The Washington Post - USA (2020-07-28)

KLMNO

SPORTS

TUESDAY, JULY 28 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

Sure, none of that is certain,

but Monday morning’s news that

at least 13 members of the Miami

Marlins and their staff have

tested positive for the novel

coronavirus in recent days was a

Category 5 covid-19 hurricane

alert. You couldn’t have a worse

MLB start or a grimmer predictor

for other games.

With lots of inherent social

distancing, baseball was

supposed to be the easiest major

American team sport to resume,

just as leagues in Japan and

South Korea have functioned

smoothly for months. But MLB

couldn’t go even a week without

SEE BOSWELL ON D3

Cancel the MLB
year, maybe by the
end of this week.
Forget about
the NFL season;
it’s never going to
happen.
The idea of
attempting a
college football season — putting
amateur athletes at risk — is
obscenely unthinkable.
Within days or a couple of
weeks, we also may find out just
how feasible it is for the NBA, in
its Florida bubble, or the NHL,
playing in two hub cities in
Canada, to finish truncated
seasons and crown champions.

Baseball isn’t safe in a country

so reckless about this pandemic

Thomas
Boswell

BY ROMAN STUBBS

When she arrived at Boise State’s campus

this past fall, Lindsay Hecox finally felt like

herself. She had come out as a trans woman a

few months earlier and was excited to begin

her new life as a college freshman. She quickly

made friends, formed a club and started

earning the best grades of her academic

career.

Yet she missed the competitive running of

her high school days, and so as her second

semester started in the spring, Hecox thought

about trying out for the university’s cross-

country team. The 19-year-old asked an assis-

tant coach for the typical training plan for

team members, and after running the recom-

mended mileage most days along the Boise

River, Hecox worked up the courage to tell the

coaches she planned to join the team once her

sophomore year began.

But Hecox was also unsure if she would get

that chance. In March, Idaho became the first

state in the country to bar transgender girls

such as Hecox from participating in sports

consistent with their gender identity. House

Bill 500, known as the Fairness in Women’s

Sports Act, states “athletic teams or sports

designated for females, women, or girls shall

not be open to students of the male sex” and

also requires that girls and women have

SEE TRANSGENDER ON D6

Making strides for

transgender rights

As debate spills into sports, a runner is at the center of a pivotal case

ANGIE SMITH FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Lindsay Hecox hopes to compete for the cross-country team at Boise State, but an Idaho law prevents that for now.

HOCKEY

The NHL reports zero

positive virus tests as

Caps gather in Toronto. D2

PRO BASKETBALL

The Wizards wrap up their

exhibition season with a

defensive relapse. D2

PRO BASKETBALL

Myisha Hines-Allen bided

her time. Now, she is

stating her presence. D8

BY JAKE LOURIM

AND MICHAEL ERRIGO

The novel coronavirus pan-
demic has postponed fall sports
in the state of Virginia and the
Washington Catholic Athletic
Conference, one of the most high-
profile leagues in the country.
The Virginia High School
League voted Monday to sched-
ule three condensed seasons
starting Dec. 28. WCAC Commis-
sioner Steve Colantuoni said by
phone Monday night that the
league is “rescheduling” its fall
season and is not expecting to
sanction any athletic competi-
tion before Jan. 1.
VHSL winter sports competi-
tions will begin Dec. 28, and the
postseason will end Feb. 20, fol-
lowed by fall sports from Feb. 15
until May 1, then spring sports
from April 12 until June 26.
This was one of three options
the VHSL discussed after its pre-
vious meeting July 15. The other
two options were to cancel all fall
sports except golf and cross-
country or to swap the fall and
spring sports seasons.
The motion to play three short-
ened seasons starting in Decem-
ber passed by a vote of 34-1.
“This is the best option for
everyone across the board, so I
expected it,” Lake Braddock quar-
terback Billy Edwards Jr. said. “I
would’ve preferred a full season,
but this plan was built to give
everyone a season. We knew
whatever they gave us we’d have
to take and that it would be a lot
better than what we have now.”
The WCAC, composed of 13
schools across the District, Mary-
land and Virginia, is expected to
make its announcement Tuesday.
While the league is not planning
on sanctioning any events before
2021, Colantuoni was not willing
to dismiss the possibility.
“We want to leave as many
doors open as we can,” he said.
The VHSL’s condensed model
preserves the opportunity to play
all sports during the 2020-21
academic year, but each season
will be heavily modified. Football,
for instance, was scheduled to
start practice Thursday and play
16 weeks of games from late
August until the state champion-
ships Dec. 12. The shortened
schedule allows for only nine
weeks of games. Basketball typi-
cally plays 12 weeks of games
between Thanksgiving and mid-
March; this season will be eight
weeks long.
“People are going to have to
understand that normal does not
exist at the level currently in our
system,” VHSL Executive Direc-
tor Billy Haun said during Mon-
day’s meeting. “There’s going to
be a lot of changes about what
that would look like.”
The schedule from December
to June is contingent on Virginia
remaining in Phase 3 of its re-
opening. In Phase 3, high-risk
sports such as football, basketball
and lacrosse are not allowed. If
the state advances in reopening,
the season could start sooner; if
the coronavirus crisis intensifies,
the season could be delayed or
SEE VIRGINIA ON D8

