World Of Sports: 2020 NYC Marathon Canceled; Baseball Imposes New Rules On Players In Effort To Restart
The coronavirus continues to score points against efforts to return sporting events back to "normal."
The Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Concerns Cancel New York City Marathon
The cancellation, though expected, erases a favorite event for the many athletes around the world who run it and the more than one million people who line the five-borough course to cheer on competitors. It’s the second time in nine years that the New York City Marathon won’t be held. The 2012 NYC Marathon was canceled in the wake of superstorm Sandy. (Bachman, 6/24)
The New York Times:
NYC Marathon Canceled Because Of Coronavirus Pandemic
A public health crisis that has proved to be treacherous for large events claimed two more of the world’s biggest marathons on Wednesday, with organizers in New York and Berlin canceling their races this year because of the spread of the coronavirus. The cancellations left the sport without three of its six most important races in 2020 — the Boston Marathon was called off in May — and increased concerns that interruptions to the endurance sports world would continue until there was a medical solution to the crisis. (Futterman, 6/24)
AP:
New York City Marathon Canceled Because Of Coronavirus
The New York City Marathon was canceled Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic, with organizers and city officials deciding that holding the race on Nov. 1 would be too risky. Organizers announced the cancellation of the 50th anniversary edition of the world’s largest marathon after coordinating with the mayor’s office and deciding the race posed too many health and safety concerns for runners, volunteers, spectators and others. (6/24)
The New York Times:
Baseball’s New Rules: No Spitting, No Arguing, And Lots Of Testing
Coronavirus testing every other day for players and coaches. Wet rags for pitchers’ pockets to prevent them from licking their fingers. Masks in the dugout and bullpen for any non-players. And no public transportation to the stadium, communal food spreads, saunas, fighting, spitting, smokeless tobacco or sunflower seeds. Got all that? (Wagner, 6/24)
AP:
Phillie Phanatic, Mr Met, MLB Mascots Now Permitted In Parks
Phillie Phanatic, phenomenal. Mr. Met and Mariner Moose, marvelous. Wally the Green Monster, welcome back. Mascots are getting a reprieve from Major League Baseball. A month after being tossed out of stadiums because of health concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, the fuzzy and funny creatures will return as inside-the-parkers. (Walker, 6/25)
Boston Globe:
Recent Coronavirus Outbreaks Complicate An Already Difficult Return To Sports
Baseball finally stopped bickering long enough to reach an agreement on how and when to start the season, resolving disputes over prorated salaries and truncated schedules in time to set a late July opener. Now all they have to do is figure out how to do it amid a pandemic. And as the rest of the sports world has been showing us with increasing regularity, that’s not so easy to do, not as the COVID-19 virus remains impossible to contain. (Sullivan, 6/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
What Biking In New York City Reveals About Our Strange Times
The first time I fell in love with cycling in New York, it offered me an escape. I was in the concluding weeks of a relationship, one made all the more claustrophobic by the fact that we both worked from home. Our shared apartment was nightmarish; its location—just off the bike path on Columbus Avenue in the Upper West Side—was not. (Burton, 6/24)
