Hot USA News

#Breaking MLB Commemorates The 100th Anniversary Of The Negro Leagues The Negro Leagues showcased Black baseball players when they were banned from the big leagues. Now, Major League Baseball is planning to celebrate its centennial. Read more on NPR

#Breaking 'This Is History': NBA To Hold First Games In 'Bubble' Amid Pandemic Only 22 of the league's 30 teams will play in the truncated season. The NBA is experimenting with keeping players in a so-called "bubble" to try to keep the coronavirus from seeping into its ranks. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Philadelphia Phillies Put Brakes On Home Games After Coronavirus Cases The Philadelphia Phillies are the latest Major League Baseball team to put a halt to games after several coronavirus cases among team personnel. It follows their weekend series against Miami. Read more on NPR

#Breaking NBA Players Share What It's Like To Live In A 'Bubble' The NBA season resumes Thursday night, with teams living and playing at Disney World. The temporary basketball campus is called a "bubble," and NBA players have documented their lives there. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Quarterback Tom Brady Mentioned In New York Woman's Death Notice Disdain for the former New England Patriots quarterback apparently transcends life. A death notice for Carole Scarsella who lived outside Buffalo included: "She HATED Tom Brady." Read more on NPR

#Breaking MLB Marks The 100th Anniversary Of The Negro Leagues As protests over racial injustice in the U.S. continue, Major League Baseball is honoring the Negro Leagues that showcased Black baseball players at a time the sport was segregated. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Empty Stands, No Spitting: The New Rules Of Baseball During The Pandemic About half of the Miami Marlins' roster has tested positive for COVID. ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian explains the challenges Major League Baseball faces as play resumes amid the pandemic. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Texas Allows High School Sports In The Fall High schools across the country are deciding whether to allow or postpone fall sports. In Texas — where Friday nights in the fall are for football — public schools are going to give athletics a go. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Miami Marlins Games Postponed Until Sunday Due To Coronavirus Cases At least 17 Miami Marlins players and staff members have reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. The team is currently self-quarantining in Philadelphia. Read more on NPR

#Breaking News Brief: GOP Relief Bill, Hospital Bed Capacity, MLB Postponements After delays, Republicans roll out pandemic relief bill. The crisis is overwhelming public health capacity in many states. And, Major League Baseball postpones 3 games after a coronavirus outbreak. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Missing Sports During The Pandemic, Fans Try To Spy On The Action Fans of auto racing in Poland rented 21 cranes and parked them outside the speedway in Lublin to get a view of the race. They had the view from the cheap seats — at the price of the best ones. Read more on NPR

#Breaking After Coronavirus Outbreak Among Miami Marlins, Is It Safe To Play Ball? Major League Baseball has postponed three games because of a coronavirus outbreak in the Miami Marlins' organization. At least 13 players and coaches have tested positive for COVID-19. Read more on NPR

#Breaking MLB To Reschedule 2 Games Due To Coronavirus Outbreak Among Miami Marlins Major League Baseball postponed two games on Monday, after at least a dozen Miami Marlins players and staff tested positive for the coronavirus. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Just Days Into Season, MLB Postpones Two Games Due To Coronavirus Concerns A Marlins-Orioles match-up and a Phillies-Yankees game have both been postponed while the league carries out additional testing for COVID-19. Read more on NPR

