By DaVince “Dino” Wright
It’s Saturday morning and we’re about to load up the grill, official team chairs, school flags and food for the tailgating party we’re about to throw. I love leaving early in the morning when the air is cold and crisp heading to the stadium. Getting the perfect spot is key, especially when your team has a winning record. Homecoming or rival games really do matter when bragging rights is why our team is playing. I can hardly wait until the first kick off game this season, but wait we’re not sure what’s going to happen because the world is in shock due to COVID-19.
For the past five months the sports world has looked for something that we are familiar with to change the landscape of the new norm in our country. The summer has been hot, draining and downright miserable for many of us. Fall sports allow us to forget that during the summer months we struggled without football. ESPN and other sports outlets have featured key games from last season leading us up to where we are now. We’re on the fence waiting for conference leaders and athletic directors to give us the news if we will have a season or not.
The Pac-12 and Big 10 conferences have decided to play all fall sports during the spring of 2021. How does this work? Well, it basically knocks out those teams from playing in traditional bowl games. “The health, safety and well-being of our student athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our number one priority since the start of this crisis,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen this season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is.” The impact with the decision for the student athletes will continue to have their scholarships guaranteed. The conference is also encouraging the NCAA to grant students who opt out of playing this academic year an additional year of eligibility.
No USC-UCLA game, no Michigan-Ohio State rivalry game or Notre Dame versus anyone slated for Saturday afternoons. Can you picture not going to the State Fair of Texas and not seeing the Texas-OU Red Rivalry game this fall. Well there’s a strong possibility that this article could ring true for fall football. The pandemic and the NCAA is making this bad dream come true!
