel and staff to save on expenses. At JSU, Robinson froze at least nine athletic staff positions, eliminated the 21 graduate assistant posts and trimmed the number of competitions for his Olympic sports.
Many other college athletic departments are carrying out similar cuts. These are not exclusive to Black colleges. In fact, Kenn Rashad, editor and publisher of HBCUSports.com, says a false narrative exists that the pandemic has so financially impacted Black colleges that they cannot function. It’s just not true. No HBCU has returned to voluntary workouts because of safety reasons, not financial. “Given the situation with the pandemic and we’re seeing an uptick in positive results, we still have institutions calling in these athletes and in some cases <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/17/college-athletes-coronavirus-waivers-ohio-state-smu">asking them to sign waivers</a>,” says Rashad. “You don’t see HBCUs doing this. It’s a testament to them that they truly have in mind the safety of the student-athletes first and foremost.”
That’s why Thomas made the excruciating decision to end Morehouse’s football season before it began. He admits that the move was not universally praised from the SIAC Council of Presidents. “There is not consensus that my decision is the right one,” he says. Still, he stands behind it. The school will honor its football scholarships—it divides 36 scholarships among the team—and will continue to pay its head coach. However, other staff positions are in limbo.
And what about the future of Morehouse football beyond this fall? As a former footballer himself, Thomas scoffs at the question. Morehouse football is only taking a year sabbatical. “I don’t have any plans to use this moment to make a deep departure to what’s been our athletic portfolio,” he says. “‘Now’s the time to end football. It’s too expensive!’ Nope. I’m not saying that.”

New on Sports Illustrated: Has Morehouse Paved the Way for Other Schools to Cancel Their College Football Season?

Will other D-II schools, or even D-I, follow in the footsteps of Morehouse football and forgo the 2020 season? David Thomas isn’t your nor...

New on Sports Illustrated: Report: Nuggets Close Practice Facility Following Positive COVID-19 Tests

<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/30/nuggets-traveling-party-coronavirus-close-practice-facility">
Denver reportedly has not determined when it will re-open its practice facility.
The Nuggets have closed their practice facility for several days after members of the team's traveling party tested positive for the coronavirus,
</a><a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1277989389205938176">according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski</a>.
Wojnarowski reports the practice facility was locked to players and staff starting on Saturday and it could potentially re-open later this week. The next few days of testing will determine exactly when the Denver facility will open again. 
The people that tested positive were part of the Nuggets' traveling party heading to Orlando for the NBA's restart, sources told Wojnarowski. The 2019-20 NBA season is set to resume on July 30 in Orlando, where teams will be contained in the league's bubble.
News of the Nuggets' positive tests came one day after Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie and his teammate DeAndre Jordan <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/29/spencer-dinwiddie-postive-coronavirus-brooklyn-nets">revealed they had tested positive for COVID-19</a>. Jordan announced he will not play in Orlando as a result, but Dinwiddie reportedly has yet to rule himself out. On Tuesday, the <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1277997922743980032">Nets re-opened their practice facility</a> after temporarily shutting it down.
Players and employees around the league have raised concerns about the league's resumption of play amid the coronavirus pandemic. Florida has seen a recent spike in coronavirus cases throughout the state. On Tuesday, the <a href="https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-cases-in-florida-june30/67-67d2b64e-b95a-4aa0-90d5-c8f5f62529e8">Florida Department of Health</a> reported another 6,093 new cases of COVID-19 for June 29.

New on Sports Illustrated: Report: Nuggets Close Practice Facility Following Positive COVID-19 Tests

Denver reportedly has not determined when it will re-open its practice facility. The Nuggets have closed their practice facility for sever...

New on Sports Illustrated: The Most Important Games to Watch In NBA's Restart Schedule

<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/30/nba-schedule-most-important-games-to-watch">
Six NBA games you should circle on your calendar as we await the 2019-20 season's resumption.
We’re now exactly
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/29/nba-restart-schedule-nine-things-to-know">one month away from the NBA resuming play in Orlando</a>, and barring any COVID-19 complications, we could be in store for one of the most exciting postseasons in recent memory. And the eight-game lead-in to the playoffs should add plenty of drama.
Both conferences have a deep collection of teams jockeying for playoff position as we approach the restart, and seeding could prove critical. Western Conference teams will scrap to avoid the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, while the Celtics and Raptors could face a difficult round one matchup if they fall below the No. 2 spot. Add in a dose of play-in drama, and the league has a roadmap to capturing the public’s full attention for the next two months.
So which games should we circle on our calendar as we await the 2019-20 season’s resumption? The Crossover selected the six most important games before the beginning of the 2020 playoffs.
<h2>July 30 – Lakers vs. Clippers</h2>
This matchup won’t necessarily impact the Western Conference standings, but the opening-night matchup could set the tone for the entire bubble experiment in Orlando. There will likely be some semblance of rust for both teams, but if this looks more like summer league than a lead-up to the playoffs, the league could face some significant challenges ahead. Fortunately, it’s unlikely we see a truly diminished product in the Battle of Los Angeles. Both title contenders will want to stake their claim as the true team to beat in the Western Conference, and the late summer and early fall could provide a defining moment of LeBron James’ career.
We should be careful not to draw too many conclusions from the second game of the NBA’s restart, and the COVID-19 crisis could scuttle a potentially epic Western Conference finals. But if all goes smoothly, June 30 should be a preview for one of the mot thrilling non-Finals series in recent memory.
<iframe height="482" width="100%" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm?p=DGT5735109790" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<h2>July 31 – Rockets vs. Mavericks</h2>
This intrastate matchup could prove to be a feisty one over the next decade, and the remainder of the 2020 season may provide some early fireworks. Dallas currently sits 1.5 games back of Houston for the No. 6 seed, a spot that is coveted in the Western Conference. All due respect to the Nuggets, Jazz or Thunder, though they’re not on the same plane as the Clippers. Avoiding either Los Angeles team in the first round is of utmost importance. A win to close July would be huge for Dallas.
The Mavericks undoubtedly have an uphill climb out of the No. 7 spot, with matchups against the Clippers, Bucks and Rockets ahead before the postseason. But there’s certainly enough talent available to make a real run in the last eight games. Luka Doncic is a true superstar and Kristaps Porzingis was starting to find his groove as a strong No. 2 before the COVID-19 suspension. If the Mavericks can rise above No. 7, we could have a first-round upset on the horizon.
<h2>Aug. 3 – Grizzlies vs. Pelicans</h2>
The Pelicans are unlikely to catch the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed, likely needing to knock off Ja Morant and Co. in back-to-back contests in order to advance to the postseason. But there’s a chance New Orleans never gets a chance to face Memphis with a postseason spot on the line. The Aug. 3 matchup could prove decisive.
The No. 9 seed in the West is currently occupied by three teams, with the Pelicans, Blazers and Kings all tied in the conference standings. Not only will the Pelicans have to fend off both Portland and Sacramento for the No. 9 spot, they will only reach the play-in(s) if they finish within four games of the Grizzlies. Zion Williamson’s squad has a favorable schedule ahead as they close the season with two Kings matchups and games against Washington, San Antonio and Orlando. A 4–1 stretch isn’t impossible, though even that may not be enough if the Grizzlies finish with a flurry. The battle of rookie phenoms could decide New Orleans’ playoff fate.
<h2>Aug. 7 – Celtics vs. Raptors</h2>
A traditional season would only add to the drama of this early August matchup as home court could have been on the line for a potential second-round matchup. Though even on the neutral floor in Orlando, this matchup of conference heavyweights holds no shortage of consequences.
Neither Boston nor Toronto will catch Milwaukee for the No. 1 seed, yet snagging the No. 2 spot could be critical given the current East standings. Facing the Nets or Magic in round one is unlikely to breed much concern. But considering the top six of the East, the No. 3 seed will certainly be on upset alert. The Sixers remain Finals contenders despite a rocky year, and Miami’s band of overachievers remains scary for both Boston and Toronto. The Raptors are likely to hold their three-game lead with eight to play, though the Celtics are certainly capable of catching fire. It wouldn’t be a total shock if Jayson Tatum continues his transcendent season.
<h2>Aug. 11 – Nets vs. Magic</h2>
Perhaps these two teams aren’t exactly ratings juggernaut, but this late season matchup could be decisive in determining who avoids a play-in game after the regular season. The Nets currently sit just 0.5 games ahead of the Magic for the No. 7 seed, with both teams hoping to avoid a battle with Bradley Beal and the Wizards with a playoff spot on the line. Brooklyn could face an uphill climb as it looks to fend off the Magic.
The Nets won’t have Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving available in Orlando, and they lost an additional two players in the last two games. Both Wilson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan have opted out of finishing the season due to COVID-19 concerns, and a third impact player could quickly follow suit. Nets guard–and second-leading scorer–Spencer Dinwiddie announced he has COVID-19 on Monday, placing his status for the season’s resumption in serious doubt. If Dinwiddie can’t play, the Nets could quickly fall to No. 8 before a difficult battle against Beal and the Wizards.

