Partners, positives and porch escapes
(1) I recently noticed that the banner behind Nick Nurse and Raptors players during interviews shows Bell, BMO, the Raptors claw and “We the North” but nothing about Rogers. I was under the understanding that Bell and Rogers were equal partners in the ownership of MLSE with Larry Tanenbaum owning a minority share. Did something change? Why no Rogers?
(2) It seems many NBA players and travelling party members have contacted COVID-19. The Heat and Clippers have shut down their practice facilities. Will these COVID-positive people travel to Orlando and be quarantined, or will they stay in their home cities and only go to Orlando after two negative tests?
(3) As a side note, I hate this hot weather with the humidex in the mid- to high 30s every day. How are you doing living in this furnace? — Dave, Cornwall Somehow the team can sell sponsorships to one company that owns a bit of the action and not the other and that’s not an issue. But I am told they are quite separate transactions.
No player who tests positive out of Orlando will be allowed to travel until he registers two negatives. It’s one of the best parts of the restart plan, they built in enough time in the run-up to deal with the inevitable positives, let those players recover and rejoin their teams before games begin.
The heat? I don’t go anywhere. Like hardly ever. I enjoy the new air conditioning unit we had installed at Casa Doug and take advantage of the shady areas of the front porch and back deck. I don't recall much difficulty or resistance when the Washington Bullets changed their name to the Wizards. With all that's going on in the world these days regarding racial equality, what is the issue that is keeping teams like the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians from changing their names, which are far more offensive terms to a large group of people than the Bullets? — Justin I honestly don’t know what the issue is. I’ve been saying for years that Redskins and Eskimos and others should have been changed. Surely in these times that will happen. It’s not complicated. It’s the right thing to do. Leagues should bend over backward to facilitate any change as quickly as possible. I watched the interviews with Raptors president Masai Ujiri, coach Nurse, Fred VanVleet and Norm Powell, and I must admit it was nice to view some content that we used to just take for granted. Covering the games and getting time with players will obviously be very different for you. I’m wondering what the league is doing to facilitate interaction with players or what options are available to you to get time with players. — Andrew This is going to be a very complex, very limited, very virtual media world between now and the end of this season, at least. For now, we’re relying on Zoom interview sessions with players and coaches. We — the reporters, the franchises, the league — are working on access in Orlando when games and practices begin but it’s a moving target right now and all I can ask for is patience as we all figure it out. But know this: Things will be vastly different than they were in March.