Podcast: Will NBA strike trickle down to college football? And Hard Rock opens to fans
It was less than three months ago when the Miami Hurricanes — players, coaches and even administrators alike — all gathered in the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility to take a knee for eight minutes 46 seconds as a statement against racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police.
The sports world was still on hold then in the United States, ramping up back to a return amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, another act of police violence brought the sports world to a halt once again. The Milwaukee Bucks, just about an hour before they were set to tip off against the Orlando Magic in the NBA playoffs, decided to go on strike in protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake on Sunday. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association decided to postpone all its games Wednesday and Thursday. Several MLB and Major League Soccer teams — and, eventually, even the NHL on Thursday — followed suit.
In the NFL, teams decided not to hold practices. On Thursday, college football joined in as multiple teams, including the Boston College Eagles and South Florida Bulls, decided not to practice. On a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast, David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Miami Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, discuss the sports-led protests, how Miami has reacted and what it could mean for the looming season.
This week also brought another major piece of news: The Hurricanes will have some fans in the stands when they open their season next month against the UAB Blazers. It’s a sign of some returning normalcy in Miami-Dade County as cases of the coronavirus decline, but is it too much with more than 5 percent of COVID tests across the state — and even more in the county — still typically coming back positive?
Don’t worry, there’s some real football talk in here, too. The Hurricanes held their second preseason scrimmage Saturday and we learned the offense still might be behind the defense after Miami finally got back to full strength on the defensive line. We also talk once again about the freshman running backs, fellow running back Cam’Ron Harris’ big performance and the Hurricanes’ thrilling freshmen from Deerfield Beach.
