Tuesday coronavirus update:: Softball team latest to have season wiped out – Pamplin Media Group

Aussie Peppers of National Pro Fastpitch unable to compete in league play this year

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The latest to have its sports year wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic: the Aussie Peppers, a pro women’s softball team in Mankato, Minnesota.

The Peppers are part of National Pro Fastpitch, whose other members are the Chicago Bandits, Cleveland Comets, California Commotion, Canadian Wild and Beijing Eagles.

The NPF said Tuesday that restrictions on international travel have made it “impossible to plan for a timeline of sending Australian athletes overseas” for league competition.

“We look forward to the future — 2021 and beyond — when we will all compete together again,” NPF Commissioner Cheri Kempf said in a statement.

The Peppers were scheduled to open their third season on June 2. The 20-plus-game season was to help lead Softball Australia, ranked eighth in the world, into the Tokyo Olympics, which have been pushed back to 2021.

The 17th NPF season was supposed to start on April 10. The league said it will announce a new plan on May 1.

NBA/Trail Blazers: The NBA remains shut down indefinitely, although numerous possibilities exist as to how the roundball play could resume.

Whether a resumption would include the Blazers is up in the air — will there be enough time for more regular-season games?

Portland was ninth in the Western Conference when games were suspended by Commissioner Adam Silver. If the NBA chose to call it a regular season, the Blazers would be out of luck — barring some new format that includes play-in games involving teams outside the top eight in each conference.

A full slate of best-of-seven postseason matchups? Would the NBA have time for that? Probably not, unless the league wants to come back next season with a later-than-usual start.

Shorter series leading up to the NBA Finals might work. Might.

Or, if all else fails, the league could just take the two conference leaders, the Lakers and Bucks, and go right to the finals, which would get huge ratings.

Or, how about taking the top four in each conference? That would mean Lakers-Utah and L.A. Clippers-Denver in the Western Conference semifinals, with Milwaukee-Miami and Toronto-Boston in the East final four. That’s what you’d call entertainment right about now for live-event starved fans and TV viewers.

The world is looking at the NBA, which generally is a leader in creativity. What will it come up with this time? Send two or more teams to a specific city, or country, or continent? Whatever happens will take a lot of buy-in, and some courage, barring a big and sudden shift in the state of the global pandemic.

MLS/Timbers: The MLS season is off until at least mid-May. The Timbers have had nine of 34 regular-season matches postponed, through their May 9 game at Salt Lake City. They and other teams are not allowed to train at this point, either.

The Timbers (1-1-0) are scheduled to return to the pitch on Sunday, May 17 at home against the Seattle Sounders.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup also has been suspended, for 30 days. That delays the first three rounds, which were set for March 24 through April 23. Portland will join the competition in the fourth round (of 32), on May 19 or 20.

Timbers 2: The United Soccer League team has suspended play until May 10. That wipes out Portland’s home opener, set for Sunday against Colorado Springs. Also gone are T2 matches versus Reno 1868, San Antonio FC, Real Monarchs SLC, OKC Energy FC, San Diego Loyal SC, FC Tulsa and Sacramento Republic FC. From May 16 through Oct. 17, Timbers 2 still have 24 league games, including 11 at Hillsboro Stadium and one at Providence Park.

A USL training moratorium is in effect through Sunday, April 5.

Thorns: The National Women’s Soccer League has canceled all preseason matches — including the Thorns’ tournament that was to be played between last Sunday and April 4 at Providence Park. Teams are prohibited from training till further notice.

The Thorns’ season opener is April 18 at Providence Park against the Utah Royals. The 24-game regular season goes through Oct. 18.

Winterhawks: The Western Hockey League canceled what was left of its regular-season and the playoffs. Portland was declared the regular-season champion based on winning percentage. The Winterhawks finished 45-11-3-4 (97 points, .770), just ahead of the Everett Silvertips 46-13-3-1 (96, .762).

Now what?

Training camps typicaly open in mid-August. The season ordinarily begins in the latter half of September.

Hops: Hillsboro’s Class A baseball team is scheduled to open June 17 at the Spokane Indians. The Hops’ home opener is June 22 against the Eugene Emeralds. The start of minor-league baseball is various levels is being delayed, however.

