Emmert has spoken

[favorite football fan]

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29152467/ncaa-mark-emmert-says-fall-sports-likely-no-go-campuses-open

NCAA's Mark Emmert says fall sports likely a no-go if campuses aren't open
"All of the commissioners and every president that I've talked to is in clear agreement: If you don't have students on campus, you don't have student-athletes on campus," Emmert said. "That doesn't mean [the school] has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you have to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students. ... If a school doesn't reopen, then they're not going to be playing sports. It's really that simple."

Just like I have been telling everyone here; if there are no students on campus, there are no student-athletes performing.

[bonarae]

xsmhx At least there's the president... all we need now are official statements from the Association.

[Professor Chaos]

Isn't this the most common of common sense? Is there anyone who has suggested that college sports will go on as scheduled in the fall if classes are still online only? No new is ground being broken here. FWIW there have been numerous major universities saying they plan to have students back on campus in the fall but that is a plan at best and is subject to change.

[favorite football fan]

Common sense is not all that common.

You asked: Is there anyone who has suggested that college sports will go on as scheduled in the fall if classes are still online only?

There have been a multitude of comments on this very board that have devised schemes of playing football in empty stadiums with no fans. While no one has "officially" said anything of the such, the common fan, of which many are here, have devised such notions of devising schemes and plans of playing football with no students on campus and to "no fans" in the stadium due to many reasons such as TV money, contracts, the shear love of the game, and other sorts of ideas.

[Professor Chaos]

Common sense is not all that common.

You asked: Is there anyone who has suggested that college sports will go on as scheduled in the fall if classes are still online only?

There have been a multitude of comments on this very board that have devised schemes of playing football in empty stadiums with no fans. While no one has "officially" said anything of the such, the common fan, of which many are here, have devised such notions of devising schemes and plans of playing football with no students on campus and to "no fans" in the stadium due to many reasons such as TV money, contracts, the shear love of the game, and other sorts of ideas.
Playing games with no fans is a very plausible scenario. Playing games when there are no students allowed on campus is a non-starter.

[favorite football fan]

[Playing games with no fans is a very plausible scenario.]

Not really. If a campus is open and with students roaming around it, then it will be deemed safe for fans to attend a game as these students will also be considered "fans". Thus, common sense is not all that common.

[Professor Chaos]

[Playing games with no fans is a very plausible scenario.]

Not really. If a campus is open and with students roaming around it, then it will be deemed safe for fans to attend a game as these students will also be considered "fans". Thus, common sense is not all that common.
It'll be easier to social distance pretty much anywhere on campus than it will be inside sports stadiums/arenas. Having students on campus is an entirely different deal from having large scale sporting on campus. Many college football teams typically pack more people into a football stadium on Saturday than they have on the entirety of campus at any other time of the week.

[favorite football fan]

That's a pipe dream. It is a hope beyond all hope type of thinking i.e. holding out some type of hope that we will be able to watch a football game or have our teams play; the blind hope that teams will be able to play when schools are not-open to students; the blind hope that sports will be played despite all things. What is the difference in 22 people with officials on a field with support staff on the sidelines called? Packed in; in close contact; No different for a class of 20 or 100 in a large lecture hall. You are going to put 20 people in a classroom that holds 200? You are going to hold a class five times a day in order to maximize the social distancing? Remember your school's cafeteria? Can you really social distance there? What? Eat in shifts? Stand 6 feet a part while waiting to get a taco at the taco bar? You cannot really social distance on a college campus and expect it to be effective. Every one going to wear a mask and have a 20 gallon industrial strength hand sanitizer on them while the professor lectures wearing a mask? It will be impossible to social distance on a college campus.

And playing sports such as football cannot be done "social distancing"; total pipe dream by people desperate to come up with solutions to give them hope.

