Coronavirus

AND, DOWN THE STRETCH THEY'LL COME ... ON JUNE 20TH!

The 2020 Belmont Stakes have been moved from June 6 to June 20 -- and will serve as the FIRST leg of the Triple Crown, officials announced.

Usually, Belmont is the THIRD and final leg of the marquee races -- but do to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything was pushed back.

So, here's the official order ...

Belmont Stakes -- June 20

Kentucky Derby -- Sept. 5

The Preakness -- Oct. 3

The New York Racing Association -- which oversees the Belmont Stakes -- says no fans will be allowed at the track, in accordance with NY coronavirus safety measures.

"The Belmont Stakes is a New York institution that will provide world-class entertainment for sports fans during these challenging times," said NYRA President & CEO Dave O'Rourke said.

"While this will certainly be a unique running of this historic race, we are grateful to be able to hold the Belmont Stakes in 2020. Thanks to our partners at NBC Sports, fans across the country can look forward to a day of exceptional thoroughbred racing at a time when entertainment and sports are so important to providing a sense of normalcy."

It's been 10 long weeks, but Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to the Juventus training facility in Italy ... and man, he looks STOKED!

CR7 was all smiles -- and even rolled down the tinted window on his Jeep to give a thumbs up -- on his way to the team facility in Turin Tuesday.

Inside, Ronaldo reportedly underwent medical testing so he could be cleared to return to training.

The soccer superstar had spent most of the COVID-19 pandemic at his estate in Portugal -- but returned to Italy 2 weeks ago to begin self-isolation so he could get back to work.

Now, he's good to go -- and his club is expecting (hoping for) a return to action by mid-June, though nothing is set in stone yet.

Juventus last played on March 8 -- when Ronaldo led his squad to a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan in a closed-door stadium with no fans.

Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league has officially thrown in the towel on their 2020 season -- but they're adamant they WILL return next season.

"Due to a confluence of issues including safety, uncertainty of testing, changing government regulations, insurance and liability issues, sponsor and advertiser challenges of their own, and the changing nature of the virus itself, the decision was made to focus on a great return in 2021," the league announced.

Some takeaways ...

-- BIG3 says it explored playing at a single location like a Los Angeles studio sound stage, but ultimately decided it just wasn't feasible.

-- BIG3 will also push forward with its "Big Brother" style reality show.

"BIG3: Not in My House" will be premiering sometime before the regular season begins, the league says.

"The BIG3, along with Endemol, was ready to proceed with this show immediately, but were faced with issues because US networks mostly cannot start reality show and studio productions until at least September. We will have to wait until network studio production and scheduling stabilizes."

Ice Cube also issued a statement saying, "We tried everything in our power to give our fans a nice 2020 season but with a long list of obstacles, we decided to shift our focus to having a great 2021 season with our fans in the stands."

"Our goal from day one has always been to provide a remarkable experience full of top-level competition and entertainment."

President Trump is going all-in on pushing hydroxychloroquine as a way to fight the coronavirus ... because he says he's taking the stuff himself!!!

That's right, folks ... Trump claims he's been taking the drug he can't stop talking about -- which is commonly used to treat malaria, but also lupus and arthritis -- for a couple weeks now.

He doesn't seem to have any qualms about it either ... despite the FDA warning that the drug is unproven against COVID-19 and shouldn't be used outside a hospital setting.

POTUS also claims many other people are taking it -- including frontline workers and doctors -- and seems to be suggesting hydroxychloroquine can be used as a preventative measure against the virus ... though there's no scientific evidence to back that up.

Trump insists there's nothing dangerous about using it and continues to claim he's heard very good things about it. He adds ... "And, if it's not good, I'll tell you right, I'm not going to get hurt by it."

As for his proof of some of the "good stories" he's heard, he mentions one doctor in Westchester, NY who is allegedly using it to treat patients ... and hasn't had any die.

Pat Sajak would like to solve a puzzle ... of why people who can't work or are struggling financially are being told to stay home by media folks who are gainfully employed.