Virginia,

WCAC

delay fall

athletics

Catholic league aiming

for Jan. 1; VHSL hopes

f or three short seasons

BY NICKI JHABVALA

Alex Smith is getting closer to

returning to football, but he hasn’t

cleared every hurdle just yet. After

he received medical clearance

from the surgeons who repaired

the compound fracture in his right

leg, Smith underwent a physical

by the Washington Football

Team’s doctors Monday and, along

with linebacker Reuben Foster,

was placed on the active/physical-

ly unable to perform (PUP) list.

The move essentially buys

Smith more time to work his way

back into football shape while al-

lowing the team to retain roster

flexibility. Washington can acti-

vate Smith at any point during

training camp, or it can leave him

on the reserve/PUP list for at least

the first six weeks of the regular

season without losing one of its 53

roster spots.

Monday’s development is an-

other key step in Smith’s remark-

able recovery from the devastat-

ing leg injury he suffered in No-

vember 2018, which led to a n in-

fection and put his leg and life at

risk. But it’s still no guarantee he

will return to practice, let alone

games. A person with knowledge

of the situation confirmed an

ESPN report from Friday that

Smith had been cleared to resume

football activities by the doctors

who had overseen his recovery,

but it will be up to the team’s

doctors to determine when Smith

can return in a full-time capacity.

While on the PUP list, Smith

can still participate in team meet-

ings, use the team’s facilities and

even work out on the side of prac-

tices. He will also still be paid the

$16 million he is due in salary

while carrying a $32.2 million sal-

ary cap charge.

Smith reported to the team’s

facility Thursday to begin the

NFL’s mandated five-day testing

protocol for the novel coronavi-

rus. Camp is set to begin Tuesday,

but it will look unlike camp of

years past because of pandemic-

related protocols and a weeks-

long ramp-up period. Washington

can hold its first padded practice

as early as Aug. 17.

Smith, 36, arrived in Washing-

ton via trade in 2018 and signed a

four-year contract extension to be

the team’s starter for the foresee-

able future. But 10 games into his

tenure, he suffered the gruesome

injury in a loss to the Houston

Texans. Smith needed 17 surgeries

SEE SMITH ON D5

Recovering

Smith to

begin camp

on PUP list

Washington quarterback,

along with LB Foster,

n ot yet fully cleared

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST

The Nationals’ Eric Thames beats the throw home for Washington’s

only run in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays at an empty Nationals Park.

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

His throat was thick, his voice a

bit tired, each word sounding like

it had to crawl out of his mouth.

Dave Martinez was, in this mo-

ment, much like the rest of the

baseball world Monday. The

Washington Nationals manager

was sad. He was afraid.

He was processing that more

than a dozen Miami Marlins

coaches and players had tested

positive for the novel coronavi-

rus, that two games were post-

poned, and he had no clue if his

team could — or should — travel

to Florida this weekend. The Na-

tionals were a few hours from a

4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at

Nationals Park. Starter Aníbal

Sánchez allowed four runs in five

innings, all on solo home runs.

Washington left 10 runners on

base and dropped to 1-3.

But a loss felt like a blip in the

bigger picture.

SEE NATIONALS ON D3

Nationals’ emotional day

ends with lackluster loss

Blue Jays at Nationals

BLUE JAYS 4, Today, 6 p.m., MASN

NATIONALS 1

Show goes on, for now: Manfred ‘optimistic’ season will finish. A1

Fear, uncertainty: Marlins’ outbreak ‘really hits home’ around MLB. D3