New on Sports Illustrated: The Most Important Games to Watch In NBA's Restart Schedule

Six NBA games you should circle on your calendar as we await the 2019-20 season's resumption. We’re now exactly one month away from t...

New on Sports Illustrated: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid: How to Watch, TV Channel, Start Time, Lineups

<a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/30/how-to-watch-barcelona-vs-atletico-madrid-live-stream-watch-la-liga-tv-channel-time">
Find out how to watch Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Tuesday.
Barcelona will continue to chase Real Madrid for first place in La Liga on Tuesday as it faces Atletico Madrid. 
Kickoff from Camp Nou in Barcelona is  slated for 4 p.m. ET.
Barcelona currently sits second in La Liga with 69 points, two back of Real Madrid. Lionel Messi and Co. have not lost since La Liga resumed play on June 13, but the club has tallied two draws in its last three contests. Barcelona most recently drew Celta Vido 2-2 on June 27 as Luis Suarez netted a pair of goals.
Atletico Madrid will enter Tuesday's match No. 3 in La Liga, though the club trails Barcelona by 11 points. Atletico Madrid has won each of its last five matches, including a 2-1 victory over Alaves on June 27. 
How to Watch:
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV Channel: beIN Sports
Live Stream: You can stream the match online at
</a><a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/latino/?bgvideo=la_liga.mp4&title=Watch%20La%20Liga%20on%20beIN%20Sports&priceline=All%20La%20Liga%20games,%20Live%20and%20On-Demand&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=356366&irmp=376635&irgwc=1">FuboTV</a>.

New on Sports Illustrated: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid: How to Watch, TV Channel, Start Time, Lineups

Find out how to watch Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Tuesday. Barcelona will continue to chase Real Madrid for first place in ...

New on Sports Illustrated: Africa Cup of Nations Postponed a Year to 2022

<a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/30/africa-cup-nations-postponed-2022">
The tournament was supposed to take place in Cameroon in January 2021.
CAIRO (AP) — Next year’s African Cup of Nations was postponed Tuesday to 2022 amid a backlog of matches caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Confederation of African Football said the 24-team tournament in Cameroon will now open one year later in January 2022. The 12 qualifying groups face a challenge to be completed this year.
“The date for the final tournament and the remaining matches of the qualifiers will be communicated in due course,” CAF said in a statement after an executive committee meeting.
It’s the second scheduling change this year for the continental championship. It was originally set to be played in June-July 2021, during Cameroon’s rainy season, but was moved to the beginning of the year.
The second switch means clubs in Europe will retain their African players next season without being required to release them for a January-February tournament.
In a separate decision, CAF canceled the 2020 Women’s African Cup of Nations “due to challenging conditions” and will instead launch a Women’s Champions League in 2021.
Each of CAF’s 54 member federations will get $300,000 in extra funding from the Cairo-based organization to help overcome lost revenue during the pandemic. The total aid package is $16.2 million.
Qualifying for the men’s African Cup was already behind schedule. African national teams have yet to play in the official FIFA-approved dates this year and they may not be able to resume in October.
With four qualifying rounds still to be played, only four match dates are likely available in October and November.
CAF first decided in January to bring the 2021 tournament forward by five months in more reliable weather conditions.
Cameroon had been due to stage the tournament in 2019 and defend its title at home but it was stripped of the tournament for problems with infrastructure and security.
Cameroon was also scheduled to host the final of the delayed men’s African Champions League in Doualla in May.
The competition was stopped at the semifinal stage, and CAF said Tuesday it planned to resume in September with a knockout bracket of single-leg games at a single venue. The venue is still to be decided.
CAF intends to hold a 2020 assembly of national federations in December in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and an election assembly on March 12. CAF president Ahmad of Madagascar, who uses one name, is due to stand for a second four-year term.
</a>

New on Sports Illustrated: Africa Cup of Nations Postponed a Year to 2022

The tournament was supposed to take place in Cameroon in January 2021. CAIRO (AP) — Next year’s African Cup of Nations was postponed Tuesd...

New on Sports Illustrated: Analyzing Cam Newton to New England: Winners and Losers

<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/30/cam-newton-new-england-winners-losers">
In some ways, we're all winners. But in other ways, there are certain people who can be much happier about the former MVP joining in the Patriots.
The real winner here is all of us.
No longer will watching the Patriots win be a twinge uncomfortable, the players nervously milling about the post-game festivities like the psychologically tortured children of overcompetitive Texas high school football parents. 
Cam Newton is fun. He’ll wear great hats. He’ll probably do good impressions of Bill Belichick,
</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYXnjMQ7gVM">just like he did Norv Turner</a>. Have you ever seen parents around their grandchildren for the first time and wondered where these affable, jovial people came from? This is Belichick’s twilight phase. Newton is the carefree talisman of a new phase in life. 
But like every large-scale transaction in the NFL, there are two sides of the coin. Some people will benefit from <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/29/nfl-let-bill-belichick-patriots-sign-quarterback-cam-newton">the offseason’s most consequential move</a>. Some people, most certainly, will not. Here is a list of said people as best we can tell. 
<figure><img height="345" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM2MzUxMzExMjI2NjQ1/cam-newton-winners-losers-josh-mcdaniels-tom-brady.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<h2>WINNERS</h2>
Patriots fans
The NFL is mirroring general society in that the fortunate seem to be building castle walls around their spoils and locking them in. The only challenge for Patriots fans will be adjusting their collective identities around another quarterback narrative that isn’t Tawmy werked his way up from the seventh rawnd. My guess is that when Cam Newton is posting comical Madden numbers en route to 30-point divisional victories, they’ll find a way to move on. There really isn’t a comparison to being a Patriots fan in the 2000s, it’s really incredible. And the best part is, this will be a totally different way of winning than they’ve done in the past. Maybe a more entertaining version of winning. It’s like upgrading from Yachting to Speed Yachting!
Bill Belichick 
I wish I got the kind of consistent, basic satisfaction out of anything the way Belichick does in prodding his employer (by this, I mean the NFL). We’ll get to the timing of the Cam Newton announcement in a minute, but the mechanics of it are also something. Should the Patriots play their cards right, they’re in line to recoup a compensatory third-round pick from Newton by the time they are slated to lose a third-round pick for il<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/29/nfl-penalty-new-england-patriots-filming-cincinnati-bengals">legally taping the sidelines of a Cincinnati Bengals game last year</a>. From a coaching standpoint, he gives himself the best possible kind of fresh start; the one that almost guarantees a certain level of success at a time when some expected him to stumble. 
Josh McDaniels
I think Josh McDaniels does not get enough credit for his role in the Patriots’ structure, which has a chance to be rectified to some degree in 2020. Regardless, McDaniels will remain a viable head coaching candidate despite stiffing the Colts and have his choice of plum gigs that feature ready-to-win veteran quarterbacks. He also gets to work with a quarterback who represents the actual, delivered promise of the Tim Tebow selection McDaniels made as head coach of the Broncos back in 2010. Newton is impossible to defend as a runner and is devastating as a passer, which could stoke McDaniels’s creativity and allow him to run something closer to what he’d hoped during his first stint as a head coach. 
Public relations buffs
A former strategist to the current President suggested that the secret to lessening the sting of unfavorable news is to “<a href="https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/963076380505370624">flood the zone with s---</a>.” What took place on Sunday night wasn’t quite a flooding—maybe it resembled something closer to the old informational trojan horse—but the result was pretty masterful. The Patriots were dinged $1.1 million, they lost a third-round pick in 2021 and their film crew will not be able to film games during the 2020 season, which was all information we received (via the same outlet) as the Cam Newton news, just 16 minutes later. Whether or not there is more there there, the fact that our attention was already firmly embedded in the Newton move was a masterful okeydoke from team Patriots. Truthfully, our collective consciousness was probably just starving for some news that did not involve a kind of social, economic or political despair and the surge we got from envisioning this type of fantasy football transaction was cover for all types of less-than-savory activities.
<iframe height="482" width="100%" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm?p=DGT4935950864" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<h2>LOSERS</h2>
The Jarrett Stidham content mill
There exists a legion of sportswriters who make a fine living waiting to see which way the wind blows and then acting like they were the meteorologist who predicted it all along (please don’t look up my past work to determine whether or not I’m guilty as well). I hesitate to call Jarrett Stidham a “loser” in this column because I don’t think that’s true. I think Stidham fell victim to the most unprecedented offseason in NFL history and his team felt the need to hedge their bets. I still believe there is a chance, if the season starts on time, that Stidham ends up piloting the offense for at least a few weeks. The losers are those who scoffed at the rest of the world for suggesting that Belichick might be after someone like Andy Dalton or Newton. Every football writer fancies himself or herself a faux Belichickian scholar when the truth is that, while we usually have a decent idea of what Belichick might do, he has built an entire career on simultaneously preparing something that we never would have expected. This is the true wisdom of a Belichickian scholar. Save your haughtiness.
Tom Brady
I think there is an emotional component of every quarterback that makes them want to be missed when they are gone. Oddly, the three quarterbacks typically revered as the greatest of all time—Brady, Joe Montana and Brett Favre—did not have that luxury right away. Because of the cache of their replacements, it took time for perspective to solidify. Montana was consistently nipped and eventually replaced by the great Steve Young and Brady will now be theoretically swapped for 2015 MVP Cam Newton. Favre, like Montana, had to watch Aaron Rodgers eat into his late prime. Both Young and Newton were exciting and drastically different versions of the legends they replaced, which makes the process even more interesting. Here is a fan base that may not be pining for your return right away while, at the same time, unconsciously finding themselves a little more entertained. 
Every other GM in the NFL 
There is absolutely no reason that Cam Newton should have been on the scrap pile <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/29/nfl-let-bill-belichick-patriots-sign-quarterback-cam-newton">for this long</a>, especially during a season when Belichick was considered somewhat vulnerable at the quarterback position. It is nothing short of malpractice. There were at least a half dozen teams that had competitive quarterback situations who could have lured Newton. There were plenty of teams with cap space to burn. Every team in the NFL could have utilized Newton as an appreciating asset. Instead, as <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1277652354540675072">ESPN’s Adam Schefter would later report</a>, only one other team—the Cleveland Browns—bothered to pick up the phone and call.
The children
I grew up around a lot of Bulls, Mariners and Cowboys fans in northeastern Pennsylvania—which was aggravating given that, like me, none of these other children had left the greater Scranton area before. I was diligent in my fandom, either inheriting the teams I was born with or, when it came to declaring NFL fandom, waiting for the next franchise to come into existence (Browns, womp womp). I think now of a middle school somewhere in Pennsylvania where the haughty Patriots fan child motors into the first day of school in a Cam Newton jersey ready to continue his or her tortuous behavior despite having no base in the New England area. Meanwhile, your team is stuck shuffling between Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb at quarterback and you’re trying to find a way to talk about anything other than the upcoming draft at the beginning of the season.
• Question or comment? <a href="mailto:gary.gramling@si.com">Email us</a>.