#Breaking With 2020 Olympics Postponed, Erik Shoji Stays On His Game Olympic volleyball player Erik Shoji discusses what he's up to this summer now that the 2020 Tokyo Games have been pushed to next year. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Cardboard Cutouts, Loud Noises Bring Fandom To Baseball Stadiums With Major League Baseball stadiums empty due to coronavirus restrictions, teams are pumping in crowd noise and fans are finding a way to attend — in cardboard form. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Week In Sports: Major League Baseball Begins With Shortened Season Leila Fadel talks to ESPN's Howard Bryant about Major League Baseball.The shortened season is finally underway, punctuated by concerns about the pandemic and social justice. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Texas Rangers To Start The Season At A New But Empty Stadium The 2020 season for Major League Baseball has finally begun. The Texas Rangers will play at a new but mostly empty stadium. Ballpark officials came up with a way to cheer players during the game. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Alone In The Wild: Long-Distance Endurance Runs Gain Popularity During The Pandemic NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Anna Wiederkehr of FiveThirtyEight about the growing popularity of long-distance endurance runs during the pandemic. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Forces Beyond Their Control Dash Dreams Of U.S. Olympic Athletes — Then And Now The Tokyo Games was postponed until July, 2021 due to COVID-19, forcing thousands of athletes to re-order their training schedules. Those athletes share a bond with U.S. Olympians 40 years ago. Read more on NPR

#Breaking U.S. Olympic Team Waves Goodbye To Its Dreams, Just Like Athletes 40 Years Ago With the Summer Olympics delayed due to the pandemic, some U.S. athletes now share a bond with Olympians from 40 years ago whose dreams also ended because of factors they couldn't control. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Major League Baseball Begins The Pandemic-Shortened 2020 Season Major League Baseball begins its 2020 season Thursday despite the coronavirus raging in the U.S. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Evan Drellich of The Athletic about the shortened season this year. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Baseball Shouts 'Play Ball!' But For How Long? A Nervous 2020 Season Begins Major League Baseball's delayed and shortened regular season gets underway Thursday. There will be no fans in the stands and plenty of health and safety protections for the players and team officials. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Major League Baseball's Shorter Season May Have Big Effects Major League Baseball is back. Only this year, each team is scheduled to play 60 regular season games. The abbreviated schedule may affect the game more than any other sport. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Behind The Scenes: 1 Man Creates Crowd Noise For Sporting Events With soccer stadiums empty of fans because of COVID-19, broadcasters are juicing up their feeds with prerecorded sound of crowds. Major League Baseball will take a similar approach. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Rare LeBron James Trading Card Auctioned For Record $1.8 Million The card shows LeBron James on the court during his 2003 rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The card is also signed by James. The auction house says there were only 23 of the cards made. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Dr. Anthony Fauci To Throw First Pitch For Washington Nationals' Season Opener The baseball fan — and expert on infectious diseases — will make the ceremonial first toss when his hometown team gets the virus-delayed season underway against the New York Yankees in Thursday. Read more on NPR

#Breaking NFL Players Blitz Social Media To Voice Virus Concerns Before Training Camps Start NFL players such as Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes are asking league officials to clarify coronavirus safety protocols. Some NFL players report to training camp on Monday. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Canada Says No To Home Games For Toronto Blue Jays The Canadian government told the baseball team that the coronavirus would make it unsafe for players to travel between the U.S. and Canada. All MLB teams are set to begin games without fans. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Saturday Sports: Washington's NFL Team Faces Sexual Harassment Allegations After a troubling report on sexual harrassment at the Washington NFL club, can owner Dan Synder be forced out? Also - minor league baseball fans are enjoying games, with some pandemic modifications. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Washington NFL Owner Says Reported Harassment 'Has No Place' in Franchise In a Washington Post report, 15 women alleged they were sexually harassed and verbal abused while working for the football team. Owner Dan Snyder and the NFL pledge action on the allegations. Read more on NPR

#Breaking NCAA President Warns 'The Data Point In The Wrong Direction' For Fall College Sports "If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic," said NCAA President Mark Emmert. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Pro Sports Are Returning. Their COVID-19 Testing Is Top Notch, But Is It Ethical? The NBA and Major League Soccer are getting underway in their 'protective' bubbles near Orlando. They get regular COVID-19 tests and quick results. But that's not the case for regular Floridians. Read more on NPR

