Bartles

@JeremySWallace I've got to share this. I spoke to a woman who works at an assisted living center today. She was in tears. They have so many COVID-19 cases, workers are calling in sick and they are receiving instructions on how to preserve bodies because of delays in the morgue from getting them ^ See, that's the kind of thing where three weeks later you can't release a football schedule. Or have teachers setting up hand wash stations in classrooms. And if there's one story like that, there will be more in the next couple weeks. I've been a supporter of the return-to-football plan, but it's getting tougher to envision

Bama actually scheduled to play UGA this year (and Tenn). So I'd expect them to add Vandy for sure from the East. Maybe also Mizzou or SC if they need two new opponents

I can see why people are framing the RR thing as a gun to the teachers' head. But one of the three "outs" that are offered are probably pretty achievable even for young, healthier teachers. And a bunch may actually want to quit anyway.

The Cummings redemption tour is odd, seems like she turned her whole career into fighting for the wrongly convicted, but in the middle of that she made every effort to keep Kelley locked up. Here's a glowing story about her Philly department from Feb. 2020. (No idea why the font size freaks out in parts of quotes)

Even if he loses, we'll have less than a year before the heavy Tea Party pendulum starts swinging back to try to reclaim the House of Reps and whatever statehouses are in play in 2022. The 2021 economy will suck and it will be blamed on Dem spending. An ugly fight, but maybe sanity can stave them off this time since they will have zero new ideas besides racism and lower taxes.

The unscientific hope things won't be worse is the fact that the entire northeast region of the country, and much of the midwest, has really settled down after the March-May surge. If that happens down south by mid-August, mf'ers are gonna demand we play some ball. Of course we have the impending second wave, but we've still got people denying the current wave exists so no way people are gonna plan ahead for wave two. Shit, I have questions about that myself, COVID-19 seems to behave a lot differently than its predecessors in some key ways (weather effects, inconsistent transmission, etc).

Remember there was a 2-3 day window in March when we thought: conference tourneys would finish with no fans, then NCAA tourney would be played with no fans, then a mini-tourney could still be held to salvage the Final Four...this feels like an extended version of that period.

But every other conference has enough members to play 10 games if they want. Big 12 could stand pat but that would be leaving money on the table if others are playing 10. That said, and again I still like this concept, but it smacks of something that is just a placeholder until they have to postpone everything indefinitely. It is bizarre how many local rivalries are being tabled at the moment just in the name of conference play.

I wouldn't worry about Notre Dame finding 10 opponents or however many are needed. I mean, the Big 12 is sitting right there with no way to get to 10 games without a non-conference addition. I like the direction the powers-that-be are going. Give yourself a few more weeks to see if the virus settles, not to mention improving the safety by keeping everything in the family.

Media making a little too much of the Ivy being the canary in the coal mine back in March. Their tournament is a total of three games. They were prepared to send the regular season champion to NCAAs if there had been a tourney. Still, I can see this making some P5 presidents think hard about delaying football. I predict they wait a couple weeks to see if COVID starts to settle down and maybe they can salvage 8-10 games this fall. Better to try to bank some money in the fall, because if they postpone to spring and the virus flares back up, it's apocalyptic damage

Looks like they did a great job inside. I haven't looked up ticket prices but it appears they can carve the place into a bunch of different price points if they want, because the sections are so broken up. I hope it doesn't have the new Yankee Stadium effect of the lower infield sections always being empty due to high prices and no-show rich folk. Question: what is the area at the top level between home-1st base? Kind of above and to the right of the press box in the pics? I'm not sure I've seen a stadium that keeps that area open, but maybe it's a party deck or something.

Yes, this is correct. I just think CFB has to follow the pro model as best they can. It's more similar to MLB in that players will be lodging on their own and it will be up to them to stay safe. Definitely the toughest element to control and there will be slippage.

Imagine if Disney offered UT like $30 million to use the campus from mid August through Thanksgiving. The catch is they only need 200 student extras, all of whom would be COVID tested frequently and strongly encouraged to practice safety protocols. And those students would have to interact with a few hundred other students over the course of the fall, all of whom are also being tested frequently. All students and crew would be on campus voluntarily. I know that's over simplistic, but it boils down the question: if the risk can be low enough, why not take the damn money that is so badly needed for the good of the school and entire community?

