It's The End Of The World As We Know It

The cancel culture has apparently ripped the heart out of college football.

Not only are individual universities now cancelling the 2020 college football season but now an entire conference has decided to board up shop, pack their bags and call it a day. Uh, make that a full year.

And it looks so easy that a caveman (and/or a UM fan) could do it.

Today the MAC conference called off the 2020 season in simple fashion. They never made money on college football anyway but pretended it was fun while trying. The thought of losing millions of  dollars per team was an option they just couldn't swallow. Here was a portion of the press release:

"The Mid-American Conference (MAC) has announced the postponement of all scheduled fall contests, as well as MAC championships, due to continuing concerns related to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Council of Presidents unanimously voted to take this action with the health and safety of its student-athletes, coaches and communities as its top priority. It is the intention of the membership to provide competitive opportunities for the student-athletes in these sports during the spring semester of 2021."

Other conferences are likely to follow.

And the end of the world as we know it will officially arrive.

Once all college sports are cancelled, and the revenue generated disappears rather quickly, the universities, stadiums, campuses and businesses that they supported will be faded, distant memories. The jobs and employees lost there will easily be in the millions nationwide. From parking, to concessions, to security to maintenance the impact is severe. And we know it.

Miami (UM), Orlando (UCF) and Tampa (USF) as cities will be fine. But does anyone here think that Gainesville as a city can survive NOT having a thriving university full of students or a successful athletics program support that small, backwoods, swamp town? Not a chance that town can survive.

And that scenario will be repeated a 100 times over all across this great Country. The towns of Tuscaloosa, Athens, Norman, Omaha, Eugene, Ann Arbor and Columbus are all at risk of some serious economic decline.

Here are the  reasons why:

1. Each team may have to cancel the 2020 season.
2. Each university easily employes 50-100 personnel in their football team staffing departments.
3. Each university employes 1000's of people in their athletic departments that rely on football revenue.
4. There are 125 Division I or FBS college football teams with over 12,500 football employees minimally.
5. The other athletic department employees that depended on that revenue are well over 2-3 million.
6. All of those people all across the Country have mortgages and car payments.
7. Cancelling the 2020 season puts all of those people at risk of foreclosures and repossesions.

So you are not concerned yet? Well you should be. Here's why.

This is only an example of one sport on one level of athletics.

MLB has been reduced to no revenue and no fans in the stands.

NASCAR has been reduced to racing with no revenue with no fans in the stands.

The NBA has to live in a "bubble" in Orlando to try to make it work.

The NFL could be next on the chopping block (not concerned there).

If you remove all major professional sports and college football from the economic equation, not to mention the TSully exclusive executive decision option, then you are left with next to nothing.

And when left with nothing, you are one step closer to chaos and and anarchy.

Which apparently is what some people want and where we are headed.

God help us all.

Comments

[58 Straight]

Sorry to be so negative, but this entire situation is very frustrating. CFB - and sports in general - cannot survive two years without playing. It's that simple. Cancel sports from high school up in 2020 and 2021 and there will be very little to resume. Even an Alabama will tap out - you cannot run a $40 - $60M annual deficit with no revenue coming in. And there is NO bailout money coming to college football or any professional sports league.

As for the virus, the problem with shutting down is that NO ONE has any identifiable metrics for when things can reopen. Is it 500 cases a day in the affected state? 10? None? Is it the employment of a vaccine? Does the vaccine need to be 80% effective? 50%? Does there need to be contact tracing? There are no standards for reopening.

The other problem is the fact that a lockdown or reopening has taken on political dimensions. And because politics is on the verge of replacing religion as people's primary identifying characteristic, if one side says lockdown then one side will want to stay locked down for three, five, ten, one hundred years. However long it takes, until it is decided otherwise. And if one side says no mask, then partisans will not wear a mask no matter what. There's no middle ground, no reason. And a profit driven media skews towards the most inflamatory rhetoric to drive viewers in a fading print and cable universe.

It's all quite frustrating.

