Tag: Mark Emmert

NCAA President Mark Emmert issues statement on fall championships

The NCAA issued an updated statement on fall sports on Friday.

Mark Emmert, the President of the NCAA, issued a statement on Friday regarding an update on whether athletic events will be played this fall, including championships, and … well, he said nothing.

While the NCAA has yet to make a final decision, the SEC is expected to make a decision on July 30 as the respective presidents and chancellors of the 14 universities will meet virtually to discuss the situation.

NCAA encourages schools to take November 3 as a day off from athletics to encourage voting

The NCAA took a stand on social activism on Friday, and also designated November 3 as an athletics free day to focus on voting efforts.

What a world we live in today. The COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on this country and all of humanity on the planet, the political parties in the United States have never been so far apart, and the Black community continues to deal with racial inequality in this country. The traffic death of George Floyd has spurred a renewed interest and protests surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement.

In light of the events of 2020, and prior, social activism is now at the forefront of the conversations in the U.S., and the NCAA is taking a stand.

On Friday, the NCAA Board of Governors releases a statement of encouragement for the movements of today. In it, there was encouragement for athletes to take a stand, and for institutions to move to assist student-athletes in registering to vote. It also set November 3 as a non-athletics day to allow voting and engagement.

Here is the complete statement released by the NCAA Board of Governors:

“President Mark Emmert and the NCAA Board of Governors recognize the important role social engagement has on driving positive societal change. The recent demonstrations following the tragic killing of George Floyd showed the world the power of protest and student-athletes across the country were at the center of that movement. We commend NCAA student-athletes who recognized the need for change and took action through safe and peaceful protest. We encourage students to continue to make their voices heard on these important issues, engage in community activism and exercise their Constitutional rights. Further, we encourage all member schools to assist students in registering to vote in the upcoming national election and to designate November 3, 2020 as a day off from athletics activity so athletes can vote and participate in their ultimate responsibility as citizens.”

 

NCAA designates 2020 Election Day as day-off for all student-athletes

The NCAA designates 2020 Election Day as a day-off for all student-athletes, encouraging the athletes to vote. Learn more here.

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Today, the NCAA Board of Governors released a statement on social activism, designating Nov. 3, 2020, Election Day, as a day-off for student-athletes. This comes after a number of student-athletes were involved in peaceful protests and gatherings in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Here is the full statement from Mark Emmert and the NCAA Board of Governors:

President Mark Emmert and the NCAA Board of Governors recognize the important role social engagement has on driving positive societal change. The recent demonstrations following the tragic killing of George Floyd showed the world the power of protest and student-athletes across the country were at the center of that movement. We commend NCAA student-athletes who recognized the need for change and took action though safe and peaceful protest. We encourage students to continue to make their voices heard on these important issues, engage in community activism and exercise their Constitutional rights. Further, we encourage all member schools to assist students in registering to vote in the upcoming national election and designate November 3, 2020 as a day off from athletics activity so athletes can vote and participate in their ultimate responsibility as citizens.

The NCAA is doing the right thing here in my opinion. Student-athletes should be emboldened to support their beliefs and encouraged to vote by collegiate institutions.

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Locked on Longhorns Podcast: Final time machine and Joseph Ossai

For the final time, Locked on Longhorns goes into the time machine to discuss the 2000 and 2010 seasons plus Joseph Ossai an impact player?

The newest episode of Locked on Longhorns opens up discussing the time machine and the year of 2000. The third year under Mack Brown with quarterback Chris Simms and wide receiver Roy Williams leading the way. Also what were some of the top television shows, music and movies of the year?

The Governor of Texas Greg Abbott has increased stadium capacity to 50 percent, Is a ruling of allowing full capacity in our near future? NCAA President Mark Emmert proposed a shortened season to congress, just how laughable are those comments? Who actually runs college football? Plus Joseph Ossai has been added to the Lott Impact Player watchlist.

