By William Hathaway
This week in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Nov. 30 that after a tough decision, he has suspended high school indoor sports for youth and high schoolers due to COVID-19 concerns. The virus altered the high school football season, with teams having a six game regular season. Several games were outright cancelled.
Murphy’s order, which is in effect from Dec. 5 to Jan. 2, does not include pro sports and college basketball games. However, like with the Giants and Jets, no fans will be in attendance. The Seton Hall men’s basketball could eb playing at Newark’s Prudential Center in a setting similar to when NJIT had home games there. Their first road game was just as disappointing, a 71-70 loss to Louisville.
In other sports, the 4-7 New York Giants are now in first place in the disgusting NFC East. Big Blue has now won three games in a row, thanks to a sloppy but effective 19-17 at the Cincinnati Bengals. Meanwhile, the Jets remain in last place in the entire NFL, dropping to 0-11 after a 20-3 home loss to former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins.
By the time you see this, the Steelers and Ravens may or may not have played their previously scheduled Thanksgiving night game. The contest was pushed back due to several Ravens players, and eventually Steelers, testing positive for COVID-19. While the NFL has been patient with these two squads, they showed no patience with the Denver Broncos. That team had to play the New Orleans Saints with a practice squad WR playing QB due to all four regular QBs out due to either testing positive for the virus or in close proximity with no masks around a QB with the virus.
