Entire College Football Season May Come Down to One Thing: Testing
On Tuesday afternoon, University of Alabama System Chancellor Finis St. John was in Washington D.C. for a White House summit to discuss education and the efforts to reopen schools this fall, when he was called out by the President.
"Will Alabama be playing some great football?" President Donald Trump said. "What's going on with Alabama?"
“Mr. President, that’s not the first time we’ve heard that question, I can promise you,” St. John responded, drawing laughter from the room.
“We are planning to play the season at the University of Alabama. Understand that creates great difficulties and complexities, and we are hoping for that. It’s important to a lot of people, but we’re doing our best on that one, too.”
It was a good political answer.
Alabama has already announced plans to have everyone, including students, teachers and staff, tested for the coronavirus before returning to campus, but hasn't offered much in terms of specifics yet. A lot of them are still being worked out, so it's not known yet if doing so is practical, possible or even legally feasible.
Every athlete is already being testing upon arrival, and Alabama's preventive measures include daily screenings. Otherwise it's been pretty vague, and stated that “privacy laws" prevent it from sharing personal health information.
“We expect to have positive COVID-19 cases among our student-athletes, and have plans in place to appropriately handle those situations,” the university said when announcing its initial protocol. Athletic director Greg Byrne has said to look for a more formal plan in late July or early August, prior to the start of fall camp. The Crimson Tide is scheduled to kick off the 2020 season against Southern California on Sept. 5 in Arlington, Texas.
Alabama has financial resources that many others schools do not, but is still in a tough spot, and one can sympathize with the extremely difficult position Byrne and president Dr. Stuart R. Bell find themselves. Not only is football considered the lifeblood of the athletic department, school and community, but Bryant-Denny Stadium is in the midst of a $107 million renovation — and had to pay to expedite the process to be ready for the start of the home schedule.
If the fall season is limited or delayed, it would be like the LED lightning system it put in last year and couldn't use for a good part of the 2019 season because TV kept causing home games to be played during the day, times a billion.
Testing is the biggest barometer for trying to figure out what direction we're headed, yet with only roughly half of schools releasing information everyone's left mentally grasping and emotionally speculating.
We're actually getting a better read on the complexity of the situation from Major League Baseball, which is planning to have Opening Day on July 23. Although it doesn't have anywhere near the number of people involved as college football, there are still big questions about how the league is responding, testing and transparency.
Some are already calling for MLB to bring in a third party to handle coronavirus testing.
Sports Illustrated host Robin Lundberg discussed some of these issues with SI's Stephanie Apstein and got the perspective of Max Goodman from Inside the Pinstripes who has been around the New York Yankees since they resumed activities to prepare for the return to play.
Nevertheless, fans should take note of the main sports headline of the San Francisco Chronicle for the last two days.
On Tuesday it was: Days into baseball’s experiment, it already seems doomed.
Wednesday brought ‘This is heartbreaking’: Stanford will eliminate 11 sports next year.
Being cut at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic season: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.
That's why even President Trump, who attended part of the 2017 national championship game between Alabama and Georgia, and last season's LSU game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, is wondering if the Crimson Tide will play football this fall.
Trump did add about Saban, though: "He's a great coach."
A real concern for coaches
Age and preexisting conditions are forcing new COVID-19 safety tactics for college football coaches and coaching staffs.
The Center For Disease Control has published information suggesting that, for numerous reasons, the coronavirus puts adults in a specific age group (65 years or older) and minority race populations at a higher risk. Not only are those two populations more vulnerable to acquiring the coronavirus, but also more susceptible to an immediate hospitalization, needing intensive care or a ventilator, and even death.
Only five of the 60 Power 5 programs have a head coach over the age of 65, but Alabama's Nick Saban is one of them. You may have seen one of his public service announcements, including one with head athletic trainer Jeff Allen and mascot Big Al regarding wearing a mask.
Herm Edwards at Arizona State is the only head coach who falls into both categories. With Lovie Smith close, as he's 62 and the only black head coach in football or men’s basketball in Illinois history, IlliniNow took at the issue that has to be a real concern moving forward.
Did you notice?
• Patrick Mahomes is actually giving up a lot with his contract extension.
• A group of investors hopes to bring big league baseball to Nashville and make it the first MLB with Black primary ownership.
• A man was killed by a car on a baseball field in Maine and it uncovered a 50-year-old tragedy.
• Toledo defensive lineman Jahneil Douglas was shot and killed late Tuesday night in Toledo.
The lighter side
• How wrestlers settle on their ring names.
• The players’ food in the NBA’s Disney Bubble looks like a fancy airline meal.
• The Patriots, under the assumption that fans will be at their games this year, are offering free parking.
• A liquor store employee in Kansas City got the scoop on the Patrick Mahomes extension.
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