#Breaking 15 Women Speak Out About Culture Of Sexual Harassment Within Washington NFL Team NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Liz Clarke of The Washington Post about her article where 15 former female employees spoke on the culture of sexual harassment within the Washington NFL team. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Floridians Get Coronavirus Test Results Slowly. Pro Athletes Are Tested Regularly Coronavirus cases are spiking in Florida, and many residents have to wait too long for test results. Meanwhile, NBA and Major League Soccer players in Orlando are being tested regularly and quickly. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Baseball-Starved Fans Turn Out To Watch Middle-Aged Men Play With Major League Baseball games to be played in empty stadiums, and the minor league season cancelled, fans are showing up at amateur leagues. Read more on NPR

#Breaking 2021 Rose Parade Canceled For First Time Since WWII Due To Coronavirus Threat Millions of Americans tune in on January 1 to celebrate the New Year by watching the Rose Parade from Pasadena, California. But next year's parade has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more on NPR

#Breaking GOP Senator On Defense As WNBA Team She Co-Owns Embraces 'Black Lives Matter' "The truth is, we need less — not more politics in sports," wrote Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, an owner of the Atlanta Dream, to the WNBA's commissioner. The team's players strongly disagree. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Sen. Kelly Loeffler, WNBA Clash Over Black Lives Matter Movement Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler is a co-owner of Atlanta's WNBA team. The team's players have embraced the Black Lives Matter movement while Loeffler has called on the WNBA to drop its support for BLM. Read more on NPR

#Breaking An Activist Shares Her Reaction To Washington NFL Team Finally Retiring Its Name NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with Crystal Echo Hawk, an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, about the Washington NFL team's announcement that it will retire its name and mascot. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Washington NFL Team To Drop Name And Logo Washington's NFL team has announced they're retiring their controversial name and logo following a review. Read more on NPR

#Breaking After Mounting Pressure, Washington's NFL Franchise Drops Its Team Name The Washington Redskins have announced the team will be dropping its moniker, which is widely considered a slur against Native Americans. The head coach and team owner are developing a new name. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Baseball Players In Fenway Stadium Play Game To Sound Of Recorded Fans Major League Baseball tried to make up for the non-existent fans at a Red Sox game on Friday. They used pre-recorded cheers and music. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Week In Sports: Ivy League Schools Cancel Fall Sports Amid COVID-19 Pandemic NPR's Scott Simon and ESPN's Howard Bryant discuss the week's top sports stories, including the Ivy League calling off their season because of the pandemic. Read more on NPR

#Breaking The Racial Justice Reckoning Over Sports Team Names Is Spreading In the wake of George Floyd's killing, Confederate monuments have fallen, food companies have scrubbed racist imagery from labels, and now, pro sports teams names are under fresh review. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Nearly Every Major League Baseball Team Has Had A Coronavirus Test Come Back Positive So far, 71 players have tested positive for the coronavirus, the MLB said on Friday. "I'm actually kind of pleased it's as low as that," the league's medical director says. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Notre Dame University Hires First Black Woman Head Coach Once the new college basketball season begins, Niele Ivey will become Notre Dame's first Black woman head coach of its basketball program. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Sports Teams Consider Changing Team Names Amid Racial Reckoning As racial justice reckoning occurs across the country, a number of professional sports teams are feeling pressure to change their names that are viewed by some as deeply offensive. Read more on NPR

#Breaking College Sports Falling Victim To Coronavirus And Financial Stresses The Ivy League has put all sports on hold until at least January, while Stanford plans to discontinue 11 of its 36 varsity programs after this academic year. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Major League Soccer To Begin Its Special Tournament Despite Safety Concerns Major League Soccer's special tournament is set to begin Wednesday night. But one team has already withdrawn, and another one is on hold due to players testing positive for the coronavirus. Read more on NPR

#Breaking How LeBron James' Infamous Decision Changed The League Forever NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Kevin Arnovitz, an NBA writer for ESPN, about how LeBron James' decision to take his talents to South Beach 10 years ago has changed the league. Read more on NPR

