Good sign for restart of sports
There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement last week that the Philadelphia area will move into the yellow phase on June 5 gives hope that there could be some kind of sports this summer and almost certainly that fall sports will begin on time.
How will it look?
Will fans be allowed? What other safety precautions will be put in place? Will the athletes have to wear masks? Those are just a few of the many questions that have to be answered before sports can resume safely.
Team sports such as baseball and softball are not permitted until an area moves into the green phase of the governor’s three-step process for reopening the state in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, l7 counties in the western and northern part of the state will move into the green phase. That’s six weeks after the Wolf administration announced its plans for reopening the state and two weeks after the first counties moved from the red to yellow phase.
So it will be some time before Southeastern Pennsylvania in general and Delaware County in particular moves from yellow to green, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Delco League president Nick Ducomb said that he has a plan in place for a 16-game season and an abbreviated playoff if the league can get under way by July 4. It all depends on when the fields around Delaware County open, but a shorter season is better than no season for the oldest semi-professional league in the country.
And there are signs that fall high school sports could resume on time. Last week, the PIAA said that schools that move into the green phase will be permitted to resume workouts. Back in April, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said “No activities on a school campus before July
1.” Whether or not the schools open their facilities once an area goes green is up to the individual school district.
The first practice date for football is Aug. 10 with the week-long heat acclimation week. The initial practice date for all other fall sports is Aug. 17. If athletes and teams can access facilities such as weight rooms and playing fields starting in July, even on a limited basis, that gives athletes and teams nearly six weeks to get ready before training camp opens.
Is it ideal? No, but it’s better than nothing. The key is whatever steps are taken to reopen and bring sports back, it has to be done safely. If it means a coach has to change the way he or she practices or if games are played with no or fewer fans so be it.
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Call me old school or a Philly homer, but the debate over who is the greatest basketball player of all time begins and ends with one Wilton Norman Chamberlain.
Chamberlain still holds 72 NBA records,
68 outright. Several of those marks will never be broken. It’s doubtful anyone will score 100 points in a game, average 50 points in a season, grab 55 rebounds in a game or average 22.9 boards for a career as Chamberlain did.
Sure, he only won two NBA titles, but the fact was that his
Warriors/76ers/Lakers teams were not as good as the Celtics had a lot to do with that. If winning championships is the No. 1 factor in the argument, then Bill Russell is the GOAT. He won 11 NBA titles in 13 years after winning two NCAA crowns at the University of San Francisco.
The thing that sets Chamberlain apart for me was his athleticism. He was maybe as good a track athlete as he was a basketball player. He won two Big Eight (now the Big XII) high jump championships during his time at Kansas. He claimed the outdoor title with a leap of 6-5 as a sophomore in 1957 and the indoor crown with a jump of 6-6 ¾ as a junior in 1958. He also triple jumped 46-2 at the Kansas Relays as a freshman to take fourth place.
Chamberlain also reportedly competed in the 440, 880, long jump (broad jump back then) and shot put at Overbrook High School. Some of the numbers Chamberlain claims to have posted in those events cannot be verified but his athletic ability is not in question. He was well ahead of his time.
For those who say that Chamberlain’s style of play would not translate to today’s game, how do we know? That’s pure speculation. The same can be said for many athletes from previous generations in all sports.
An athlete adapts to the time in which he or she plays and I’m sure that Chamberlain would adapt to today’s game. Michael Jordan did. He realized the importance of weight training later in his career. He also wasn’t the best perimeter shooter when he came out of North Carolina but developed into a solid shooter as his career went on.
The drive to improve is the true sign of greatness and I’m sure Chamberlain would have adapted to the times regardless of the era.
And so, for me, Chamberlain will always be the GOAT.