The Sport Thread

The GAA in Ireland have suspended all inter-county Championship games from today until further notice.

This decision made by the GAA came after last night's recommedation from NPHET to place Ireland at Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions for 4 weeks under the Irish Government's Living with Covid-19 plan. Under Level 5; no elite sports events or matches are allowed to take place while all sports training for these events will also be banned under the 4 week lockdown. The implications will be huge if it goes ahead.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1005/1169494-implications-of-level-5-for-three-biggest-field-sports/

This could also effect other elite sports events that will take place in Ireland like horse racing meetings, The Pro14, 6 Nations Rugby, The IRB Autumn Nations Cup & the UFEA European Qualifiers Play-Off Finals if The Republic of Ireland win against Slovakia in Bratislava on Thursday, Wales Nations League match against The Republic of Ireland on Sunday, The remainder of the 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division & The Women's National League matches.

Dundalk's Europa League group stage match with Arsenal could be on hold if Level 5 takes place in Ireland.

The final word on this has to be formally given from the Irish Government if Level 5 goes ahead. A Government Cabinet meeting is expected to take place at Government Buildings from 5:30pm. It basically all hinges on what the Taoiseach Michael Martin, Taniste Leo Varadkar, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly & CMO Dr Tony Holohan will all say on the matter later from on tonight in Dublin.

Was reminiscing with colleagues today, and wondered, when did the BBC drop bank holiday grandstand, which was shown on easter Monday and sometimes the August bank holiday Monday

A very rough and ready Genome search suggests "Bank Holiday Grandstand" was last seen April 1995, the last August one being in 1992 and the last May one being in 1991.

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=desc&q=bank+holiday+grandstand#search

Is that round about the time Sunday Grandstand became a regular fixture?

There was a sneaky one on Easter Monday 1999 on BBC Two, with Final Score following on BBC One. Incidentally that was the last Grandstand to feature the old globe ident, which was retired two days later.

Sunday Grandstand went all-year-round from January 1998.

Due to positive COVID tests, Sky's NFL Sunday picks of Steelers/Titans and Chiefs/Patriots were replaced with alternative games. The Steelers/Titans game was postponed till later in the season but the Chiefs/Patriots game was only delayed a day until Monday Night and still aired on what would have been it's regular sunday afternoon network of CBS.

This led to Sky Main Event showing Chiefs/Patriots with Sky NFL showing the regular ESPN Monday Night Football game of Falcons/Packers (which had a delayed kickoff by an hour)

Channel 5 however, started their coverage with live coverage of the Chiefs/Patriots (CBS) game - including showing a small portion of the Verizon halftime report and some on screen promos for other CBS shows, then left to do build up coverage of Falcons/Packers (ESPN) and whenever that game went into a break, would switch back to the Chiefs/Patriots game for a live look in. During the break between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Falcons/Packers game (the Chiefs/Patriots game was over), they then showed the highlights of Chiefs/Patriots by putting part of a NFL Network show to air.

Coincidently, CBS showed these graphics, which is probably not something appearing on our screens any time soon.

I get that Channel 5’s rights are for the ESPN package, however I think that if you start showing a game you stick with it to the end - unless it’s a clear blowout. Afaik that’s the rule for Sunday afternoon games in the States now (after the infamous Heidi game). Sky of course were able to show both games.

BT Sport's MotoGP presentation has been based at the Triumph factory visitor centre since the season restart - but the visitor centre's reopening, so they've had to find somewhere new.

If there was ever a Championship that deserved a high-profile, it's @MotoGP 😍

We've got a new home for the rest of the season, and we're making sure everyone knows we're in town...

What do you make of our new digs?#LondonCalling pic.twitter.com/qHELRkmVwB

— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) October 5, 2020

I don't know if this has been talked about yet but it looks like Sky Sports News might have a new look. It looks like the Sky News studio. It could be temporary or permanent but I do like it but the desk seems a little off for me.

Pete Graves posted on his instagram story that it was a temporary studio, but i don't know for how long.

To me, it looks too professional for a temporary set up. Could this new studio be a shared one with Soccer Saturday due to the screens within the desk on either side of the middle position.

That’s a very unusual desk for Sky Sports. Quite odd.

Meanwhile Sky have announced that all their GAA coverage this season (and it is still a big if as to whether the inter-county season will resume - all club level games having been suspended on Monday at a time most Irish people thought Level 5 was imminent) will be on Sky Sports Mix, which will be a popular move given its availability on both Sky and Virgin Media’s basic cable package.