Bronco Mendenhall is a pretty thoughtful guy. He’s also the head coach of the team Georgia is expecting to face in the season opener. So, you might want to read what he says about the possibility of a shortened 2020 football season.
Mendenhall told a small group of reporters he is already preparing his program to begin from scratch — with no spring practice or formal training — on or around Aug. 1 with the beginning of fall camp.
“We’re preparing exactly with that model in place,” Mendenhall said during a videoconference. “We’re acting as if, and we’re making preparations as if, we won’t have spring practice. We possibly won’t have players here for summer school, any session, and possibly we won’t have the opportunity for anything other than fall camp to begin.
“Knowing that fall camp timing might even be pushed back, meaning that there certainly could be a chance that it’s not even be a full schedule played this year — if football is played, period.”
He is the first coach I’ve heard from acknowledging the possibility of that publicly. What kind of preparations for what kind of season is he alluding to?
“Solutions are so wide-ranging right now and have to be because of a lack of a definitive end point to [the virus],” Mendenhall said…
“The first step would be to eliminate nonconference games from the schedule … and only play a conference schedule,” Mendenhall said. “Knowing that would still be challenging … but in relation to the options we have, that certainly might be doable. Once you are under eight games, that probably becomes a non-legitimate season.”
When does “non-legitimate” translate into a straight “non”? ‘Cause I can’t imagine college football’s movers and shakers throwing an entire season — and postseason! — into the trash without kicking and screaming first. Just ask this guy what’s at stake:
Asked to consider a season without college football, one Power Five athletic director said, “We’d end up cutting sports. We’d be firing people.”
If you want the real bottom line question, it’s pretty simple: when does Mickey judge the season to be lost? You and I can argue our perspectives here as long as we’d like, but in the end, we’ll get the season ESPN is willing to pay for.
Get The Picture 
If this is still going on in July, we’re going to have bigger problems on our hands like an economy in shambles and probably civil unrest from people who are used to gathering together.
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Without a doubt. If people across the country are still holed-up in their houses on June 1 because of this, you can kiss sports in 2020 goodbye…
Of course, now have a reason to hope the NFL does get going in 2020 (and I guess I actually might have to cheer for the Falcons now)!
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If this is still going on in July, we will have a French Revolution, part II here in the United States. A feckless, incompetent political leader attempting to rule as an absolute monarch, a stalemate over taxation among rival groups of the nobility, rampant corruption within the noble ruling class and the clergy, tremendous wealth inequity, endless wars for empire that bankrupt the treasury with nothing to show for it, and a natural disaster that result in food shortages…we are already at the “calling of the Estates General” phase now. Could we see activists within the Third Estate take an Oath of The Tennis Pavilion soon?
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Time to dust off my Burke, I guess. Shouldn’t have let him get dusty in the first place.
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True, much bigger impact in so many ways; way beyond Mickey’s influence. Civil unrest could certainly increase and the way we interact with people in public (touching, closeness, protective barriers, etc.) will never be the same. Number of people wearing masks will multiply exponentially, and you can probably look for Red and Black gloves as a part of many fans’ outfits. The phobias related to concerns about germs were already apparent, so why wouldn’t there be more visible signs? Realities of a mobile, crowded society.
Another reason for high def TV to become the choice of even more fans? Assuming there is a 2020 season, of course. Man, life does come at you fast, just a few weeks ago life was so different. Just think of where your thoughts are today versus the beginning of this month, or when you were deciding what to do for Valentine’s Day.
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This raises the specter that Georgias first game just might be in Tuscaloosa. Ouch! That said, winning an opener there would send a shock wave all across the country.
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Wont count. Asterisk. Etc
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“He who pays the piper gets to call the tune.”
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If the anti-malarial drug really works as well is being claimed in France, this thing could be over pretty quickly. I’m always a skeptic, but I’m hoping and praying it’s for real.
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It doesn’t matter what they have in France if our EPA doesn’t allow healthcare providers to use it.
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They already approved using it here yesterday.
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No, it hasn’t.
It’s a common drug, so doctors can prescribe it if they want, no need for gov’t permission. But the FDA can’t vouch for it as a corona therapeutic without doing trials.