Posted by: TonyCane | August 08, 2020 at 05:42 PM

[58 Straight]

I think Rousseau made a huge mistake by opting out. With the season with a strong likelihood of not occurring anyway, why not continue to practice with the team and keep options open, while also not looking like a prima donna to all around (ie NFL) if it might not even be necessary. I agree with you, Tony, as there is a huge risk going forward for college sports in general. One thing for sure is that it won't be the same going forward. The hope for college football is that a vaccine becomes available and on a wide scale basis by the spring, making the following season more feasible for athletes and fans alike. The likelihood of this is anyone's guess, but the question of how good a vaccine might be, when it might be approved, how fast it could get out, and everyone's perceptions about viral infections going forward, along with the financial well-being of universities and their athletic depts, all will play a role.

Posted by: JCane | August 08, 2020 at 04:56 PM

[58 Straight]

Agreed, Aero. Bringing in Marshall would have been huge, needing a top cb something fierce, locking down south FL and Palmetto, signing a 3rd 5 star, and getting a recruiting win by Rumph and over FU. Also, just last week it had looked like the U was likely to get the verbal. As for Collier, clearly we're loaded at safety. We clearly have done well recently with recruiting, but the full run just didn't happen. With Marshall heading to Gator Land, I'd be surprised to not see Collier there, too.

Posted by: JCane | August 09, 2020 at 10:31 PM

There will be no more Gainesville IF this 2020 football season cancellation continues. No hotels, no restaurants, no gas stations, no nothing. Trust me, "The Swamp" is the swamp.

Good luck boyz!

[HerbieIbis]

Well our luck finally ran out, in hearing Marshall going to the Gators, after most of the picks had him to the U.
No big deal if Collier goes, we have safeties out the rear end.
Alexis is off the board as he verbed to Texas.
Now to Rumph, I like him as a coach but he is an albetros on the recruiting trail.
CB and WR are positions that are flooded with good players and we can't get a couple high caliber guys. 3 stars are a dime a dozen. Here we sit with 2 guys, one who basically is an offensive player. The same as last year with Clarke. Why do we struggle with getting quality CB'S and LB's. Good players but not extremely high ceiling guys.
Looks like filling those last few ships is going to be like the old days, resulting in us flipping some rocks over to find what they call hidden gem!

[Old Skool]

Even if football games are played, here's a trivial and interesting consideration ...

Read something last week about schools re-opening I hadn't thought about.

I figured there would be no choruses in schools. Apparently, no wind instruments can be played in high school bands either. No clarinets, flutes, trumpets trombones, French horns, tubas, etc. I'm trying to imagine a football game with glockenspiels and drums. Of course, with social distancing, it may be quiet enough for violins to be heard, although, I can't imagine a violin pep rally.

We'll probably wind up with a taped play list and holographic half time shows or marching robots ... Sony already has ones that dance.

[Old Skool]

From CNN

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have reportedly decided to cancel their 2020 football seasons and are set to announce the news Tuesday, according to Dan Patrick.

The ACC, Big 12 and SEC remain in a state of flux, and the SEC is attempting to save the 2020 season by inviting some schools to join the conference, per Patrick.

[86Cane]

Yahoo Sports predicts that if the NFL plays games in empty stadiums that they will lose $5 BILLION dollars in 2020. OUCH!

[CGNC]

The Golden Domers of Notre Dame will play, probably themselves and get all the TV Revenue. ;-)

[JCane]

No shocker. Collier to FU.

[JCane]

Trying to focus on recruiting and the assumption of normal FB in '21. Btw, 86, things are never normal in Gainesville. Why would any alum ever want to come back?

Question of the day is exactly what Manny might have been referring to when he blew up Twitter a week or two ago? It had seemed he was alluding to Marshall, which may or may not have been the case. If yes, it backfired. Of not, what or who was it about? Was it Taylor confirming or some other news? Opinions?

[AeroCane]

jCane
I have no idea but it is clear that manny likes rumph too much and maybe he was looking at the potential of Marshall committing with the dreaded orange and green colored glasses (and rumph in his ear)

[AeroCane]

Hypothetical
What if the acc cancels their season and the SEC doesn’t but needs more teams and invites us to join - I say do it in a sec! JMO

[JCane]

Aero:

I would hope that Manny would be smarter than that, but who knows. Rocking the Twitterverse without knowing for sure a kid's plan and knowing the kid would be okay with that hint being put out there is something that could hurt your rep with kids bigtime, along with making you look stupid. Let the kid announce and have his moment.

