Welcome to News from nowhere for this very strange and quiet Memorial Day weekend. As we write this we are in the middle of a rain delay at the NASCAR race in Charlotte. The Coca-Cola 600 is the only major auto race that is going today, because of the Monaco F1 cancellation and Indy postponement….
NASCAR, UFC, Bundesliga, The Last Dance highlight a big weekend return of sports
Hi, folks. This past weekend has felt like a “normal” weekend for the first time in a long time. Bundesliga is back (they are playing right now as we speak), UFC wrapped up its third fight card in a week in Jacksonville, and yesterday NASCAR kicked off its return with racing in Darlington, won by…
Snowbirds crash in BC has cast a pall over the day
I will do a post on sports happenings tomorrow, but I am still in shock over the crash of one of the Snowbirds planes in Kamloops earlier today. It’s not clear if there were fatalities or not. (UPDATE: one person was killed.) The Snowbirds were on a cross country tour to cheer up people across…
Sad news for local air travel fans: Delta suspends flights to Saskatoon
It occurred to me recently that this month marks a bit of aviation history for Saskatchewan. Indeed, this marks the 25th anniversary that Northwest Airlines launched its service between Saskatoon and Minneapolis-St. Paul under the “Open Skies” agreement. That opened up a world of possibilities for connecting flights for Saskatchewan travellers to wherever they wanted…
Not even COVID-19 could stop UFC 249 from Jacksonville!
Today is a day that has been circled on the calendar of many sports fans, and in particular MMA fans. Yes, the long awaited and oft-postponed UFC 249 goes tonight in Jacksonville, Tony Ferguson versus Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title, marking the official return of major league sports to North America. Although —-…
A sad scene today in Ottawa, as the CFL begs for its survival
It was an utterly miserable day for fans of the Canadian Football League. Today, they saw league commissioner Randy Ambrosie go begging in front of the House of Commons (virtual) finance committee for their $150 bailout that’s been talked about. In that presentation Ambrosie flat-out said they were looking at either a truncated season for…
Good news, fans, the baseball season is back on! In Korea.
In more good news for sports fans desperate for the return of Major League Baseball, or for that matter any baseball, we now have the resumption of baseball in South Korea. The Korea Baseball Organization, or KBO League, held its first games of the season overnight our time. To show you how desperate they are…
Sportspocalypse is ending! Latest on re-opening – return of Premier League looms; plus CFL woes
As I said before the great Sportspocalypse shutdown of 2020 increasingly looks like it will be ending soon, with leagues announcing they are re-opening all over the world. The latest league rumoured to come back: the Barclays Premier League, with clubs meeting to plot their return to games in June behind closed doors. Rumor is…
The 2020 Sportspocalypse takes down the Little League World Series!
Noooooooooo!! The Little League World Series, which has been held every August since 1947, has been cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.https://t.co/AzjNuewfC3 — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 30, 2020
Sportspocalypse of 2020 looks like it might be ending! UFC is coming back soon
Well, this frustrated sports fan is in a good mood for the first time in a long time. I finally have some hope of positive times ahead! One by one, word is leaking out from the various sports leagues about possibly coming back, and this is the first good news we have had in a…
Normal life returns — for one night. The NFL Draft is on!
Today is a day circled on the calendar of literally millions of frustrated North American sports fans who are desperate for any sports of any kind to watch. Yes, it is the NFL Draft! On the clock: Cincinnati Bengals who are expected to pick #1 Joe Burrow of LSU. Indeed, this event and the discussion…
Shutdown Nation: more cancellations and postponements announced including the WSOP, Comic-Con, National Spelling Bee, etc.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues its ugly rampage. Despite the recent talk about re-opening the economy and with some states already moving ahead to lift the restrictions (Georgia in particular is taking a lot of flak for this), big events continue to be hammered and cancellations continue to pile up. Pushed back to the fall is…
Hi. I’m having a very relaxing day watching the eNASCAR race, at home.
Hello, folks. There is not much going on here in “Shutdown Nation” today, as usual. I am spending the day “at home,” wasting my time tuned in the TV coverage of the simulated eNASCAR race being run from wherever the heck they are this week. I guess they claim to be racing in Richmond when…
For folks bored by the lack of sports on TV, tornadoes are hitting Mississippi today.
NOT EXACTLY MY IDEA OF EXCITEMENT ON EASTER SUNDAY Story here. Louisiana also got hit today and the warnings extend to Alabama. Scary stuff for all those going through this. A #tornado EMERGENCY continues in southern Mississippi. Seek shelter immediately if in the warned area! pic.twitter.com/hOqy5RGVSF — The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 12, 2020 #BREAKING:…
Okay, Summer Altice, you win. You get to be this year’s Easter bunny!
