MLS resumes season after discussions with players
Major League Soccer is resuming its season after several midweek matches were postponed when players decided not to play to call attention to racial injustice.
The league said Friday that the move comes after a “period of reflection and conversation” with the group Black Players for Change, other league players and the MLS Players Association.
“It was really important for us as Black athletes to take the stand that we did on Wednesday to remind people that this needs to be a priority for us, especially within these league that have so many Black athletes,” said D.C. United goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr., a member of the executive board of Black Players For Change. “We need to prioritize our lives and do everything they can to to make sure our lives are being seen equally in this country.”
Five of the six matches Wednesday were postponed when MLS players joined counterparts in the NBA, WNBA and Major League Baseball in skipping play to protest the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The NHL also postponed games this week.
Toronto was set to
play the Impact in the lone MLS game scheduled for Friday.
AP source: Big Ten working on multiple options for football
Big Ten coaches, athletic directors and medical personnel are working on multiple plans for staging a football season — including one that would have the league kicking off as soon as Thanksgiving weekend.
The conference is in the early stages of a complicated process that also involves broadcast partners and possible neutral site venues, a person with direct knowledge of the conference’s discussions told The Associated Press.
The person spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the Big Ten was not making public its efforts to have a football season that starts in either late fall or winter. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the Big Ten was considering a possible Thanksgiving start to the season.
The Big Ten announced on Aug. 11 it was postponing its fall football season because of concerns about playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pac-12 soon followed suit, but six other major college football conferences, including the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, are still forging ahead toward a season that will start in September.
The Big Ten and first-year commissioner Kevin Warren have faced push back and criticism ever since, including a lawsuit filed by eight Nebraska players who want the decision overturned.
Ranked SEC teams cancel practice due to positive tests
Positive tests for COVID-19 has forced a pair of ranked Southeastern Conference teams to cancel at least a practice or two as the league announced guidelines for game day covering everything from who will be allowed on the field to press boxes.
Coach Jeremy Pruitt said he canceled Friday’s practice for No. 25 Tennessee due to a “few more positive” test results and tonight’s practice also could be canceled depending on the results after everyone in the program was tested Friday morning.