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re: Alright, season or no?

Posted on 6/29/20 at 8:29 am to
Posted by IB4bama
Pelham
Member since Oct 2017
1981 posts
Posted on 6/29/20 at 8:29 am to
There will be classes on campus, just greatly reduced in size, and the ability to take the course on line. Same as the Alabama public schools. The only problem with that is the poor teachers would have to show up like it or not, plus they add to their problems greatly with the on line classes. The next 12 months will be very difficult and a financial nightmare for everyone.
Posted by ATLabama
Member since Jan 2013
1602 posts
Posted on 6/29/20 at 10:38 am to
There is a massive difference between wanting a season, and rationaly believing you are going to have one.

Do we want a season? Of course.

Are we going to have one, at least, the way we've always had one? No - and it's a fool's errand to try to conceptualize an argument otherwise.

Here are the major obstacles you've got to overcome -

(1) Ensuring students are on campus in some capacity this fall. Why? Because under the guise of "amateurism" the NCAA and it's member schools can't profit the way they normally can without school going on, and other students - not just athletes, attending class

(2) 50 states, 50 cases, 50 governors. Thanks to the powers of the 10th amendment and the silence of the federal government up to this point, each state still has the right to mandate what regulations to put in place. Here in Georgia, our fair governor doesn't give a DAMN about COVID-19. Our neighbors to the south, Florida, are experiencing an unbelievable spike in cases. How can you competitively maintain a schedule where Sanford Stadium has ~50% capacity (it won't be 100%, don't care what their e-mail said) versus 0%? Moreover - how about taking 250 university students and personnel to Dallas (major COVID hotbed) to play another 250 university personnel from Los Angeles? Say you get that done - there is still no way you'll have fans, virtually all from outside the state coming in for the game.

(3) Virtually no college has the financial wherewithal to withstand a the legal liability associated with hosting games with more than 20% capacity. COVID-19 is the most publicized pandemic in human history - the information overload from the CDC alone is enough support to take any class-action suit to court and hold a death-blow judgment against any University that decides to host large crowds. "Assumption of risk" will not be a defense, as the argument for gross negligence would be almost indefensible at this juncture.

NFL owners are a totally different hemisphere of wealth and power, and that is why they can take the risk. This isn't a 1-1 situation between college and pro.

If there will be college football this season, it won't have very many fans, if any at all. For schools not like Alabama (Arkansas, Mizzou, Maryland, Indiana, Arizona, etc...), the incentive plainly isn't there to go forward with a full slate. The incentive for schools outside the P5 is plain, zero.

My preference? Punt until the spring.

College football is nothing without its atmosphere. Any return of fans we could have next March would greatly enhance the sport we love. College football in a sterile environment is just not going to be a good product. Heck, Alabama's margin of victory last year was 25.8 - so we know the games themselves (Ok, 2-3) aren't terribly exciting.

We like college football for so many different reasons that is not the game on the field - almost moreso. It's why we still have people attend Alabama-Charleston Southern. It's not the game, it's the surroundings. The quicker we get to that, the better.
This post was edited on 6/29/20 at 10:39 am
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