So you thought I had chickened out of putting up a photo of a Playmate on Easter during these uptight miserable times we live in? Nope, I have caved to the pressure, or in this case, the boredom. Keeping the Playboy bunny tradition alive is Summer Altice, model and actress who is Miss August 2000….
Joe, Bernie, Boris, and more News from home, I mean Nowhere
Welcome to what is an utterly boring Good Friday edition of News from Nowhere! There have been a few things happening this week which I should really get around to talking about today, simply to break the monotony. One of the news items this week is the state of the US presidential race. That race…
Disney lowers the boom on Dana White. UFC 249 is cancelled! Events postponed indefinitely!
Breaking news today is that UFC 249 set for April 18 at Tachi Palace has been cancelled. All future events are also postponed. Presumably, that means Fight Night in Saskatoon in June is also off. Dana White went on ESPN and confirmed it all, and he made it clear that it was the highest levels…
It’s official, Dana White is a madman. Wants to hold UFC fights on a private island!
I gotta say, UFC boss Dana White is absolutely determined to stage UFC 249 — even without Khabib Nurmagomedov, who can’t get out of Russia due to all the travel restrictions. Even without a major arena venue anywhere remotely in civilization. You know what the reports are? The reports are that White is going to…
The news of today is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care!!
I have had Britain on the brain the last couple of days. Yesterday I tuned into that stirring address by the Queen. Just what the world needed to hear — that calm and reassuring voice that people yearn for in these crisis circumstances. She even brought up “we’ll meet again” which was straight from Vera…
Sportspocalypse update: Wimbledon has been cancelled, and other news
Wimbledon has been cancelled! That’s the latest big event to fall to the COVID-19 Sportspocalypse of 2020. The prestigious event is not postponed, not moved. Cancelled completely, for the first time since World War II. Well, I guess it makes sense to cancel it again, because we’re at war, with a virus. Hopefully the war…
Another new low for the sports fans at home: eNASCAR is on FOX today.
Yes, folks, in yet another new low point for suffering sports fans, the best thing on TV this weekend is an eNASCAR race that is supposedly being run from the Texas Motor Speedway. This is the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Racing series, featuring real NASCAR drivers driving a simulated auto race, and with Mike Joy…
There’s no sports on, so I’m watching Baywatch: Hawaii on MTV Canada. Good “put-your-brain-on-neutral” TV!
This weekend would have been the “Elite Eight.” Instead of watching that or any other sports on TV, I am wasting the day watching endless reruns of Baywatch: Hawaii on MTV Canada. I gotta say, Baywatch: Hawaii is perfect TV to relax your brain and get your mind off a long week of depressing news…
Memorial Day weekend is going to be very quiet. Indy 500 moved to August!
I am in an especially cranky state of mind today, and the reason surely is because all my favorite sports and sporting events are all being postponed and/or cancelled. It is really getting to me. The latest is the Indianapolis 500, which announced today it is moving its race to August 23 from its traditional…
Sportspocalypse of 2020 takes down the entire KHL playoffs and the Gagarin Cup
Another one bites the dust. The Kontinental Hockey League (Russia and neighbouring countries) will not resume play at all, their playoffs are now officially cancelled with no Gagarin Cup awarded. Who’s next to cancel the rest of their season? The NHL? UPDATE: NHL have just announced Wednesday they are postponing the Scouting Combine, NHL Awards…
Now, the last word about Monday’s news that junior hockey’s Memorial Cup has been cancelled
Another big sporting event has fallen to the Sportspocalypse of 2020. Yesterday was the news that the entire major junior hockey playoffs as well as the Memorial Cup in Kelowna has been cancelled. This is no surprise; after the Jr. A playoffs were cancelled completely it really didn’t make any sense for major junior to…
Canada isn’t going to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
Our live continuing Sportspocalypse coverage continues with news of the announcement that Canada’s Olympic team is not going to the summer Olympics in Tokyo. They want the Games postponed and are saying it’s unsafe for the athletes to go this summer, and they’re right. Australia has made a similar announcement. This is big, big news…
Biggest thing going today: online poker’s Sunday Million. $12.5 million guaranteed prize pool!!
