Tag: coronavirus American Sports

Dan Orlovsky says Jake Fromm is ‘best connect-the-dot QB in this draft’

Former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky says Jake Fromm is ‘best connect-the-dot QB in this draft’, breaks down film and predicts where he will land.

Jake Fromm, without question, left his mark on Georgia football in his three years playing between the hedges for the Bulldogs.

Fromm decided to forgo his senior season in Athens and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.  The question now is how will his skillset transition the pros.

Former NFL quarterback, and current ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky had some great things to say about Fromm on Friday.

In a tweet, Orlovsky broke down Fromm’s connect-the-dot ability with some film. Connecting the dots is basically when a quarterback reads his options and how the opposing defense is playing each of his receivers, one option, or one dot at a time.

Orlovsky complemented Fromm and said that “plenty of quarterbacks have ‘their trait/traits’ that make them the player they are.” and his is his decision making.

Fromm has never been a flashy quarterback that goes for home-run balls or the biggest play.  He’s smart, manages games, and gets the job done by picking apart defenses.

Orlovsky mentioned that the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans saints and New England Patriots could all be great fits for Fromm to land, come draft day.  He is a quarterback that would work very well in one of those systems, as these teams are in the market for a new franchise QB.

Future Hall of Fame QBs Drew Brees (Saints) and Philip Rivers (Colts) would be perfect mentors to Fromm for the next two seasons.  Tom Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Fromm would be in good hands in New England with head coach Bill Belichick.  He would also be reunited with former teammates Sony Michel, David Andrews and Isaiah Wynn, who all play for the Patriots.

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Georgia athletic coaches give students motivation to finish year out strong

Georgia athletic coaches give students a word of motivation in order to finish the school year on a strong note.

During this crazy time in all our lives, Kirby Smart, Tom Crean and a number of athletic coaches at the University of Georgia gave students a motivational message to finish out the year strong.

All college classes across the country have moved to online for the remainder of the semester, which can pose as a struggle to many. The coaches emphasized the importance of keeping in touch with professors and making sure to remember virtual advising appointments.

This is a tough time for all members of UGA, whether you’re a student, coach or professor and we all need to come together and help each other.

Courtney Kupets-Carter, Georgia’s head gymnastics coach said it best: “One thing that hasn’t changed is you’re a Georgia Bulldog, no matter where you are.”

“Stay safe, attack the day, and HUNKER DOWN…Go Dawgs.” – Kirby Smart.

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Watch: YouTube channel redesigned UGA football helmet – and it came out epic

a YouTube channel gave Georgia’s football helmet a complete redesign, and it looks incredible. Watch the video here.

Green Gridiron, a YouTube channel that redesigns college and pro football team helmets, just dropped a new UGA helmet concept on Saturday that’s fresher than a ripe tomato.

(Video below)

The new design features a black face mask, tinted visor and some throwback coach Richt bones on the back.

The channel has the helmet for purchase, roughly estimated to go for $400-450 after all the bells and whistles are attached.

This would be an awesome alternate addition to Georgia’s uniforms.  I can tell you right now, I sure wouldn’t want to lineup against a Dawg in this helmet.

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UGA AD Greg McGarity ‘planning as if a football season is going to happen’

UGA athletic director Greg McGarity says the school is ‘planning as if a football season is going to happen’ for Georgia football

Colleges across the country are starting to feel the significant financial burden on sports that comes with the coronavirus.

Prior to the cancellation of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the NCAA was set to disperse $600 million to Division I schools. Now it will only be sending out $225 million, a 62% cut.

Now we all know that we will be without a college basketball postseason, as well as all other major professional sports for a while, but the question still remains; will we have football in 2020?

“Depending on football, obviously, that’s the big unknown now,” University of Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in an interview with Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald.

“We’re planning as if a football season is going to happen. If that doesn’t happen, that’s a whole another environment.”

All universities spring football games have been cancelled but we are still a ways away from the regular season. McGarity’s statement is a good sign for Bulldog and all football fans, but schools are still starting to prepare for the worst.

Georgia sold $33.4 million in ticket sales for the 2019 season, and that’s just revenue from fans who go to the games. They also have a number of other major sources of football revenue that will be lost if football is not a reality for 2020.

“We’re hoping and praying that doesn’t happen,” McGarity said. “We also have to be realistic if football was not part of that what does that mean with our reserves, how much of the reserve can we utilize to make us somewhat whole. That’s why we have a reserve, thank goodness. We’re probably in better shape than a lot of institutions because of our financial stability.”

ESPN’s college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is among those who have a more skeptical outlook on the upcoming 2020 CFB and NFL seasons.

“I’ll be shocked if we have NFL football this fall, if we have college football. I’ll be so surprised if that happens,” said Herbstreit on ESPN Radio.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this matter, but Herbstreit brought up the point that vaccinations are estimated to take roughly a year or more to become available.

