Five things: Kentucky Derby must be special, plus NCAA, bubbles and Bill Yeoman
Five things of interest, at least to me anyway:
1. The Kentucky Derby really is a special race
Kentucky Derby will still have fans in attendance. As Tim Layden tweeted: “No spectators at the Indy 500. No spectators at the Masters. No spectators at the U.S. Open tennis or golf. No spectators at MLB games. NBA/NHL in bubbles. Kentucky Derby announcement today: ‘Fewer than 23,000 guests.’” The Kentucky Derby is special, but I’m not sure that it’s that special. We still have three weeks to go before Sept. 5. As Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday, he would expect that number to come down. Me, too.
Meanwhile, the Courier-Journal’s Joe Gerth takes the hometown track to the woodshed.
2. Maybe not what the NCAA wanted
Congress introduces college athletes “bill of rights” deal. I’m not sure college commissioners and administrators got what they were looking for when they went before congress to ask for help with handling the “Name, Image and Likeness” legislation being proposed and adopted by states.
Sens. Cory Booker and Richard Blumenthal introduced legislation Thursday morning that, according to USA Today, “would create new safety and wellness standards, provide improved health care; attempt to improve educational outcomes and would end the requirement that athletes sit out if they change schools or withdraw from a National Letter of Intent.
Said Booker, “We have to create a system that clearly the NCAA has not been willing to do on its own.”
3. Eligibility extensions are the right thing to do
Kudos to the NCAA for one thing. It announced Wednesday that fall sports athletes who opt out or do not play a full season because of the coronavirus pandemic will be granted an extra year of eligibility. So not only will the player remain on scholarship, he or she will be able to come back for another year, just as spring sports athletes were allowed to do when the pandemic scrapped the 2020 spring season.
4. The college bubble idea will get popped
Still can’t see college bubbles happening. Adam Zagoria reported for Forbes that the Big East is among multiple leagues considering bubbles for the 2020-21 college basketball season. According to Adam, possible locations include Omaha and the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish has written he thinks it’s a workable idea. I don’t. Not with college students. Not without some form of compensation. If this is put in place, it will show us just how far colleges will go to keep from losing more revenue from athletics.
5. Bill Yeoman had a Kentucky connection
RIP, Bill Yeoman. The legendary Houston football coach died on Wednesday at the age of 92. Yeoman was 2-0 against Kentucky and both wins were significant.
A 6-2 UK under Charlie Bradshaw in 1965 had turned down a bid to the Gator Bowl in hopes of a better bowl before it played Houston in the Astrodome. Star Kentucky quarterback Rick Norton broke his leg in that game. Houston won 38-21. Without Norton, the Cats lost the next week and failed to get a bowl bid. (Many fewer bowls in those days.)
Houston came to Lexington in 1966 and rolled over the Cats 56-18 at Stoll Field. Led by “Wondrous Warren” McVea, the Cougars gained 649 yards in total offense, a record against a Kentucky defense that stood until 2008. UK finished 3-6-1 in ‘66. And Bradshaw was let go after going 2-8 in 1967 and 3-7 in 1968.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 8:18 AM.