The legendary "Wheel of Fortune" host seems to be siding with out-of-work Americans who have been protesting state shutdowns ... and who've also garnered the support of President Trump.

Sajak took to Twitter -- yes, Pat's a serious tweeter -- to let his opinion be known about the continuous stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of COVID-19.

He said ... "When a disc jockey or a talk show host or a journalist who is being paid to work from his or her home tells people who can’t work, pay bills or pay their rent or mortgage to “Stay home and be careful because we’re all in this together, it’s okay to question the premise."

It's unclear what Sajak believes the answer to the question is ... he might need to buy a vowel or two.

Regardless, Pat's take suggests he's all for reopening the country despite the growing death toll, and it comes on the heels of protests breaking out all across the country.

"Reopen America Now" demonstrators have shown up in major cities in Ohio, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and California in the past month ... and a Long Island protest even caught the attention of the Prez.

Of course, it is understandable why so many people are upset ... as of last week, more than 36 million people in the U.S. have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. It's also resulted in nearly 90,000 deaths in 2 months' time.

Now, this is what we call American ingenuity -- giant inflatable inner tubes on wheels so people can safely return to bars and properly distance themselves ... hopefully sooner than later.

This spectacle was recently shot at a seafood joint called Fish Tales in Ocean City, MD, and they were demonstrating this nifty new contraption they're planning to use (possibly en masse) once they can go back to dine-in services, with tweaked 'rona guidelines in place.

It's exactly what it looks like here on video -- patrons would come in with these massive apparatuses around them ... and they'd be able to mingle and do their thing without the staff having to hover and enforce social distancing, 'cause these tubes are 6 feet wide.

They're called Bumper Tables, and Fish Tales owner Donna Harman tells us she's already bought up 10 of them, which she plans to roll out once she's allowed to. She says she'll probably let people use these in the parking lot -- it'd be kinda tight inside -- and estimates she can safely fit 40 to 50 of them at a time in that space, so she'll probably buy more.

As for how these even came about ... they're actually a new invention manufactured by a company called Revolution Event, which is run by Erin Cermak. Cermak says she and her partners whipped these babies up from scratch, adding they're all custom-made and in direct response to the pandemic. It's a neat idea, and apparently others think so too -- Cermaks tells us she's getting calls from tons of businesses, including a pro sports league.

Barack Obama, meet Arnold Schwarzenegger -- he's got a little commencement speech of his own ... and it might be just as good or possibly better advice for the Class of 2020.

The A-list actor and former California Governor delivered an epic address via ATTN to all the grads who couldn't attend their own in-person ceremonies -- and his takeaway message was very clear, and at times ... brutally honest. Have yourself a vision, damn it.

Arnold said that while the pandemic might seem like the biggest obstacle to overcome right now, he assured the grads that more would come throughout their life ... adding that having a clear and attainable goal in mind would undoubtedly help them move past them.

He gave a very personal example that hits home for him -- his 2018 emergency heart surgery that could've killed him, according to AS. He recounts how, at first, he thought he was going to have a simple, non-invasive procedure done to replace a heart valve -- but was fighting for his health back after things went left and they had to open him up.

During the story, Arnold shows off never-before-seen footage of him in the hospital at the time, and the rehab he had to endure to get back to peak condition ... and to get back to the new 'Terminator' set he was supposed to be on starting August 1. Because of his vision, Arnold says he was able to get there -- and suggested grads strive or the same clarity as they go forward, sometimes in pretty blunt terms too. This speech ain't for TV.

It's an 11-minute clip here, but it's very much so worth the full watch. BTW, he also takes a shot at Trump toward the end to highlight that it's not about the diploma in the end.

A Catholic priest got creative in doling out blessings and holy water around Easter time last month -- and his viral method has since gotten a proper meme treatment ... rightly so.

The guy's name is Father Tim Pelc, hails from Detroit. About a month ago, he was standing outside his church and blasting his parishioners with holy water through a mini squirt gun -- all just to bless their Easter food baskets. It's tradition ... and he kept it alive.