Pickles: Portland is part of the West Coast League, which still hopes to have its 16th season of college wood-bat baseball, but that is up in the air. The plan for now is still for the Pickles’ home slate at Walker Stadium to kick off June 3 with a nonleague game against the San Francisco Seals.

College football: The Oregon and Oregon State spring games set for April 18 were called due to the pandemic. Portland State got in most of its spring football workouts but had to cancel its 15th and final session along with its March 14 spring game.

Pac-12: On March 14, the conference canceled all sports competition through the end of the 2019-20 academic year. All team-related activities are suspended until at least March 29, when that decision will be revisited.

Big Sky: On March 18, the league, which includes Portland State, canceled all spring sports competitions and championships and suspended practices and workouts.

West Coast Conference: On March 14, the WCC canceled all spring sports for the University of Portland and its other members, including organized practices, for the 2019-20 academic year.

GNAC: The NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference, which includes Concordia and Western Oregon, has canceled all spring sports, and suspended all athletics-related activities through June 30.

The turn of events cut short the final season of Concordia athletics, as the school announced earlier this year that it will close after this academic year and that the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church Extension Fund are likely to put up the Northeast Portland school property for sale.

NWC: The NCAA Division III Northwest Conference, which includes Lewis & Clark, Pacific University, George Fox, Linfield and Willamette, on March 12 canceled spring sports competition and championships.

NAIA: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has canceled all spring sports, which wiped out track and field and golf for Multnomah and track and field, golf and softball for Warner Pacific of the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

NWAC: The junior college Northwest Athletic Conference (which includes Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College) canceled spring competitions and championships.

Preps: The Oregon School Activities Association has suspended spring practices and contests through April 28, per the closure of schools statewide by Gov. Kate Brown.

The OSAA Executive Board will meet on Wednesday and April 15 and reevaluate options for later this spring.

The Oregon High School Lacrosse Association (boys) and Oregon Girls Lacrosse Association have suspended practices and games as well.

Little League baseball/softball: Little League International, which has more than 6,5000 programs in more than 84 countries, has recommended that all leagues suspend or delay all activities until at least May 11.

Nike Hoop Summit: The annual clash at Moda Center between top young players from the U.S. and world, which was set for April 10, has been canceled by USA Basketball.

Women’s football: The Portland Fighting Shockwave’s start of the Women’s Football Alliance season has been pushed back four weeks, to May 2.

Roller derby: All Rose City Rollers skating programs are canceled. Bouts are postponed through April 18.

Skiing: Mt. Hood Meadows, Hoodoo Ski Area and Willamette Pass Ski Area suspended operations for the season.

Timberline, Mt. Hood Skibowl and Mount Bachelor are closed indefinitely.

Portland Parks & Recreation: All indoor facilities, including community centers, pools and indoor courts, are closed at least through April 14.

Bowling: Grand Central and KingPins in Southeast Portland and Milwaukie Bowl have shut down for now.

NFL/Seattle Seahawks: The draft is still on for April 23-25, but fans will not be allowed to attend in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Offseason workouts won’t start as planned in April 6.

Team facilities have been closed to players, other than to those undergoing medically supervised rehab.

Post-draft rookie mini-camps are on, at this point, for May 1-4 and 8-11.

The NFL’s spring meeting is May 19-20 at Marina Del Ray, California.

Preseason camps are slated to start in July.

The regular-season schedule generally is released in mid-April.

XFL/Seattle Dragons: The first-year, eight-team league called off the final five rounds of its 10-game regular-season and playoffs. Players with the Seattle Dragons and other teams will receive their base pay and benefits, and the league said it intends to return in 2021. 

CFL: The Canadian Football League preseason is set to start on May 24, and Week 1 of the regular season has games on June 11 and 12.

But the CFL postponed its annual global draft from April 16 to April 30, which would coincide with the start of training camps.

NHL: The league suspended play indefinitely with about three weeks left in its regular season. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said because each team has played at least 68 games, “we have had a meaningful regular season in terms of separating potential playoff teams from non-playoff teams.” That shows the NHL is mostly contemplating what kind of playoff tournament it could hold in a shortened time period, even if the format calls for single-elimination matchups.

Also up in the air are the NHL scouting combine, June 1-6 at Buffalo, and the NHL draft, June 26-27 at Montreal.

