College football 2020 offseason thread

From the story: "The furloughs will not affect senior executives."

 

This might be good news. At least they're not executing people yet.

 

I think Newman is going to take his chances with the Combine and the Draft and not seek out another school.

Seems like there just wasn't a good fit with the player and the new OC/QB coach. If that's the case, it was a smart move to leave that situation. I think Newman was in a pretty good spot from draft projections going into the season.

 

I feel terrible for the employees losing their jobs, but at least Cleveland State finally catches a break.

 

Turns out there is a 'bubble' in college football — and it works

 

That's great. Those players also no longer resemble anything close to college students. We're going to put you away in a bubble on the road away from COVID so the university's athletics department can make money, but we're not going to pay you, outside of scholarship money for taking online classes with zero campus-life experience.

 

Don’t know if this one will age perfectly. While the carousel will be slower, I don’t like Derek Mason’s chances of survival if he goes 0-10 or 1-9 in 2020.

As to whether it’s impossible to whack a coach in the middle of the Trumpandemic, ask Danny Manning.

 

Iowa State officials have changed their minds regarding fans at the opener, which will probably piss off the people behind the Astroturfing campaigns.

Iowa State backtracks, says no fans for opener

 

Yep, not that the "student athlete" wasn't already a travishamockery, but this puts the final nail in that old, stench-ridden coffin.

Non-paid professional athletes who may or may not be students, but nothing close to what a typical college student is experiencing, yes. But don't blow smoke up my butt and tell me it's raining. (And yes, I mixed the metaphors on purpose.)

 

Game Day. Opening Day. It's finally here. "Strange Days indeed".

As an old time, long-suffering UAB fan, it's hard to express just how weird it is to read preseason expectations to win nine or ten games, the division, and to play for the conference championship. The team has not lost at home since #The Return three years ago, the fourth longest home winning streak in the country. There are thousands of UAB seniors who have never seen their team take a home loss.

I'm sure I'll have more to post later, but this game is going to come down to the most basic of football tropes. Can they run while stopping the run? Can QB Johnston not turn the ball over? Some things I'm pretty sure of, for instance that the Central Arkansas OL is in for a very long night against the UAB front seven. So many stories playing out against the background of Covid.

7 pm CST on ESPN 3. Take a peek.

I have only recommended betting on UAB once, in 2017 when the over/under for wins was three and I told you to bet the ranch on the over. I'm going to jinx it by doing it again, mostly because I suspect that after tonight the odds are going to change. UAB-Miami is a week from tonight. There are lines for that game around UAB +15.5 or so. I'm thinking that as long as you're getting more than 14 it's a pretty good bet. If tonight goes the way that I expect it to I doubt you'll see that tomorrow. Use your own judgement, I'm not a handicapper.

 

I pulled up some of Mandel's columns and his apology. I did not go through Mandel's Twitter since he said he deleted some posts. And I did not go through the SI website to try to determine which ex-baseball writer you were referring to (why is his name on close hold?). In Mandel's apology he said he lived in California and did not appreciate the feelings if people outside his West Coast bubble. I thought his apology was directed to a group of readers who wanted to shoot the messenger.

But he seems to have been largely criticized for reporting concerns about the health risks involved in playing, which I guess you would describe as rhetoric. Which leads to a question. You seem to feel that the role of a sports journalist is to advocate for a specific economic interest. Why is such a course more admirable than laying out the facts, which I think Mandel did a good job of?

 

I don't feel that's the role. Where'd I write that?