In the final segment, the topic of the Athlon Sports All-Big 12 team was up for discussion. Any surprises on the list? Who is one player not listed that could make his way into the discussion by seasons end? The duo take their final journey into the time machine as they discuss a forgettable 2010 season for the Texas Longhorns.

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NCAA President Mark Emmert has a strong opinion on the upcoming season

NCAA President Mark Emmert told congress that they could shorten the season due to COVID-19, the only problem is he doesn’t have the power.

According to Zach Barnett of Football Scoops, NCAA President Mark Emmert told congress they could shorten the college football season. In Barnett’s article he stated what Emmert participated in conference call with other commissioners.

NCAA president Mark Emmert told Congressional leaders that the upcoming college football season could be shortened and some schools may not play.

Emmert participated in a call Wednesday alongside commissioners of the NFL, NHL, PGA and NASCAR, which served to update the White House’s re-opening task force on various sports return-to-play plans.

In the call, Emmert said the season could be shortened where, at the FBS level, conference championship games are played by Thanksgiving, according to the New York Times. This change would shorted the regular season by two weeks; it would also mirror the schedule many universities have adopted, where the fall semester will begin on time but in-person instruction will end at the Thanksgiving break.

The biggest problem with the comments from Emmert is that he doesn’t have the power to take such a stance. While he can rule over the NCAA March Madness tournaments, football is a completely different animal. When it comes to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Division I, it is the conference commissioners who run the college football landscape.

Essentially the Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has more power than Emmert. All scheduling is done at the collegiate level with schools allowed to schedule their own non-conference opponents and the conference decides on their remaining schedule.

In the Barnett piece, he goes on to state that the College Football Playoff committee is expecting to play a full schedule in 2020.

Report: NCAA to allow voluntary football, basketball workouts

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, the NCAA voted Wednesday to allow athletes back on campus. Dates and details here

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, the NCAA voted Wednesday to allow athletes back on campus starting June 1 for voluntary football and basketball workouts.

Thamel wrote:

“An NCAA vote Wednesday cleared the return of student-athletes to campus in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball on June 1 through June 30, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports.”

The decision ends the COVID-19 lock-down on athletic activities on campuses through May 31 and is, though just a small step towards normalcy, great news for sports fans and athletes around the country.

Sources reportedly told Yahoo Sports that the Division 1 council will vote on other sports besides football and basketball as soon as possible.

As far as testing procedures, it will be up to the individual school’s and state’s procedures and guidelines, according to Yahoo Sports’ sources.

“It will be up to the schools and political decision-makers to develop protocols on the tests, which cost approximately $100 each,” Thamel added. ““No one wants to get into that,” said a source. “They want to leave it to your own campus and state.””

The 2020 college football season is set to begin August 29 and Georgia football is scheduled to start its season in Atlanta versus Virginia on Sept. 7. What that will look like remains to be known. Last week, NCAA President Mark Emmert said:

“All of the commissioners and every president that I’ve talked to is in clear agreement: If you don’t have students on campus, you don’t have student-athletes on campus. That doesn’t mean [the school] has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you have to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students. … If a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple.”

If the season does go on, most likely there will be a very limited number of people involved and judging by Emmert’s comments and the NBA’s reported plan of resuming their season without fans, we could also see a start to the football season without people in attendance.

NCAA allows resumption of voluntary team activities in Division I football and basketball

The USA TODAY is reporting that the NCAA will allow for the resumption of team activities in three sports starting June 1. Find out more —

The USA TODAY is reporting that the NCAA Division I council has voted to let football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball players to resume voluntary on-campus workouts beginning June 1.

This lifts a prohibition that has been in place since March that led to the cancellation of the several conference basketball tournaments, the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament and every other scheduled competition for the NCAA’s spring calendar.

What’s interesting about this is that not only will it vary state-to-state, but things will also vary in different parts of the same state.

First off, Notre Dame will be allowed to open up for athletes in those three sports to perform on-campus workouts.  Just an hours drive to the west though, things aren’t expected to be open in Illinois as the “Land of Lincoln” remains under much stronger regulations than their neighbors to the east.

