THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, March 20, 2020 Page 15 Most topsy-turvy, eventful sports week in modern history leads to...no events By Steve Freker I Local high school sports in limbo after MIAA postpones spring start to at least April 27 Automatically, sports-wise, t has been a week like no other. For sure. The Coronavirus suddenly had turned its sights on a target in which many of us are deeply involved: The Sports World. We had already sensed its unrelenting, unforgiving approach. A trickle of rumors and agitated gossip among friends and colleagues late last Thursday quickly morphed into a veritable avalanche of postponements and suspensions. Then a lot of those, too, quickly were transformed onto outright cancellations of events, then seasons, for many of those on the lower rungs of the sports ladder. Common sense and reality intertwined. Athletic events involve prolonged, close personal contact among all involved: players, coaches and officials. Fans are grouped closely together for prolonged periods of time. All are breeding grounds for transmission of a highly contagious virus such as COVID-19. When two NBA players were announced as testing positive for Coronavirus/COVID-19, it seemed like that sealed the deal on a lot of the moves that followed. And these decisions were not being made dayby-day, mind you. Not overnight. This stuff was coming at us seemingly by the hour. MALDEN: TODAY | FROM PAGE 10 Almost three months and going strong parking on both sides of the street! Kudos to Mayor Gary Christenson, Parking Department Director Ron “The Hoginator” Hogan and Parking Department Supervisor Ernie Ardolino for thinking outside the box for the benefit of all Maldonians. • I continue my search for Malden “ghost ads” – those advertisements from bygone days that have survived urban renewal, gentrification and the Blizzard of ’78. Ads such as the one that remains on the side of the old Granada Theater (City Hall) or the old “Donald Francis” sign that is still attached to the back door of the MATV studios, or the “GorIn some cases, turn away from your laptop or the Twitter or Instagram feed on your iPhone for a minute or two... and new news would pop up. Literally, it was just a matter of about 90 minutes last Friday when some big news changed rapidly. There was talk that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) would be allowing the state championship tournament finals to go on as planned with no fans. Then, in an abrupt about-face, the title finals were cancelled, and co-championship designations were announced. Unprecedented. Big news changed rapidly in past 10 days All of this came after a full couple days of all the major professional sports, first NBA, then NHL and then MLB, all suspending operations “until further notice” and virtually every college league in every sport cancelling the spring sports season. Shocking, to say the least, for those embedded in the sports world. Many colleges had already cancelled on-campus classes by last Friday, and those that had not followed suit earlier this week. The biggest jolt locally was when it was announced that schools would be closed “at least two weeks” in the communities of Malden, Everett, Revere and others in the immediate area. don’s” sign that greets you as you enter Malden Access TV a.k.a. Urban Media Arts’ front door, or the Boston Leader logo located outside Hugh O’Neill’s. Shoot me an email if you spy any Malden “ghost ads,” and I’ll give them a shout-out in a future column. Paul Sherman and Dana Smith – I am giving you both a homework assignment. “This is the end, beautiful friend, this is the end, my only friend, the end...” It is with heavy heart I send condolences to the Caiazzo family on the loss of their beautiful mother, Angeline. “It is at our mother’s knee that we acquire our noblest and truest and highest ideals”—Mark Twain. Rest peacefully, Angeline Caiazzo. that postponed the planned start of the spring sports season for local high schools and middle school athletics, which had been this past Monday, March 16. The hard-and-fast rule of course, is that if school is not in session, there are no athletics in action. Over this past weekend, Governor Charlie Baker upped the ante on the school closing situation in Massachusetts due to spreading Coronavirus, closing all schools in Massachusetts until at least April 6. The MIAA had initially issued a directive last Friday stating the start of the spring sports season would be postponed until March 30. This move already pointed to the very good probability of a shortened spring season for all, considering baseball, lacrosse, softball and tennis customarily field 16-20 games per season. MIAA postpones spring sports start until April 27 Following Governor Baker’s weekend announcement of a longer, statewide school closing directive, the MIAA came back with another postponement date: Monday, April 27. At this time, this date means that the preseason starts on this date, not game play. It is line with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and presidential advisory over the weekSHUTDOWN | FROM PAGE 5 Oteri, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley has exempted schools from going beyond 185 days. In Malden, which had one snow day early in winter, the last day of school will be June 19. Parents also had questions about distance learning, but Oteri said days lost to the shutdown are considered nonschool days. “There will be no teaching of new material, or any work or assignments to be graded,” he said. The district will, however, be providing enrichment and learning activities to keep students engaged, much like summer reading lists. end urging no gatherings of 25 or more persons for eight weeks. The MIAA also stated that it intends to keep the same end-of-season calendar parameters as to postseason tournaments and their conclusion. At this time, the postseason state tournaments would begin on June 7 and conclude with championship finals in baseball and softball on June 20. An April 27 start of the season almost certainly means a shortened regular season for most if not all spring sports. Some in the local high school sports world have speculated possibilities of regular seasons with just league games played, 8-12 at most, if the season is abbreviated, calendar-wise, to four weeks in May and a week in June. Nothing has been directed or marked out by the MIAA in that regard. It is still way too early to forecast much of anything due to the ever-changing scenario. Fluid situation equals ever-changing scenarios A word being used frequently by the decision-makers in all areas and levels has been “fluid,” and that’s exactly what we are dealing with these days. It was very unfortunate that high school student-athletes were not able to play their final championship games. There are plenty of local student-athletes who saw their college seasons disappear in one email last week. There are hundreds of kids locally and thousands statewide whose spring seasons are set squarely in limbo right now due to the Coronavirus and necessary steps taken to keep them safe health-wise. Yes, many can and have said, “It’s only sports. The main thing is to keep people safe,” and they are 100 percent correct. But it is still very appropriate and positive to feel and express compassion for all the college and high school people and others associated with the sports world whose lives, goals and aspirations have been put on hold while we face this international crisis. It is often said that dealing and coping with adversity is a major part of participating in sports. True words in these trying times. Hopkins named Northeast-10 Baseball Player of the Week W ALTHAM – Bentley University senior shortstop Christopher Hopkins, a 2014 graduate of Malden Catholic High School, has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week for his performance in four games in Florida last week. In a 3-1 week, Hopkins was 7-for16 with a .875 slugging percentage, a .550 on-base percentage, six runs scored, eight runs batted in, four doubles and a home run. He was 5-for5 with 11 total bases, two doubles, one home run, three runs scored and four runs batted in, in a 13-6 win over Bloomfield. He also drove in three runs in a 15-8 victory over Bridgeport. After missing most of last season with an injury, Hopkins leads the 5-9 Falcons in hitting at .362, with his 17 hits including seven doubles and Christopher Hopkins, a senior at Bentley University and a 2014 graduate of Malden Catholic High School , was recently named the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week. (Photo Courtesy of Bentley University) two home runs. He also leads the team in slugging (.638) and has a .455 on-base percentage.
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