Friday, August 14, 2020

Reggie Says . . .

From the Dartmouth football office comes this video chat with all-time Dartmouth and Cincinnati Bengals great Reggie Williams:
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With the Southland and SoCon both calling off football yesterday the only FCS conference still standing is the Ohio Valley, and per 247Sports the OVC is ready to pull the plug. (LINK)

Of the 127 FCS schools, 25 whose conferences have shut down are still considering playing this fall as independents. Counting the nine OVC schools, as of this morning 34 schools in the FCS could still be on the field this year.

Green Alert Take: Expect that number to drop quite a bit as the reality of independent scheduling sets in. 
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Also yesterday, the NCAA called off all fall sports championships. That does not include the College Football Playoff, however, because that is run by the conferences themselves, and not the NCAA.

It may be only a formality but from the "not so fast my friend department," all those schools and conferences puffing out their chests about how they are moving football and fall sports to the spring? They can't do it on their own because, as the AP reports, "Moving fall sports to the spring still must go through the Division I Council, which is comprised of representatives of all 32 conferences, and be approved by the DI Board of Directors." (LINK)
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Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean at Emory University and a fellow with the Infectious Diseases Society of America ,is quoted in an ESPN story headlined, NCAA medical advisers urge focus on pandemic over fall sports (LINK):
"I feel like the Titanic. We have hit the iceberg, and we're trying to make decisions of what time should we have the band play," said Del Rio, who serves on an NCAA COVID-19 advisory panel. "We need to focus on what's important. What's important right now is we need to control this virus. Not having fall sports this year, in controlling this virus, would be to me the No. 1 priority."

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Green Alert Take: Tulane head coach Willie Fritz is allowing his players to remove face guards/splash shields from their helmets because "they didn't like it." Poor babies. Hey coach, it's not about whether your players like the safety precaution. It's about the other guys and trying to make sure they don't get sick. End rant.

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From Syracuse.com (LINK):

Syracuse’s football players decided not to practice for the third time in eight days on Thursday, a source told The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com. The source said players want more frequent in-house testing during preseason camp.

Head coach Dino Babers said previously SU is testing players for Covid-19 every other week during camp. 

Players do not plan to suit up again until the test results come back, the source said, meaning the Orange will likely miss a fourth scheduled practice on Friday. That number could increase to five or six over the weekend depending on turnaround time for the tests.

And . . .

Meanwhile, at Pitt, Thursday's scheduled practice was sacked as more than a half-dozen players showed symptoms that have been tied to COVID-19. 

Green Alert Take: Look, I like college football as much or more than the next person and for the past 15 years it's largely how I've made my living. Calling off the season has been a huge disappointment to me personally and financially devastating. And yet, the more I see, read and hear things like this the more I applaud those who have made the tough call to shut down. I'm proud of the Ivy League for being at the forefront of that movement and while it took longer, as a Penn Stater I'm proud of the Big Ten as well.

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The CBC has a story about Vancouver's Simon Fraser University – the only Canadian member of the NCAA – under the headline, SFU dropping 'Clan' varsity team name, effective immediately. From the story (LINK):

The "Clan" name, shortened from the original "Clansmen," was intended as a nod to the Scottish heritage of fur trader and explorer Simon Fraser, for whom the university is named. The title has often been misinterpreted as a reference to the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

And:

"The primary factor contributing to the decision was the well-being of student athletes, many of whom reported that the current name had caused them to experience unsafe situations, upsetting conversations and other harm," the statement read.

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EXTRA POINT

A few weeks ago the mail brought a couple of coupons for $10 off on any purchase of $20 or more, and another $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at a national auto parts store. It might not surprise you that auto parts stores are not my normal stomping ground.

Ah, but I actually used both coupons. With one I bought two spray bottles of Rain-X and tacked on some cleaner to get over the $20 threshold. The key was the Rain-X, which I've raved about before. Put that stuff on your windshield, polish it up a bit and you can drive down the road without wipers if you choose. Raindrops just slide off on their own. And headlight streaks from oncoming vehicles in the rain? Gone. Yup, I'm a Rain-X fanboy from way back and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

My other purchase was a little more expensive. It was a fire extinguisher for our '84 VW camper van. With no football this fall we are in the planning stages for a socially distanced trip in the VW – eating and sleeping in the bus and stopping only for gas – and want to be as safe as possible. We've never had a fire issue in all the years we've had the bus and over all the miles we've driven it, including a trip to the national parks of the west and to Augusta, Ga., for the Masters. And we just had it gone over by a VW bus whisperer, but the fact is these nifty vehicles do occasionally have a fire problem and we want to be prepared.

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