[Professor Chaos]

That's a pipe dream. It is a hope beyond all hope type of thinking i.e. holding out some type of hope that we will be able to watch a football game or have our teams play; the blind hope that teams will be able to play when schools are not-open to students; the blind hope that sports will be played despite all things. What is the difference in 22 people with officials on a field with support staff on the sidelines called? Packed in; in close contact; No different for a class of 20 or 100 in a large lecture hall. You are going to put 20 people in a classroom that holds 200? You are going to hold a class five times a day in order to maximize the social distancing? Remember your school's cafeteria? Can you really social distance there? What? Eat in shifts? Stand 6 feet a part while waiting to get a taco at the taco bar? You cannot really social distance on a college campus and expect it to be effective. Every one going to wear a mask and have a 20 gallon industrial strength hand sanitizer on them while the professor lectures wearing a mask? It will be impossible to social distance on a college campus.

And playing sports such as football cannot be done "social distancing"; total pipe dream by people desperate to come up with solutions to give them hope.
I'm not really sure what you're arguing at this point but I guarantee there will be social distancing safeguards put in place if/when college students, or students of any age for that matter, get back on campus. They'll do what they can to reduce the chances of tranmissions and that'll include things like wearing masks to class and when walking around campus and reducing class sizes. I'm sure they'll also implement changes to reduce the amount of congregating in common areas such as no taco bar (or buffet of any kind) and plenty of pre-packaged to-go food to reduce or eliminate the number of people doing sit down dining. It's not going to completely eliminate the possibility of transmission but you'd better believe those university administrations are going to do everything they can do to get students back on campus in as safe a way as possible.

As far as sports go I don't know why you're so convinced that it either has to be no sports or sports with no restrictions on fan attendance... there's plenty of gray area in between. They're already doing fan-less sports in South Korea with baseball and here with UFC fights and plenty more are already putting plans together for fan-less games (like German soccer next week). Where there's a will there's a way and there's going to be a monstrous will for football come fall from couch potatoes and TV networks looking to cash on this country's likely especially ravenous appetite for sports by that time. They'll play without fans if they have to.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Playing games with no fans is a very plausible scenario. Playing games when there are no students allowed on campus is a non-starter.

I wouldn't have been surprised at all if many P5 schools would've been willing to harbor a scenario where only fall athletes were allowed on campus in conjunction with online classes. Athletes taking online classes are still "student athletes".

That being said, I'm glad Emmert drew this line in the sand. If campuses nationwide are closed to the general student bodies, it would be completely inappropriate for college sports to be played.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

As a fan and season ticket holder for Bison football, I'm guessing there will be games but few or no fans attending.

Wonder if my paid dues/fees/tickets from this year be carried or to next year?

[smallcollegefbfan]

I wouldn't have been surprised at all if many P5 schools would've been willing to harbor a scenario where only fall athletes were allowed on campus in conjunction with online classes. Athletes taking online classes are still "student athletes".

That being said, I'm glad Emmert drew this line in the sand. If campuses nationwide are closed to the general student bodies, it would be completely inappropriate for college sports to be played.

I think this was more of a statement to California and others that they will either not play or allow students on campus. I feel like we may see a lot of safeguards put in place but we will for sure have college football. People are already itching for live sports and by August the demand will be there. As long as we have widespread mass testing available, which we will, then there is no reason not to play ball. I am 100% sure we will have college football this year.

[Bisonoline]

As a fan and season ticket holder for Bison football, I'm guessing there will be games but few or no fans attending.

Wonder if my paid dues/fees/tickets from this year be carried or to next year?

Talked to the ticket office a couple of weeks ago. You can get a refund or have the fees rolled over to next year.

[favorite football fan]

Talked to the ticket office a couple of weeks ago. You can get a refund or have the fees rolled over to next year.

I don't know why NDSU is doing something so foolish. Certainly the administration at NDSU is listening to the Bison fans and the season ticket holders that they demand that football be played no matter what. I am astonished that this is even being considered. The shock of it all. Since I have to drink from the fountain of infinite wisdom here and bathe in the waters of the majestic prognostications emanating from these hallow halls of the FCS intelligentsia, I believe that football will occur and that the NCAA will come to its senses just in time to have a full season of football. Things will be back to normality very soon.