Virginia for example has different regulations in place for counties surrounding Washington, DC while the rest of the state is given a different set of rules for the time being.

What it all means is that what NCAA President Mark Emmert shared a few weeks back in that a uniformed start to college football isn’t likely as some teams will get a start June 1 while plenty of others will not.

There is a long road to go but if you’re hoping for college football to be played mostly as scheduled this fall, this is a huge step in the right direction.

NCAA to allow on campus voluntary workouts starting June 1st

NCAA has voted to allow voluntary on campus workouts for three major sports starting June 1st. This is a big step towards sports this fall.

The big question surrounding fall sports during this COVID-19 quarantine mostly began with when teams would be allowed back on campus. According to multiple reports, that date has now been set. According to multiple reporters including Brett McMurphy of Stadium.

Football, men’s and women’s basketball can resume athletic activities on a voluntary basis as of June 1st. This is just another domino that needed to fall in order athletics to resume in a somewhat normal fashion. With this new ruling, players such as Sam Ehlinger who have been holding workouts in his garage can return to campus.

There isn’t a date set as of yet for organized team activities but his falls right in line with some schools who have set June 1, 2020 as a date for athletes to return to school to begin football practice. With Tom Herman and the staff already back on campus, it should only be a matter of time before the team is on the practice field and getting acclimated to the new offense under Mike Yurcich.

It was recently reported by the Austin American-Statesman that Longhorns football games are not likely to transpire per the Austin Public Health Officials. Athletic Director Chris Del Conte stated that the school has no intentions to alter their plans when it comes to the 2020 football schedule so that remains to be one situation to monitor.

There is quite a bit of money at play here with football returning. Based on the revenue generated by the Big 12 Conference’s television deals, they could survive the 2020 season without fans but beyond that it would be hard to fathom they could keep football alive without fans in attendance.

Texas Longhorns football staff to return to campus

The Texas football staff is set to return to campus on a part-time basis per Anwar Richardson of Orange Bloods.

While the entire football program has been operating from home in regards to schooling and virtual meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the coaching staff plans to return to campus on Monday.

Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com recently reported that some coaches will be in their offices for particular days of the week moving forward, where social distancing practices will be stressed.

Although the coaching staff is currently only returning to their offices on a part-time basis, this feels like a small step towards some normalcy on the Forty Acres.

It’s particularly important for all new football coaches who recently joined Tom Herman’s staff. It will allow more time for each of them to get accustom to a new routine, office space, etc.

It’s still unclear when students will return to campus, but this news provides hope that it could come sooner rather than later.

Dueling opinions: can sports be played without students attending campuses

NCAA President Mark Emmert and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby don’t see eye to eye on a return to sports if students aren’t on campus.

With each passing day as we await a return to college athletics, it seems that everyone has provided their take on whether or not a return is likely this fall. Recently NCAA Chief Medical Office Brian Hainline stated that we could have sports in the fall. Also the NCAA released their three phase plan on how sports could return to college campuses.

The NCAA President Mark Emmert recently spoke about the return to sports and it seems he and Big 12 Commissioner aren’t on the same page.

If you don’t have students on campus, you don’t have student-athletes on campus,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you’ve got to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students. So if a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple. – NCAA President Mark Emmert

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby recently spoke with the Athletic about the situation and he believes that teams can in fact play even if operating online.

So who exactly do you believe? Well if you ask Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports then you should probably be prepared for chaos. Not that we aren’t already under said chaos at this point in time.

It is, fundamentally, a sport run by a committee of bureaucrats with little incentive to do anything but advance whatever is in the perceived competitive and financial interests of their conferences. While the NCAA manages certain elements, like the rules of play and recruiting restrictions, most of the important dynamics for FBS run through the conferences. – Dan Wolken

With teams such as Iowa of the Big Ten Conference and Arkansas of the vaunted Southeastern Conference openly discussing their return to football, it is hard to imagine that football won’t be played in some sort of capacity. Like Dan said, it’s the conferences that run NCAA football. While that might be an opinion, there is little out there that disproves that thought.