Alabama mayor predicts economic calamity without college football
Five things of interest, to me anyway:
Tuscaloosa mayor predicts economic catastrophe. Walt Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, says it could be financially devastating for the city if there is not an Alabama football season this fall. The University of Alabama projected that football accounted for $175.5 million of the $2 billion impact the university had on Tuscaloosa in 2015-16.
“It’s about a hotel owner being able to pay his or her employees. It’s about a restaurant being able to pay their small business loan. It’s about a family trying to make their mortgage payment. It’s more than just a game,” Maddox explained.
I talked to a local doctor on Monday who said he doesn’t see how college football is going to pull off a season. But we both agreed that there is so much money involved the powers that be will try. The economics say they have to at least attempt a season. Also, the doctor said everyone needs to wear a mask. Masks on, fingers crossed.
Side note: Michael Casagrande of AL.com clears some things up.
UK Athletics uses the antibodies test. The school announced Monday that it had given antibodies tests to 106 players, with six turning up positive. That means that six of the players have had COVID-19 at some point in the past. Those players underwent additional evaluations before being cleared for workouts.
Only players showing symptoms will be given COVID-19 tests. The problem with that is evidence showing that the virus can be spread asymptomatically. But, said UK’s Guy Ramsey, “There are limitations to diagnostic testing, including a relatively high rate of false negatives in asymptomatic patients. Additionally, diagnostic testing only gives a result for that specific point in time. That is, an individual could test negative one day and positive a day or two later.”
That is true, which makes the whole thing very complicated and very hard to pull off.
So we’re going to have Major League Baseball. Or so we think. MLB owners voted Monday to implement a 60-game season. Spring training would start July 1. The season would start July 24. There would be a designated hitter in both leagues, but just for 2020. Same with expanded playoffs.
The players are to vote Tuesday to approve the health and safety protocols. It’s expected they will pass that measure, but who knows the way this thing has been going? And who knows if this will actually work? This isn’t bubble baseball, remember. This is teams traveling from city to city and playing games in stadiums, without fans. At least at first. Play ball? We’ll see.
Top running back threatens to sit out the season. Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill, who rushed for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, says he won’t play his senior year if Mississippi does not remove the Confederate flag symbol from its state flag. The SEC and the NCAA have both said they would no longer hold any conference or national championships in Mississippi under the current state flag.
Maybe Hill would sit and maybe he wouldn’t, but it’s one more example of an athlete using his power for social change. We saw it with Florida State’s Marvin Wilson, Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard and the Texas football players who are threatening to sit out unless the school drops the tradition of playing “The Eyes of Texas” before games.
Cade Cunningham is staying at Oklahoma State. The No. 1 player in the class of 2020 was free to transfer elsewhere without sitting out a season after the NCAA hit the OSU program with a postseason ban. Or Cunningham could have opted for the G League. Instead, he decided to stay in Stillwater, where his brother is an assistant coach with the Cowboys.
That means Cunningham won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament next season, but it also makes you wonder how important March Madness is to players who know they are one-and-done before heading to the professional ranks. Again, for elite prospects, college basketball is a way station to bigger and more lucrative things.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 9:32 AM.