Yes, the entire world is seemingly closing down because of the pandemic. You know what ain’t closing? Online poker. That’s right, from the isolation of everyone’s homes people have been flocking to take part in PokerStars’ Sunday Million 14th anniversary tournament, which has been highly hyped as the biggest in online poker history. The guaranteed…
This week’s headlines are dominated by the pandemic and, uh, Tom Brady
I don’t know about the rest of you sports fans, but I for one have appreciated all the news this week coming out of the NFL. It’s given us fans something to tune into while we all stay at home watching absolutely no sports. Besides, it is good to see at least one organization say…
It’s official: AFL is done
Well, so much for Australian Rules Football keeping itself going. The AFL have just announced right now they are suspending operations to May 31. The West Coast-Melbourne game will be played, and then that is it. I’m watching the press conference right now on TV here in frozen Canada (where it is still Saturday). So…
Aussie sports are basically the biggest sports going in the world these days
Welcome to live continuing Sportspocalypse coverage in the wake of COVID-19. It’s hard to believe it’s been eight full days since that crazy Thursday when March Madness and all those North American sports leagues went down for the count. This should have been a big weekend of NCAA hoops-watching and bracket-busting. Instead, I am watching…
Coronavirus kills Playboy Magazine! 1953-2020. RIP.
This story adds to the heaping pile of really bad news this week: it’s a sad farewell to Playboy Magazine ( the US edition, anyway), which is suspending publication for the rest of the year and presumably forever. They are blaming it on COVID-19, so it would be a pretty ironic way for it to…
Movie news: cinemas are closing down! Cineplex, Landmark shutting doors in Canada
The news just doesn’t stop!! Expect a big “Cairns on Cinema” column soon about the carnage, the absolute destruction, being heaped upon the entire movie industry. This whole industry is grinding to a halt. First it was the new releases getting pulled. Now it’s chains shutting its theatres both in Canada and the USA. It’s…
Dow melts down 3,000 points for its worst loss ever!!!
Things are getting cancelled left right and centre today. The world economy is literally grinding to a halt!! BREAKING: DOW PLUNGES 3,000 POINTS https://t.co/N2xqlyJ8SH pic.twitter.com/OhfGFpo5L5 — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) March 16, 2020
Sportspocalypse: the UFC has finally given up, they called off the next three fight events
Welcome back to live continuing pandemic coverage. Today, instead of boring you with news about how the Dow Jones average tumbled by 3,000 points for its worst loss ever, we will resume our unique focus on all the sports that are shutting down. The news of the day is that the latest, biggest holdout has…
Sportspocalypse update: UFC the highlight of an otherwise boring day
Welcome to my live continuing coverage of the Sportspocalypse, a.k.a. the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, due largely to a lack of otherwise viable options sports-wise, I am tuning in to the UFC Fight Night fights from Brasilia. Main event is Charles Oliveria vs. Kevin Lee, which is interesting because Oliveria is the guy who Max Holloway…
Night one of TV sports after the Sportspocalypse was sad, but better than nothing
I dunno about you, but the first night of sports TV after the Wednesday-Thursday “Sportspocalypse” of leagues cancelling their games/seasons/events was downright sad. Rather unbelievably, given the multitude of high-profile sports that were cancelled, I was able to actually find things to watch, including some live poker and horse racing feeds online (yes, horse racing…
Welcome to Friday. It seems like the entire world has shut down!
What a wild day Thursday. I was at the office putting up on Twitter and on our news website story after story about one cancellation after another in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. I had the newsroom TV on to TSN the whole time (hence the screenshot above) as the entire sports world seemed to…
Pandemic declared! Travel to/from Europe suspended! NBA suspends season! Tom Hanks tests positive!!
I don’t feel like talking about the Coronavirus tonight, today’s events have given me a headache. A big one. Instead, I’ll let you read all these fine Tweets from this crazy day. President Trump: All travel from Europe to the United States will be suspended for the next 30 days, except the United Kingdom. https://t.co/NiCu1OmSCl…
It’s another primary Tuesday: Joe Biden is yet again burying Bernie Sanders
Here we go again, all you USA political junkies. Six more states vote in primaries and caucuses Tuesday, and a lot of people think this could be the day Joe Biden finally buries Bernie Sanders for good in what is rapidly turning into a blowout Democratic presidential race. Projections have Biden winning Mississippi and Missouri….
Box office: Onward earns $39 mil for Pixar amid ongoing Coronavirus fears/panic
This weekend saw the new Pixar flick Onward take the box office title with a domestic haul of $39:million. People are now crowing about what a great showing it was at the box office given the COVID-19 outbreak situation. The word on the street is that the Coronavirus did not affect the Hollywood box office…
