This week’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment aired before Major League Baseball players voted on whether to accept team owners’ latest proposal on terms for a 2020 season.
But most of what Pat Ryan and I discussed holds true. Team owners and players are totally deadlocked on salaries for the season, a sticking point that has stalled any chance at baseball this year. And then, even if the two sides hashed that out, what about the renewed concerns over COVID-19?
The standoff between Major League Baseball team owners and players continues and may finally be nearing an end. But likely without a resolution as the players rejected the owners’ latest proposal and have essentially dared MLB to launch a 2020 season.
Yet as we discussed during Monday’s baseball segment on WISE Sports Radio, that really wouldn’t solve any of the disagreement between owners and players. Down the line, it will almost certainly cause more problems and could veer into legal territory.
For a sport that isn’t being played and may not be played this year, Major League Baseball is still generating a lot of discussion. Unfortunately, most of that conversation is negative as team owners and players battle over salaries to be paid in a shortened season with no fans in attendance.
But that means I got to talk with an old friend, Clint Domingue on Acadiana’s 103.7 The Game, and we discussed MLB’s tendency to hurt itself in terms of promoting baseball.
Great to be invited by Wes McElroy back to The Fan in Richmond (910 AM, 105.1 FM) to chat about sports media. We talked a little bit about the next ESPN “30 for 30” film, Long Gone Summer, but I haven’t seen it yet so couldn’t offer much other than my own personal experiences watching the 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
But with the NBA and NHL returning soon (we still don’t know if MLB is coming back), Wes and I discussed what those telecasts might sound and look like with the broadcasters likely to work off-site from remote studios.
The times, they are a-changin’ — in our culture and, therefore, sports. Sports have always been a reflection of the society in which they take place — which is why the “stick to sports” cries have always been absurd.
It’s long overdue, but even the NFL is reading the room and acknowledging systemic racism in all aspects of our lives. Well, at least commissioner Roger Goodell seems to be. The other NFL owners? Not so much. Not as individuals yet. That was the main topic on Asheville’s WISE Sports Radio during my NFL segment with Pat Ryan and Mike Gore.
Ian Casselberry 