data-mm-id=”_g4lbugd6f”>When the PGA Tour returns to action and televisions this weekend with the Charles Schwab Challenge, CBS Sports will be operating in a new reality. Less than half its usual personnel will be on-site. There will be more production trucks to facilitate social distancing. Operations and backup operations will be strewn throughout the country, from Orlando to Stamford to Los Angeles. Two months of planning has gone into making it all work despite the complications.And there will be some changes. The unprecedented broadcast will have reality television DNA all over it. First, there's The Challenge of it all. A monumental one. “This is the most complicated production plan I’ve ever been involved in, including Super Bowls and Final Fours and other events,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said on a conference call with reporters Monday. Nantz, who intends to give brief remarks at the outset of action Thursday on the lingering coronavirus and social unrest, echoed that sentiment: "It’s one of the great challenges in my 35 years in broadcasting."There will be a Big Brother element, considering there's so much personnel off-site, including lead analyst Nick Faldo, who will have to call the action from some six million feet away at the Golf Channel studios with Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo. Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman will be on the course."It's an unusual time in our careers,” Faldo said. "You’ve just got to embrace it."McManus said some players have agreed to be mic'd-up during action in the hopes more participants will sign on after a successful foray. Additionally, perhaps the most innovative wrinkle will be an Inside the Ropes feature in which players will enter a small tent between holes and answer printed-out questions about the round or what they've been up to the past few months. This, of course, is the engine that drives all good reality television. The Bachelor. Survivor. Million Dollar Listing. Keeping Up With the Kardashians. You name it. For the near future, the PGA Tour will become Real World: Fort Worth, with subsequent seasons to come each week until fans hopefully return for the Memorial in mid-July. From atop his perch above No. 18, Nantz will be in his own episode of Man vs. Wild. Or Alone. Whereas typically flanked by five or six others, he'll be by himself, flying solo. While communication will be more difficult, the voice of CBS' golf coverage revealed it was always his preference to be on-site as opposed to working from home. This way his four-year-old son can't knock something offline and put what he called limited tech savviness to the test. Golf, which is already quite expensive to produce, is even more expensive to produce this way. It's not an ideal situation but CBS is committed to making it work. They have a backup plan to back up the backup plan. And the possibility exists that necessity will reveal some of these inventions make sense long-term. The confessional-style interview has great potential. It can showcase personalities for casual fans. With PGA buy-in, it can be an additive game-changer. While The Match showcases the upside of hearing players, incorporating it into competitive tournaments is more difficult. But if it's non-intrusive and paints golfers in a positive light, it's possible to see it become a broadcast staple even when fans return. While the landscape is allowing some trial and error as far as the blocking and tackling and bells and whistles, it's not lost on Nantz and others involved that presenting escapism must strike the right chord.“Tonally, we have to get this right. I consider this to be perhaps the most important moment in this country in my lifetime,” Nantz said. “We can't let this opportunity pass without real and meaningful progress when it comes to equality, diversity, justice, love and empathy."
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The France defender joined from Sevilla last month in a deal that could be worth €62.5million following a fine three-year spell at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
However, Barcelona were initially unable to register him to play in LaLiga as they needed to reduce their wage expenditure in line with the salary cap.
Registration priority was given to signings that arrived before Kounde, with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen all making their debuts.
But media reports on Friday suggested Barca had finally been able to register the centre-back – head coach Xavi did not confirm that in his pre-match press conferenc…
Pep Guardiola has confirmed three more important Manchester City players have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their Premier League visit to Chelsea on Sunday.
City s top-flight clash with Everton on Monday was postponed following a coronavirus outbreak at the club, with Gabriel Jesus and Kyle Walker and another two staff members testing positive for COVID-19.
The match was called off in the hours before kick-off after City returned a number of positive cases , with the fixture becoming the second in the competition to be postponed this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Newcastle were struck by the virus and missed a game at Aston Villa, while a third postponement followed on Wednesday as Tottenham versus Fulham fell by the wayside.
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Frank Lampard has hailed low-maintenance Willian and revealed the forward is in talks with Chelsea over a new deal.
The 31-year-old scored twice in Chelsea s 2-0 win over Tottenham last weekend, taking his tally to four goals and three assists in the Premier League this term.
