With the reports baseball will not be able to return until July, it would seem very unlikely other professional sports leagues would be able to return sooner. That’s problematic for the NBA who not only has to figure out how to make up the 17 games remaining in their season (not happening at this point), and they have to find a way to have the playoffs.

As we know the NBA playoffs take forever. With the first round being lengthened to a best-of-seven, it now takes two months to play just the playoffs. Frankly, that is time the NBA doesn’t have. That is, unless, they want to play into September, take a short break, and begin the 2020 – 2021 NBA season shortly thereafter.

Realistically speaking, the NBA needs to truncate their playoffs significantly. Ideally, they also need to find a way to deliver NBA content to fans who would have otherwise not seen their teams play.

Seeing how popular it is with the NCAA, and our having missed out on it due to COVID19, perhaps the NBA can create their own version of March Madness to try to find the 2020 NBA Champion. If you think about it, with there being 30 NBA teams, it is almost like being in the second round of the tournament already.

After playing some warm-up games or having a brief training camp, the NBA can have their own “Selection Sunday” where they rank all 30 NBA teams and set up brackets. This could be helpful in the event they are able to play in some cities but not others. Keep in mind, this is another way to manage the situation where things improve in one area of the country but not another.

Looking at the current standings, we could set up four regions named after one of the greats from each of the top four number one seeds. Here is how the brackets could shake out:

Looking at this bracket, you already see some interesting match-ups. Even if the Knicks have been relevant only once in the past 20 years, anytime you get Knicks-Heat in the playoffs, it’s intense. The Warriors go from their season being over to having Steph Curry, a March Madness legend, primed and ready to go on a run.

Depending on when he can return, you can say the same about Kevin Durant and the Nets. Overall, seeing how this is the NBA, there really isn’t any easy draws. That said, you can see the Bucks have been rewarded for having the top record over the games which could be played.

At some point, while one-and-done is fun, we should get back to having best-of-series. Definitively, the NBA Finals should be a best-of-seven series. Perhaps, the “Final Four” could be as well. If time permits, the proverbial regional finals be some form of a “best of” as well.

Generally speaking, this is a unique concept to get NBA fans excited, and it is a way to get someone in every city interested. It also gives them something to look forward to after self isolation/quarantine and an eternity without any sports. This is also a quick way to get a playoff in when the NBA may not have the time to do a full playoff as they otherwise would have wanted.

In the end, this is just one fun idea. There are bound to be others with some of them perhaps being better. In the end, this is a more fun discussion than sitting around and fretting over whether the games will ever be played.

The recommendations of the CDC and other agencies is to socially isolate. By doing that, the hope is you reduce the risk of catching the disease and flattening the curve.

We’ve heard things like not going to restaurants and other places, but there is more we could be doing. In fact, there are many overlooked things we could be doing.

Clean Your Phone

We use our phones for everything now. We use it for texts, Twitter, Instagram, shopping, emails, playing games, and just about anything which comes to mind including making phone calls.

If you’re out and about, clean your phone. Remember the virus is airborne and it can live on surfaces for hours and days. It’s better to just clean that phone you constantly touch and occasionally put up to your face.

Consider Your Garbageman

For nearly everyone, garbage collection is on Monday. This leaves them going house-to-house touching your garbage pails and oft times your garbage bags.

According to studies, the virus could stay on surfaces for days. That can include a garbage pail.

A garbageman could then get it and spread it to other employees and people he sees along his route. Keeping that in mind, wash down your pail lids and handles.

Also, only put your garbage to the curb if you need. If your pail isn’t full, wait for the next day. Lastly, keep your pails outside during the daytime as there’s some evidence UV rays could kill the virus.

Put Your Mail On Hold

Recently, there were articles suggesting you shouldn’t put your mail on hold, but part of the justification was to avoid living your life in fear. As time passes and cases grow, we probably should lead our lives a little more in fear.

If you don’t need your mail, put it on hold. Wait a few weeks and reassess. Between the viruses inability to live on surfaces and you not being able to know if your mail carrier has it, it’s best just to avoid the human contact, no matter how remote.

Pump Your Own Gas

The gas station attendant comes into many, many people during the day. As the disease spreads, chances of exposure increase exponentially.

By pumping your own gas, you’re not talking with someone who is closer than six feet away. Just remember to wipe down the handle before you touch it.

Call Stores Ahead of Time

If you absolutely need to go to a store, you should be going at a time when fewer people are there. However, with more people practicing that strategy and all the people working from home, it’s hard to know anymore what time that would be.

With that being the case, call ahead to see how busy the store is. Better yet, call ahead to see if they can put the items you need aside at customer service. This allows you to walk in and out with minimal contact.

If you call and no one picks up, chances are the store is busy.

Use Credit, Not Cash

This virus lives on surfaces for days. That would include money. If you need to go out and purchase something, use credit.

With credit, you can just insert your card into a machine. With cash, you’re touching the same money s potentially sick person touched and infected.

Be a Bad Friend

Avoid all birthday parties, weddings, funerals, and any other social occasions which occur until we get past this epidemic. As much as it may pain you to miss those events, fact is by going to that you run the risk of infection and/or spreading it to others.

Stay Healthy

Social isolation does not require you to be a coach potato. Make sure you keep exercising. If you’re in the suburbs, go out for a walk (while remembering the six feet rule). If you see someone, it’s alright to cross the street to avoid them.

No one can guarantee you won’t get the disease. That said, your best way of fighting the disease if you ever get it is to be strong and healthy. It gives you your best chance.

Keep in mind, staying healthy also includes your mental health. If there are things you need to do to reduce anxiety and/or feel safe, do them. Just make sure you try to limit as much human contact as you possibly can.

Pester Your Public Officials

One minute, Mayor DeBlasio is riding the subway telling you it’s safe and not to panic. Weeks later, he’s shutting down the city telling you to avoid everything.

This wasn’t a sudden epiphany he had. No, like most public officials, he had to be pushed into doing what needed to be done.

If your city or town isn’t doing things to keep you safe, pester them. Reach out to your neighbors (via text or social media) to get them to join you. Keep calling and emailing until you can’t be ignored any longer.

General Rule

Sit down and think about everything you do. Get your mail; throw out your trash. Everything.

When you think about those things, think about the chain. Does someone at some point come in contact with your personally or the object in question?

If so, avoid those activities. If you can’t, wipe down those objects or places if you can.

Overall, the general rule is to avoid contact with people not in your house and to clean everything that might’ve come into contact with someone.

It’s not perfect, but it’s the best chance you have of avoiding COVID19 and flattening the curve.

For the first time since the field expanded to 64, there will be no NCAA Tournament. In fact, this is the first time since 1938 there will be no tournament. That’s notable because 1939 was the first ever NCAA Tournament.

This is a crushing blow for many. Aside from the revenue created for many due to the tournament, there was just the sheer enjoyment of the games and the personal bonding over the setting up of pools among friends and co-workers. That’s all gone in 2020.

For players, it is worse. For the one-and-done players, it means they will never have a chance to play at that stage. That also means they won’t get that last opportunity to help their draft stock. For seniors, that’s it. Their last ever chance to play for their school.

That means players like Myles Powell won’t get the chance to lead Seton Hall to just their second ever Final Four. The same goes for many other college basketball players. Due to the coronavirus, they have been cheated at their chance not just to make history, but also to just leave it all on the court.

The question is where do players like Powell go from here, and what does the NCAA as entity do.

In the immediate, the NCAA should go forward with Selection Sunday. Yes, it seems so trivial, but it is a chance to reward those teams and players who had a good season. We can see if Kansas or Gonzaga was the first overall seed making them in some ways the de facto champion.

We could also see which of the bubble teams made it into the tournament. Do you reward Rutgers for not really having any significant road wins. Is the strength of the Big East enough to carry Xavier over the top?

All of this is the same debate we have every year. If nothing else, Selection Sunday would give us those debates. At a time when there is literally no sports happening anywhere, it gives us all something to debate and discuss. To a certain extent, sports fans need this. Sports television and radio also needs this.

