It's Starting

The dominoes continue to fall as a result of the rules put in place by the Patriot League regarding fall sports in the age of COVID-19. Here's the latest out of Easton, Pa. (LINK):

Lafayette has delayed the start of its 2020 athletic seasons until Sept. 18, canceling football games slated for Sept. 5 at Sacred Heart and Sept. 12 at Navy.

Colgate already canceled its game at Western Michigan.

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Veteran columnist David Teel has a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch under the headline Coronavirus realities have schools worried about fall football that offers a look at what testing alone might cost at the FBS level. From the story (LINK):

... (T)esting costs vary by region, ranging from $80-$100. So, let’s do some math on $90 tests.

Conservatively, football athletes, coaches and support staff number 120. Some Power Five officials have suggested 2-3 tests per week during the season, which on the low end would cost $21,600 per week.

Multiply that by the regular season’s 13 weeks and you get $280,800 — for football only. 

Green Alert Take: That's not taking into account at least a month's worth of preseason.

Green Alert Take II: While the testing numbers worked up in the story are for football at the NCAA's highest NCAA level, just because FCS teams aren't filled with NFL prospects and packing stadiums doesn't mean players and coaches and staff don't deserve the exact same safety precautions as their peers at Power 5 schools. To be sure, at an Ivy League school the testing protocols might be different and the cost per test might not be the same, but any way you look at it there's a huge new expense – albeit one that is absolutely necessary – awaiting.

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While the Denver Post reminds us that spring football would most likely see top draft-eligible college players sitting out the season there may be a silver lining for players at the Ivy League level. From the story (LINK):

The positive is players who are considered back-of-an-NFL-roster prospects will get more playing time and NFL scouts will be able to offer a more complete evaluation of said players.

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A New York Times story under the headline Colleges Face Rising Revolt by Professors shines a light on another aspect of college this fall, given that COVID-19 is more dangerous for older populations. A few outtakes from the story (LINK):

Driving some of the concern is the fact that tenure-track professors skew significantly older than the wider U.S. labor force — 37 percent are 55 or older

And . . .

A Cornell University survey of its faculty found that about one-third were “not interested in teaching classes in person,” one-third were “open to doing it if conditions were deemed to be safe,” and about one-third were “willing and anxious to teach in person,” said Michael Kotlikoff, Cornell’s provost.

And  . . .

“Until there’s a vaccine, I’m not setting foot on campus,” said Dana Ward, 70, an emeritus professor of political studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., who teaches a class in anarchist history and thought. “Going into the classroom is like playing Russian roulette.”

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Many Dartmouth football players go on to live interesting lives and such was the case of Bill Monahan '51, a two-year letterwinner who passed away in Hawaii at age 90. The Maui News had a story HERE and his obituary from the Star Advertiser noted that he was . . .

The first Hawaii resident to play 1950, and 1951 Hula Bowls. Bill was a part of Dartmouth's very first RUGBY team, which he said "did not have a clue as to what they were doing!"

A Purple Heart and bronze star veteran of the Korean War, he went on to earn a PhD, work as a superintendent of schools, serve in the Hawaii house of representatives, build the largest hydroponic greenhouses in Hawaii, and be "on the vanguard of Hawaiian canoe sailing."  He played the ukulele, harmonica and piano and at one point moved to New Zealand where he studied the Maioi language and became a published poet and story writer.

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EXTRA POINT
Although I have spent the majority of my journalism career writing about sports that was never my goal. My hope was to be kind of a print version of Charles Kuralt, writing the sort of stories that people enjoy reading when they are tired of the headlines. I did that at the newspaper in 1987 before the editors drastically changed the tenor of what they wanted me to write and I hustled back to the sports section with my tail between my legs.

I found myself thinking about that when I read that today is the anniversary of SPAM being introduced in America back in 1937.

One of the stories I wrote in 1987 was about the 50th anniversary of the canned meat made famous in a Monty Python skit. I remember hanging out at the exit from a local supermarket with my reporter's notebook in hand interviewing young mothers, old-timers, teenagers and just about anyone who would chat with me looking for an angle for the story. I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to come up with anything interesting when a retired military man came to my rescue.

The story ended up being built around his memories of eating the processed meat product during wartime.

I wish I could find the story to confirm a hunch. If I'm right, the veteran was a Dartmouth alum who might actually be a BGA Daily reader. If I hear from him confirming that hunch, I'll let you know.