BTW, it was done safely -- Father Pelc stood a good distance away from folks puling up to their makeshift drive-thru and shot water into their vehicles, this while wearing a N95 mask, a plastic face shield and disposable gloves. Hallelujah ... responsible social distancing.

Meanwhile, Father Pelc's photos went viral since he started doing this -- and, naturally, the internet had a field day with the images. Some people featured him on fake movie posters, and we gotta say ... they look pretty legit. We'd go see these flicks -- if we could, that is.

Crafty online sleuths turned Pelc into an action hero of sorts -- featuring him on posters for 'Doom,' 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly' and others. He slides right in perfectly -- guess that'll happen when you play dress-up and horse around like a little kid with toy guns.

Nassau County chiefs want their residents to kick each other's balls if they must, but don't you dare go touching them ... tennis balls, that is. Hey, no giggling!

That was pretty much how it sounded when County Executive Laura Curran gave a rundown on how Nassau was going to navigate reopening tennis courts there, and what the new regulations would be when handling one another's balls. Again ... tennis balls.

In fact, you can tell Curran was trying her hardest to get the word "tennis" in there each and every time she mentioned "balls," but eventually she slipped ... and let a free ball run loose in her spiel, saying folks can kick other people's balls (back over to the owner if they happen to roll on over, is what she meant), but there is to be no touching of said balls!

That got a nice chuckle from the crowd who was listening, and finally ... Curran herself cracked up as well. She said she was gonna blush and again made another balls reference that got another giggle from just about everyone. Who says we outgrow sophomoric humor?!

This is the greatest balls moment since the 'SNL' classic ... of course, we're talking about Alec Baldwin's famous "Schweddy Balls" skit, where then too, it was balls galore.

An E.R. doctor, who goes by Dr. Bill, is irate that the federal government is spending millions of dollars on Blue Angels flyovers while medical workers have to wear painters masks and the hungry go without food ... and he says it's all to make President Trump look good.

Dr. Bill didn't say where he works, but he's pissed at the flyovers by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, which salute health care workers in various cities.

The doc says it costs $450k for one Blue Angels flyover and another $450k for the Thunderbirds. The Air Force and Navy pilots have been buzzing various cities, drawing big crowds from below, but Dr. Bill says it's a shameful waste of money.

He holds up a painters mask with contempt, noting they don't provide nearly the protection of the scarcer N-95 masks. He's also ticked off some of the essential services that could be funded in lieu of flyovers.

Maybe take this as a sign of hope, that things can slowly get back to some sort of normal, because some of the folks in Wuhan, China -- where the coronavirus first spread -- are once again able to enjoy themselves with a night of relatively safe dancing.

More than 100 people gathered in the middle of the city Saturday night and it was choreographed for the times -- everyone was spaced 6-feet apart and it seems everyone was wearing a mask.

It's something of a tradition in Wuhan ... mass dances at night. The music ranges from EDM to Japanese pop ... even a little square dancing is mixed in.

The record just scratched on Eric Prydz's marriage ... his wife wants a divorce.

The famous Swedish DJ's wife, Sofie, filed for divorce on April 27 in L.A. citing irreconcilable differences. Eric and Sofie were married for nearly 5 years and have 2 kids together ... a 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

They got married on July 17, 2015 and she lists February 20 as the date of separation ... according to docs obtained by TMZ.

Sophie's asking for joint legal and physical custody. As for spousal support, she's asking for it, and wants the court to enforce the terms of their prenup.

Prydz -- who's known as Pryda and Cirez D professionally -- made headlines in March when he claimed the only solution for the coronavirus pandemic was for all healthy people to get it, and suggested staying at home was misguided.

Yeah, he really said that, and got blasted by health workers. Prydz later apologized

He rose to fame with his 2004 single, "Call on Me," and went on to rack up hits with "Proper Education" and "Pjanoo" in 2008. He released his debut studio album, "Opus," in 2016, and won the Electronic Music Awards DJ of the Year in 2017.

Prydz also owns multiple record labels -- Pryda, Pryda Friends and Mouseville Records ... so splitting up assets in the divorce could get interesting.