New on Sports Illustrated: Analyzing Cam Newton to New England: Winners and Losers

In some ways, we're all winners. But in other ways, there are certain people who can be much happier about the former MVP joining in th...

New on Sports Illustrated: Joe Buck Keeps It Classy After Fox Gives Up U.S. Open Rights: TRAINA THOUGHTS

<a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/06/30/joe-buck-praises-jim-nantz-dan-hicks-mike-tirico">
Fox's Joe Buck praises Jim Nantz, Mike Tirico, Dan Hicks as better golf announcers.
1. If you're a sports media nerd, the story of Fox bailing out of the U.S. Open and NBC picking up the rights is intriguing.
While scheduling conflicts were a factor, with the tournament getting moved from June to September, this could be a sign that networks might not pay insane prices for rights fees after taking financial hits during the pandemic.
</a><a href="https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2020/06/29/US-Open-golf.aspx?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkRrek5ETXdaVGN4T0RJeSIsInQiOiJTV3M5ZGhFQVBSQWxaMkYwSmFKdEp4M1I1ZFk4UDR1d21lSFhORW00V1R6Szdtek8zVFR2ZlFvQmhXY2M5d2dQYThBa3BzS2NFNGVmYTh1bFkyTG01d3R4VncxN0F4T1hRY0lXUUl3UmtYaFN3Q3draW01VXNDXC9RY2JqOG1hcncifQ%3D%3D">According to Sports Business Journal</a>, Fox was supposed to pay $93 million a year through 2027 for the Open rights. NBC will now pay in the low $40-million range. That is a significant drop.
Another layer to this story was that Fox had its up and downs getting into the golf business and covered the Open differently than other networks.
The network put its main broadcaster, Joe Buck, on coverage from Day 1, and naturally Buck became a lightning rod for viewers.
But Buck, who is one of the best people in sports media, kept it classy as always Monday, in saying goodbye to golf.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/Buck/status/1277683682942353408"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/Buck/status/1277685012603777024"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
Don't underestimate the egos of everyone in sports media. Not every play-by-play person would shout out competitors and publicly admit to not being as good as them.
But it's not surprising that Buck would do this. He's always kept it classy during his career.
2. Boomer Esiason and son Gunnar appeared together on the cover of Sports Illustrated on Oct. 4, 1993, when Boomer was quarterback of the Jets.
<figure><img height="886" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM0Nzg2MzMyNTE4MTY1/screen-shot-2020-06-30-at-94411-am.png" width="620" /></figure>
The story detailed Gunnar's experience with cystic fibrosis. Now, 27 years later, he is setting the record straight on masks and people who claim that wearing them is dangerous. 
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/G17Esiason/status/1277582579588268032"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
3. Speaking of masks, the people in Kansas City certainly have the right idea.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/KC_Goddess29/status/1277008069826875392"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
4. Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond announced Monday night that he would not be playing baseball this season in a very powerful, must-read message.
<iframe width="320" height="320" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCp7aSptTr/embed" frameborder="0"></iframe>
5. I'm not sure there's an athlete having a better quarantine than Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers running back became the highest paid running back in April, signing a four-year, $64 million contract extension.
With teammate Shaq Thompson, McCaffrey also launched <a href="https://www.panthers.com/news/christian-mccaffrey-shaq-thompson-partner-for-22-together-initiative">"22 Together,"</a> an initiative that will unite the Charlotte community through sports programs for underserved youth.
And he has spent the past four months quarantined with his girlfriend, SI Swimsuit model Olivia Culpo.
<iframe width="320" height="320" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCdhjvH4oa/embed" frameborder="0"></iframe>
6. If you would like to do a good deed today, please subscribe to the SI Media Podcast on whatever platform you use for pods. You can subscribe and listen on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/michael-mulvihill-and-conrad-thompson/id997819235?i=1000452993293">Apple</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4Bvno6GHUWSuOLTAIWma1u">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sports-illustrated-media-podcast">Stitcher</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iq5rbvuoxjtxxns3fnal5ciyy4y">Google Play</a>. Recent guests include Erin Andrews, Ian Eagle, Peter Schrager, Chris Long and Bob Ley.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: "The Contest" episode of Seinfeld aired Monday night here in New York, and it's amazing how well that 30 minutes of television holds up. The number of great lines is staggering. The sequence below might be the best.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u0GuecuiOH8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
8. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Spring training begins again Wednesday, but one thing that will be missing from the 2020 season is manager-umpire fights. The rules for this season state that umpires coming out of the dugout to argue with umps is banned thanks to social distancing.
So let's remember one of the great manager-umpire blow ups starring Lou Piniella. If you want to get right to the good stuff instead of watching the build-up, fast forward to the 1:15 mark, when things go haywire.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b1aUY57J3fo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Be sure to <a href="https://www.si.com/author/jimmy-traina">catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts</a> and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sports-illustrated-media-podcast/id997819235?mt=2">Apple</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4Bvno6GHUWSuOLTAIWma1u">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sports-illustrated-media-podcast#/">Stitcher</a>. You can also follow Jimmy on <a href="https://twitter.com/JimmyTraina">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jimmytraina/">Instagram</a>.

New on Sports Illustrated: Joe Buck Keeps It Classy After Fox Gives Up U.S. Open Rights: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Fox's Joe Buck praises Jim Nantz, Mike Tirico, Dan Hicks as better golf announcers. 1 . If you're a sports media nerd, the story o...

