Your “Not All Rabbit Holes Are Gold” Wednesday Evening Open Thread

NFL Nuggets:

• The big news is Dr. Fauci saying whether an NFL season — or college football season — takes place this fall is “impossible to call” at this juncture.
  • He clarified his remarks about teams maintaining a “bubble”, where he said,
    • “I was asked by officials from the NFL about risks associated with various scenarios that the NFL might face in consideration of the upcoming season. I provided advice from a public health standpoint. The ultimate decision is not mine but that of the officials of the NFL and the players themselves.”
  • “I merely provide advice based on data and science. I certainly do not make the call on whether a league can or cannot return.”
• In that attendance vein, the NFL announced that it will allow teams to sell camera-visible signage to local sponsors.
  • The first six to eight rows in every stadium, including on-field suites, are off limits to fans this season in order to protect players, coaches and team staff from COVID-19 exposure.
    • That will allow ad revenue to be generated from the covered seats, akin to what the Premier League did when it returned.

• The Ravens & Seahawks are the leading contenders to land Antonio Brown.
  • Both teams are mentioned because of their connections to Brown.
    • The Ravens employ his cousin Marquise Brown.
    • Brown has been working out with Seahawks backup QB Geno Smith.
  • If/when Brown comes back, he faces league discipline for his no-contest pleas to burglary & battery charges for an incident last year.

• The [Redacteds] have taken a step towards dealing with their overall racism by removing George Preston Marshall’s name from their Ring of Honor. 
  • Marshall’s Washington team was famously the last to integrate.
    • Marshall once said he would sign African American players when the Harlem Globetrotters signed white players.
  • He refused to do so because he felt he would lose a large proportion of his southern fanbase.
    • The [Redacteds] were the southernmost franchise in the league at the time, and Marshall had their marching band play “Dixie” on the field for 23 years.
  • Their 1962 integration happened only because Interior Secretary Stewart Udall told Marshall he would otherwise revoke the newly signed 30-year lease to D.C. Stadium, which sat on federal land.
    • The first black player to play for them – Bobby Mitchell – will have his number 49 retired this season.
  • Dan Snyder formally stated in 2013 he would never change the name, and is sticking by that stance.
    • Despite obvious calls to change it in light of recent PR.
  • Marshall’s statue was removed from outside old RFK Stadium last week, after it was vandalized.

Big Daddy Drew took a run at Bill Simmons today.

• I think we can all agree Simmons is an asshat, but what BDD outlines is the soft liberal racism that infects a certain species of NE Liberal.
  • Unlike the overt racism that infects Patriot fans & Barstool readers.

https://twitter.com/drewmagary/status/1275813155827040258

• It’s also a Greatest Hits about why Simmons is overrated, and has become so rich he doesn’t feel he needs to change.

Tonight’s … entertainment?:

• Wrasslin’:
  • AEW Dynamite – 8:00PM | TNT / TSN2
    • We already know there’s no Jimmy Havoc or Sammy Guevara, thanks to #SpeakingOut
  • NXT – 8:00PM | USA
    • This will show if WWE got the #SpeakingOut message, because Velveteen Dream has played a prominent role up to now. His appearance or non-appearance will speak volumes.
• Time for Change: We Won’t be Defeated – 8:00 PM | ESPN
  • A roundtable discussion examining black athletes’ experiences with injustice, and how sports can unify a divided nation. ESPN’s Elle Duncan, Michael Eaves, Jay Harris and Maria Taylor host.
• Giants of Africa – 9:00 PM | ESPN
  • A behind-the-scenes look at a basketball youth program set up in Africa by Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, showcasing basketball as a tool to create lasting change and to empower others to dream big. The program is examined in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda.

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday afternoon that Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe and Doug Wilson were elected in the men’s player category. They will be joined in the Class of 2020 by Canadian female star goaltender Kim St. Pierre and three-time Stanley Cup winning GM Ken Holland in the builder category.

Jeremy Roenick – shut out! No Hall; no NBC…