Tag: 2020 sports

Full speed ahead for ACC fall sports

As games are set to get started this weekend the ACC says things are a full go in regards to athletic competition.

With under a week to go until the ACC opens its college football season, the conference gave reassurance Tuesday to their fall sports schedule proceeding as currently scheduled.

The ACC released the following statement on the afternoon of September 8:

Statement from the Atlantic Coast Conference:
“The ACC’s principal priority as we approach fall competition is the mental and physical wellbeing of our student-athletes. At each of our member institutions, our athletic directors and coaches have had conversations with student-athletes about returning to competition and attendant risks. After listening to our student-athletes, and considering the further advice of our Medical Advisory Group, the Atlantic Coast Conference continues to proceed with its plans for competition in fall sports. The majority of our student-athletes have indicated they wish to compete if public health permits, and that they have worked hard to enable themselves to compete safely. Any student-athlete must and will be able to choose not to compete at any time this season without losing scholarship support, and the decision to compete or not compete will not cost the student a season of eligibility.

“The public health situation is dynamic and uneven in the United States and at our member institutions. The ACC will regularly monitor the changing situation and is prepared at any time to adjust schedules and games to reflect changes in that situation. The ACC will also respect the decisions of individual schools as they continually assess the public health situation affecting their students and communities. As it has done all year, the ACC will carefully reevaluate the public health needs as we go along, relying on public health expertise and putting the health and safety of our surrounding communities at the center of our decision-making.”

The conference opens it’s football season this weekend with 11 of the 15 member schools in action.

Wake Forest, Duke and Pitt will also start their women’s soccer seasons this Thursday night.

 

NCAA issues next set of return-to-sport guidelines

On Thursday the NCAA released it’s latest set of guidelines for athletes and teams to return-to-sport

This from the NCAA offices, released on Thursday afternoon:

Third installment of recommendations outlines daily self-health checks, testing within 72 hours of competition for high contact risk sports

July 16, 2020 12:29pm

The NCAA Sport Science Institute has released the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: Developing Standards for Practice and Competition to extend previous guidance and provide updated recommendations about the protection of athletes and prevention of community spread of COVID-19.

The guidelines are designed to inform schools in responding appropriately based on their specific circumstances and in the best interest of returning college athletes’ health and well-being. Many sports require close, personal contact and require specially crafted guidelines. Among the recommendations put forth:

  • Daily self-health checks.
  • The appropriate use of face coverings and social distancing during training, competition and outside of athletics.
  • Testing strategies for all athletics activities, including pre-season, regular season and post-season.
  • Testing and results within 72 hours of competition in high contact risk sports.

“Any recommendation on a pathway toward a safe return to sport will depend on the national trajectory of COVID-19 spread,” said Brian Hainline, NCAA chief medical officer. “The idea of sport resocialization is predicated on a scenario of reduced or flattened infection rates.”

“When we made the extremely difficult decision to cancel last spring’s championships it was because there was simply no way to conduct them safely,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “This document lays out the advice of health care professionals as to how to resume college sports if we can achieve an environment where COVID-19 rates are manageable. Today, sadly, the data point in the wrong direction. If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.”

The recommendations were developed in collaboration with the NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) COVID-19 Working Group, Autonomy-5 Medical Advisory Group, National Medical Association, and NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports Prevention and Performance Subcommittee. The guidance also takes into consideration recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is the latest update to the initial Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport recommendations, providing guidelines and practices that schools should consider as they develop their own mitigation plans. The previously released Action Plan Considerations offered recommendations to help schools mitigate risks of COVID-19 spread as staff and student-athletes return.

For more information on the NCAA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit ncaa.org/covid-19.

Notre Dame Player Preview: Kevin Austin – WR

In this edition we look at perhaps the favorite to breakout on Notre Dame’s 2020 roster, wide receiver Kevin Austin.

We get a day closer to Notre Dame football returning and although we’re anything but certain as to what exact day that will be, we’re still excited for the idea of it.

Before the ball is kicked though we need to keep informing you on those that will suit up in blue and gold this fall (or next spring).

In this edition we look at perhaps the favorite to breakout on Notre Dame’s 2020 roster, wide receiver Kevin Austin.

Stats and Information…

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

84 days until Notre Dame football returns!

We’re 12 weeks until Notre Dame football returns as they’ll face Navy in Annapolis. Continue the countdown today!

Just 12 weeks from now we’re slated for Notre Dame football to return as the Irish will take on Navy in Annapolis.  There is a chance that game is played on the Sunday instead so it could be 12 weeks or it might be 12 weeks and a day.

Whatever the case, we’re a day closer to Notre Dame football returning to action.

As we continue the countdown today we revisit a moment from the last football Notre Dame played.

84: Tony Jones, Jr.’s record run in the Camping World Bowl vs. Iowa State.

In the 37 previous bowl games Notre Dame had played in there had never been a longer run by an Irish player than what you just watched above.

Jones is onto the NFL as he signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent while Notre Dame looks for someone to jump out in their 2020 backfield.

84 days.  Or maybe 85. Either way…

Let’s go!