New on Sports Illustrated: Brighton vs Manchester United: How to Watch, TV Channel, Start Time, Lineups

<a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/30/brighton-manchester-united-live-stream-watch-premier-league-tv-channel-time">
Find out how to watch Brighton vs Manchester United in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Liverpool captured the 2019-20 Premier League title on June 25, but the fight for a top-four finish will continue on Tuesday as Manchester United faces Brighton.
Kickoff from Falmer Stadium in Brighton is slated for 3:15 p.m. ET.
Manchester United currently sits No. 6 in the Premier League with 49 points, five back of Chelsea for the No. 4 spot. The club has won two of its last three matches after play resumed on July 19, including a 2-1 win over Norwich City on June 27. 
Brighton will enter Tuesday's match No. 15 in the Premier League with 33 points. The club is 1–0–1 since play resumed following a win over Arsenal on June 20. 
How to Watch:
Time: 3:15 p.m. ET
TV Channel: NBCSN
Live Stream: You can stream the match online at
</a><a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=EPL-Mornings.mp4&title=Watch%20Premier%20League%20matches%20on%20NBCSN&subinfo=Stream%20on%20your%20TV,%20Computer%20and%20other%20devices&priceline=See%20them%20live%20or%20record%20for%20later&irad=356365&irmp=376635&sharedID=si-soccer-EPL-chetott">FuboTV</a>

New on Sports Illustrated: Brighton vs Manchester United: How to Watch, TV Channel, Start Time, Lineups

Find out how to watch Brighton vs Manchester United in the Premier League on Tuesday. Liverpool captured the 2019-20 Premier League title ...

New on Sports Illustrated: What Does MLB's Shortest-Ever Season Mean?

<a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/06/30/baseball-schedule-60-games">
Let's dive into the implications of the 60-game sprint MLB will begin next month.
Three weeks has never felt so far away. That's when the MLB season is supposed to begin, but it's hard to nail down any future plans having to do with anything anymore. Let's close our eyes for a moment and imagine we do, in fact, get baseball at the end of July. It's going to be a 60-game season, a campaign unlike any other we've seen; the equivalent of a six-game NFL slate or 30-game NBA schedule.
What are the implications of such a short season? What does it mean? SI's MLB staff weighs in:
<h2>Tom Verducci</h2>
The key to the 60-game season is to get off to a good start. Two weeks is about 25% of the season. Teams better play those first few weeks like it’s the postseason, which is why aggressive managing will be in order.
The games will lack energy without fans. Players will have limited personal freedom because of the necessary health protocols. Paychecks have been reduced and for some low-salaried players non-existent because they already received advance money. The threat of COVID is real. So if you remove the incentive to win–and a bad start in a 60-game season could do just that–the season becomes a burden, especially for the veteran player who has made his money.
This season could set up well for an aggressive manager with a young team that finds its purpose quickly and rides the opportunity.
<h2>Stephanie Apstein</h2>
Mostly it means chaos. If last season had ended after 60 games, the Nationals would have missed the playoffs entirely. Everything is magnified over 60 games. A 10-game slump is usually a blip. This year, that would be 17% of the season. So this year more than ever, depth will be key. If a starting pitcher goes down and misses two starts—very likely given how messed up everyone's routine will be—you better have someone good to replace him. And of course, at any moment, half of a team could test positive for the coronavirus. What if that team is in first place but now has to sit out two weeks? As I said, chaos.
<figure><img height="465" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjE5MDI1OTUwMDI1NDkz/yoenix-cespedes.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<h2>Emma Baccellieri</h2>
Aside from all of the questions around how this will work in terms of logistics and safety, I’m most intrigued by what it will mean for managing a pitching staff. I think it will mean much more reliance on openers and bullpen games. I also think, unfortunately, we’ll see more injuries, as guys try to ramp up quickly after the lengthy hiatus. In all, I think that means more flexible roles in a more variable group—not a completely deconstructed pitching staff, but close, and definitely not like what we’ve seen before.
<h2>Connor Grossman</h2>
A 60-game season means the unprecedented opportunity of waking up on July 23 and seeing all 30 clubs tied for first place. I tend to think the cream rises to the top, meaning we won't live in a bizarro baseball world in which the Royals, Orioles, Marlins and Pirates are MLB's final four teams in October. But the small sample size should allow at least one Cinderella team to emerge–the 2008 Rays come to mind–and I can't wait to find out who it is. I'm going to guess the Padres. We'll see.
<h2>Matt Martell</h2>
There will be the baseball purists who will loudly call hogwash on the 60-game season, especially if an unexpected team wins the World Series. But that's exactly why winning it all in such an abbreviated season should mean a lot. The teams that make the postseason this year will not be racing against just the usual suspects in this pennant chase. After all, the Mariners were tied for first one month into the 2019 season. Had they just played .500 baseball in May instead of going 7-20, they would have been a wild-card team after 60 games. Heading into play on June 1 last year, two months into the season, three teams that didn't make the postseason—the Phillies, Cubs and Padres—all would have qualified.
<h2>Michael Shapiro</h2>
If MLB can somehow ensure a safe and healthy season, a 60-game sprint would mean one of the most exciting campaigns in recent memory. There are no shortage of teams in contention for the postseason, and the small sample could allow for some truly unique outcomes. Perhaps we wouldn't remember a .400 season in 2020 the same way we remember Ted Williams's run in 1941, but it would still be a thrilling chase down the stretch. Gerrit Cole or Jacob deGrom could finish the season with a sub-1.00 ERA. This entire season will ultimately be remembered as an anomaly, and the champion will invariably have some form of an asterisk. But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun along the way. Let's hope 2020 provides some truly weird outcomes if we can actually finish the season. 
</a>

New on Sports Illustrated: What Does MLB's Shortest-Ever Season Mean?

Let's dive into the implications of the 60-game sprint MLB will begin next month. Three weeks has never felt so far away. That's w...

New on Sports Illustrated: Donald Dell on How Tennis Can Build a Strong American Audience

<a href="https://www.si.com/tennis/2020/06/30/beyond-the-baseline-podcast-donald-dell">
On this week's Beyond the Baseline podcast, host Jon Wertheim talks with former player, broadcaster, agent, businessman and more, Donald Dell. Wertheim and Dell talk about the prospect of combining the men's and women's tours; the current state of tennis right now, especially amidst the coronavirus pandemic; what the USTA and the sport as a whole can do to attract young athletes to tennis; and more.
On this week's
</a><a href="https://link.chtbl.com/tennis?sid=article">Beyond the Baseline podcast</a>, host Jon Wertheim talks with former player, broadcaster, agent, businessman and more, Donald Dell. Wertheim and Dell talk about the prospect of combining the men's and women's tours; the current state of tennis right now, especially amidst the coronavirus pandemic; what the USTA and the sport as a whole can do to attract young athletes to tennis; and more. 
Listen and subscribe to the <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/tennis?sid=article">Beyond the Baseline podcast</a> below:
<iframe height="482" width="100%" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm?p=DGT3200476459" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Jon Wertheim: I think when you're when you're on the inside—and no one is more inside than you are—you hear a lot of complaints that the fan age is going up in tennis and it's been almost 20 years since an American man has won a major. And yet I see the two highest grossing male and female athletes in the world are tennis players. And the U.S. Open can pay full prize money without selling a single ticket. And, as a women's sport tennis is head and shoulders above anything else. I think there's some positives. Big picture, where do you see the sport in 2020?
Donald Dell: Well, I don't see it going anywhere in 2020. You got to build to 2021. If this rebound of the virus comes in August or September, it could set everything back, not forward. I think when I heard the Masters in golf was going November 10-14th, I thought, God Almighty. That's awful long. It's gonna be cold. Well, in Georgia, I guess you can do it. That may have been the smartest play of all, because maybe some of this will die down by November. But I would look, Jon, towards 2021. And look—no major sport is a great international sport without a big, strong American audience. The women in America have done great. The Williams sisters have been phenomenal and have done a great job for women's tennis for 10 to 12 years. They've carried the sport. But on the men's side, we have four players in the top 100 ranked on the ATP Tour. 
I mean, that's absurd. John Isner, who's a wonderful guy, is 34 years old. He's ranked No. 24 and is the highest ranked American. And he does very well financially in the game because he's the No. 1 ranked American. But then the question is: how do you make American tennis more important to the young athletes coming out of the ghetto, coming out of the cities, coming out of the farmlands, your great natural athletes? There's a battle on when they're eight, 10, 12 years old. And you choose an individual sport like tennis where the riches are enormous. The women have all done that because they don't have any alternatives. But the men have basketball, football, hockey and baseball. 
And so tennis has got to get smart in America and really compete for the eight and 10 year olds growing up. And how do you do that? Well, one thing...this is said, from afar, I'm not in the USTA but I have been very close to them over the years and I've been a Davis Cup captain and all that and I've been on their committees. But, they have 17 sections. They make $350 million net, net, net out of the U.S. Open and they spend 85% of it on the 17 sections. Well, they've got to make sure those sections are doing something to really get young players into the game—young athletes, not just parents who play. You know, the Bryans grew up and played because their mother and father played. I grew up and played a lot because my mother played. But how do you attract the young, uneducated, great athlete to tennis? And that's the $64 question that the USTA, in my judgment, has got to deal with and answer and has not done that for 30 years. I mean, seriously, Jon, if you think about today in the world, who is promoting tennis, in my judgment, there's one group that promotes tennis, certainly in America effectively, that's called the Tennis Channel. If we didn't have the Tennis Channel, what would tennis look like on the media scale? Absurd.