“Just because from what everything I understand, people that I listen to, you’re 12 to 18 months away from a vaccine,” he added. “I don’t know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball. I just don’t know how you can do it with the optics of it.”

McGarity also mentioned that the athletic department will only be spending on essential operations and virus related issues until the pandemic is over.  Georgia should be able to handle an economic dip like this and is preparing for the absolute worst, but hoping for the best.

There are still 162 days until Georgia is scheduled to kickoff the 2020 football season against Virginia.  We will keep you up to date with the latest coronavirus news and the impact it will have on the 2020 football season.

Former Georgia swimmer helping fight coronavirus in NYC hospital

Lauren English, a former swim captain at the University of Georgia, is fighting COVID-19 on the frontline in New York City.

Lauren English, a former swim team captain at the University of Georgia now in Hackensack, NJ, is treating patients and helping to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

English studied speech pathology and audiology during her time as a student athlete in the Classic City. She graduated in the class on 2012 and now works as a neurology nurse at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

“Right now, that (COVID-19) is what we’re dealing with,” said English in an interview with the Athens Banner-Herald. “This is what we have in our country. We have this crisis. I don’t think any health care worker is not faced with working with these patients. We’re in it. Even though I’m in neurology, that’s what I’m focused on right now. You don’t have a specialty at this point. Your goal is to help with this pandemic and to help society.”

Many people who contract the coronavirus show little to no symptoms, but complications can be had for others.  The virus can lead to much more serious things such as pneumonia, which can very often be fatal.

Read full story by Marc Weiszer here.

English is one of many employees in the medical field putting her own health on the line in order to help those in need in this chaotic time in our world’s history.  Her main job is to make sure patients who tested positive for the virus are able to breathe properly.

English emphasized the importance of stopping the spread of the virus in addition treating it.

“That is our armor,” said English, talking about her mask and a protective medical clothing. “We can’t be good workers unless we keep ourselves safe because then we’ll be sick.”

“It’s hard for people who haven’t seen these types of patients to know what they’re socially distancing for,” she said. “It’s beyond important because we don’t know how much longer this thing is going to go on. My brothers and sisters in healthcare are working tirelessly to make sure that the people who did get the virus are back on their feet as much as possible. If you don’t social distance, these things are just going to get worse. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

New York City has the most cases in the United States, with the confirmed number rising to 20,011 on Thursday, as well as 280 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

English had an incredible swimming career during her time at Georgia.  She helped the Dawgs capture 3 SEC championships and was runner-up twice in the NCAA championships.

It is amazing to see a former Bulldog fighting this disease on the frontline and making a difference in the world.

Concerns over Coronavirus result in UGA swimming, NCAA championship games to be held without fans

The NCAA released a statement Wednesday that it will hold all championship events without fans in attendance, due to the fear of spreading coronavirus. All championship games will be held with only limited staff and immediate family members, NCAA …

The NCAA released a statement Wednesday that it will hold all championship events without fans in attendance, due to the fear of spreading coronavirus.

All championship games will be held with only limited staff and immediate family members, NCAA president Mark Emmert announced in the statement.  This means both the SEC swimming and diving championships held at Georgia and the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be held with no fans.

The decision was in hindsight a no-brainer. The Golden State Warriors, along with a number of professional sports teams world wide announced that they would not have fans for the remainder of their seasons.  The risk for all those in attendance would be too great to allow admittance to tens of thousands of fans.

“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” Emmert said in the statement. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance.

“While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.”

This all has been sparked by the World Health Organization terming the virus a pandemic.

Emmert also told The Associated Press that there could very well be changes in game locations, especially for the Final Four, set to take place in a lonesome Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

$867.5 million in television and marketing revenue was brought in from last year’s men’s basketball tournament, according to the NCAA’s most recent financial statement.

Roughly 1,350 fans bought tickets to the swimming and diving championships in Georgia’s Ramsey Center.

All locker room media access will also be prohibited for all NCAA championships.

“The health and well-being of student-athletes and teams is an ongoing priority for the SEC,” the league said.

The Bulldogs take on Ole Miss Wednesday as the last game with fans in attendance for the SEC Tournament.

“Tonight’s SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament games will continue as regularly scheduled. We are evaluating plans for the remainder of the tournament.” said the SEC on Twitter.

“Not too many people touching me, putting their arms around me, nothing like that,” said Georgia superstar, and recently named SEC freshman of the year Anthony Edwards. “We’ll take pictures, but keep your distance…I’m not trying to get sick or anything like that. No disrespect to anybody.”

The current available number of confirmed cases in the United States is at 1,000, with the death toll at 31.

This is truly something we have never seen in our lifetimes, and the effects are now being seen in the sports world.

Prayers to all who have been affected by the virus so far and to keeping not just the country but the world safe.