By Pete Thompson
No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks
Out for summer
Out till fall
We might not come back at all
Alice Cooper
– “School’s Out” – 1972
By the time you read this, most schools in both Pennsylvania & New Jersey will be out for the summer. Of course, with COVID-19, this has been a school year unlike any other. I wanted to start this week by expressing my sincere wishes and congratulations to the Class of 2020. There is no way that this is how you envisioned your senior year of high school taking place, but if you can handle this, you can handle anything, right…?
Since I last wrote, the major sports world is beginning to get back to “normal”. The PGA Tour held its first competitive tournament, albeit without fans. NASCAR held a race in Florida with a very small amount of fans. The NHL seems to be moving “full steam ahead”, while the NBA and MLB are bringing up the rear on a resumption of play for sure. On the local front, a high school baseball player signs with his favorite pro team. Plus, a prominent name in rowing is coming back to our area to coach in college.
From the entertainment world, my girlfriend and I have watched both seasons of a popular Netflix favorite. Her son and I have started a different Netflix program that has more mystery about it. Plus, you never know when an old movie will pop up that you just have to sit and watch again. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll lead with golf as the PGA Tour held its first official tournament in 13 weeks and it was outstanding! The Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth was compelling television from start to finish. I watched a little on Thursday just to see what golf looked like with no galleries and no high fives between player & caddie, etc. Daniel Berger left with the winner’s plaid jacket Sunday when he beat Collin Morikawa on the first playoff hole to end what had been the tour’s longest absence since World War II.
From a health standpoint, no players, caddies or staff tested positive for COVID-19. From a golf standpoint, the strong field with the top five ranked players in the world and 16 of the top 20 did not disappoint!
Being a former TV guy, I was fascinated at the logistics it took to get Golf Channel & CBS Sports to televise the event. Only Jim Nantz was in the 18th tower, Sir Nick Faldo was back at the Golf Channel studios in Orlando (with others). Behind the scenes, they had a director & crew in Stamford, CT, and then graphics folks in California, plus Golf Channel folks in Orlando, all connected seamlessly to televise the event. As for the golf? It was filled with drama as the leaderboard was STACKED on Sunday coming down the stretch. I can’t wait to watch the next event at Harbour Town in SouthCarolinaa. (Although I would’ve been more excited if Tiger Woods decided to play)
Meanwhile, NASCAR raced in front of actual fans last weekend in Homestead, Florida. Denny Hamlin won the race…but the BIGGER stories took place off the track. 1,000 fans, mostly invited military members who could each bring a guest — were back at a NASCAR race for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started.
The other big story was Bubba Wallace & no Confederate flags. Wallace, the only black driver in the Cup Series, has become the sport’s most prominent activist after he successfully called on NASCAR to ban Confederate flags at its events. The series quickly did just that, but the real test will come when races are held with full fans in attendance. Most of the 1,000 fans that were in Florida were long gone by the time Hamlin drove under the checkered flag at 10:46 p.m. on Sunday night, ending a marathon day. In fact, that very long day was the capper to a very long week for NASCAR. There were three Cup Series races in eight days, all of them bringing drivers into hot and steamy weather conditions that left many of them exhausted, all wrapped around the ongoing national outcry surrounding the battle for racial equality.
In hockey, the NHL is in Phase 2 of its return-to-play protocol and training camps are set to open on July 10th. That’s about it though for what we know 100 percent as there are still questions about where the hub cities will be and if the players will actually agree to return to the ice. For now, all they’ve approved is the postseason format, not if they will actually step on the ice or not. Players were tested for COVID-19 before returning to their practice facilities, and will be tested twice weekly going forward. There were temperature checks at the facilities as well. There were restrictions placed on the number of players who could use the facility at one time — including a maximum of six players for on-ice sessions — and on time spent in the facilities.
As for the hub cities, players have expressed a desire not to feel totally sequestered, so it seems like Las Vegas is a front-runner, although the Golden Knights wouldn’t be allowed to play at home. There’s talk that Toronto might be another hub city, as it’s a Canadian city and on the Eastern Time Zone, which would accommodate that TV group. Again, this is all still in flux, so pardon the phrase here, but “stay tuned!”
