LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- I wish I could share inspiring news other than the back-and-forth about the likelihood of college football being played in 2020.
There is little of that -- other than an interesting note about a quarterback who punished the University of Louisville and rejected the University of Kentucky.
For another day, the college football notebook remains a novel coronavirus notebook, more opinions about whether we will have games, the risks involved in moving forward and what the fallout could be if the whistle is blown and play does not begin.
1. Greg Sankey Remains Optimistic
It's difficult for me to name a more influential voice than Sankey, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. If the SEC does not play, I would not expect anybody to play this season.
Sankey appeared on Rich Eisen's radio show Monday. He said that he believes there will be a season. But he also said there is much to learn about COVID-19.
In other words, stay tuned. (The story link.)
2. Rev. Jesse Jackson Questions The Risks
Rev. Jackson is not a commissioner nor a coach nor a network television executive. He's merely a fan as well as an influential voice on social issues.
Rev. Jackson is not a fan of the NCAA. He put the obligatory quotation marks around the word voluntary as players have returned to campus to resume workouts.
Are the health risks of COVID-19 worth the entertainment benefits of assembling athletes to play?
Rev. Jackson is not convinced they are -- and he wonders how many athletes, parents and even fans agree. (The story link.)
3. Dennis Dodd Is Not Convinced
Dodd is the national college football writer for CBS Sports. Like many of us, he noticed the number of positive COVID tests that were reported at Clemson, LSU, Kansas State and Houston, schools willing to share information about positive tests.
After speaking with administrations like TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati, Dodd wondered about the natural follow-up question:
What will happen when real practices begin and social distancing leaves the room? When players start spitting, coughing and grunting in very close quarters?
Fair question. (Here is the link to Dodd’s story.)
4. No Games = No $$$
Economically catastrophic.
Those were the two words that Walt Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama used to describe the situation in his town, home to the Alabama Crimson Tide, if no college football is played this season.
"It would be economically catastrophic for Tuscaloosa if there is no football season," Maddox told CBS42.com, affiliate in Birmingham.
A $2 billion hit in the Tuscaloosa area? That's what was reported in this story.
"Even a mitigated football season with restricted attendance and number of ball games would have dire economic consequences," Maddox said.
Hotels. Bars. Restaurants. Book stores. Coffee shops. Outdoor shops. Convenience stores. Not to mention the Alabama athletic department budget.
5. Whatever Happened to Jarren Williams?
Kentucky fans know Jarren Williams as the high school quarterback from Georgia who committed and then decommitted from the Wildcats twice.
Louisville fans know Jarren Williams as the University of Miami quarterback who threw for six touchdowns and 253 yards when the Hurricanes dispatched the Cardinals, 52-27 last Nov. 9 in Miami. I was there. Kid looked like the best quarterback in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Miami did not win another game, losing its final three. Williams finished the season with three more TD passes but four interceptions.
When D'Eriq King joined the Hurricanes as a transfer from Houston, Williams' extraordinary performance against Louisville was forgotten.
Williams is scheduled to play at Garden City (Kansas) Junior College, where he can polish his stats and return to the recruiting merry-go-round one more time this fall. (Here is the story link.)
If there is a season, of course.
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