[fullmetal]

Not sure whether this belongs on the covid board or not, but UConn will not be competing this season as many of its games have been canceled by opponents.  Reporters are saying the program is suspended, but the head coach says the time will be used to further player development and prepare for the 2021 season (so maybe 20 hr/wk practice schedules are still active?).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...oronavirus

[fullmetal]

Not sure whether this belongs on the covid board or not, but UConn will not be competing this season as many of its games have been canceled by opponents.  Reporters are saying the program is suspended, but the head coach says the time will be used to further player development and prepare for the 2021 season (so maybe 20 hr/wk practice schedules are still active?).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...oronavirus

[needle]

Not sure whether this belongs on the covid board or not, but UConn will not be competing this season as many of its games have been canceled by opponents.  Reporters are saying the program is suspended, but the head coach says the time will be used to further player development and prepare for the 2021 season (so maybe 20 hr/wk practice schedules are still active?).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...oronavirus

Here's their pre-covid sked:

UMass
at Illinois
at UVirginia
Indiana
Old Dominion
Maine
at Ole Miss
Liberty
at North Carolina
at San Jose State
Middle Tennessee
Army

So....the decision to cancel the season isn't especially surprising, with four Power 5 opponents that would have likely sought to cancel. Supposedly Maine also canceled. And the state has quarantine restrictions in place for arrivals from certain states.

But what is most noteworthy to me is the language used by UConn officials in making the announcement. Rather than explain the difficulties of scheduling as an independent, they leaned into the health and safety reasons for cancelling:

Their AD: “The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk.”

I actually think this will influence other FBS schools, though they would likely never admit it. Arrow down on the likelihood that a Fall 2020 season ever starts. Definitely less than 50-50.

[needle]

Not sure whether this belongs on the covid board or not, but UConn will not be competing this season as many of its games have been canceled by opponents.  Reporters are saying the program is suspended, but the head coach says the time will be used to further player development and prepare for the 2021 season (so maybe 20 hr/wk practice schedules are still active?).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...oronavirus

Here's their pre-covid sked:

UMass
at Illinois
at UVirginia
Indiana
Old Dominion
Maine
at Ole Miss
Liberty
at North Carolina
at San Jose State
Middle Tennessee
Army

So....the decision to cancel the season isn't especially surprising, with four Power 5 opponents that would have likely sought to cancel. Supposedly Maine also canceled. And the state has quarantine restrictions in place for arrivals from certain states.

But what is most noteworthy to me is the language used by UConn officials in making the announcement. Rather than explain the difficulties of scheduling as an independent, they leaned into the health and safety reasons for cancelling:

Their AD: “The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk.”

I actually think this will influence other FBS schools, though they would likely never admit it. Arrow down on the likelihood that a Fall 2020 season ever starts. Definitely less than 50-50.

[OutsiderFan]

It's seems safe to say that the first decision marker for schools to play sports is: Do we have the resources to implement the safety protocols required, including testing capacity. I don't think UConn has the resources, especially with so many of their games being cancelled and being an Independent now.

The next decision marker is going to be trickier: Do we continue when we have positive tests?

As mentioned  in previous threads, the Korean Baseball Organization has been allowed to play by South Korean CDC, but if one player tests positive, the whole league shuts down for two weeks. Are the conferences going to have anything like this in place?  They can't be thinking "we'll do what MLB does" and continue playing if one and even two teams have outbreaks, can they? I mean the MLB players are being paid, and aren't going to a campus like some college athletes might. 

Just saw story about Colorado State not taking virus seriously and now 60/82 Idaho players don't want to play.  

WHERE IN THE HELL IS NCAA LEADERSHIP ON THIS?!?!?!?! If it can't do anything to manage or organize this staggeringly important situation, why does it exist, and how can anyone justify its existence?

[OutsiderFan]

It's seems safe to say that the first decision marker for schools to play sports is: Do we have the resources to implement the safety protocols required, including testing capacity. I don't think UConn has the resources, especially with so many of their games being cancelled and being an Independent now.

The next decision marker is going to be trickier: Do we continue when we have positive tests?

As mentioned  in previous threads, the Korean Baseball Organization has been allowed to play by South Korean CDC, but if one player tests positive, the whole league shuts down for two weeks. Are the conferences going to have anything like this in place?  They can't be thinking "we'll do what MLB does" and continue playing if one and even two teams have outbreaks, can they? I mean the MLB players are being paid, and aren't going to a campus like some college athletes might. 

Just saw story about Colorado State not taking virus seriously and now 60/82 Idaho players don't want to play.  

WHERE IN THE HELL IS NCAA LEADERSHIP ON THIS?!?!?!?! If it can't do anything to manage or organize this staggeringly important situation, why does it exist, and how can anyone justify its existence?

[gailtate]

It's seems safe to say that the first decision marker for schools to play sports is: Do we have the resources to implement the safety protocols required, including testing capacity. I don't think UConn has the resources, especially with so many of their games being cancelled and being an Independent now.

The next decision marker is going to be trickier: Do we continue when we have positive tests?

As mentioned  in previous threads, the Korean Baseball Organization has been allowed to play by South Korean CDC, but if one player tests positive, the whole league shuts down for two weeks. Are the conferences going to have anything like this in place?  They can't be thinking "we'll do what MLB does" and continue playing if one and even two teams have outbreaks, can they? I mean the MLB players are being paid, and aren't going to a campus like some college athletes might. 

Just saw story about Colorado State not taking virus seriously and now 60/82 Idaho players don't want to play.  

WHERE IN THE HELL IS NCAA LEADERSHIP ON THIS?!?!?!?! If it can't do anything to manage or organize this staggeringly important situation, why does it exist, and how can anyone justify its existence?

The pandemic has now exposed the NCAA for what many of us have recognized for years. And coupled with the rise of the college football industrial complex, we now see that "NCAA leadership" is an oxymoron. A self-cancelling phrase if there ever was one. The organization may not quite be on the same corruption level as, say, the International Olympic Committee, but it's every bit as ineffectual. Their self-congratulating TV commercials win the PG&E award for Most Fraudulent Messaging.

[gailtate]

It's seems safe to say that the first decision marker for schools to play sports is: Do we have the resources to implement the safety protocols required, including testing capacity. I don't think UConn has the resources, especially with so many of their games being cancelled and being an Independent now.

The next decision marker is going to be trickier: Do we continue when we have positive tests?

As mentioned  in previous threads, the Korean Baseball Organization has been allowed to play by South Korean CDC, but if one player tests positive, the whole league shuts down for two weeks. Are the conferences going to have anything like this in place?  They can't be thinking "we'll do what MLB does" and continue playing if one and even two teams have outbreaks, can they? I mean the MLB players are being paid, and aren't going to a campus like some college athletes might. 

Just saw story about Colorado State not taking virus seriously and now 60/82 Idaho players don't want to play.  

WHERE IN THE HELL IS NCAA LEADERSHIP ON THIS?!?!?!?! If it can't do anything to manage or organize this staggeringly important situation, why does it exist, and how can anyone justify its existence?

The pandemic has now exposed the NCAA for what many of us have recognized for years. And coupled with the rise of the college football industrial complex, we now see that "NCAA leadership" is an oxymoron. A self-cancelling phrase if there ever was one. The organization may not quite be on the same corruption level as, say, the International Olympic Committee, but it's every bit as ineffectual. Their self-congratulating TV commercials win the PG&E award for Most Fraudulent Messaging.