Tag: wsbt

College Basketball: May Madness in 2021?

If Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is right, college football won’t be starting anytime soon and it again won’t be March Madness in 2021…

We’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly is going to end up happening with college football this fall and even though we’re within a month of when things were supposed to kickoff, it’s looking less and less like that will be going down Labor Day weekend.

So why don’t we take a shot and try and predict what the future holds for the 2020-21 college basketball season?

Alright, I’ll pass and leave it to one of college basketball’s longest tenured head coaches, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey.

Brey held his annual Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Outing on Tuesday and after admitting college sports are hanging by a threat, Brey shared his thoughts on college basketball’s eventual return.

“I think college basketball, and mark my words, we’re going to come back all the way around and be the savior of college athletics””

“It may not be til February and it might be ‘May Madness’ instead of March Madness.  Everything is on the table but I think we’re going to play”

Brey then re-affirmed, “It could be later but we’re going to play”.

As I’ve thought since sports were first postponed back in March, we can’t predict what’s going to happen a week from now, let alone in the spring.  I’m more than happy to root for Brey’s thought to be right though, although he certainly seemed to think college football won’t be played this fall if college basketball will be the sport to be the savior of college athletics.

Notre Dame Does Not Have COVID-19 Waiver for Student-Athletes

With all the concerns regarding COVID-19, you would think every school would want its student-athletes to know in writing that they assume the risk of playing this upcoming year. Some schools have taken this step. Notre Dame has not. On Monday, it …

With all the concerns regarding COVID-19, you would think every school would want its student-athletes to know in writing that they assume the risk of playing this upcoming year. Some schools have taken this step. Notre Dame has not.

On Monday, it was reported that SMU will require all of its student-athletes to sign a liability waiver before going back to campus for voluntary workouts. Under the agreement, student-athletes cannot hold the university liable for any coronavirus-related issues, and their right litigation is waived. WSBT-TV sports anchor Adam Derengowski later tweeted that Notre Dame does not have such a waiver in place. It doesn’t appear one is in the plans, either.

Only Notre Dame knows what’s best for it and its student-athletes, but for those on the outside looking in, it’s risky not to take any action. All it takes is for one student-athlete to get infected, and the athletic department finds itself in quite a predicament. While, it’s good that the university acknowledges that the COVID-19 situation keeps changing, it would help to see some proactive procedures.

Listen: Full Brian Kelly Interview on WSBT

Brian Kelly went on the Sportsbeat at WSBT in South Bend on Wednesday afternoon and spent 20 or so minutes discussing everything related to what’s been going on in and around the Notre Dame football team in these truly unique times.

Brian Kelly went on the Sportsbeat at WSBT in South Bend on Wednesday afternoon and spent 20 or so minutes discussing everything related to what’s been going on in and around the Notre Dame football team in these truly unique times.

The headline grabbing content was his comments on Kirk Herbstreit who Kelly does not agree with whatsoever when it comes to if the 2020 college football season will be played as normal.  I discussed that already and why it comes off as a tough look for Kelly who is usually more PR-saavy.

Listen to the full interview by clicking here.

Other topics you’ll hear include but are not limited to:

-A message from Kelly to Notre Dame and college football fans everywhere in regards to corona virus

-Kelly’s thoughts on a truly one of a kind recruiting cycle and how he hopes uncommitted recruits handle the duration of their respective recruiting processes

-How Notre Dame is keeping track of player workouts and rehabs during this time away

-Kelly shares his ideal start date for team activities to begin that would allow for no changes to the game schedule for 2020

So take a listen and if you like feel free to share your thoughts on the interview, your likes and dislikes and anything else on our Facebook page.

Notre Dame Football: It’s Safe to Say Brian Kelly Disagrees with Kirk Herbstreit

Thursday saw Brian Kelly make an appearance on the SportsBeat on 96.1 FM in South Bend and the Notre Dame football coach was asked about Herbstreit’s comments.  Let’s just say – it’s safe to believe he doesn’t so much agree with the ESPN analyst.

Last week Kirk Herbstreit was on ESPN Radio and was asked his thoughts on the chances of football, pro or college being played as we know it this fall.  Herbstreit offered is opinion and it didn’t come with much optimism.

Thursday saw Brian Kelly make an appearance on the SportsBeat on 96.1 FM in South Bend and the Notre Dame football coach was asked about Herbstreit’s comments.  Let’s just say – it’s safe to believe he doesn’t so much agree with the ESPN analyst.

Listen, I hope like all getup that Kelly is right and that college football goes off without a hitch in 2020.  I do however also think it’s a bit wrong to go after Herbstreit this hard for answering the question he was asked.

Look at New York City, look at Florida largely shutting down the state today and look how big everything involving Corona-virus has become.  Now do you think it’s a two foot putt that college football will operate as normal with 80,000 or so fans packing stadiums all over the country?

Herbstreit is an educated man who happens to cover college football and usually does a very good job of that.  Just because his profession is in sports doesn’t mean he isn’t informed enough to think logically on his own.  I get why Kelly is upset but it doesn’t take a scientist or doctor to figure out that there is a growing chance that Herbstreit is right.

The city of Toronto has shutdown regular operations until at least June 1.  Kelly goes on to say that ideally, workouts would begin by the middle of June in order to get things timed out perfectly for college football.  He already stated previously with Scott Van Pelt of SportsCenter that July 1 would be the necessary date to get things going by in order for a regular season schedule to be played.

Again, I can’t put into words how much I hope Herbstreit is wrong.  It’d mean good news for a nation and a world that could use some right now and it’d mean that we’ve largely beat a pandemic nationwide.  I hope and pray for that to be the case, but again, I’d be lying if I said I was optimistic in it happening.

We’ll post a link to the entire Brian Kelly interview once it gets posted to their website.  We’ll also look at what else the Notre Dame head coach had to say in a later post so be on the lookout for that this evening.  Stay safe and have a good night. -NS