The ‘Into the Wild’ bus airlift, and another COVID-19 football freakout
Five things of interest, to me anyway.
Magic Bus removed from Alaska wilderness. That was the most interesting story of the weekend, to me anyway. The bus immortalized by the 2007 Sean Penn-directed movie “Into the Wild” was airlifted out of the forest after two hikers drowned trying to reach the bus and at least 15 others had to be rescued between 2010 and 2019.
Why the fascination? It is the same abandoned bus that Christopher McCandless stayed in and ultimately died in after quitting his job, giving away most of his money, traveling across the U.S. and ultimately hiking into Alaska where he sought refuge in the bus. Jon Krakauer wrote about McCandless’ journey and death in the 1996 book “Into the Wild.”
Daily COVID-19 freakout. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reports that 30 LSU football players are in quarantine after either testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed to someone who has tested positive. This comes after Kansas State shut down voluntary workouts when 14 of its football players tested positive for coronavirus.
These aren’t the headlines you want to read when hoping for college football in the fall. But Shelly Mullenix, LSU’s senior associate athletics trainer told Dellenger, “It’s not surprising we’re seeing the rise right now. It’s a pandemic. We should not be shocked. The story is that it’s exactly what we said it would be.”
Tiz the Law takes the Belmont. As expected, the Holy Bull and Florida Derby winner added the first — yes, first — first leg of the Triple Crown to his list of accomplishments. Though he did it against a watered down field, Tiz the Law became the first New York bred to win the race since Forester in 1982.
What’s next for the Sackatoga Stable colt, who earned a 100 Beyer Speed Rating for the victory? The Travers is probably next for the son of Constitution, who is trained by 82-year-old Barclay Tagg. Originally scheduled for Aug. 29, the Travers was moved to Aug. 9 after Churchill Downs moved the Kentucky Derby to Sept. 5.
Xavier Peters is gone again. A five-star recruit who originally committed to Kentucky, Peters instead started his career at Florida State. Unhappy in Tallahassee, he transferred to UK last season, but played sparingly. Head coach Mark Stoops hinted that Peters needed to start doing things correctly off the field before he would get more time on the field.
Then Saturday, we found out the outside linebacker is on the move again, this time to Garden City Community College. That’s led some in the UK faithful to worry about the Cats’ depth at linebacker. After all, Chris Oats’ availability is in question. But I think Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White should be fine on the outside with Boogie Watson, junior Jordan Wright, redshirt freshman J.J. Weaver and redshirt freshman K.D. McDaniel. In a pinch, White could move junior Josh Paschal back outside.
Worrying news about Olivier Sarr. That is if you are a Kentucky basketball fan. Our own Ben Roberts reports that “a reworking of the NBA’s pre-draft calendar might lead to a snag in Kentucky’s ability” to get the transfer from Wake Forest eligible next season. UK has applied for a waiver but has not yet heard from the NCAA.
Meanwhile, the NBA Draft will now have a second window for players to enter names into consideration. Those who declined to do so the first time get a second chance to do so right up until Aug. 17. While still at Wake, Sarr considered but declined to enter the draft. When coach Danny Manning was fired, Sarr decided to transfer to Kentucky.
This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 10:17 AM.