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Well here’s hoping. My life really hasn’t changed. I’m working everyday. Nobody I know or know of is sick. But my daughter’s softball season was canceled as a precautionary measure and she is going to school on line at least for now. I hope this crap is over soon though because a lot of folks are hurting.
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Same boat here. My life has been normal but my daughter, who is attending UGA, is not able to enjoy the campus life right now. Online classes at an awesome school like Georgia is like having a picture of a Porsche 911 Turbo S. It’s nice to look at but you’re missing all the fun.
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FWIW: The efficacy of the malaria drug (s) with Covid-19 is very much up in the air. As best I can tell, in vitro tests were promising, animal testing not so much….but hey, I am a Dawg fan, I’m used to hoping.
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So, is it available in Georgia or not? I tried Googling it, but found nothing. Word is, the CDC is headed to Daugherty County (Albany) to assess the mess. The containment in that area has not been very effective.
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It was approved for malaria decades ago.
Doctors can prescribe it for other uses if they want. FDA approval for this use is not required. However, the FDA has not tested it yet and cannot say it does or does not help for this specific virus.
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Thanks for clarification.
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Normally, a doctor is putting his/her career on the line if they prescribe a drug for something for which it is not indicated. Maybe this situation is different due to the circumstances but usually a provider won’t prescribe something without an indication in the drug’s PI.
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I think that is what changed this week, the FDA waived/changed the protocol and is allowing it to be prescribed for coronovirus without waiting for the usual three generation delay. Also allowed changes to drugs being used experimentally in other countries to US patients who are considered terminal. (I think this was done recently, and not just in response to the current crisis. ) May be some other requirements but that was the top line from what I saw/heard. Basically, some regulations were removed, and timetables were expedited for the FDA to move quickly when certain conditions warranted. Our FDA may be talented but they have always been much slower in moving than similar groups around the world. I am hopeful these changes will lead to a better, more responsive, agency.
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But what about the reserve fund?
I’m only half joking. Programs like UGA will be able to weather the storm easily compared to the smaller programs.
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Again, in an apocalyptic scenario, a reserve fund is worthless, whether that Apocalypse is the China virus, player compensation or another currently unknown-unknown. We will be taking the field, with our reserve fund and our balls, and no other teams will be coming out to play – hooray for us, finally the champs!
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It is called coronavirus.
Don’t be a racist piece of shit please.
Asian people are being beaten and cut in the USA because of racist violence fomenting like “Chinese virus.”
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China isn’t a race, it’s a nation (and actually, a huge amalgamation of nationalities and cultures – Han, Wu, Cantonese, etc… at that.).
In fact, my comment said nothing about PEOPLE – the object someone can be racist against. If you are looking for real racism, I would suggest you take a look at how China treats minority groups – Tibetans, Uiguhrs, etc.. You can find plenty of real news articles about those sorts of stories, unlike your unsubstantiated fantasy of Asians being beaten in the streets here in the US.
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China Is Avoiding Blame by Trolling the World – The Atlantic
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We can hang our apocalypse championship banner right next to all of our recruiting championship banners. Yay!
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I’m chuckling picturing McGarity jogging onto the field with that goofy smile holding up a bank account statement for the world to see.
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McGarity is thankful for that reserve fund right about now.
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The NCAA and schools also need to plan for if the season is canceled. How will they deal with scholarship numbers? Will they extend senior eligibility? Will that impact the incoming class? Lots to think about, including how to deal with the season if there’s no spring ball, etc.
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If the season is canceled, the schools have much more fundamental problems to deal with … like students deciding to take gap years rather than sit in front of computers to take classes. In that case, the rental market in college towns is likely to tank as students tear up their leases because there is absolutely no reason for their parents to pay 12 months of rent for them to do exactly the same thing they could do from the comfort of a desk at home.
Under this scenario, I could see parents telling their 1st year students they can take classes online at the local community college rather than paying the premium for a large state university.
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Well, it looks like Mendenhall has zero interest in playing UGA in the season opener, if and when the season starts. I expect Virginia to try and back its way out of the game in the coming weeks.
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