Minor-league hockey: The American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League, which also include several former Winterhawks, have gone dark. The AHL suspended play indefinitely, and the ECHL has canceled the remainder of its season.

MLB/Seattle Mariners: The major leagues called off the rest of spring training, postponed opening day until at least May and might wind up not starting until around Memorial Day, if then. The 2020 season was scheduled to begin on March 26.

Owners and have players have agreed to talk about how and when to start, and how to pay players and credit them for service if it never does. Both sides said they would play beyond the typical end of the World Series, if necessary.

The Seattle Mariners and all other teams still have been allowed to make roster moves, cut players from spring rosters and reassign or option players to minor-league teams.

The Mariners were to have opened their season with a home series against Texas, March 26-29.

The All-Star game is set for July 14, with the Los Angeles Dodgers serving as host.

WNBA: The league will go forward with its April 17 draft, in which Oregon Ducks stars Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard are expected to be high selections. Players will not be on site, and no fans will attend. It will be on ESPN2, starting at 4 p.m. PT.

Training camps remain booked to start April 26, with the regular season to begin on May 15. But, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said “the health and safety of players and employees — with our teams and at the league level — is of the utmost importance.”

The first four picks in the draft belong to, in order, the New York Liberty, the Dallas Wings, the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream.

Olympics: The Tokyo Summer Games, which were slated for July 24-Aug. 9, have been rescheduled for 2021, from July 23 through Aug. 8.

The Paralympics will take place Aug. 24 through Sept. 5 in 2021.

Track and field: The Pac-12 championships that were set Corvallis (multi-events, May 9 and 10) and for the still-under-rebuilding Hayward Field (May 16 and 17) have been canceled.

USA Track & Field also called off the Olympic Trials, which awere booked for Hayward Field from June 19-28.

Another Hayward favorite, the annual Nike Prefontaine Classic, is slated for June 7, but ticket sales have been suspended for nearly three weeks.

The biggest events in Portland — the Portland Track Festival and Stumptown Twilight — are scheduled for June 4 and 5, and June 12, respectively, at Lewis & Clark College. The PTF Youth Festival, set for May 30-31, has been canceled.

The USATF Under-20 championships are June 12-14 at Miramar, Florida.

The annual Hershey UASTF National Youth Indoor Championship, which was set for March 20-22 at Staten Island, New York, has been canceled.

The Drake Relays (April 25, Des Moines, Iowa) have been canceled. The Penn Relays (April 25, Philadelphia) have been canceled, though officials said they will try to have a substitute track meet in late May or early June.

Marathons: The Portland Marathon is not until Oct. 4. The Boston Marathon, however, was postponed last week for five months and now is set for Sept. 14.

IndyCar: IndyCar canceled the first four events on its 2020 calendar, races in St. Petersburg, Florida, Birmingham, Alabama, Long Beach, California and Austin, Texas.

Thirteen events remain, but so far two have been rescheduled: the May 9 GRM Grand Prix on a 14-turn road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 on the IMS’ 2.5-mile oval. The GRM Grand Prix has moved from May 9 to July 4. The Indy 500 has been switched from May 24 to Aug. 23.

The Grand Prix of Portland had to be moved back one week and is now scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at Portland International Raceway.

The next lives races are slated for Detroit on May 30 and 31.

PIR has canceled events until the last week in April.

NASCAR: The stock car governing body has canceled races through May 3. In the Nascar Cup Series, seven events lost at least for now are now listed as TBD: The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the Food City 500 at Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway, the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond (Virginia) Raceway, the Gico 500 at Talladega (Florida) Superspeedway and the NASCAR Cup Series Race at Dover (Delaware) International Speedway.

Next on tap in the series is the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Drag racing: The 32nd annual Hot Rod Nationals at Woodburn Dragstrip are Aug. 7-9.

PGA Tour: The tour has canceled eight events through the AT&T Byron Nelson, which was to end on May 10.

The Masters, which was scheduled for April 9-12, has been postponed, with no new date announced.

The PGA Championship, the second of four majors on the 2020 men’s calendar, has been postponed from May 14-17 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco to dates to be determined.

The U.S. Open is expected to be delayed from June 18-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester County, New York.