Exactly, and there's no reason to pussyfoot around it, especially right now. Switch every spot besides FB to the spring. There will be some "essential" students on campus like in the hospitals, science labs, community service orgs. Add FB to that list just for this fall. Other students and parents can rage all they want, but we are trying to keep this whole enterprise going for their benefit and that costs money. Everything is risky for the rest of 2020. Our pro sports are beginning to navigate the path to low-risk competition which will be vital to preserving the economy. It has worked overseas. CFB leadership has to exhaust all options to pull off the season SAFELY. I know it sounds crazy today, and time is running out but let's see how things look at the end of July.

They can probably get out of the contract easily enough. I was just thinking in terms of safety (only one team would need to travel), operating costs (playing on a home campus for free) and logistics (safe, clean, updated locker rooms for both teams). I would lean to Cotton Bowl myself but sounds like teams hate it from a logistical standpoint and we know the locker rooms are cramped. They could also look at SMU, the Star or a high school, I guess.

Edit - OK, he has now apologized and basically said he just posts a lot of shit that is sent to him. So again, total dumbass and he needs to continue to publicly stay in front of this. Eagles issued a standard "we strongly condemn" statement. He'll light up the Redtails for 150 + 2 TDs in week one and then get hurt again

What a dumbass. The Eagles are in a tough spot because they allowed Riley Cooper to stay on the team after using the n-word at a Kenny Chesney concert. This is the same ownership albeit some different front office folks. The fact that D-Jacc didn't apologize makes me lean towards kicking him to the curb. Whatever they do should have some locker room input, and of course we let Malcolm Jenkins walk already...

Fans' heads will explode, but if the stands are gonna be empty anyway, the safest, cheapest and most logistically sound thing to do is play in Austin or Norman

They're buying time to keep the annual calendar somewhat intact. Hoping against hope that virus data looks better by the end of the month. Idea: Let the rando December bowl games serve as pre-season exhibitions in their normal time slots. That way you get some non-conf matchups in, whether they count or not, great TV ratings and a morale boost for holidays. Texas-LSU in the Independence Bowl, e.g.

Not unreasonable to let the country's education system collapse with raging virus, teachers not showing up en masse and parents having to abruptly stop working (again). Maybe the teachers can just go take the parents' jobs, problem solved! If only we were governed by Wilie Mack's Facebook

Welp, a team was eliminated from the round of 16 due to a player's asymptomatic positive test. That team goes home, and obviously their previous opponents are already gone...but makes you wonder if the virus is loose inside their bubble.

Sorry to hear that, Horn of Gabriel. It seems like people's experiences are all over the board, but the vast, vast majority recover without anything more than over-the-counter treatments, and lots of patience. Hopefully you're already past the peak and start to feel better asap. Follow your doc's advice. Keep us posted if you can, and stay positive optimistic!

Three posts above are my bat signal to remind y'all that the concept of returning to play is still sound! Obviously not in today's Texas but quite possibly in Sept/Oct/Nov. The idea is to get players under team control and test them often enough so that the occasional positive test doesn't affect the team any more than a normal injury. So many fans are assuming players are gonna run wild, which of course a few will, but I think teams at the highest level will have enough pride to safely field a full team every week. Can an NFL prospect (which they all think they are) manage to have one girlfriend for three months? I think it can be done. And don't forget there is already some level of immunity. And as for coaches playing guys they know are positive, again I suspect that number will be more than zero, but not widespread. It's a career killer and opens him and the school up to crippling legal action.

That announcement and a little quote in the CBS story both leave room for football to play even if most or all classwork is online. I think the power leagues are gonna try to hold off on a decision until next week at the earliest.

I put it on a few times mainly to see how they set up the court and distanced people. Zero people on the table between benches. A handful of workers and TV personnel on the opposite sideline, spread out. No cameramen on the baselines. They use the "Elam ending" which is pretty solid, though I can't see it taking hold for NCAA or NBA. You play a normal game until the final four minutes. After the next whistle under 4:00, the game clock is turned off and the teams play to a certain score which is determined by adding eight points to the total of the team in the lead. Example: Score is 71-67 and there's a stoppage at 3:53, the clock is shut off and the first team to 78 points wins. It allows the game to finish the same way it is normally played. The team with the lead has no incentive to bleed the clock out. The trailing team has no incentive to foul on purpose. And some potentially frantic swings if it's a close game when the target number is within reach.