Associated Press Baseball players have told the commissioner’s office that any more talks on starting the season would be pointless, and that owners should order a return to work.Union head Tony Clark said in a statement Saturday that “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”The union’s action might lead to a season of about 50 games rather than the 82 initially proposed by MLB. The Major League Baseball Players Association could respond by filing a grievance that would be heard by arbitrator Mark Irvings, arguing players are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in damages due to a shorter season.MLB responded with a statement accusing the union of not negotiating in good faith and cited the March agreement that called for prorated salaries but did not obligate teams to play in empty ballparks. Clubs could file a grievance claiming the union did not meet its “good faith” obligation.Overall, this could spark lengthy litigation and could even prompt some star players to sit out. June 14, 2020 In other developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic:— College officials haven’t come up with a consensus opinion on whether to announce how many of their athletes test positive for the coronavirus. Nearly half of the 66 Football Bowl Subdivision members that responded to an Associated Press inquiry said they were still deciding whether to announce the number of athletes with positive tests. Just over half of the schools will not release any numbers to the general public. Schools are trying to balance the public’s right to know during a pandemic against student privacy rights.— Louisiana Tech officials say a football player has tested positive for COVID-19 and that he and some of his teammates have been instructed to self-quarantine for two weeks. School officials say contact tracing helped officials identify additional football players who could have been exposed. Louisiana Tech has not released the names of the players being required to quarantine and has not specified how many players were identified for possible exposure. The Bulldogs reported to campus in Ruston, Louisiana, on June 1 for physicals and medical testing. They began on-field conditioning during the past week and are scheduled to begin weight training this week.— An Arizona Coyotes staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolated at home in the Phoenix area. The teams say the staffer is asymptomatic and feeling well. The team says all other staff members or players involved in phase 2 of the NHL’s testing protocol have tested negative as teams prepare to start voluntary small-group workouts on Monday. NHL mandatory training camps can open July 10, pending an agreement to returning to play later this summer.— The Spanish league says it will file criminal charges against a fan who ran onto the field during Barcelona’s match at Mallorca. Saturday’s match was played without fans but the youngster wearing an Argentina soccer jersey made it past security and took a photo of himself in front of Barcelona defender Jordi Alba. The league said the fan, who was not wearing a mask or gloves when he entered the field early in the second half, disobeyed orders from security personnel and broke health safety laws in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditVIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTSBaseball players say talks futile, tell MLB to order returnUNDATED (AP) — Major League Baseball appears headed to its shortest season since the 1870s. Update on the latest sports Floyd’s death in police custody has touched off an extraordinary reckoning of race and race relations, and sports have been part of it, from European soccer to the NFL. It has also made ripples in NASCAR, which like the NHL has predominately white athletes and, by most accounts, a largely white fan base.COLLEGE FOOTBALL-IOWA-KOERNER HURTIowa defensive back Jack Koerner hurt in jet ski accidentIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa defensive back Jack Koerner (KOHR’-ner) has been injured in a jet ski collision on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.According to a police report, Koerner and his passenger, Cole Coffin, were hurt on Friday when their watercraft crashed into the side of a boat. Coffin was taken to a hospital by aircraft. There was no immediate word on his injuries or condition. Koerner was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. AMERICA PROTESTS-NHLWhite NHL players find their voice on racismUNDATED (AP) — The predominantly white sport of hockey has a checkered history of racism and a culture of not speaking out. The death of George Floyd in Minnesota has changed that.A number of white NHL players have decided to join their black counterparts in discussing the issue. More than 100 players have posted statements on social media.Kim Davis is the NHL’s executive vice president of social impact and the highest-ranked African American in the league. She says she thinks many players are realizing the truth about what she calls “the racial pandemic.”  read more