What happens if the ACC is the only one, or one of three conferences playing? As Herb said, this whole thing has hit religious levels in terms of folks' beliefs. If you have kids (not the athletes) traveling to and attending universities everywhere, and if crowds are kept at a minimum at games, AND if the players actually want to play...hmmmmm.

[58 Straight]

Rumph and Patke are liabilities.

They both MUST go.

That is all.

[HerbieIbis]

I believe, that once William's came aboard, Collier wasn't a need even though I did say if he wanted to come we should take him but getting William's, to The Herb, basically forced him in another direction.
Probably be looking to add another CB, WR and best available for 3 of our 4 ships left.
Yulkeith Brown is now back in play and Markievious Brown would probably the CB they go after. Chase Smith would be my guess for the best available. The last would be a waiting game for Garcia.
As long as we play, I don't care if it's against the sisters of the poor, just play.
I just hope the ACC won't be bandwagon jumpers and join in with the Big Ten and Pac however many schools they got, conference and cancel the season.

[Old Skool]

In other news ...

Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan on Tuesday denied a request from the National Collegiate Athletic Association to freeze a lower court ruling that allows colleges to compensate athletes for education-related expenses, clearing the way for the ruling to go into effect.

The NCAA asked the court to put the lower court ruling on hold while it appealed the decision. A panel of judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling earlier this year that the NCAA violated federal antitrust law when it barred schools from certain expenditures for student athletes.

This latest challenge now allows schools to give money to athletes for expenditures like computers, study abroad scholarships, paid internships, musical instruments and other products and services related to academic pursuits. Bans against direct cash payments remain in effect.

[Old Skool]

March Madness ...

Big 10 postpones football until Spring

[orange 'n green in the vein]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29639609/acc-medical-expert-says-fall-football-season-played-safely

No risk, no reward . . .

[Old Skool]

Pac-10 cancels fall sports as per ESPN.

Apparently, there is medical safe and lawyer safe. Two separate kinds of safe. And some serious money involved. Imagine a future top 10 draft pick gets a severe long term case of COVID during the season with some kind of long term impact (Cytokine storm maybe). Now he's suing based upon loss of future earning potential. Some serious bucks there that would have the lawyers swarming

[orange 'n green in the vein]

One league hasn't fielded a national championship quality winner in seven seasons now, the other has to claim their split in the BCS era counts as much as the real championship 18 years ago, before that you have to go all the way to 30 seasons ago to claim even a split or all the way to 49 seasons ago to claim an actual outright championship. Safe to say nothing of value was lost on the football field this year from either overrated league.

[The Herb]

Have parents sign a waiver. If they don't want their kid to play, they don't play.

[58 Straight]

One league hasn't fielded a national championship quality winner in seven seasons now, the other has to claim their split in the BCS era counts as much as the real championship 18 years ago, before that you have to go all the way to 30 seasons ago to claim even a split or all the way to 49 seasons ago to claim an actual outright championship. Safe to say nothing of value was lost on the football field this year from either overrated league.

Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | August 11, 2020 at 07:10 PM

Tee hee, tee hee.

Love this.

[58 Straight]

Have parents sign a waiver. If they don't want their kid to play, they don't play.

Posted by: The Herb | August 11, 2020 at 09:33 PM

F that. If "kid" is 18 years of age or older have them sign a waiver and play. Hate to break it to you but life is full of risks. I drive on I-4 in Orlando, I know, I know! People leave their homes everyday and do not come home at night.

Just for all of you out there, even you non-believers, the way I see it is this: If God wants me, he can have me, that means that my work here on earth is done. I'm good either way.

[58 Straight]

This latest challenge now allows schools to give money to athletes for expenditures like computers, study abroad scholarships, paid internships, musical instruments and other products and services related to academic pursuits.

Bans against direct cash payments remain in effect.

Posted by: Old Skool | August 11, 2020 at 03:27 PM

Great idea. Hope you and they like it.

As soon as no schools have no football season there will be no "money for nothing" and "no chicks for free".

Bans against direct cash payments remain in effect.

Except at LSU, FSU, OSU and Bama.

But then we can negotiate that?

[orange 'n green in the vein]

"Posted by: 58 Straight | August 11, 2020 at 10:39 PM"

Old enough to vote, old enough to be drafted, old enough to use tobacco, used to be old enough to drink even, but somehow must have mommy and daddy to say it's ok to play a game for kids in exchange for a free education . . .

