What’s That Racket on the Roof?

In a news briefing, Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa said: “Our parks are closed down, and so a lot of our park staff, they patrol around just to make sure that people aren’t in contact sports and things. They saw an individual working out in one of our downtown parks and she went over to tell him it was closed, and it was Tom Brady.”

Mayor Rick Kriseman of Tampa’s sister city, St. Petersburg, who was also at the briefing, responded with unfeigned excitement, “Oh my goodness. Wow!”

In a tweet, the city of Tampa said: “Sorry Tom Brady! Our Tampa Parks and Rec team can’t wait to welcome you and our entire community back with even bigger smiles — until then, stay safe and stay home as much as you can to help flatten the curve.”

He was sighted, the city confirmed, not cited. There was no immediate comment from Brady on the park incident. VICTOR MATHER

Home of Sports One-Liners

It probably isn’t fair to call Rudy Gobert the Patient Zero of the coronavirus in sports. But he was one of the first high-profile athletes to contract it. And before testing positive he had made light of the virus by jokingly touching every reporter’s microphone and notebook at a news conference.

His positive test was also the immediate cause of the N.B.A.’s shutting down its season on March 11. And a teammate, Donovan Mitchell, soon tested positive as well. (Both players are now clear of the virus.)

Gobert, whose case of coronavirus was mild, is back to joking around, although this time thankfully without potentially putting anyone in danger.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/sports/tennis/rooftop-tennis-tom-brady.html