TBT Removals, Bubbles Bursting Show Challenge That Awaits College Sports

[Kevin Kinder]

A few days ago, I observed that the return of pro sports didn’t offer a blueprint for that of colleges, as the protected environment of “the bubble” t
[See the full post at: TBT Removals, Bubbles Bursting Show Challenge That Awaits College Sports]

[wvunct]

There is no way that college sports is going to resume before a vaccine is found.  While we would all like for it to happen, we’re just fooling ourselves to think that it will.

[RipsRevenge]

You make good points Kevin.  A coach can try to restrict their athletes from close contact  and practicing safe measures to prevent potential contact when in public but realistically know that a certain percentage will not follow the rules and eventually contract the virus jeopardizing their team and staff.  Once this happens it’s just a matter of time to shut down a program.

Another point that I don’t see discussed much is training continuity if a season is suspended or cancelled.  I can’t speak for football and basketball but the Olympic sports need training consistency to not lose the fine tuning of their sport.  A month off wouldn’t be damaging but shutting down a season from both practice and competition would deteriorate all the fine tuning both physically and mentally from training.  Land training both weight and specific exercises only go so far.

 

[Kevin Kinder]

Good points, Rip. The Ivy League just shut down all fall sports, and will not play until spring at the earliest. It did say that training could continue, which should help address one of your thoughts, but not preparing to play games does seem to remove a bit of the competitive edge.

[Butlereer]

There is no way that college students or athletes will “socially distance” when school starts.  To think that they will is foolish.  Again, if you think that they will wear masks outside of their rooms/apartments you are again foolish.  It just won’t happen.  Now, if they close down all of the bars in town there will just be mega house parties   ……   again, not socially distancing.

That being said, COVID will spread to an extent throughout the university.  One player on the BB or FB team doesn’t have symptoms, but is positive can have a devastating effect on the team.  There is no way that the model of TBT or MLB or NBA or NHL or NFL can roll over to college athletics.  There is no way you are going to keep college athletes hunkered down and away from the rest of the population.

 

[Butlereer]

Here’s the bigger problem.  What happens to the scholarship numbers and the SR’s if there is no season for FB or BB?  Do the SR’s get another year if they have already used their RS year?  If they do get an extra year what happens to the schollie limit?  Huggs and Brown are continuing to fill the upcoming classes.  What happens if the NCAA says that SR’s are allowed to play another year?  In BB, if both SR’s are given an extra year and every player comes back and Huggs fills the 3 available slots he could end up with 15 players.  It gets even more complicated in FB when Brown has 16 RS SR’s and 25 incoming recruits next year.

On second thought about FB, with only a few kids leaving this would bring us finally up to the 85 limit.  But it could get very sticky for many programs.

Then, after the SR’s, what do you do with the JR’s, SO’s and FR that have already used their RS year?  Do they only get to play a total of 3 years because a full year was cancelled?

[Ccteam]

Interesting things to think about. Even if Sr’s are given an extra year, how many will opt out anyway?  If Sr’s get extra year, then all classes should.

[Jeff Cobb]

I would take the opposite tack on the FCS football schools. I would postulate that their financial survival depends almost entirely on the income from these one-off games against the P5 schools. Therefore I would think they would be even more vigilant on their end in terms of their Covid 19 protocols to assure those games go off without a hitch.

[WVFaninMI]

I believe that I heard the Ivy League commissioner say that eligibility would be extended for their fall sports athletes.  Would the P5 commissioners do the same if forced to abandon the fall?  And will the NCAA approve the action of the Ivy League or the P5’s if it becomes necessary?  For the record, the Ivy League commissioner was essentially the messenger – the decision was taken by the school presidents.  I would assume that this would be the method of decision for any P5 actions as well.

[Author]

Posts