This article was originally published on March 6th, 2020.
Here is this week's dose of “5-Point Friday”. A weekly round-up of the sports news and stories that I find most interesting and enjoyable.
Sports story I have been enjoying -
Heaven Fitch became the first girl to win a North Carolina High School Wrestling State Championship. As there are not enough girls wrestling to form a female division, Fitch had to compete in the male division, winning every round.
Soccer news I am researching -
Fans of Barcelona will soon be able to buy cryptocurrency tokens that give them a say in everyday club decisions. The Spanish soccer club struck its first blockchain deal, partnering with Chiliz to create the Barca Fan Tokens ($BAR).
Fans with tokens will be able to vote on club topics through digital polls and surveys and will be rewarded with points for voting. Those points can be exchanged for FC Barcelona merchandise or experiences. Socios (the blockchain rewards platform owned by Chiliz) will also display a leaderboard that tracks fan activity and points accumulation.
The NHL announced on Wednesday that pucks with “sensitive electronic equipment” will be used during the opening of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. The smart pucks will mark the official beginning of player and puck tracking in the NHL, which has been a goal of the NHL for the last several seasons. The pucks will spawn the aggregation of new and more nuanced statistics as well as adding more features to broadcasts of games.
Cricket news I am learning about -
USA Cricket announced the creation of Minor League Cricket, a national Twenty20 league that aims to be a first step toward creating a U.S. major league for the game. The inaugural minor league season will begin July 11, with Major League Cricket slated for launch next year.
The Minor League Cricket season will include teams from 22 cities playing nine weeks of regional matches for a total of 170 contests culminating in a national final on Sept. 7 at Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.
Basketball news I am following -
The inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The first edition of the new 12-team joint venture between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) had been due to start in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on 13th March, but will now be suspended until further notice. No new date has been given.
Soccer game I attended -
Along with 2,258, I attended California United Strikers home opener of the NISA spring season, at Championship Stadium, Irvine. The closely fought game would finish 1-0 after a Kevin Jeon scored for Cal United.
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Jonathan
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