When Notre Dame starts thinking there might not be a season ...

Just buying time towards what feels like an inevitable cancellation, but there’s too much $$ at stake for the larger programs to not exhaust every option. The schools/conferences that don’t make $$ on football have much easier decisions. Distance doesn’t matter for Power 5 schools- the universities that turn a massive profit from, and thus need, football are flying private whether it’s 300 miles or 3000.

 

Good thing the labor force works cheaply.......

 

Really sorry to lose our clash with you guys at Autzen. I was so looking forward to that.

 

Would have been an excellent atmosphere & a good test for both sides- I was much more concerned about this one than previous matchups. I really like what Mario Cristobal is doing, he’s completely changed the identity of their recruiting. For as fun/hyped as the Chip era was, they way they were built on the lines left them with no chance against teams with NFL dudes at the line of scrimmage.

 

I don't see how this can possibly work. Sometimes it's easy to forget, but the athletes are in fact students at universities. Will players be quarantined from the rest of the campus population for the entire semester? I don't think it's realistic to expect that transmission can be avoided among football players crowded up against a line of scrimmage, in huddle, in a locker room, on a bus, etc.

If the campuses are otherwise closed, and all teaching and most research happens remotely, maybe football players could be put in their own dorm, a practice I would otherwise be opposed to. In this case, maybe games could go on, and it is wise to cancel the non- conference games. Keeping conferences siloed may help limit the contagion to some extent. The independents will be left out, since they have the potential to be super spreaders.

But in any case I estimate the over under on the season at 5 weeks, at which time a large number of players will unfortunately fall ill and the remainder of the season will be canceled. This coming from a big fan of college football, and someone who grew up camping out to watch the Rose Parade. It gives me no joy to say this, and I hope I am wrong.

I was heartened to read that the Pac 12 will allow student athletes to keep their scholarships even if they decide not to play.

 

Of Course they are worried they are not in a conference and if everyone goes conference only games they are in trouble

 

Chip was a window of opportunity. We needed him for those years and now CFB has caught up to him. Helf inherited great athletes and an untenable scheme longer term, and discipline was for shit and he tried to be friend too long before being leader. Willy is a dick. You are spot on about Mario.

 

They "join" the ACC. ND is still one of the straws that stirs the drink, free agent or not. Notre Dame is also a school that can swallow the $$$ hit.

 

I don't see how, in any of the sports, that they can 100% guarantee the player's safety. Each player would have to have his own HazMat suit.

For example, football lineman spend the entire game and practices spitting and slobbering all over each other. In basketball, battling for rebounds they are all over each other. Hockey, the puck battles in the corners.

I'm going to go out on a ledge and say that resuming games is going to cause a wave of infection among the players. Yeah, sure, constant testing and all of that, but would you stake your life on that?

I am just expressing my opinion and have no desire to start any sort of argument over this.

 

You're being logical. No need to defend that, Breeze.

Few institutions outside _______ and ________ are as delusional as the NFL.

 

Auto racing and golf both seem to be doing relatively well with the measures they have taken to limit the chances of Covid spread at the events. Both are different without the crowds but it is easy to forget that the crowds are not there. As long as they don't do long shots of the stands and gathering areas at the events, I just don't miss them that much. I think the way both operate make them work better than sports like football, basketball, and hockey because you can keep people away from each other. That is impossible in the three sports I mentioned...those three involve lots of contact.

Basketball also has had a problem keeping the "bubble" clean. Living in hotel rooms is a lot different than living at home. I know they do it on the road, but that is only a portion of their existence in a normal season.

I think college football will try to start but I see the effort being called off, possibly before any games are played. Notre Dame will have games if they do play; they already play five against ACC opponents each year.

 

Just playing teams in your own conference makes it most difficult to pick a national champ. Maybe there won't be one this year if only incestuous football is played.

 

You know, it might not be a bad thing, playing in the conference only. It would put a stop to the early season, and even late season nowadays, Alabama vs. Tennessee State A&M.

 

How about boxing? Guys are swapping sweat, spit, snot, and blood for the entire match. Then, between rounds, the corner workers also get to experience all of that. And as a spectator, you sure don't want to sit in the front row, because you might catch a little there, too.

 

Maybe the problem isn't inter-conference play, it's feasting on the lower tiers, and by that I mean D1-AA/FCS and not the Mountain West. Then again, we'll always have App State. lol. For the smaller schools it's likely the biggest payday of the year, however. I'm not saying that's right, but not a lot is with the powers that be handling these athlete-students. How about not having any such victories count toward the bowl eligibility victory tally? (Actually, the whole bowl thing is a bit of a sham so why allow 6-6 but not 5-7?) As for us, I'm glad we (Oregon) step outside the comfort/safety zone and schedule games with the other power conferences.

 

Let me add this, a good read from Jason Gay in the Journal. And now when Paul Finebaum says it is looking bleak, it really is looking bleak.

I could definitely go for a reset here. CFB has gotten too big. The BCS should've been stillborn and I don't know that the so-called playoff system is really all that much better, not when it comes at the expense of rational conference lineups and so much of the intra-regionalism that was offered up on the altar of all the cash and a big trophy that is closer to not being a mythical national championship but hasn't quite made it all the way there yet. And you know what, I was quite fine with the old system. I'm not a hoops fan but March Madness makes sense. CFB is a long way from that kind of finality.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-college-football-happening-or-not-11594908015?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR0fuOGJpMQDwNTHZYjjCecHv_Y2nHGRr2_7KNYVPe0XZYYosCUrvoHLiKU

 

Agree, but the problem is, that the powerhouse teams can't get anyone to play them. I have a buddy who played at Alabama, and talked to him about this very issue. He said Alabama has a lot of trouble finding non-conference opponents. No division 1 team wants to play Clemson or Alabama, even if they are in a different conference. But the small schools jump at the chance, because of the money, and exposure on national television. And since no one expects them to win, they really don't have anything to lose.

 

That's just not true.We've played Auburn and Tennessee; Ohio State the next two years; Georgia, Texas Tech, Michigan State and Oklahoma State coming up. It is true that it is hard to get the southern schools to leave the region.

 

I said powerhouse teams, not Auburn and Tennessee.

Curious...who is ''we"?

 

This is great. A powerhouse plays my simpleton college and wins 64-0. We get 500K. Some players are ruined. Broken bones, faith, egos, spirit, and all that sports stuff so vital; but the college got 500K.
And we’re going to miss those games.
And you wondered where the money went. I know where the yellow went unless pepsodent was as lying.