As the saying goes, two out of three ain't bad. The "two" here refers to the NBA and the NHL. The NBA's success within their Orlando bubble has been highly publicized and may even be the format of the league for the 2020-21 season (see video above), and the NHL reported similarly encouraging news on Monday afternoon. NHL statement on COVID-19 testing results: pic.twitter.com/bjPuANz8Sq— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 3, 2020The other phases of the NHL's Return to Play protocol involved self-isolation (Phase 1), voluntary on- and off-ice training (Phase 2) and formal training camps (Phase 3). The movement into the hub cities and return to play represented the end of Phase 3 and start of Phase 4, and, as the test results indicate, the process has been a resounding success. For more details and dates regarding the Return to Play plan, check out our summary here. Like the NHL, the NBA reported two consecutive rounds of coronavirus testing where zero of the 344 tests came back positive (via Shams Charania). Unfortunately, the "two out of three ain't bad" expression indicates that one is bad. Major League Baseball has dealt with a pair of coronavirus outbreaks within a team, as both the Marlins and the Cardinals experienced multiple positive tests and had to temporarily but their seasons -- as well as those of their opponents -- on hold. There have been murmurs that the season will not be able to go on like this, but commissioner Rob Manfred was adamant in telling ESPN that "there is no reason to quit now." But MLB's problems are a different story. As for the bubble used by the NBA and the hub used by the NHL, the returns to game action have gone well and we have to admire the efforts from the league's executives in coming up with a plan, and the players and coaches for following through with the rules. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

After 50 Cent threw an infamously horrible first pitch at Citi Field, the well-known sports card company Topps decided to honor the moment as part of a new series in the 2015 set. Never before had Topps created a series to honor first pitches, and the results were awesome. 50 Cent was joined by actor Jeff Bridges, rock star Eddie Vedder, guitarist Tom Morello and several others. Of course, like his notoriously awful pitch, 50 Cent's card stole the show. The back of the card started off with a solid pun -- "When it comes to memorable ceremonial first pitches, 50 Cent is certainly 'In Da Club' -- and recapped the pitch that "nearly hit a photographer." The front showed the rapper in action. Plus, @toppscards will commemorate @50cent's memorable 1st pitch with this special #FirstPitch card! #Mets pic.twitter.com/5gvuQuXGVN— New York Mets (@Mets) February 4, 2015The 2016 set featured more First Pitch cards, including those of golfer Jordan Spieth, basketball player Kristaps Porzingis, Boston Marathon bombing survivor Rebekah Gregory, and several more. The cards are fun, they're unexpected and they were certainly popular among the fans. Thus, when Topps Now released a card featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci tossing out his memorable first pitch to open the 2020 MLB season (at a $9.99 price), it should come as no surprise that there were a lot of interested fans. But just how many fans is staggering. The Dr. Anthony Fauci card is now the best selling card in ToppsNow history, with 51,512 cards sold in 24 hours. Obliterates previous record of 19,396 cards sold of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s debut hit. pic.twitter.com/jnyWkwQgue— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 27, 2020The premise of Topps Now is that cards representing notable events are created immediately after those events occur. The catch is that those cards are only available for purchase for 24 hours after their release, and so you have to be quick if you want to get your hands on these cards. Apparently, 51,512 people were ready in that 24-hour span. That means that nearly 36 cards were being purchased every minute after release. As Rovell mentioned, Guerrero Jr.'s card held the previous record, trailed by two Shohei Ohtani cards, an Aaron Judge card and Bryce Harper's first Phillies card. The Topps Now archive details these sales statistics. The copy editors of this card were not as harsh as those who created the 50 Cent card, though, neglecting to mention that Fauci's pitch was nowhere close to where Sean Doolittle was set up. Instead, it reads as follows: Dr. Anthony Fauci, longtime Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and ardent Washington Nationals fan, signaled the official start of the 2020 MLB regular season by throwing out the first pitch before the Nationals took on the Yankees on Thursday evening. The 79-year-old Brooklyn native, donning a Nationals jersey, hat and facemask, fired a strong effort to the plate before the Nationals took the field. Before we go any further, let's compare the two pitches. Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out the first pitch before the Nationals-Yankees game. pic.twitter.com/04Tbkh7Voa— ESPN (@espn) July 23, 2020Fauci commented on the pitch in an interview with RADIO.COM affiliate 1010 WINS. "Oh my goodness, I bounced it," Fauci said. "The mound looked like it was 150 feet away from the plate. It looks much further when you’re up there, that’s for sure." It's nearly impossible to be critical of the 79-year-old's slightly underwhelming pitch, especially when he's got a few other things on his mind. Major League Baseball now has to deal with Fauci's area of expertise, perhaps more than ever before. With a new explosion of COVID-19 cases affecting the Marlins' roster, both the Marlins-Orioles series and the Phillies-Yankees opening game have been called off, leaving the MLB season to hang in the balance. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

(SportsRadio 610) -- Players still have a lot of unanswered questions about the 2020 NFL season. It becomes even more concerning with rookies scheduled to report to training camp on Saturday. Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has joined hundreds of players on four calls with the NFLPA in the last two weeks, and they still don't have "a single valid" Infections Disease Emergency Response plan, he said Thursday on Twitter. "We don't know if there are preseason games or not. We don't know if there will be daily testing, semi-daily testing, etc. We don't know how a  potential Covid test would affect contracts, roster spots, etc. Nothing has been agreed upon regarding what training camp will actually look like and how the 'ramp up' period will work." Watt reiterated that players want to play, but these questions remain unanswered. An NFL proposal sent to the NFLPA Tuesday night included two preseason games, but the union does not want any preseason games and has called for daily COVID-19 testing. The union also wants for positive COVID-19 tests to be classified as a non-football injury.  LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

Earlier this week, the NFL announced plans to cut two games off its anticipated preseason slate in response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Now the players association is petitioning the NFL to scrap its preseason altogether. Union reps voted on the issue during a Thursday conference call and submitted a formal recommendation the following night. Abandoning the preseason would be unprecedented and obviously wouldn’t bode well for the league’s plans to resume play as scheduled this fall. ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports the players addressed a myriad of topics during their Thursday conference call, discussing safety measures aimed at combatting the virus. NFLPA medical director Thom Mayer, who urged players to stop conducting group workouts amid the continued prevalence of COVID-19 (advice that has seemingly fallen on deaf ears), was among those present for Thursday night’s call. With training camp on the horizon, the league is hoping to finalize its safety protocols, which could include protective masks and reduced roster sizes, in the relatively near future. Players didn’t seem too broken up about the NFL’s decision to slash its preseason from four games to two, with Golden Tate and others expressing their disdain for the league’s laughable exhibition slate. Though owners and front-office types would argue the preseason has merit, allowing coaches a longer look at fringe roster types while giving veterans a chance to shed some of their rust, established players with little to gain see it for the farce that it is, a shameless money grab designed to boost ticket revenue and increase brand exposure. It’s also an inherently risky proposition—more than a few stars have been lost to injuries suffered in meaningless preseason games. With COVID continuing to wreak havoc, the players have as good an excuse as they’ll ever have to backburner its tedious preseason schedule. Doing so would mean we’d have to wait a little longer for football, but the imminent returns of baseball, hockey and NBA hoops should still give fans plenty of sports fodder to occupy their time in the coming months. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram