Prospects of a 2020 Football Season are Bleak But Certainly Not Dead Yet
We are in the waiting game now, and to a lot of fans, the prospects of a 2020 football season are bleak, but it's certainly not dead yet.
Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey made it clear, during his appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show yesterday afternoon, that the league was no in rush to cancel all non-conference games and go to a conference-only schedule following a meeting with all 14 athletic directors.
"We are not at that destination and a number of our colleague conferences are also not at that destination," Sankey said. "The trends are not what we desired. Not what we had experienced a bit earlier in the summer — very much in the wrong direction and that's problematic. That doesn't mean that's the finish line [or] that things will never change."
The SEC's social media team is doing its part to spread the word about wearing masks in public, when social distancing can not occur, by showcasing all 14 head coaches in team-sponsored face coverings.
But, is it too little too late?
This week was suppose to be the league's annual Media Days event in Atlanta, Ga., but now the media and fans must wait until the virtual event, which dates are still to be determined for that event.
Sankey relayed to Finebaum that the number of new cases, in the SEC's region, will have to go down, before a final decision is made on what the conference will determine regarding fall sports.
Meanwhile, this morning, Florida, the league's second most populous state next to Texas, and a state that has been ridiculed by its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the number of cases skyrocketing since reopening, might not in as bad as shape as you might think.
FOX35 Orlando is reporting that many testing clinics have not accurately reported the number of negative tests to the state. Even Orlando Health reported a 98 percent positivity rate, but have now backtracked and said that number is actually only 9.4 percent.
That is a huge discrepancy if true. It also makes you wonder, where else this could be happening at.
Which brings me back to Sankey's conversation with Finebaum. The commissioner made it very clear yesterday, that he is done looking at "projections and models", but wants to look at the "facts", to make sure the league is in the best position possible, if football and other fall sports can return.
According to worldometer.com, as of yesterday, nine SEC states (Alabama included) landed in the top 25 of new cases in the United States, while that certainly is not a bright spot, but maybe, just maybe, the SEC's campaign for mask wearing and a botched handling of coronavirus testing results, from the Sunshine State, can help us get back on track to where we need to be before a decision is made at the end of this month regarding the 2020 season.
BamaCentral's Tyler Martin breaks it all down on this week's Talk of the Tide.
For more specific information on the coronavirus in the state of Alabama, check out This Week with the Crimson Tide: Alabama Waiting to see What Happens with the Coronavirus.