#Breaking The Coronavirus Disrupts Resumed High School Baseball And Softball Seasons In Iowa Iowa became the first state to resume high school sports, allowing baseball and softball players to start competing on June 1. The coronavirus has already disrupted seasons for more than 40 teams. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup Postponed Due To The Pandemic Organizers announced on Wednesday that the Ryder Cup will be held in September 2021 instead of the initially scheduled 2020 date. It is the first postponement of the event since Sept. 11. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Baseball Summer Camp - Sharpening Skills While Fending Off The Coronavirus Major League Baseball is getting ready to play ball once again. But it all depends on the coronavirus. Teams have begun 'summer training' before a shortened season that's supposed to begin on July 23. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Major League Baseball To Start The 2020 Season At The End Of July Major League Baseball is gearing up to begin its regular season later this month. For now, players have resumed their training — with a whole host of coronavirus safety protocols and restrictions. Read more on NPR

#Breaking 'Say Her Name': WNBA Dedicates 2020 Season To Social Justice Initiatives The WNBA says this season, players will wear warm-up shirts with the words "Say Her Name" on them to call attention to the "forgotten victims" of violence and police brutality. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Trump Calls For NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace To Apologize Over Noose 'Hoax' The president followed up a pair of divisive speeches over the holiday weekend by castigating the racing body for banning the Confederate flag and said Wallace should apologize to his fellow drivers. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Joey Chestnut Sets New Record With 13th Hot Dog Eating Contest Win A record that's hard for most people to swallow: Joey Chestnut, has won his 13th Nathan's hot dog eating contest - 75 hot dogs. Oooft! At least there was social distancing. Read more on NPR

#Breaking This Book Teaches Kids 'How To Solve A Problem' Like A Rock Climber Would Nineteen-year-old Ashima Shiraishi may be one of the most talented rock climbers in the world, but lofty titles aside, she wants kids to know that most of climbing — and life — is "just falling." Read more on NPR

#Breaking Week In Sports: Washington Football Team Agrees To Review Controversial Name The Washington football team is again under pressure to change its name. Former WNBA player Maya Moore helps free a man from prison. And, will basketball seasons take place this year? Read more on NPR

#Breaking Opinion: Outplaying Segregation, National Negro League hits 100 Year Milestone NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the 100th anniversary of National Negro League as a response to segregation in Major League Baseball. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Washington NFL Team Announces It Will Review Its Name NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Kevin Blackistone, a sports commentator and a professor at the University of Maryland, about the Washington NFL team announcing Friday that it will review its name. Read more on NPR

#Breaking 'College Football Parents 24/7' Advocacy Group Asks NCAA To Enforce Coronavirus Rules Chris and Mya Hinton, parents of two football players, got worried the NCAA is not protecting college athletes during their training well enough. Now, they are mobilizing concerned parents nationwide. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Washington Redskins Say Team Name Will Undergo A 'Thorough Review' The NFL franchise announced Friday that recent events have pushed it to examine its controversial name. In recent days, corporate sponsors and investors have put pressure on the team to take action. Read more on NPR

#Breaking Washington NFL Team's Sponsor FedEx Formally Asks For Team Name Change FedEx, which paid $205 million in 1999 for the naming rights to the Redskins' stadium, says it has "communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name." Read more on NPR

#Breaking Need A Polling Place With Social Distancing? 3 NBA Teams Offer Venues The offers come as many NBA players have upped their involvement in social causes. Superstar LeBron James has a new group aimed at protecting Black citizens' voting rights. Read more on NPR

#Breaking The NFL Will Play 'Lift Every Voice And Sing' Before Each Season-Opener Game The song known as the "Black national anthem" will play before "The Star Spangled Banner." The league is working with players on a variety of measures to recognize victims of racism. Read more on NPR

#Breaking NBA Says 9 More Players Test Positive For Coronavirus That brings the total up to 25. Put another way, that is 7% of the league. This comes as games are scheduled to resume later this month. Team staff have fared better — 10 positive tests out of 844. Read more on NPR