Coronavirus hits keep attacking college sports across multiple fronts
Who says there is nothing normal about the college football season?
Alabama or Clemson will win the national championship.
If that’s not normal, I don’t know what is.
Still ...
The season is drowning in COVID-19 chaos. It has become a farce, actually. And it’s getting worse every day.
Recent developments make me want to cry.
— Four SEC games were postponed or canceled on Nov. 14.
— Pitt played and easily defeated Virginia Tech at Heinz Field on Saturday without 16 players in addition to Jaylen Twyman and Paris Ford, who opted out earlier. Virginia
Tech was without 12 players in addition to opt-out cornerback Caleb Farley, who should be a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL draft.
— Utah played its first game Saturday. That’s right. On Nov. 21! It probably wishes that game also had been canceled. It lost to USC, 33-17.
— Eighteen major-college games were postponed or canceled Saturday, including Clemson at Florida State, which was postponed only hours before kickoff.
— Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who tested positive for the coronavirus in October, hasn’t played in a game in more than a month. He’s the best player in the country, one of the big reasons I love watching Clemson. I’m glad I’ll get to see him Saturday against Pitt unless COVID-19 gets in the way again. I know, they might not be so happy about that at Pitt.
— One of the great rivalry games –Washington-washington State — was scheduled for Friday but has been canceled.
Stay tuned for more postponements or cancellations this week.
They are inevitable.
How are we supposed to think this season is legitimate even if it somehow manages to stagger to the finish line?
College football really lost me with the hissing contest between
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and Florida State coach Mike Norvell after the decision not to play Saturday’s game after a Clemson player tested positive after arriving in Tallahassee. Medical personnel from the two schools couldn’t agree on playing the game. In that situation, the ACC policy is to not play the game.. “The game was not canceled because of COVID. COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game,” Swinney said Sunday night. “To me, the Florida State administration forfeited the game.”
“Football coaches are not doctors,” Norvell, who tested positive for COVID in September, said Monday, denying Swinney’s allegations. “Some of us might think we are, but there’s a reason why medical advisers make decisions based on the information that is provided.”
“Listen, I’m not really worried much about what they say down there in Tallahassee, that’s for sure,” Swinney said Tuesday. “I’ve been in this league for 18 years, been head coach here 12 years. I think they’ve had three head coaches in the last four years.
I’m not going to worry about advice from Tallahassee. I trust the people here and trust our doctors 100 percent.”
And people wonder why so many have so little use for the many pompous, self-centered college coaches who think they are bigger than the game. They say they care about their players and their health. I believe them until that concern gets in the way of winning a game or enhancing their playoff resume. Then, it’s all about them. Their narcissism is disgusting.
The national championship game remains on schedule to be played Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Fla. With the money at stake, you had better believe it will come off. Of course it will come off, any health risks for the players be damned.
So will the college basketball season, right?
I looked at Espn.com’s seven headlines on its college basketball site Tuesday. Three involved Duke, Oregon and Mississippi canceling games.
Two others were about
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes and Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak testing positive and putting their programs on pause.
I don’t know about you.
I hardly can wait for basketball season.