One thing that seems sure is that the NHL players seem to want to return to play. I’m not sure you can say the same for the NBA players as there’s been significant pushback from a group of NBA players on that league’s return-to-play plan. Kyrie Irving joined a conference call with nearly 100 players & several stars last week and reportedly made an impassioned plea for players to make a stand and sit out the season’s resumption in Orlando. According to published reports, several players suggested they’d be willing to sit out the season — and numerous more discussed social issues, league economics and, ultimately, a sense that they needed to be united moving forward. Which means the NBA and a return-to-play is anything but a sure thing right now.
Which brings us to baseball, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred tells ESPN that he’s now “less confident” about a 2020 season. “I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue,” Manfred said when asked if he was confident there would be a season. Manfred went on to say, “It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it. It shouldn’t be happening, and it’s important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans,” he said.
Manfred said the MLBPA’s “decision to end good-faith negotiations” and the need for an agreement with the union on health and safety protocols “were really negative in terms of our efforts.” He added, “The owners are 100 percent committed to getting baseball back on the field, Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m 100 percent certain that’s gonna happen.”
My take on all this…? Baseball hasn’t been “America’s Favorite Pastime” for a long time now, and this might do some lasting & permanent damage if they don’t play at least SOME games. In other words, c’mon guys…find a way to figure this OUT…!!!
There is ONE piece of good news from baseball and that’s Jake McKenna. The 2020 Ocean City High School graduate quickly said yes when the Philadelphia Phillies called to offer him a minor league contract last Sunday. The 6-foot-7, left-handed pitcher will receive a $20,000 signing bonus, the maximum allowed this year for undrafted players. How exciting to see a local kid get signed by his LOCAL team? McKenna grew up a Phillies fan, and he says his favorite player is pitcher Cole Hamels. He was going to attend St. Joseph’s in Philly, but couldn’t resist the chance to play pro ball with his favorite team. Jake…good luck! Let’s hope you can even find HALF the success that “California Cole” did with the Phils…that would be awesome to see!
In other LOCAL sports news, welcome back to the area Jeff Garbutt. The Atlantic City grad & former Temple rower has accepted a job as the new head coach of the LaSalle men’s & women’s rowing teams. This is GREAT news not just for the current Explorers, but also for all the high school rowers around here hoping for a scholarship. You have to figure Garbutt is going to dig for his talent deeply in the Cape Atlantic League schools. The 48-year-old spent time as the girls coach at Ocean City & Mainland Regional before starting in college jobs at the University of Miami and then the University of Iowa…now he’s coming “home” and we are all better for it. Welcome HOME, Jeff Garbutt!
I’ll close with three items from entertainment, starting with “Dead to Me” on Netflix. Just two seasons and 20 episodes so far and my girlfriend and I ripped through those pretty quickly as we just had to find out how things would resolve themselves between Jen & Judy. Jen, played by Christina Applegate, is mourning the hit-and-run death of her husband, while Judy, played by Linda Cardellini, is mourning the death of her fiancé who died of a heart attack. Or did he? It’s a dark comedy that comes in short 26-34 minute bites, and I promise you that you will not be disappointed if you check it out!
Meanwhile, my girlfriend’s son Michael & I have started “The Stranger” on Netflix. It’s an eight-part British mystery thriller based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same title. So far, so good. Oh, and if you like that one, I’ve already finished “Safe”, which is also created by Harlan Coben. Michael C. Hall from “Dexter” is outstanding in the lead role Tom Delaney. Safe focuses on Delaney (Hall), a pediatric surgeon and widowed father of two teenage daughters. He is struggling to connect with his daughters as they still grieve the loss of his wife from cancer one year prior. After his 16-year-old daughter Jenny goes missing, Tom uncovers a web of secrets as he frantically searches for her. Completely worth it…!
Finally, I guess I’ll close out with a British movie too as “Notting Hill” came on the TV the other night and I watched it again for the first time since I saw it in the theater. If you haven’t seen the 1999 film, check it out and enjoy Julia Roberts plays American movie star Anna Scott and Hugh Grant is superb as bookstore owner William Thacker. I love it for Rhys Ifans, who steals the show as his wacky flat-mate Spike…! It’s a late-90’s “rom-com” for sure, but a good one to watch with your spouse.
Please let me extend a Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there…and I already congratulated the Grads at the top of the column as well. With the civil unrest in our country and trying times, I continue to hope & pray that we can all get along, come together, and stay healthy & safe…!
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” each day from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30p, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
