College football in the time of pandemic, part one

Somehow, I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear from this guy on the subject.

I’m old enough to remember when I posted this… yesterday.

Along those lines, I wonder if G-Day is going to be open to the public next month, or cancelled outright. That, at least, is a decision that doesn’t cost the athletic department money. But what happens come September if the best advice from experts is to stay away from big crowds, especially in a closed setting, like Georgia’s opener at MBS? Where does Butts-Mehre take things? Or the SEC, for that matter? I really don’t know right now, but that has the potential to be an expensive proposition.

In less than 24 hours, it feels like we’re already way past that.

The SEC, being what it is, is trying to straddle a line that is going to only get harder to maintain.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity told DawgNation late Wednesday night that Georgia fans can only “stay tuned” where the Bulldogs’ annual G-Day spring football game is concerned.

“I would ask the fans to be patient, more information will be forthcoming at the end of March,” McGarity said. “We still have some time left. I would just say stay tuned, and we’ll see what the landscape looks like.”

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement on Wednesday that attendance at the ongoing league basketball tournament — along with spring sports — would be restricted on account of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sankey said the suspension of fan attendance at SEC events would be re-assessed on March 30.

“We had very brief conversations about spring (football) games and various activities,” Sankey said during his press conference at Bridgestone Arena. “So we’ll be reconnecting. I think most of those (spring football games) are outside of our March 30th window.

“We’re proceeding with other things. We have a video review session this weekend for football preparations. We obviously have been in the crisis consideration and crisis management situations that’s kept our attention on the immediate issues.”

I have no idea what could happen between now and month’s end that would cause Sankey to relax the restrictions he just put in place regarding fan presence at conference athletic events.  More likely, Sankey is risking a situation like the one the NBA faced last night, with a player being diagnosed with the coronavirus and the league promptly shutting down its season in response.

On the local front, I can’t imagine we’re going to be able to attend G-Day next month, but that’s the least of it.  Schools all over the country are not allowing students to return to campus after spring break.  If Georgia adopts that stance, how does it allow spring practice to proceed?