News Information and Media Site: Sports: Scrambling Across State Lines to Play During the Pandemic

September 5, 2020

What to Read This Weekend

Mario Sanchez moved with his mother to Oklahoma from Kansas for a better opportunity to play football this year.Christopher Smith for The New York Times

Some high schools across the United States have postponed football seasons. Some are forging ahead. And others are in limbo, with young athletes desperate to find a way to avoid a lost season, David Waldstein writes.

Teams in Utah, Alabama, Texas and other states have already played their first games of the season. In Minnesota, six players on the Lewiston-Altura High School varsity tested positive for the coronavirus before the state shifted football to the spring. In DeKalb County, Ind., an entire team waits in quarantine after one player tested positive, and Kings High School in Kings Mill, Ohio had its first game canceled after a player tested positive.

No state has canceled its entire football season — or any sport — for the 2020-21 academic year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, but 16 states, plus the District of Columbia, have rescheduled football for the spring or winter instead of its traditional schedule in the fall.

The uncertainty has created an interstate football migration, one fueled by young athletes attempting to outrun the coronavirus and preserve their athletic dreams.

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What to Watch This Weekend

Serena Williams, seeded third in the United States Open, faces Sloane Stephens on Saturday in the third round.Frank Franklin Ii/Associated Press

All times are Eastern.

Tennis

The last of the third-round singles matchups will wrap up Saturday at the United States Open, as will the second round of doubles play. Many of the favored players are still settling into a groove, while some young prospects have another chance to shine and make their presence known on the world stage. Start with J.J. Wolf vs. Daniil Medvedev at noon, Serena Williams vs. Sloane Stephens at 2:30 p.m., and Sofia Kenin vs. Ons Jabeur at 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

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Horse Racing

The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby is going to be one of the strangest editions of America’s most famous race, beginning with the date of the race: The first Saturday in September rather than its traditional place on the calendar in May. Tiz the Law, the Belmont Stakes champion, was made the prohibitive 3-5 morning-line favorite to win what is this year the second leg of the Triple Crown. (coverage begins at 2:30 p.m., NBC; post time at 7:01 p.m.)

Basketball

The N.B.A. playoffs continue. On Saturday, the Toronto Raptors face the Boston Celtics at 6:30 p.m. (TNT) and the Denver Nuggets face the Los Angeles Clippers at 9 p.m. (TNT). Miami leads the Bucks 3-0 going into Sunday’s 3:30 p.m. game (ABC) and in the evening, the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers begin their semifinal series (8:30 p.m., ABC.)

The W.N.B.A. season is winding down its regular season. On Sunday, watch the Chicago Sky (11-8) take on the Los Angeles Sparks (13-4) at 8 p.m. (CBSSN).

Hockey

The New York Islanders have squandered two opportunities to knock off the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers and put their mark on franchise history, but they have one final chance on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (NBC). The Islanders, who once held a 3-1 lead in the series, are trying to claim a place in franchise history by becoming the first team in 27 years to advance to the conference finals.

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