More than that, players need for the NCAA to do right by them. No, college baskeball players did not lose a season. They all played their regular seasons without disruption. However, most lost their chances of winning a conference tournament, and they all lost a chance for glory in the NCAA Tournament.

For some schools, that was just winning a game. Others, it would be the Sweet 16 or Final Four. No matter what the bar was for them, they’re not getting their opportunity.

If a player wants that one last chance, the NCAA should give it to them. Maybe the NCAA could create a summer tournament. Certainly, television providers would line up to televise those games, and there would be many host sites eager to host those games.

Of course, for a variety of reasons, that may not be practicable. After all, what NBA team is going to allow their recently drafted player to play in that tournament? Of course, the NBA could have a similar tournament with these players much like the Rookie-Sophomore All-Star Game, but that is not likely going to happen, especially with the NBA trying to figure out its season.

That brings us to what may be the best solution. Give those players one more year of eligibility and let them return one more year as a scholarship athlete.

https://twitter.com/Myles_MBP_23/status/1238477951571804160?s=20

There is literally no harm in doing this. After all, the NCAA wants us all to believe it is primarily an academic institution. By inviting student-athletes back to school for another year, they are fulfilling their academic mission. As a sports enterprise, they are bringing back well known collegiate players raising the profile of the sport for another year and creating a potentially even more competitive season and tournament.

Overall, there is really no good reason for the NCAA to note give players one additional year of eligibility to recognize the fact these student-athletes were cheated at a chance to win a championship. When you look at it that way, you can reasonably expect the NCAA to do what it normally does and reject the notion with specious reasoning.

Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Mitch Horacek summed up the concerns of minor league players succinctly when he said he has not been paid since August, and he is counting on his paycheck on April 15. That is leading some players to find other revenue sources immediately.

Oakland Athletics pitching prospect Peter Bayer has began doing deliveries for Door Dash partially because he has no idea when he is going to be paid. That is highly problematic for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, with the coronavirus pandemic, we are supposed to be in a period of social isolation.

However, that doesn’t work if minor league players aren’t getting paid, and they have to opt for delivering food. For a moment, just think of all the people Bayer came into contact when he made food deliveries for three hours. His risk of exposure rose exponentially, and if he was exposed, he will have exposed each and every baseball player, minor and major leaguer, in the Oakland Athletics organization.

Right there, we see paying minor leaugers and making sure they receive the care and assistance they need isn’t just about Major League Baseball doing the right thing, it is about protecting their entire organization.

Think about it. Lets say Bayer gets infected. He’s now going to be in a position to spread it throughout the team and organization. Remember, not every player is going home, and it’s possible minor leaguers can’t get home. That is the type of thing which could shut down even the light workouts the Athletics might have otherwise been able to hold to prepare for the season.

If the Athletics organization as a whole is infected, then what? What is Major League Baseball going to do? Are they remotely prepared to handle that level of crisis? Would they even know what to do with the team and the season? The answer is very likely no.

Of course, MLB should realize they should be paying players a stipend to get them through these difficult times, but according to reports, it doesn’t seem like they are. Based upon history, even if players on the 40 man roster get it, minor leaguers won’t.

Look, we know Major League Baseball has not done right by minor leaguers. They have tried to classify them as seasonal apprentices in an effort to not pay them living wages. However, right now, those policies may be the very thing which could turn a temporary shut down into a major crisis with a fall out well beyond anything baseball ever could have contemplated.

Baseball can no longer afford to not pay minor leaguers. No, they need to get them paid right now, so those players can stay socially isolated and in effect a team instituted quarantine. They also need to start taking measures to not just get the Major Leaguers, but also the minor leaguers tested.

Overall, if we ever saw a reason why Major League Baseball’s policy of not paying minor leaugers is inhumane and dangerous to the sport, we are seeing it right now. Major League Baseball needs to wake up right now, and they need to start paying minor leaugers.

It is no longer a matter of it just being the right thing to do. Now, it is about protecting players and the very people who make such callous decisions.