The next PGA Tour event on the calendar is May 21-24, the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Men’s golf: Phil Mickelson indicates he is working on some kind of show for television during the quarantine, perhaps even a rematch of his November 2018, made-for-TV match with Tiger Woods.

LPGA Tour: The ladies tour has postponed nine events and shifted others.

Events are postponed through the LPGA Mediheal Championship April 30-May 3 in Daly City, Calif.

Next up is the May 14-17 Pelican Women’s Championship at Belleair, Florida.

The first scheduled major event is the U.S. Women’s Open, June 4-7 at Houston.

The Evian Championship in France has moved from late July to Aug. 6-9. The ANA Inspiration, which was supposed to be the first of the five majors, has been pushed back from the first week of April to Sept. 10-13.

The Cambia Portland Classic thus will be played one week later than planned; it is now set for Sept. 17-20 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

From Portland, the top women golfers in the world will go to the Volunteers of America Classic at The Colony, Texas, for an Oct. 1-4 tournament.

Other women’s golf: The Symetra Tour, a supporting circuit, postponed events in late March in Beaumont, Calif., and April 2-4 at Windsor, Calif. Next on the calendar is the IOA Invitational May 7-9, at Milton, Georgia.

The Ladies European Tour is idle unil the May 7-9 Jabra Ladies Open at Evian, France.

The Japan LPGA Tour and the Asian Tour each canceled three tournaments in March. The Asian Tour rescheduled one event for May 8-10 in Hong Kong.

European Tour: The tour has postponed five events and canceled two others. Next on the docket is the May 28-31 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in Kilkenny, Ireland. Tourneys postponed were in Nairobi, Kenya; New Delhi, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Shenzhun, China; Sotogrande, Spain; Farso, Denmark. Canceled was an event in Cascais,Portugal.

Korn Ferry Tour: The second-level circuit under the PGA Tour umbrella has canceled six events through the April 30-May 3 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation at Nashville, Tennessee. Two other events were postponed, the latest the Visit Knoxville Open, May 14-17.

As of now, the tour is set to resume May 21-24, with the Evans Scholars Invitational at Glenview, Illinois.

The annual WinCo Foods Portland Open at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club is Aug. 6-9.

Local golf: The Oregon Golf Association has canceled all April events. Next is the PNGA Cup Matches, May 6-8 at Kamloops, British Columbia.

The Pacific Northwest Senior PGA this week postponed indefinitely its Players Championship, which had been set for April 14-15 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington. Still on is the May 18-20 Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open at Kent, Wash.

Tennis: The ATP men’s and WTA women’s pro tours have extended their suspension of tournaments until June 7. The men would get back in action June 8 at Stuttgart, Germany. The women have a June 8 start in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Softball: National Pro Fastpitch has postponed its March 30 draft and canceled opening day and opening series events set for April 10-19. The league said it would announce revised scheduling plans on May 1.

Horse racing: The Kentucky Derby has been postponed from May 2 to Sept. 5. The other Triple Crown races are still on: the Preakness on May 16, and the Belmont Stakes on June 6. But both are considering a shift to September or October.

Grants Pass Downs has canceled its Racing on the Rogue meet, which was set for Sundays and Mondays from May 10 through June 8. A summer meet, with racing on Saturdays and Sundays, is still on for June 20 through July 12, with a fall meet Sept. 20 through Nov. 9.

International basketball: The EuroLeague has suspended all games, and the National Basketball League in Australia canceled its finals after three games of a best-of-five series.

But the Chinese Basketball Association is preparing to resume, and various U.S. players, including veteran point guard Pooh Jeter from the University of Portland, have returned to compete. The Chinese league hopes to resume in early April — probably with no fans in the stands. The playoffs are due soon.

Fencing: In addition to the postponed by one year of the Tokyo Olympics, various World Cup events have been postponed in Hungary, Argentina, Belgium and Uzbekistan, along with the Junior world championships originally set for April 3-11 at Salt Lake City.

Volleyball: The VIVB Volleyball Nations League has been postponed. The U.S. men were scheduled to play host to Brazil, Canada and Argentina May 22-24 in Pittsburgh, and the U.S. women, who are two-time defending champions, were slated to play host to Japan, Turkey and Belgium June 9-11 at Wichita State University in Kansas.