Don't huff underage jock's straps who aren't going to be on the roster this year, no matter what, is the lesson as always, leads to infantile fretting over adults in an attempt to deflect responsibility away from their decisions.

[roachcane77]

As soon as no schools have no football season there will be no "money for nothing" and "no chicks for free".
Posted by: 58 Straight | August 11, 2020 at 11:03 PM

I saw what you did there... niiice!😉

(We'll ALL be in "Dire Straits" soon!)

Let's Go CANES!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

[AeroCane]

ACC, SEC, Big 12 (includes Oklahoma and Texas) and possibly Nebraska
Let’s hope we have college football with the above and Manny and the Canes surprise the world and beats Clemson 3 times each by a score of 58-0!!! (Yes, 3 - regular season, ACC championship, and playoffs)

[TonyCane]

It’s an interesting time. If the ACC, Big 12, and the SEC play this season and the other two Power 5 conferences refuse, I question what circumstances will allow the latter two conferences from resuming play. There are no standards for returning, outside of a complete ebbing of the pandemic.

If the Big Ten and Pac-12 go two years without football, they’ll be giving their own programs an SMU style death penalty. Why would any freshman blue chip player stay at any of those schools when he would have no idea when he might actuAlly play again. You could easily see a mass raiding of the two conferences of coaches and players.

[AeroCane]

On a worse case, let’s play the first game against UAB and beat them 58-0 and call it a season! Recruiting would go crazy good, and we can claim the hypothetical championship! LOL

[HerbieIbis]

Remember, Garcia is playing at Valdosta High School for his Sr. Yr.

[TonyCane]

On a worse case, let’s play the first game against UAB and beat them 58-0 and call it a season! Recruiting would go crazy good, and we can claim the hypothetical championship! LOL

Posted by: AeroCane | August 12, 2020 at 06:00 PM

You're too merciful. We need triple figures against that dastardly UAB team.

[58 Straight]

If the Big Ten and Pac-12 go two years without football, they’ll be giving their own programs an SMU style death penalty. Why would any freshman blue chip player stay at any of those schools when he would have no idea when he might actuAlly play again. You could easily see a mass raiding of the two conferences of coaches and players.

Posted by: TonyCane | August 12, 2020 at 05:01 PM

Can U say: "Economic Collapse"? TV revenue, stadiums, employees, campuses, Hotels, restaurants, food vendors, NFL drafts. The economic impact tentacles will reach far and wide and deep.

Is that what they are trying to do?

Do they not realize what the consequences may be?

Survival rate in the GENERAL population is over 99% and that includes elderly, people with underlying conditions and the rest. Young, healthy college athletes are not going to be significantly impacted by this virus.

So what gives here?

[AeroCane]

IF the season is played, ESPN computer models have us going 5-6 or 4-7 (depending on rounding)
I sure hope they are terribly wrong and we go 9-2 or 10-1!

[MLAlumni1970]

Leaving Satellite Beach on Sunday, for Michigan and some cool fall weather. With no football, at least I won't have to listen to the arrogant Wolverines, who are truly obnoxious. I went to a game many years ago in Ann Arbor. Left in 4th quarter early, because we were down 3 or 4 touchdowns, and they were so nasty to me and my cousin, Amy. Listened on the way home, and we came back and beat them on the last play. I think the quarterback was Steve Walsh. I will never leave early again. My father always taught me that, but I broke his rule. He went to Notre Dame, so discipline was drilled into them!! Wolverines are so much worse than the Irish. Take care everyone and GO CANES.

[CGNC]

So what gives here?

Posted by: 58 Straight | August 12, 2020 at 11:07 PM

Liability is my guess. No one wants to be on the hook for future litigation due to someone contacting the virus and having it end badly.

Happy Friday eve Peeps

[AeroCane]

Hi CGNC!

Yep, attorneys will sue for anything / right or wrong. Here’s a scenario: the kid doesn’t play and goes home and gets covid - now the attorney sues the school for letting him leave school since the environment at school was safer!!
Lol

[KYcane]

“ Yeah, man it's messed up times
Half the world's done lost its mind
The rest are looking for a sign
Just to hold on to
You can't believe what's on the news
They lie to your face is what they do
They think we're all just a bunch of fools”

Chris Knight

[58 Straight]

Liability is my guess. No one wants to be on the hook for future litigation due to someone contacting the virus and having it end badly.

