The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 6

September 15, 2020 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 8 Sports THIS WEEK SPORTS IN HISTORY On The Bench : Football needs to be consistent about fans September 15: Pim Mulier starts the Haarlem Football Club In 1879, Pim Mulier founded the Haarlem Football Club, a Dutch soccer club that ran from 1879-2010, reaching five Cup finals and winning twice in 1902 and 1912. Muller was only 14 years old when he founded the club. September 16: Washington Redskins play first NFL game under a new name Previously known as the Boston Braves from 1932-1937, the Washington Redskins played their first game under their new name against the New York Giants on Sept. 16 1937. They defeated the Giants, 13-3, and went on to win the championship later that year. September 17: Jackie Robinson named “Rookie of the Year” by Sporting News Jackie Robinson, second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was awarded the first Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Sept. 17, 1947. September 18: World Golf Hall of Fame gains two new members Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo were elected to join the 1997 World Golf Hall of Fame. Ballesteros had won a record-breaking 50 European tour titles and Faldo had won 30 and made No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for 97 weeks. September 19: Thomas Ray breaks Pole Vault Record at 17 British athlete Thomas Ray became the youngest person to break a pole- vaulting record at only 17 years old in 1879. He vaulted 11’ 2 ½”, shattering the previous record. September 20: Billie Jean King wins Battle-of-Sexes Tennis Match Billie Jean King, 22, beat seasoned champion Bobby Riggs, 55, in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in 1973. This was a major leap for women in tennis as King went on to start the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation. September 21: Nate Archibald signs deal with New York Nets Nate “Tiny” Archibald, who originally played for the Kansas City Kings, was traded to the New York Nets for a seven-year contract worth $450,000 in 1973. He played for the Nets until 1981 when he joined the Boston Celtics. As of now, the National Football League (NFL) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are giving their teams the choice of whether they will permit fans at their games this season. It’s the year 2020, the world is in a pandemic and we have the technology to watch any sporting event from the comfort of our homes. Fans should not be allowed at games until the world is in a better state. In order to eliminate the possibility of stadiums becoming hotspots for coronavirus -- leading to leagues canceling their seasons -- it is best that the fans agree to help contain the spread of COVID-19 by staying home and watching the games on television. One of the biggest sports leagues in the U.S., the NFL has no firm rules regarding the attendance of fans. As of now, the NFL has seven of the 32 franchises allowing fans. NCAA Division I football has 10 conferences, four of which have canceled their football seasons. The other six conferences plan to play their games, with some schools allowing fans at their games. In order for there to be a safe and fair season, there needs to be some consistency. College football has already been affected, and this is before games even started. In Division I of NCAA Football, there is a “Power 5,” which refers to these conferences: The Southeastern Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Pacific-12. The Big Ten and Pacific-12 have already canceled their seasons, but there are also five more conferences that are the “Group of 5.” The Group of 5 consists of the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the Sun Belt and Conference-USA. Of the Group of Five, the MWC and MAC have canceled their seasons. Of these six conferences, 30 schools have announced that fans will be allowed at their Week 1 games. The National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Hockey League (NHL) have all agreed to play their seasons without fans in attendance, so why can’t the NFL or NCAA do the same? There is no consistency in the sport of football pertaining to this issue. One game will have fans, but the next won’t. The NCAA and the NFL need to come out and either create a consensus number of fans to allow at their events or eliminate fans at events this season altogether. However, the better option would be no fans at all to preserve any chance of the seasons being canceled. By: Blake Malick Contributing Writer