#StayHealthy and practice social distancing
Happy 4th of July, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans. Wherever you are, I hope you’re spending time with your families and friends today (get some some rest and relaxation).
Please check out this well-written, timely report from the New York Post’s Zach Braziller, Howie Kussoy, and Ryan Dunleavy.
Is college football moving to the spring coming? There is more talk about it, even if the powers-that-be are clinging to the faint hope of playing in the fall. “I don’t even see how it’s real.” Deep dive from me, @rydunleavy and @HowieKussoy. https://t.co/digcL4LXKA
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) July 4, 2020
Here are some good quotes from the article:
Many expansive beaches are still deemed too dangerous to enjoy. Many businesses remain shuttered. Many hospitals are still short on beds.
On July 2, the United States set a single-day record for new coronavirus cases. On Aug. 29, college football remains set to kick off on campuses.
Even as COVID-19 cases rise in at least 36 states and the prospect of a second wave looms in the fall, the majority of conference commissioners, school presidents, athletic directors and coaches are clinging to a cash-inspired cocktail of hope, denial and desperation in order to produce their regularly scheduled season.
…..
“I don’t even see how it’s real,” one Power Five coach said. “You are going to have 100-plus people in the locker room in close proximity. There is no way around that. If they are saying you can’t do that, I don’t see how we can operate when we are going to be on planes and buses with large groups of people and in hotels with other people. There is no way you are going to isolate 100 players, let alone the staff and coaches, and then say, ‘We’ll get together on Saturday for a game.’
…..
The environment is different on every campus. The FBS has no uniform COVID-19 testing protocol or frequency. Every program has varying resources for medical staff and supplies. Every state has different health regulations. This past week, a U.S. Senate committee hearing noted almost half of the 130 FBS programs are currently declining to make positive tests public. [Emphasis mine]
The hurdles to an undisturbed season start at the top, where the absence of a national authority figure hamstrings a sport unable to enforce consistent regulations across conferences — such as deciding to suspend the season, the allowance of fans into stadiums, the requirements for a team to forfeit, safety measure for players off the field and whether teams will be permitted to play without other students on campus.
The NCAA, for instance, controls March Madness but not the College Football Playoff, which is effectively run by a board comprised of 11 university presidents and chancellors. The decision of when major Division I football will be played is ultimately up to conferences, school presidents and commissioners.
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Moving to the spring increases the likelihood of an effective vaccine or treatment being developed and is more likely to have fans in attendance — while allowing doctors, scientists and humanity additional months to better understand the disease. College football would also be given the chance to watch the mistakes made by professional sports returning first.
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Multiple Division II and III schools have already canceled fall sports. The Ivy League will announce its plans Wednesday, but the expectation, according to sources, is football will be played in the spring with a conference-only schedule.
The are all extremely good points the New York Post writers – and I agree with this take. There are a couple issues that have to be tackled here. First, as the New York Post writers mentioned in the article, you’re going to have the NFL Draft to bump up against in the spring. That means, you could have many players leave rosters so that they can focus on the NFL Draft. Second, while I think it would be amazing to have college football and college basketball on TV 24/7, I think it would be a substantial challenge to see both sports occurring at the same time on campuses. The logistics of having both major revenue sports occur at the same time would be yeomen effort. Do I think it can happen? Yes – but it would be very challenging.
I think today, though, that I’m with the New York Post writers – I’m rooting for college football to came back – don’t get me wrong – but I think it’s highly unlikely to see college football in the fall given that we’re seeing record numbers of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) around the country – and really no sign of it stopping.
Don’t be upset with this blog post 😉
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