[Bisonoline]

I don't know why NDSU is doing something so foolish. Certainly the administration at NDSU is listening to the Bison fans and the season ticket holders that they demand that football be played no matter what. I am astonished that this is even being considered. The shock of it all. Since I have to drink from the fountain of infinite wisdom here and bathe in the waters of the majestic prognostications emanating from these hallow halls of the FCS intelligentsia, I believe that football will occur and that the NCAA will come to its senses just in time to have a full season of football. Things will be back to normality very soon.

What are they doing thats foolish? They have a plan if the season isnt played.

But you really need to make up your mind. This post is in direct conflict with your other post #8.

[favorite football fan]

What are they doing thats foolish? They have a plan if the season isnt played.

But you really need to make up your mind. This post is in direct conflict with your other post #8.

It's called sarcasm.

[walliver]

Obviously, ESPN, SEC network, ACC Network, Big10 network, PAC-10 network, Fox Sports, NBS Sports network, and CBS (TV and cable) networks can only show reruns and virtual sports so long. The P5, or at least a prominent subset, will play this fall - and the NCAA will let them.
The rest of college football, including FCS, may play in the fall, or may play in the spring.

[favorite football fan]

Obviously, ESPN, SEC network, ACC Network, Big10 network, PAC-10 network, Fox Sports, NBS Sports network, and CBS (TV and cable) networks can only show reruns and virtual sports so long. The P5, or at least a prominent subset, will play this fall - and the NCAA will let them.
The rest of college football, including FCS, may play in the fall, or may play in the spring.

Will never happen; there will never be a time when only the P5 will play while the rest play in the spring. And a campus has to be considered "open" with students being able to return for this to occur. And TV does not dictate when campus' will open. Foolish thinking. If P5 plays, EVERYONE else will play. VB, BB, chess team, water polo, will play. This is not a football-centric world or even a P5-centric world with this issue.

If such a foolish notion occurs i.e. spring football with P5 only playing in the fall, schedules will be messed up for years. And the non-P5 will throw a fit. Nope. This is an all or none deal. P5 football is somehow "immune" to an outbreak? Silly wishful thinking.

[caribbeanhen]

How will the players feel about playing?

we all know they want to play but I keep seeing those down lineman on the Packers and Cowboys in the ice bowl breathing ice on each other

[WestCoastAggie]

Does anyone know who is going to be paying for the testing of student athletes on a weekly basis?

[bonarae]

Return of college sports will be up to the state officials and university presidents... xrulesx

[walliver]

Does anyone know who is going to be paying for the testing of student athletes on a weekly basis?

If you have a cursive "A", modified Green Bay "G", Buckeye, or Tiger Paw on your helmet, it will be paid for by ESPN. Everybody else is on their own.

By the end of 2021, many estimates are that 70% of the population will have been infected, and testing may no longer be necessary.
Until then, most football programs will screen based on travel, exposure, and temperature. It will not be cost-effective, at any level, to do weekly antigen testing on athletes playing non-revenue sports.

[WestCoastAggie]

If you have a cursive "A", modified Green Bay "G", Buckeye, or Tiger Paw on your helmet, it will be paid for by ESPN. Everybody else is on their own.

By the end of 2021, many estimates are that 70% of the population will have been infected, and testing may no longer be necessary.
Until then, most football programs will screen based on travel, exposure, and temperature. It will not be cost-effective, at any level, to do weekly antigen testing on athletes playing non-revenue sports.

A tidbit that probably influenced the decision of the Cal-State System was an apparent weekly price tag of $25 million dollars for weekly testing in their system. I also posed the question of what happens if multiple players, coaches and staff of a team test positive the week of a game in the middle of a playoff hunt? Do those players isolate for two weeks, postponing the game, or do we just keep full sail ahead? Or, are those players just kept away while everyone else plays? If so, are rosters expanded and will those be scholarship players?