Happy Friday eve Peeps

Posted by: CGNC | August 13, 2020 at 03:24 PM

So will everyone sue Walmart, Publix, Walgreens, CVS and other places where the "got" COVID? I'm sure that somone will sue Tha Space because I did not wear a mask while blogging!

[TonyCane]

I’m not sure, 58. If they are not asking this question, they should. I was asking about this season in April...this cancellation is not a surprise.

[Harry Miller]

Interesting read about Antifa, I hope this is not true. Go to -Silver Doctore.com and read this artical.

Antifa Terrorists Received A Large Cache Of Weapons For Coordinated Multi-City “TET Offensive” Against America

[Harry Miller]

Sorry thats silverdoctors.com

[TonyCane]

Best case scenario: A partial spring season is held for the two conferences, ACC, Big 12, and SEC plow throw the fall amidst starts and stops and political outrage that they did not shut down.

Worst Case Scenario: No one plays football in 2020. Spring is ruled unsafe, and liability concerns prevent a fall 2021 season for college or the NFL. 73 colleges shut down their football programs for good; NFL files for bankruptcy to eventually re-emerge for 2023 season. Football is politicized and becomes a left / right issue - one side decides football should be banned for safety concerns, the other reflexively supports it.

[TonyCane]

Best case scenario: A partial spring season is held for the two conferences, ACC, Big 12, and SEC plow throw the fall amidst starts and stops and political outrage that they did not shut down.

Worst Case Scenario: No one plays football in 2020. Spring is ruled unsafe, and liability concerns prevent a fall 2021 season for college or the NFL. 73 colleges shut down their football programs for good; NFL files for bankruptcy to eventually re-emerge for 2023 season. Football is politicized and becomes a left / right issue - one side decides football should be banned for safety concerns, the other reflexively supports it.

[Old Skool]

Florida State University wide receiver Warren Thompson has accused the school's athletics department of lying "multiple times" about players' health safety conditions related to Covid-19 during the first week of football camp.

Warren made the accusations in a letter posted on Instagram.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/us/florida-state-football-coronavirus/index.html

[The Herb]

Yeah, if u watch CNN & MSNBC, they have their Stevie Wonders on and hear what they want to hear. Bought and paid for puppets.

[TonyCane]

Herb, what’s incredible is the divergence of reporting and opinion. There seems no middle ground. If one side says 2+2 is 4, the other reflexively argues it equals 5.

An example...go to realclearpolitics.com...it’s an aggregate of opinion pages. You’ll see two articles...one says that school closures are great, the other says that it is terrible for children. No article saying that it falls in the middle.

[TonyCane]

Or to cite specific examples from this morning...these articles:

Closing Schools Will Be Good for Children's Health Maggie Mulqueen, NBC News

Schools Must Reopen for the Children's Sake Kevin Roberts, Washington Examiner

[58 Straight]

Closing Schools Will Be Good for Children's Health Maggie Mulqueen, NBC News

Schools Must Reopen for the Children's Sake Kevin Roberts, Washington Examiner

Posted by: TonyCane | August 14, 2020 at 03:01 PM

The Herb
Yeah, if u watch CNN & MSNBC, they have their Stevie Wonders on and hear what they want to hear. Bought and paid for puppets.

Posted by: The Herb | August 14, 2020 at 12:47 PM

#SourcesMatter

A word to the wise...IF you have retirement account investments (401K, IRA, Kehough, etc.) that are not in an actively managed portfolio you need to move them to one that is IF you can.

You may also want to have your finacial advisor or company's retirement management account manager review your investment profile (how your money is allocated and level of risk) and strategies may need to change prior to the election. Uncertain times my friends bring extreme market volatility and severe risk follows.

Watch what the big boys are going to do to protect their assets starting around 30 days prior to the election. If you own individual stocks put STOP options at a level or price you feel comfortable them falling to as it could literally happen overnight or before you can react.

[58 Straight]

Canespace Lifetime Stats (since 2007):

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[AeroCane]

Awesome stats 58!