New on Sports Illustrated: Donald Dell on How Tennis Can Build a Strong American Audience

On this week's Beyond the Baseline podcast, host Jon Wertheim talks with former player, broadcaster, agent, businessman and more, Donal...

New on Sports Illustrated: Emoni Bates Highlight Tapes Should Get Michigan State Basketball Fans Excited

<a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/06/30/emoni-bates-highlights-mixtape-video-michigan-state-commitment">
Emoni Bates, widely considered the top Class of 2022 recruit, committed to Michigan State on Monday
<h2>Emoni Bates' Highlights Are The Real Deal</h2>
Emoni Bates,
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/high-school/2019/10/29/emoni-bates-nba-draft-prospect-kevin-durant">widely considered the top basketball prospect in the country</a> and a possibly No. 1 NBA draft pick in 2022, <a href="https://www.si.com/college/recruiting/basketball/emoni-bates-michigan-state-tom-izzo-nba-draft-ypsilanti-lincoln">surprised many on Monday afternoon</a> when he appeared on ESPN and announced that he has committed to Michigan State. There's a chance he may not get there since he just finished his sophomore year at Ypsilanti (Mich.) Lincoln High School and plans to start his father's new prep school. Time is on Bates' side and there are <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/29/emoni-bates-recruiting-michigan-state-nba">still plenty of options on the table</a> for the direction of his career before he even steps foot on campus in East Lansing.
Because there's nothing but time for Bates and sports fans amid a pandemic, it's a good time to revisit some of his recent highlight mixtapes to see just what kind of a generational talent Michigan State has to look forward to.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFrhmJZnxlo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o18vgeLlNeo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DEKtzKIMLzI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>Tim Tebow Still Being Considered For Mets' 60-Man</h2>
It's been a while since we've heard much of Tim Tebow's Major League Baseball aspirations but they're still alive and well. New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen did not close the door on the possibility of Tebow being added to the team's 60-man player pool. There are still 10 spots that need to be determined on who will join the Mets' training camp pool.
He was in camp with us early on in camp last spring," Van Wagenen <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/mets/2020/06/syracuse-mets-outfielder-tim-tebow-in-running-for-spot-in-new-york.html">said</a>. "He was sent out to minor league camp a couple weeks into it. But he, like many of the other players that were in spring training for us will be in considerations to bring back. But we haven’t made those final decisions.”
Tebow will turn 33 years old in August.
<h2>The best of SI</h2>
Lindsay Hecox is <a href="https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2020/06/30/idaho-transgender-ban-fighting-back">fighting against Idaho's law banning transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sport</a>s in the state, even though NCAA rules allow it...What Norv Turner <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/29/cam-newton-new-england-patriots-team-doctors-covid">shared with Bill Belichick</a> about working with Cam Newton...<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/06/30/cam-newton-bill-belichick-theory-johnny-manziel">An intriguing theory</a> about why the Patriots wanted Cam Newton...The <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/06/29/cubs-white-sox-playoffs-projection">six MLB teams that may be hurt</a> by no expanded postseason in 2020
<h2>Around the sports world</h2>
Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond shared <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCp7aSptTr/">a long Instagram post</a> to announce that he will not be playing in the upcoming MLB season but also shed light on the "racist, sexist, homophobic jokes or flat-out problems" that exist in MLB clubhouses...<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/rockets/news/black-lives-matter-painted-court-sidelines-orlando">"Black Lives Matter" will be painted on the NBA courts</a> in Orlando when the season resumes...Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/29/nets-spencer-dinwiddie-positive-for-coronavirus-nba-restart-status-unclear/">announced</a> they tested positive for COVID-19.
<h2>Manti Te'o's Girlfriend Hoax Will Be An ESPN Backstory Documentary</h2>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/DVNJr/status/1277426387717103616"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>Likely A PR Move But Still A Wild Offer</h2>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenHeitner/status/1277735794241867777"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>Not Everyone Is Happy About Cam Newton's Deal</h2>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/RSherman_25/status/1277469865041788929"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>2020 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Still On</h2>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1277612216527859713"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>An Update On Jay Cutler's Chicken Murders </h2>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/barstoolWSD/status/1277618090109554691"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>Not sports</h2>
This news about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/asia/h1n1-swine-flu-virus-china-pig.html">a new strain of the Swine Flu virus spreading to humans</a> is concerning...We can't wait for concerts to return but Chase Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/lorieliebig/status/1277108773140803584">playing a massive crowd of unmasked fans in Tennessee</a> looks so irresponsible...The Golden State Killer <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/us/golden-state-killer-guilty-plea-victims/index.html">pleaded guilty</a> to 13 counts of first-degree murder...Kanye West is slated to <a href="https://pagesix.com/2020/06/29/kanye-west-teases-new-song-wash-us-in-the-blood/">release a new song</a> titled “Wash Us in the Blood"
<h2>Highly Recommended Watch on Netflix Now</h2>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JzeP0DKSqdQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>A good song</h2>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PMYvhHTM6eE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or <a href="https://twitter.com/Dan_Gartland">follow him on Twitter</a> for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. <a href="https://www.si.com/tag/hot-clicks">Bookmark this page</a> to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0KhJJa6nSLoPreU3oJpmMZ?si=jLW6kicrT0e9w5slye4SiA">he's made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here</a>. Visit our <a href="http://si.com/extra-mustard">Extra Mustard page</a> throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

New on Sports Illustrated: Emoni Bates Highlight Tapes Should Get Michigan State Basketball Fans Excited

Emoni Bates, widely considered the top Class of 2022 recruit, committed to Michigan State on Monday Emoni Bates' Highlights Are The Re...

New on Sports Illustrated: Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard Announced as NBA 2K21 Cover Star

<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/06/30/damian-lillard-nba-2k-cover-star-trail-blazers">
Lillard is the cover star for the current gen systems.
Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will be one of three NBA players featured on the cover of NBA 2K21.
2K announced Tuesday that Lillard will serve as the cover star for the current-gen systems. He follows Lakers star Anthony Davis who was featured on last year's cover.
"I made it," Lillard told
</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium/status/1277962844831543296">Stadium's Shams Charania</a>. "To be able to join the line of players that's been on the cover of 2K, it's an honor.
Fans got a look at Lillard's cover when 2K released a video on Twitter teasing "Everything is Dame."
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1277965129510866944"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
Lillard is the first Blazers player to appear on the cover of a 2K game. He's in the middle of another dominant season averaging career highs in points (28.9) and assists (7.8) prior to the NBA's coronavirus-induced hiatus.

New on Sports Illustrated: Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard Announced as NBA 2K21 Cover Star

Lillard is the cover star for the current gen systems. Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will be one of three NBA players featured on the ...

