Tag: connecticut football

Watch: Incredible Friday night lightning at a Connecticut football game

Intense thunderstorms are causing games in Connecticut to be delayed.

Friday night lights for one high school football game in Connecticut was more of a light show, complete with quiet a performance from nature.

Lightning was on the agenda for Friday’s meeting between Rockville (Vernon) at Granby (Granby). The game is supposed to be the season opener for both teams but a severe thunderstorm complete with lightning has caused an understandable delay.

And while fans will be disappointed at the delayed start to the game, they are certainly getting quite a different show. Talented photojournalist Jessica Hill, who is covering the game for the Hartford Courant, took this short video showing just a vibrant and sustained flash of lightning.

 

Hill has also done work for the Associated Press among several other prestigious outlets.

[lawrence-related id=101514109]

It is an intriguing game between these two teams, who were among the top football programs in the Pequot-Uncas conference a year ago. Granby finished an impressive 8-3 and were second in the conference.

Rockville finished third in the conference at 9-3.

 

Week zero best bets

Week zero @Tipico best bets

College football is back baby and that means it is time to get your bankroll ready and dive into all the good stuff that our good friends at Tipico have to offer. Week zero is here and there is a plethora of totals and sides to choose from.

It is key to remember that football season is a marathon, not a sprint and it is never wise to unload that entire bankroll the first week. We typically talk Big Ten and Buckeye football and we will no doubt have a few Big Ten contests to sprinkle some money on, but there is also a pair of games that are unrelated that are intriguing as well. Let’s dive in!

UCONN suspends football season

The school becomes the first FBS program to suspend its season due to COVID-19

Until today, college football programs at the FBS level dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic by adjusting schedules and in some instances moving to conference-only play.

That changed on Wednesday with the University of Connecticut becoming the first FBS program to shutter its doors for the upcoming season.

Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall confirmed that fact to ESPN, and the school released a statement on their website. According to athletic director David Benedict: “After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we’ve decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season. The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk.”

Edsall outlined that the athletes were consulted in making the decision: “We engaged and listened to the concerns of our football student-athletes and feel this is the best decision for their health, safety, and well-being. Our team is united in this approach and we will use this time to further player development within the program and gear ourselves to the 2021 season.”

The players themselves released a statement:

As a team we are in full support of the decision to not compete in 2020.  We have many health concerns and not enough is known about the potential long term effects of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, we have not had the optimal time to train mentally & physically to be properly prepared to compete this season.  We love this game and love competing.  We came to campus in the beginning of July knowing there would be challenges presented by the pandemic but it is apparent to us now that these challenges are impossible to overcome.

This season was set to be an interesting one for the program, as UCONN was becoming an independent after spending the past 15 seasons as a member of the Big East/American Athletic Conference. There was already massive uncertainty in place over the team’s schedule as a result. Games against Illinois, Indiana, Maine and Mississippi have already been taken off the schedule by those schools’ respective conferences and contests against North Carolina and Virginia were no longer set in stone.

Instead, the Huskies become the first FBS program to look to the future and forgo playing during the pandemic.