Got questions, local sports fans?

As we turn the calendar officially today to March 1, we’ve got answers

WILL RIVIER UNIVERSITY HAVE A SPRING SEASON?

We’ll know in the next day or so. The Great Northeast Athletic Conference school presidents are meeting either today or tomorrow and the hope, according to Riv athletic director Joanne Merrill, is they will approve a limited type spring season.

“We’re pretty hopeful that we’ll play,” Merrill said. “I think the big part of it is weighing the risk vs. the reward. It is what it is right now.”

Which was no basketball. Part of the difference is the travel involved, whether out-of-state schools in the conference (mainly in Massachusetts) will be allowed to travel here or teams can travel there; etc.

Yes, you see games in Division I going on and Division II schools are having a spring; UNH is having its fall sports play an abbreviated fall sports season, including football. The Wildcats open up on Friday night at home vs. UAlbany.

So what’s the issue? COVID testing and the cost is one big problem for the smaller Division III schools. For example, Merrill said that to play one basketball game this winter – just one – would cost up to $9,000. Incredible.

But the outdoor factor will make a difference, she said, for the spring, which includes men’s and women’s lacrosse, baseball and softball.

However, there is one casualty. Merrill told The Telegraph that there will not be men’s volleyball season. Yes, the indoor and testing factor, and that’s a tough blow to one of the school’s most successful programs, now saddled with a not one but two-year, hiatus.

WILL THERE BE AN AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL SEASON?

It certainly looks that way. State Legion Baseball chairman Rick Harvey has made all the preparations, and the notables are that Hudson Post 48 will return with a Senior Legion team.

Also, the Senior Legion Tournament, one of the top summer events, will be at Holman Stadium Friday, July 23 to Tuesday, July 27. In Senior Legion, Merrimack is in District A while Nashua and Hudson will be in District B.

Hudson now will be the only local to have a team at all three levels: Senior, Junior, and the new Prep Program.

The Senior regular season starts June 14 and ends July 17.

WILL ANY MORE TEAMS BE ADDED TO THE FUTURES LEAGUE AFTER VERMONT’S INCLUSION?

FCBL Commissioner Joe Paolucci said it’s a possibility, but we think the league should stop at eight for now. Paolucci didn’t think the league, if it stays at eight, would split into two divisions.

But it’s time to get a schedule, and Silver Knights GM Cam Cook has been banging on the league door for awhile now to get one. Paolucci said there are “a couple irons in the fire” and there must be a good chance of more. That still takes time. Kudos to former Nashua Pride owner Chris English for buying the Vermont franchise that previously had been in the New York Penn League.

The franchises – and communities – abandoned by Major League Baseball’s horrendous contraction plan are in demand, with the college and independent pro leagues hot after them.

As they say, hope springs eternal.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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