New on Sports Illustrated: NWSL Approaches the Anthem With Best Intentions but Is Misreading the Moment

<a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/30/nwsl-national-anthem-controversy-challenge-cup-kneel-locker-room">
The league has good intentions, but its initial handling of the pregame national anthem and subsequent shift have resulted in some negative and avoidable consequences.
The predictable snowball effect is here. 
NWSL returned on Saturday, kicking off its Challenge Cup tournament/likely 2020 season substitute in Utah. In the opener, Lynn Williams's stoppage-time header lifted the defending champion North Carolina Courage to a 2–1 win over the Portland Thorns. In the nightcap, Rose Lavelle helped spark the Washington Spirit to a 2–1 win over the Chicago Red Stars. Despite 
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/23/nwsl-challenge-cup-uswnt-players-miss-tournament">all the missing USWNT players</a> from this competition, two entertaining matches unfolded, and more are on the horizon. It's great to have the sport back in the U.S.
You'd be forgiven for not fully grasping all of that, though. The discourse surrounding the league and that night, still some three days later, has been focused solely on the national anthem. 
This had to have been expected to some degree once the league elected to play the anthem at its tournament. Unlike MLS, <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/11/mls-nwsl-us-soccer-national-anthem-protest-statements-plans">which is not electing to play the anthem</a> at its return-to-play tournament that will have no spectators, NWSL, which also has no spectators, forged ahead. The Courage and Thorns conducted a choreographed peaceful protest, with <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/27/nwsl-players-kneeling-national-anthem-courage-thorns">all starters and nearly all players kneeling</a>. Teams and the NWSL players association put out statements. After Colin Kaepernick, and to a lesser extent Megan Rapinoe after that, were chastised and ostracized for their actions a few years ago, it was a powerful group display.
It's morphed into so much more, though, with the message being twisted. The Spirit–Red Stars nightcap will forever be known for the image of Julie Ertz consoling Casey Short, the latter overcome by emotion. Teammates have been pitted against one another if there isn't a unanimous viewpoint in the locker room. International players with little to no connection to the U.S. outside of their employer are suddenly thrust into a high-pressure situation. Players who are uncomfortable sharing their feelings—on any side of this topic—are forced to make a choice that indicates one thing about them, even if that perception may not be entirely true.
<figure><img height="403" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM1MDQ3Nzg4NjUxOTMy/ertz-short-nwsl-anthem.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
Asinine, oblivious takes, such as Alexi Lalas's since-deleted-and-apologized-for "Now it takes courage to actually stand for the national anthem" tweet fanned the flames even more. This multi-day saga has completely changed the focus of what the anthem protests were supposed to be about. It's ostensibly no longer about calling attention to the racist police brutality that resulted in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and so many more Black people before him.
It's about who is and isn't standing and what it says about them in various echo chambers. It's about whose political beliefs are what. It's brought a circus-like distraction to something that is meant to be centered on something profound. It's nobody's job to tell others how they can and cannot peacefully protest, but when seeing the effects of how this has all played out, it would be fair of the league to reconsider whether the right message is getting across and whether this kind of attention is all really worthwhile.
The easy choice would've been to stop playing the anthem altogether. The easy choice isn't always the right one, but here it could have been both. Release a statement indicating that the intention was to honor America and allow players the opportunity to freely display their feelings, but it's wound up having a divisive impact and straying so far from the original sentiment. For the players who want to draw attention to an important cause, kneeling at the opening whistle and wearing warmup T-shirts with "Black Lives Matter" written across them, for example, can and do still serve that purpose.
Instead, NWSL made a curious choice: The anthem will still be played at the empty stadiums, but players now have an extra option. They can stay in the locker room until it's over, or come out onto the field and either stand or kneel. Staying in the locker room, of course, was the protest of choice for select Seattle Reign and FC Kansas City players in 2017. Having the anthem played with players in the locker room before they could take the field was also the choice of the Spirit when Rapinoe's Reign happened to be in town. It's a gesture that brings with it some likely unintentional callbacks while also creating another "group" for players to fall into.
<figure><img height="372" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM1MTIxNjA4NDAyMzMy/spirit-kneel-anthem-nwsl.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
"This decision was made following conversations with players from around the league, as well as club officials and other stakeholders," NWSL said.
Without knowing specifics, it's unclear how many of each party had a say, what the demographic makeup of those polled was and whose opinions were weighted the most. For new commissioner Lisa Baird, who should otherwise be commended for attracting new sponsors during a pandemic and having this tournament organized after three atypical months on the job, she has had to lean into this as her chief objective.
“We began this tournament with several important goals," Baird said in a statement on Monday. Develop a safe environment for the continuation of sport. Create an innovative competition to showcase the vitality of women’s soccer. Collaborate with our players association and develop a genuine partnership. Raise revenue to fund player compensation. And support and empower players to use their platform to make the world a better place. And so, we’re going to continue to play the national anthem, but with even more flexibility, and support each player’s right to express their individual views, or not. The NWSL stands behind every player, official and staff member. Kneel on the field. Stand with your hand over your heart. Honor your feelings in the privacy of the locker room or at midfield. The NWSL is a league that was built on diversity and courage and those principles will continue to drive us forward.”
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the intentions, but even actions carried out with the best intentions have unintended consequences. 
New England Revolution and former U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena recently suggested <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/19/bruce-arena-national-anthem-before-matches-inappropriate">not playing the anthem at club and league games</a> (international competition is a different story), and he's not the only one to have the idea. Think about it: "God Save the Queen" doesn't play before Premier League games. "La Marseillaise" isn't blared before Ligue 1 matches. It's a uniquely American custom and tradition. It's prop-bet fodder for the Super Bowl. But everything about the anthem being played before games now is so far removed from its intention. It feels like it has so little to do with honoring America and those who defend its freedom. The cause that the peaceful protests are meant to bring attention to has instead been drowned out by chatter about the actions. 
Make no mistake, NWSL has otherwise done a fantastic job of being a supportive league and giving its players a platform that they can truly use for causes important to them. But by misreading the moment and adjusting on the fly this way, it's taken the focus off the two things that should truly matter in this competition: an incredibly important message and the actual soccer itself.

New on Sports Illustrated: NWSL Approaches the Anthem With Best Intentions but Is Misreading the Moment

The league has good intentions, but its initial handling of the pregame national anthem and subsequent shift have resulted in some negative...

New on Sports Illustrated: America, Realigned: How Would a 12-Team College Football Playoff Look?

<a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/30/college-football-playoff-realignment-bracket">
The Forde Bowl Subdivision proposal would produce a heck of an expanded postseason.
You read about the
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/29/ncaa-college-football-conference-realignment">Forde Bowl Subdivision realignment plan</a> Monday on this website. Today, let’s see how it would look if it were put into action for 2020. What we would have is merely the greatest postseason* in college football history.
(*This is assuming that there will be a season, of course, and a postseason thereafter. No guarantees at this point.)
The best and biggest playoff ever would start with Selection Sunday, Nov. 29. A 12-team bracket would be revealed—10 automatic bids to conference champions, two at-large teams chosen by a selection committee, the whole thing seeded by said committee.
That would lead to four mammoth, on-campus playoff games on December 4–5. Then four more on different campuses the next weekend. Teams from every geographic region would be involved. Fans from coast to coast would be engaged.
From there, the playoff reverts to customary form: semifinals on New Year’s Day at bowl locations, and a national championship game in early January.
Who says no?
If it were in effect for 2020, here’s a prediction for how the FBS playoff would be seeded:
No. 1 Clemson, champion of the Mid-Atlantic Conference.
No. 2 Alabama, champion of the Sun Belt Conference.
No. 3 Ohio State, champion of the Great Mideast Conference.
No. 4 Georgia, champion of the Deep South Conference.
No. 5 Penn State, champion of the Yankee Conference.
No. 6 Oklahoma, champion of the Southwest Conference.
No. 7 USC, champion of the West Coast Conference.
No. 8 Florida, at-large selection from the Deep South Conference.
No. 9 Notre Dame, champion of the Mid-American Conference.
No. 10 Texas A&M, at-large selection from the Southwest Conference.
No. 11 Minnesota, champion of the Great Midwest Conference.
No. 12 Boise State, champion of the Rocky Mountain Conference.
First-round matchups: Texas A&M at USC on Friday, Dec. 4; then a Saturday tripleheader of Boise State at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/">Penn State</a> at noon ET; Minnesota at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/">Oklahoma</a> at 4 p.m.; and <a href="https://www.si.com/college/notredame/">Notre Dame</a> at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/florida/">Florida</a> at 8 p.m. Playoff games in Los Angeles, State College, Norman and Gainesville? Yes, please.
Assuming the higher seeds win, the next round would be: USC at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/alabama/">Alabama</a> on Friday, Dec. 11; then a Saturday tripleheader of Oklahoma at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/ohiostate/">Ohio State</a> at noon ET; Florida at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/clemson/">Clemson</a> at 4 p.m.; and Penn State at <a href="https://www.si.com/college/georgia/">Georgia</a> at 8 p.m. Survive-and-advance intersectional showdowns at Bryant-Denny, the Horseshoe, Death Valley and between the hedges would be huge.
New Year’s Day semifinals: Ohio State vs. Alabama in the sexiest Rose Bowl since USC-Texas 15 years ago; and Georgia-Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
Championship game on Thursday, Jan. 10, in Miami: Alabama vs. Clemson. In the end, we get a familiar finale to a completely unfamiliar playoff.
<figure><img height="345" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjE4MzEzNzkwNzYwMzQ4/cfp-2020-full-2.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
Now, to answer some questions:
Too many games? In the current structure, most teams that reach the playoff final play 15. In this format, a team from outside the top four seeds could play 16 if they keep winning—12 in the regular season and four in the playoff. Otherwise, the maximum number would be 15. (Remember, we did away with conference championship games so it’s a 12-game season and then into the playoffs.)
Playing into the second weekend of December and potentially getting in the way of semester finals? Yes, that’s a concern. But it only affects eight teams, and look what at least three conferences are preparing for this season: potentially moving back their conference championship games to that weekend in case early-season games are postponed or the season is delayed. If the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 are willing to consider that, they’d be willing to consider this. (And, let’s not forget, Army and Navy usually play that weekend anyway.)
Brutal cold in the Midwest and Northeast in the first half of December? Certainly possible. That’s one reason the Forde Bowl Subdivision wouldn’t schedule night playoff games at Penn State or Ohio State, where the average daytime highs are 38 and 41, respectively, and the lows are 24 and 26. But cold weather can be part of football, and a lot of people have been waiting to see warm-weather teams come play where and when you can see your breath.
Not much in the way of Cinderella? It’s true that with a minimum of four Power-5 teams in each conference, chances are decent for a dozen of those teams comprising the entire playoff field—this year and many years. But give some of the best programs in the Group of Five a chance at a level playing field in terms of home games and revenue, and the gap could close quickly. In 2020, the breakthrough team would be a familiar overachiever, Boise State. In coming years you could see others—UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati, Appalachian State, San Diego State, BYU, maybe even North Dakota State when armed with 85 FBS scholarships.
If anyone complained about a playoff comprised of the above 12 teams, they don’t like college football. Let’s make it happen.
<h3>More From SI.com Team Sites:</h3>
<a href="https://www.si.com/college/wisconsin/football/ncaa-conferences-realignment-wisconsin-iowa-football">'America, Realigned' Roundtable: Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Great Midwest Conference</a> 
<a href="https://www.si.com/college/alabama/community/crimson-corner-what-if-college-footballs-conferences-were-realigned-blackwell">Crimson Corner: What If College Football's Conferences Were Realigned?</a> 
<a href="https://www.si.com/college/illinois/football/illini-football-fun-facts-coming-from-pat-fordes-si-cover-piece">Illini Football Fun Facts Coming From Pat Forde's SI Cover Piece</a>