Related:  Way too early game-by-game predictions for 2020 Notre Dame football

Huge Step Taken for College Football’s Return for 2020

If you’re hoping for college football to be played in 2020 then you got some big-time good news as a huge hurdle was cleared on Thursday.

Mark your calendars for July 13.

The NCAA Football Oversight Committee today passed a recommendation that can formally begin working with their teams that day according to a Yahoo! Sports report.

The recommendation still needs approval by the NCAA’s Division I Council but that passing is reported by Yahoo! to essentially be a foregone conclusion.

Here’s how the schedule looks like it will break down and get college football started on time, at least for now:

July 13:  Coaches can work with their teams with strength workouts and film studies taking place. This date will come a week earlier for those teams participating in Week Zero this August.  This will be limited to eight hours a week.

July 24:  The eight hour limit would move to 20 hours a week for a two week period starting on this day.  This will be a new addition used to get players in playing shape for the season after spending the majority of spring and the early part of summer away.

August 7:  Training camp is allowed to begin.

August 29:  Week Zero kicks off as scheduled for seemingly all teams besides Notre Dame and Navy.

By no means does this guarantee anything in regards to the season being played as the situation remains plenty fluid but it is no question a huge step towards college football being played on time in 2020.

Related:  Way too early game-by-game predictions for 2020 Notre Dame football

87 Days Until Notre Dame Football Returns

87 days until we get Notre Dame football back. Don’t miss this memorable Notre Dame moment as we continue the countdown!

In 87 days we’ll gladly all welcome Notre Dame football back when they take on the Navy Midshipmen in Annapolis.  In the meantime, we have rosters to break down, opponents to preview and position battles to discuss.

For now though we’ve got to look at where the number 87 ends up being relevant in Notre Dame football history.  For this one we didn’t have to go back all that far.

87: Yards on the final drive in Notre Dame’s 2019 comeback win over Virginia Tech

Trailing Virginia Tech 20-14 with just 3:22 to play, Notre Dame needed a drive for the ages in order to escape with a victory on November 2, 2019.  And that’s exactly what Ian Book, Jafar Armstrong and Chase Claypool among others helped create.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncsX71lEWKE&w=560&h=315]

After an embarrassing loss to Michigan a week earlier, this win was the first of six straight to end the year.  It moved the Irish to 6-2 on the season as they’d eventually finish up 11-2 after a blowout win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl.

94 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

94 days out from Notre Dame and college football returning we look at the only ND All-American to wear number 94.

Notre Dame and Navy are scheduled to play August 29, still in Dublin, Ireland for the time being, although that could change in the next week.  That’s 94 days away.

94 days away from college football and Notre Dame football returning in a way we’re all a bit unsure about.

Since we’ve been counting down the days for the last week we’ve gone with records based on the number or yardage of plays.  Yesterday saw one of Kyle Rudolph’s most memorable plays with the Irish while today we remember the only Notre Dame player to ever earn All-American status while wearing 94.

94:  Willie Fry’s Number at Notre Dame

Willie Fry played at Notre Dame from 1973, 75-77, helping the Irish to a national championship in both ’73 and ’77 while twice earning All-American status in both 1976 and ’77.

Below you can see Fry make a few plays in the 1973 game against USC.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu9WgEVHYPU&w=560&h=315]

Fry went on to play three seasons for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, winning a pair of Super Bowls in ’78 and ’79.

Fry died of a heart attack in 1998 at just 44 years old.

Lack of Logic Surrounding Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland

Notre Dame and Navy are to play in late August in Dublin. A recent Ireland ban however makes no sense and leaves us w/o game resolution yet.

As you’re aware Notre Dame is scheduled to start the 2020 college football season in Dublin, Ireland in what is now known as Week Zero in the sport. The last Saturday in August is currently set to see Notre Dame take on Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Last week news came out that Dublin was banning gatherings of 5000 people or more through August.  We covered that and told you the news that will be coming at some point because of that.

Now we sit here with you almost an entire week later and we have no news.  Still.

In fact Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk is insisting that the game is still on:

“it is way too early to speculate on what happens in the season opener.  Let’s just wait and see what happens. We’re in no hurry to make a final decision.” – Navy AD Chet Gladchuk to Annapolis Gazette

Uhh, Chet.  This isn’t all that complicated.

We sit here on the evening of April 27 with no real end in sight to the stoppage of sports aside from golf being played anytime soon.  Some colleges are already planning on having their fall classes be conducted all online and not at their campuses but there is still plenty of time?

I didn’t understand in the article that the Ireland government told Gladchuk that the Ireland ban on 5000 or more in a gathering doesn’t currently apply to sporting events.  So you mean to tell me that coronavirus is a big sports fan and is willing to keep to itself and not spread at a sporting event?

Logic would tell you that ruling or way of thinking will change before long.  Then would you send both teams across the Atlantic Ocean to play a football game in front of a minimal amount of fans?

I’m guessing not.

Incredibly dumb logic here for Ireland to have a different set of rules for mass gatherings for sporting events compared to non-sporting events.

I wish I was wrong but it’s just a matter of time until this game is unfortunately moved to the states.  Now let’s just hope that’s all it is and not cancelled or pushed back significantly.