Willian is out of contract at the end of the season and suggested last month he had yet to be offered a new deal by the London club.
However, Lampard is eager for the Brazil international who turns 32 next August to commit his future to Chelsea.
He s in talks with the club. He speaks with the club on the money side of it, Lampard is quoted as saying by several British newspapers.
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Pep Guardiola wants Vincent Kompany to be mentally and physically fit before giving the Manchester City captain a sustained run of first-team action.
Kompany has been ravaged by a succession of muscle injuries over recent seasons, with calf problems decimating his 2015-16 campaign, in which he started only 20 of City s 58 games.
The last of those came in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, the centre-back lasting only 10 minutes due to a groin and thigh injury that required surgery and ruled him out of Belgium s Euro 2016 campaign.
The 30-year-old made his first appearance under Guardiola in last month s EFL Cup tie at Swansea City, only for a fresh groin strain suffered in stoppage time to send him back to the treatment room.
Teenage striker Matthew Hoppe scored a stunning hat-trick to finally banish Schalke s winless run after 30 Bundesliga matches.
The German giants had not claimed a league victory since January 2020 heading into Saturday s home game against Hoffenheim.
Failure to win again would have seen Schalke equal Tasmania Berlin s record stretch of 31 Bundesliga matches without success from 1965-66.
However, an inspired outing from 19-year-old Hoppe set up a 4-0 triumph at the Veltins-Arena, ending that miserable streak and moving Schalke off the foot of the table.
The American had never previously netted a senior goal but repaid the faith shown in him by Christian Gross, Schalke s fourth coach of the season.
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Carlo Ancelotti hailed Rodrygo as special after the forward s goal secured a 2-1 LaLiga win over Real Betis on Real Madrid s return to Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinícius Junior scored the opening goal in Madrid s first game at their revamped home for 106 days, but Sergio Canales equalised in the first half.
Rodrygo stepped up to make it four LaLiga wins out of four for the champions and consign Betis to a first defeat.
Madrid boss Ancelotti lavished praise on the Brazil forward following his decisive 65th-minute strike.
The Italian said: He is a special striker, he can play in all positions. He is fast, smart and effective one on one. The learning is over. He is a Real Madrid player for all purposes.
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Hamburg s Marcell Jansen says the club are targeting a win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday as they look to get their season on track.
Hamburg have endured an inconsistent campaign to date and sit ninth in the Bundesliga table ahead of the weekend, while Dortmund are 12 points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich in second place.
Dortmund are favourites. We need to be wide awake from the first minute. Our goal must be to win there, Jansen told Bild.
We still lack consistency and lose our concentration too much. We re brave but not toxic enough. We hide too much. It is a mystery that I don t understand.
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Napoli midfielder Walter Gargano has joined Parma on loan with the option of a permanent move to the Stadio Ennio Tardini.
The 29-year-old spent last season on loan at Inter, making 28 Serie A appearances, and has reportedly been monitored by the likes of Cagliari, Sunderland and Fulham in recent weeks.
Gargano, capped 47 times for Uruguay, joined Napoli in 2007 from Danubio and helped the club to win the 2011-12 Coppa Italia.
He played 199 games for Napoli and will now continue his Serie A career at Parma.
Gargano was initially linked with Parma at the start of last month after Inter opted not to offer him a prolonged stay at San Siro despite the player admitting an interest in remaining in Milan.
…
Bastian Schweinsteiger ended his international career on a winning note as Germany secured a 2-0 friendly victory over Finland in Monchengladbach.
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In what was his 121st appearance for his country, the Manchester United midfielder completed 67 minutes and posed for a selfie with a pitch invader wearing a Schweinsteiger 7 shirt, before leaving the field to a standing ovation.
And the 32-year-old, who announced his intention to retire following Germany s elimination at Euro 2016, was reduced to tears as he addressed the crowd.
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Barton moves to Burnley as a free agent, having left QPR at the end of last season upon his contract at Loftus Road expiring.
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Burnley manager Sean Dyche told the club s official website: I m delighted that we have Joey on board.
He was very respectful when speaking about our club at the end of last season and during the summer.
We had many conversations and He made it clear he was very interested in what we are about and that coming here was something he would consider.
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