New on Sports Illustrated: America, Realigned: How Would a 12-Team College Football Playoff Look?

The Forde Bowl Subdivision proposal would produce a heck of an expanded postseason. You read about the Forde Bowl Subdivision realignment...

New on Sports Illustrated: Draft or Pass: Will Bears RB David Montgomery Blossom in Year 2?

<a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/30/david-montgomery-draft-pass-adp-value">
A promising rookie season has left SI Fantasy expert Ben Heisler wanting to see more of Chicago Bears RB David Montgomery. What does he have in store for fantasy owners in Year 2?
It's never too early to start your fantasy football research, and we at SI Fantasy want to provide you with the best information possible heading into your drafts. Our "Draft or Pass" video series takes a closer look at a fantasy player that will be debated often leading up to fantasy drafts. Are our hosts targeting this player specifically? Are they avoiding him entirely?
Today's video focuses on Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery.
Draft or Pass at current ADP (average draft position): 56 (RB25)
I’m still slowly recovering from the overdose of David Montgomery Kool-Aid that I endlessly consumed in the summer of 2019.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"></blockquote>
</div>
</a>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Bears were coming off a 12-4 season in which Mitchell Trubisky took a significant leap in Year 2. If not due to a 43-yard field goal somehow meticulously flailing off both an upright and crossbar, the Bears may have been on their way to an NFC Divisional Round matchup with perhaps a Super Bowl appearance in their sights.
After Jordan Howard failed to rush for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career, in Round 3, the Bears traded up to get their guy: a stud running back out of Iowa State University who set college records in Pro Football Focus’ “missed tackles” metric.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1158395369803407361"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
The Bears were returning all five starters to the offensive line, and were even considered to have <a href="https://www.pff.com/news/pro-2018-nfl-offensive-line-rankings-all-32-teams-units-after-week-17">PFF’s second-best pass-blocking efficiency, with “no real weak link.</a>”
Plus, their kicker woes had been solved with a full systems go kicking competition. Crisis averted, right?
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/theMMQB/status/1173380443934212096"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
Unfortunately, both Trubisky and the Bears offensive line regressed to one of the worst in football. And their newfound star rookie running back never was given an opportunity to get into a rhythm all season.
The Bears ran the ball just over 40.5-percent of the time, compared to passing 59.5-percent in 2019. If your quarterback is Patrick Mahomes or Matt Ryan, that's completely logical with weapons galore and an offense needed to carry the load. The Bears were the complete opposite. They ranked in the bottom seven in nearly every single offensive category, while conversely were a top-10 defense for much of the year.
<figure><img height="157" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM0NTI0MDcxMDc3NjUz/screen-shot-2020-06-29-at-113618-pm.png" width="620" />
<figcaption>Data courtesy of TeamRankings.com </figcaption>
</figure>
Over at Bear Digest, Gene Chamberlain discussed how <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/new-coaches-seek-ways-to-open-up-space-for-david-montgomery-vCfSkXrRqk6m5nCJWNDXPw">the new coaches in Lazor and Castillo are already making plans to get the running game back on track</a>:
<blockquote>
"Juan and I have had conversations already about the formations we would like to use in the run game for our opening game of the season," offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. "It's our job when your title is coordinator; you have to make sure it all fits.
"You have to make sure the run game, the pass game, the play-action, the drop-backs, the screens, they all fit."
</blockquote>
Montgomery left much to be desired in his actual performance, running for just 793 yards on 3.7 yards-per-carry. The passing game targets that were hyped up never came his way, catching only 23 receptions on 33 targets. The offensive line was an issue, but he also needs to improve.
And yet, he still finished with over 1,000 total yards, seven touchdowns, and is likely to expand his role in 2020. Montgomery also finished with the <a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/players/david-montgomery.php">sixth-most inside-the-five carries amongst all RBs a season ago</a>, leading to golden opportunities to add points to the scoreboard, both in the game and for our fantasy teams.
I still believe Montgomery is worthy of the potential star they reached up in the third round to draft, but there needs to be a far greater emphasis on maximizing efficiency in the running game.
In a 12-team PPR, Montgomery’s ADP lands at RB25, landing in the middle-to-late fifth round at 56 overall.
The Bears have a ways to go to earn the benefit of the doubt for last season's offensive regression, particularly in the running game. But there is no other running back in this range that will command the type of touches and volume expected to be carried out by Montgomery here. With a three-down opportunity and an expanded role in the passing game, he's an outstanding buy-low target at this ADP, and I'll absolutely be taking him.
Oh, and pass the Kool-Aid one more time? I think I’m ready to start drinking again.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2iE4uEsaBF0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<a href="http://si.com/fantasy">MORE FROM SI FANTASY</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/29/chicago-bears-team-outlook-foles-trubisky">2020 Chicago Bears Team Outlook: Nick Foles or Mitchell Trubisky?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/29/fantasy-football-riser-tarik-cohen">2020 Fantasy Football Riser: Tarik Cohen</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/29/fantasy-outlook-cam-newton-patriots">Fantasy Football Impact of the Patriots Signing Cam Newton</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/26/derrius-guice-untapped-unknown-ceiling">The Still Unknown Ceiling of Redskins RB Derrius Guice</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/fantasy/2020/06/26/fantasy-football-riser-eric-ebron">New Steelers TE Eric Ebron Should Bounce Back in 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fftoolbox.fulltimefantasy.com/football/rankings/?pos=top">2020 Fantasy Football Top 200 Rankings</a></li>
</ul>

New on Sports Illustrated: Draft or Pass: Will Bears RB David Montgomery Blossom in Year 2?

A promising rookie season has left SI Fantasy expert Ben Heisler wanting to see more of Chicago Bears RB David Montgomery. What does he hav...

New on Sports Illustrated: Why it Took Liverpool So Long to Return to the Top of the League

<a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/30/liverpool-premier-league-title-drought-history-reasons">
A 30-year drought for a club like Liverpool seemed unimaginable. Why it happened, how it was ended and the challenge to hold onto the Premier League's bragging rights.
The feeling last season was that Liverpool had made an incredible, exhausting effort and that, having given so much–a points total that had only previously been exceeded once before–and still fallen short that it would stumble this season. Manchester City looked imperious, and rebels tend only to get one chance. But Liverpool maintained its level–perhaps even improved–and it was Man City who cracked, undone by the failure to replace Vincent Kompany.
And so a
</a><a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/25/liverpool-premier-league-title-champions-klopp-man-city">drought lasting three decades came to an end</a> at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, as City lost to Chelsea, triumph confirmed in the strangest of circumstances. Liverpool’s players celebrated, in an isolated way in a hotel, while <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/27/liverpool-condemns-fan-behavior-premier-league-title-celebrations">Merseyside was convulsed by a great release of emotion</a>.
On the one hand 30 years is an almost unimaginably long time for a club of Liverpool’s stature to go without winning the league, particularly given the position of strength it had in the late 1980s. That was just as the elite were plotting the creation of the Champions League, which would begin the process of further enriching the rich that has led football into its present, deeply unbalanced condition. On the other, some of the lachrymose gushing about the supposed hurt Liverpool fans have suffered–as it relates to sporting success–in that time has sounded preposterously entitled: they have, after all, seen their club win 16 trophies over those three decades, including two Champions League titles.
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM0MzIzNTQ5NzkyMDIx/liverpool-champions-vvd.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
Perhaps some would argue that end of the drought justifies the mass celebratory gatherings. Liverpool fans certainly aren’t the only people to have breached government regulations on mass-gatherings and social distancing in recent weeks: there were street parties to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day and marches in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, while recent days, as temperatures soared, saw beaches and parks overwhelmed. There has been a roiling sense of suppressed energy, the frustrations of lockdown exacerbated by the manifest failings of an obviously incompetent government, spilling over into numerous significant disturbances.
But the <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/27/liverpool-condemns-fan-behavior-premier-league-title-celebrations">disorder on Merseyside</a>, which saw fireworks fired from within a crowd, igniting the Liver Building, is precisely the sort of incident the mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson was attacked for anticipating. There is a tendency to demonize football and its followers, one that seems to date from the 70s, but the reaction against that, which often seeks to absolve fans from any responsibility, is just as misguided. <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/29/jurgen-klopp-liverpool-fans-celebrate-title-private-coronavirus">Jurgen Klopp had begged fans</a> not to gather in large numbers, and the club and council have both condemned the incidents, which cannot but add an element of sourness to what should have been a week of celebration.
Still, the reasons for the drought are worth investigating. To an extent, it’s a feature of English football, which has never been dominated by a tiny elite in quite the way most other nations have. Liverpool itself, in the late 70s and 80s, was the first club to extend a sense of superiority over a decade. There have always been an array of challengers waiting to step up.
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjMzNTMxMTI4MzI1NTMy/liverpool-champions-training.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
But there were also specific reasons why Liverpool faltered. There is a moment in Pete Davies’s book on the 1990 World Cup, All Played Out, in which he challenges England manager Bobby Robson on his reluctance to move away from a 4-4-2 formation. Robson, clearly sick of constant questioning about his supposedly old-fashioned tactics, responds snappishly, pointing out that Liverpool plays a 4-4-2 and nobody thinks it's finished. And yet it wouldn’t win the league for another 30 years.
Tactics are only part of it. Liverpool was a master of playing out from the back, but it did so with the safety net of the backpass. Once the law was changed and the option of going back to the keeper was removed in 1992, it struggled to adapt. But the game was changing in other ways, too. The coming of the Premiership changed the economics of the sport. Manchester United seized the new opportunities, Liverpool didn’t. Perhaps that’s a natural part of the ebb and flow of development as the dominant entity becomes complacent and is reluctant to adapt the processes that led it to preeminence.
But at the same time, the Hillsborough disaster had led to a circling of the wagons at Anfield and that perhaps made the club more resistant to change. Hillsborough was also responsible for the shocking resignation of a shattered Kenny Dalglish in 1991, breaking a direct line of succession that went back, though Joe Fagan and Bob Paisley to Bill Shankly. Although Graeme Souness had played for Liverpool, by the time he succeeded Dalglish, he was far removed from the boot-room traditions.
What followed was decades of trying to catch United, in which Liverpool was hampered by Anfield’s size and the difficulty of expansion. The Moores family had owned the club since before the Second World War and must take great credit for the way they built it into such a power, but by the early part of this century it had become apparent that Liverpool lacked the financial clout to compete with United or Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea. In 2007, John Moores sold up to U.S. businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks, but they demonstrated little familiarity with football, Liverpool or British law. In 2010 they were prosecuted by a number of the club’s creditors, eventually being forced to sell to John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group.
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM0MDg0MTA1MzY1MjY5/henry-werner-liverpool-premier-league-title.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
When FSG arrived, Liverpool was, unthinkably, in the bottom three of the Premier League–not that anybody expected it to remain there, even if it was £351 million in debt. The squad needed a serious overall. There came a spate of misguided signings: Andy Carroll was a failed gamble at £35 million, but worse were the three players bought purely because of their chance creation, an early and overly simplistic use of data: Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson. Adam and Downing were soon exposed as not being good enough, and Liverpool tried to sell Henderson as well, only for him stubbornly to refuse to leave. He may have been bought for the wrong reasons but has developed into one of the club’s greatest captains. Luck comes into it, too.
Brendan Rodgers was almost an inspired appointment as manager, but what was perhaps most telling about his arrival was that it came after the dismissal of Dalglish, even though he had just won the League Cup in his second stint helming the club. FSG was prepared to be ruthless, too (although it might have been rather more ruthless over the Luis Suarez racism affair). It was ruthless as well in replacing Rodgers with Klopp, an appointment that brought to the club somebody who almost immediately seemed in tune with the city.
The age of the manager-messiah had seemed to be past. British football was blighted for years by the fact that in the late 60s and early 70s, as its television age began, the landscape was studded with charismatic leaders: Matt Busby, Jock Stein, Brian Clough, Don Revie and, of course, Shankly. The role of directors came to seem one primarily of identifying the next messiah, which in turn meant structural, technocratic issues tended to be overlooked. More recently, there has been a shift in the other direction, but Klopp is a throwback, somebody able to inspire not only his players but the crowd and the community. Occasionally, everything fuses into an unstoppable force, as Barcelona discovered at Anfield last season.
But Klopp is backed up by vast backroom staff, a team of analysts, conditioning coaches and nutritionists whose work is extremely difficult to assess from the outside, other than to note that Liverpool scores a lot of late goals and that its recent recruitment has been notably good. Liverpool presses ferociously hard, but it is also focused in its pressing: the players are fit, motivated and well-organized.
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTczNjM0MTM5NjcxNTA0Mjg0/liverpool-van-dijk-celebrate-title.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
Although the notion of Liverpool as plucky and impoverished outsiders is hard to sustain–it has benefited as much as any big club from the unequal distribution of Champions League and Premier League revenues; however remarkable the achievement, if teams are regularly getting over 95 points, the system is broken–it has spent far, far less than City, or indeed Manchester United. The two big signings, Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, were both targeted and were funded largely by the sale of Philippe Coutinho (it’s a sobering glimpse of unintended consequences that Liverpool probably wouldn’t have won the league if Paris Saint-Germain hadn’t bought Neymar). But there have also been remarkable bargain signings, perhaps most notably Andy Robertson, picked up from relegated Hull City for £8 million.
How hard Man City hits back may depend on the outcome of its <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/06/10/manchester-city-appeal-cas-champions-league-ban">Champions League ban appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport</a>. Manchester United and Chelsea are both building. There will be challenges next season. But perhaps the greatest challenge for Liverpool is internal.
In the glory days, Liverpool was a master at constant evolution. Success can be entropic; why, after all, would you choose to change something that is working? How can, for instance, Takumi Minamino, who was signed in January, be integrated into a front three that plays so well together? When Liverpool didn’t sign a senior outfield player last summer, it didn’t seem to matter because the squad was so generally young. Still, Henderson is the only one of a putative first XI to have hit 30. But the front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are all 28. Change will have to begin sooner rather than later, and managing transition can be extremely difficult.
Given how well-run Liverpool has been for the past decade, though, there’s every reason for optimism on Merseyside. And for now, it can spend the final games of the season basking in a long-awaited success, collecting whatever records it can.

New on Sports Illustrated: Why it Took Liverpool So Long to Return to the Top of the League

A 30-year drought for a club like Liverpool seemed unimaginable. Why it happened, how it was ended and the challenge to hold onto the Premi...