NBA teams expected to resume training this week
The most popular basketball league on the planet also stopped in early March due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and now it appears that there is white smoke for a gradual return to training that will, of course, have several restrictive measures at an early stage.
CAVS, NUGGETS AND BLAZERS IN THE FRONT LINE
According to USA Today, there are three teams ready to take advantage of the reopening of training centers on the precise day that such an order takes effect. They are the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Denver Nuggets and also the Portland Trail Blazers.
As in football and many other sports, NBA players will have to attend training centers wearing a mask and should only remove it in full physical training, and these same training sessions will take place individually in order to avoid social contact.
Teams will have to disinfect all equipment regularly, going through changing rooms and never forgetting objects like their own basketballs.
The NBA ended its activity at the beginning of March after a sad situation with the Utah Jazz pole, Rudy Gobert. The American player had played with the new coronavirus at a press conference, touching all computers at the end of the interview, and ironically he would become the first player in the entire league to be positive on the test.
This was another moment in which we were able to verify that this virus does not choose ages or social strata, thus leaving yet another alert for the world population that has been fighting hard against an invisible enemy.
MLS ALSO ALREADY TRAINING WITH A VIEW TO SEASON RESTARTING
The main American football league, Major League Soccer, also resumed its training on Wednesday after being interrupted in March at a time when only two games of the new season had been played.
As expected, this return to training was done very carefully with the players arriving at the training grounds wearing masks and gloves, and upon arrival at the parking lot they were given directions to the place they should occupy in order to avoid approaches between players, then waiting for an indication of entry where they would still have to go through another process: see their measured temperature and disinfect their hands.
Only after that did the players get onto the pitch to train in four distinct groups of just one element, and there was no exchange of ball between players or equipment sharing.
At the moment, the MLS is due to return to the games on the 8th of June, and until then, a lot can still happen. The United States remains the world country most affected by the new coronavirus in terms of the total number of infected and killed, but it will someday have to try to return to normal.
NASCAR AND UFC VERY CLOSE TO RETURN
NASCAR is in a much more advanced process of returning to the competition taking into account that a race is already scheduled for May 17th, in just over a week, at the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. That restart will also have several safety measures from where stands out the fact that the races take place behind closed doors until otherwise indicated.
The next race will take place on May 24 at what is the largest NASCAR track in the country, the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which will curiously celebrate 60 consecutive years of activity. The races will continue beyond these dates and it seems that the fact that they are held behind closed doors should substantially reduce the risk of contagion since the drivers do not have great social contact.
Yes, the teams of mechanics present in the pits of each car will need to be very careful, but it is already common for these players to equip themselves quite well with protective measures in their daily lives. In addition to NASCAR, the highly regarded UFC will finally start again after several advances and setbacks in recent times that led to the cancellation of some important fights previously scheduled.
UFC 249 will air on May 9th at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville without the presence of spectators as expected. UFC President Dana White has also announced that two more events will take place at the same venue on May 13th and 16th.
For Saturday night, the big attraction will be the fight between Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje who will dispute the lightweight title.
