Nothing wrong with UA trustees’ concerns

The University of Arkansas System trustees had questions Monday about the plan to resume Razorbacks athletics.

They weren’t questioning the plan per se but wanted some specifics.

That’s their job: To oversee the UA and all of the UA system’s campuses.

For instance, when the athletic budget was released a week before the board met, one could only wonder if that was one of the reasons it was called a proposed budget.

One thing was certain after the trustees met Monday: Everyone is on the same page about how important Razorback football is to the budget.

Opening the workout facilities on June 1 for voluntary workouts and starting football in the middle of July for the first game Sept. 5 against Nevada is a plan.

It isn’t the only plan, and whatever the Razorbacks do the board will have to sign off on it.

And so will the Southeastern Conference.

Although SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey seems to have an open mind about football this fall, he might even be prepared to go against NCAA recommendations.

The SEC is different than most conferences.

It is a big-time athletic conference made up of schools in small to mid-sized cities.

It will be much easier to monitor the coronavirus in Athens, Ga., or Gainesville, Fla., than Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, etc…

The Razorbacks’ nonconference schedule, other than Notre Dame, will be easy to monitor too, and South Bend is a smaller city with a big campus.

Going to Arlington, Texas, might be the biggest stumbling block the UA faces as far as road trips.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has millions of people.

We’re told daily that the way we are living — wearing masks, social distancing and maybe even a shortage of toilet paper — is the new norm.

If it is, we will all have to adjust, and if we are adjusting and the numbers of those catching the virus are going down, then there is a better chance for football.

It might be difficult to allow all the fans in a game, but right now, if the Razorbacks allowed only the 31,000 who have renewed their tickets, they might be able to pull that off.

Reynolds Razorback Stadium holds 76,000. When you consider families would not have to have practice individual social distancing and a few thousand fans would be sitting in suites, proper distancing could be done.

So, there is a chance there will be football this season in the SEC.

However, a chance is not reality.

That’s why the trustees were asking questions.

They and UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek made it clear that the number one priority is the safety of the players.

If in the next two or three weeks, cases of the coronavirus go up in Georgia, the state that has opened up the most, then another plan might be put into play.

While it seems to me some of the openings are a little early, it is understood that our economy statewide and nationally needs more businesses to be operating.

Razorback football, just like all the football playing schools in Arkansas, is an economic boost for their area.

Hotels and restaurants might be open, but if there are no weekends of football, those businesses will take a big hit.

Not as big, though, as the UA athletic budget.

So a plan is in place, with backup plans, and it includes students being back on campus, because the students are still why we have colleges.

It was part of the process to present the plan to the UA trustees for approval, and it was natural that board members had questions. That’s their responsibility.