What about housing... Will off-campus players be forced to live off campus? Will they pay for that or will the school pay for it? Where is all of this money going to come from if attendance or general student enrollment if both are going to be down, presumably?

[JacksFan40]

SDSU is on for the fall and I’m pretty sure the rest of public universities in SD are as well.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

What are they doing thats foolish? They have a plan if the season isnt played.

But you really need to make up your mind. This post is in direct conflict with your other post #8.


No fans at the games would really suck. Probably no tailgating either.

Athletic departments will have to make cuts. Many non revenue sports will be gone. The virus will be a great excuse for ADs to trim the fat.

[DFW HOYA]

By the end of 2021, many estimates are that 70% of the population will have been infected, and testing may no longer be necessary.


Half-true.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/11/viral-image/epidemiologist-projects-40-70-adults-could-catch-c/

[ElCid]

Half-true.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/11/viral-image/epidemiologist-projects-40-70-adults-could-catch-c/

That fact check, so-called, of the situation is over 8 weeks old...11 Mar. It's shelf life is long gone as we have discovered so much more info since then. Besides, anyone who claims to know what will happen is just guessing, as we have seen from results so far.

[ngineer]

Schools are considering reduced on-campus presence. One option I have heard is for a school to have their freshman and senior classes on campus for 20-21 so as to enable distancing withing dorms, classrooms and dining halls. Limited attendance at sporting events, as well. Of course, for the PL schools for football, that wouldn't be hard considering average attendance of 3-6,000 in stadiums that seat two to three times that number.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Schools are considering reduced on-campus presence. One option I have heard is for a school to have their freshman and senior classes on campus for 20-21 so as to enable distancing withing dorms, classrooms and dining halls. Limited attendance at sporting events, as well. Of course, for the PL schools for football, that wouldn't be hard considering average attendance of 3-6,000 in stadiums that seat two to three times that number.

I don't see the half-on campus, half-off campus split working out unless you offered sophs and juniors tuition breaks in that scenario. That would also make fielding a football team pretty difficult with two of your four classes ineligible to play (per Emmert). And even if they were eligible, how is a Lehigh junior living in California supposed to commute to and from practice daily?

Social distancing among fans will not be a problem in the Patriot League with the exception of Georgetown home games. Sadly, many of our fan bases skew older, especially Holy Cross, and a lot of these loyal supporters will likely opt to watch games online this year rather than attend. I can't see tailgating being allowed most places.

[cx500d]

I don't see the half-on campus, half-off campus split working out unless you offered sophs and juniors tuition breaks in that scenario. That would also make fielding a football team pretty difficult with two of your four classes ineligible to play (per Emmert). And even if they were eligible, how is a Lehigh junior living in California supposed to commute to and from practice daily?

Social distancing among fans will not be a problem in the Patriot League with the exception of Georgetown home games. Sadly, many of our fan bases skew older, especially Holy Cross, and a lot of these loyal supporters will likely opt to watch games online this year rather than attend. I can't see tailgating being allowed most places.


Are you saying Georgetown packs them in? I did go to one Georgetown game last year against Marist (whom Georgetown ass pounded), and it was well attended although one side of the field was under construction.

[walliver]

Half-true.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/11/viral-image/epidemiologist-projects-40-70-adults-could-catch-c/

Amazing that your source of medical information is a political site.

The statement "many estimates" is in fact 100% true and confirmed by the very site you quoted.

[WestCoastAggie]

A&T cut Fall Break and Labor Day break off the school schedule this fall. our classes will also be wrapped before Thanksgiving.

[walliver]

A&T cut Fall Break and Labor Day break off the school schedule this fall. our classes will also be wrapped before Thanksgiving.

That seems to be the model most schools are pursuing. The fear they have is that kids who go home for Thanksgiving will spread the virus all around or bring it back to campus.

Many schools are also looking at cutting spring break for the same reasons.