No 2020 Season

[The Jackal]

I wish the SoCon and maybe all of FCS would agree to count these games as forfeits just to mess with them. After all, these ARE forfeits. One team is ready and the other is a no show.

I also hope somebody at least threatens loudly to take legal action. The “the SEC made me do it” argument is only valid if your school voted against it. I might even accuse them of conspiracy to defraud because that’s what it is. Anyway I hope we mess with them.

I guess we’re gonna find out how many programs can’t survive without a money game. I think that notion is exaggerated or at least I hope it is.

None of that is correct.

These are no more forfeits than it was when Colgate canceled on us with a pending hurricane or we bought out Delaware to play Missouri.

What legal action would you suggest? The entire reason the SEC has made the decision it did is to foreclose legal action. They sacrificed some big money games to avoid having to be sued by three dozen or more different schools for breach of contract.

I don't specifically know how each conference works, but they are a confederation of teams that make decisions based on a unified structure. I'm sure USC wants to play Clemson, but the conference decision is the one that matters.

It was reasonable for Colgate to fear coming to a state threatened by a hurricane. They are Yankees and don’t understand such things. But isn’t it absurd to assert that UT would be endangered by allowing Furman to come and play on their field but not endangered by letting Florida, UGA or LSU come and play? A game is a game. There is no force majeure argument because such forces do not recognize conference affiliations.

The other defense in the contract is if cancellation is forced by the SEC. The way I understand it, the decision was made by a vote of AD’s. I assume UT voted to screw us. So I’m not sure they can argue that they were forced to cancel when they colluded to make sure they would be forced.

They are just assuming correctly that nobody will force the issue legally for fear of being blackballed and no longer being allowed to whore themselves out to the SEC. Our lawyers could at least mess with them if we weren’t chicken.

As for forfeits, that’s in the eye of the beholder. But most of the time in most sports, games etc for hundreds of years its been accepted that if a contest is scheduled and somebody chooses not to show up just because he doesn’t want to, he didn’t cancel, he forfeited. Calling them forfeits is only a silly gesture (an accurate silly gesture) but it’s the kind of thing that can give the average SEC fan apoplexy. So go FU we’re 1-0. The Vols are 0-4.

I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

[The Jackal]

As of today, I feel increasingly less optimistic about there being a football season.

Look at what is going on in MLB right now. Major League baseball - a nearly $11 billion dollar industry - with access to literally whatever they want whenever they want is a week into the season and COVID is wrecking havoc with their season.

The Miami Marlins have over half their roster positive for the virus. Games are being rescheduled. Teams are flying to different cities. Ballparks are shut down. It's been one week. One week. No fans.

To think that college football, with 10 times as many teams, hopes of fans, cross country travel, and far less accessible resources is going to somehow dodge this bullet just does not seem reasonable.

[apaladin]

Jackal, Don’t think Covid is wreaking havoc with MLB. It’s basically just one team. The Phillies that played the Marlins the weekend of the outbreak have had no positives so that is a big positive that they didn’t spread it. MLB expected cases and there will be more.

[Furmanoid]

If we had a 15 guy outbreak we could still be 4 deep.

[bj93]

It isn't about safety, it's about money no matter what they say. It makes zero sense financially for a school like FU or any school in SOCON to play . You have zero revenue coming in, but still have same amount of expenses plus the cost of testing etc. It isn't going to happen. Just praying E.D. doesn't use this as excuse to end football and all other sports (which i'm afraid is a real possibility).

[apaladin]

It isn't about safety, it's about money no matter what they say. It makes zero sense financially for a school like FU or any school in SOCON to play . You have zero revenue coming in, but still have same amount of expenses plus the cost of testing etc. It isn't going to happen. Just praying E.D. doesn't use this as excuse to end football and all other sports (which i'm afraid is a real possibility).

Agree it’s all about money, we know that and don’t think it is even arguable. There would be some revenue, season ticket sales that would have to be refunded, single game tickets if there are any. Concessions if there are any, sponsorship, Ingles etc. radio/TV ads, ESPN pays FU something but have no idea how much, local TV(SoCon package).
Shirts, hats etc sold at the game and bookstore on game day etc. It all adds up to more than what we think. As for ED, that is a real scary possibility. I really wish she would resign.

[JohnKX512]

Why do we keep bringing up erectile disfunction?

And with the forfeit ideas y’all have we may be “forfeiting” games ourselves. So don’t shoot yourself in the foot with that whole idea.

I’m glad we are continuing to push practicing and getting prepared for the season no matter the plan (would really like an announcement from SoCon or Buddie).

Jackal brings up very valid points about how hard it has been for MLB to just get through a week. But I posted that before and was already argued about.

[Furmanoid]

I haven’t heard anybody say we would play for zero revenue (no spectators). I think it’s actually true that our usual attendance numbers wouldn’t have to drop by much or any if we made use of all available space. The testing may be an issue. I imagine somebody was tasked months ago with negotiating the best deal possible. I think you can get it as low as $20 but more likely $50 or so (hopefully we go with somebody who has a low false positive rate). If you do 100 guys (overkill) every week that’s only $50k. I guarantee you there’s a booster somewhere willing to cover that if it saves the season. It’s not like we play to make money. We lose our ass probably. We’ll just lose a little more this year. Stay positive.

[Furmanoid]

Why do we keep bringing up erectile disfunction?

And with the forfeit ideas y’all have we may be “forfeiting” games ourselves. So don’t shoot yourself in the foot with that whole idea.

I’m glad we are continuing to push practicing and getting prepared for the season no matter the plan (would really like an announcement from SoCon or Buddie).

Jackal brings up very valid points about how hard it has been for MLB to just get through a week. But I posted that before and was already argued about.

It’s not a forfeit if we do it.

[The Jackal]

Jackal, Don’t think Covid is wreaking havoc with MLB. It’s basically just one team. The Phillies that played the Marlins the weekend of the outbreak have had no positives so that is a big positive that they didn’t spread it. MLB expected cases and there will be more.

Read up on the MLB suspension of games.

Again, MLB is an economic giant. SoCon football is not.

[fufanatic]

The only thing I can figure is that cancelling non-conference games and moving season back 3 weeks is buying time for hopefully things to miraculously get better. But I'm assuming if it doesn't, we will see a full season cancellation by the start of September, because there's no way in this world anyone can argue that it's safe to play conference games but not safe to play a full schedule. There's zero difference between Furman playing at Charleston Southern or at The Citadel. It's zero difference in Tennessee hosting South Carolina and hosting Furman.

[Roundball]

I am still of the opinion the SoCon cannot afford to have a season without the big money games. If the NCAABoard of Governors votes this week to cancel the FCS playoffs, that will do it for our season. I am at the point now of giving up on football and just hoping we have a basketball season. If the virus continues to spread, there is no way these same big conferences will allow its teams to play out of conference games.

[Furmanoid]

I am still of the opinion the SoCon cannot afford to have a season without the big money games. If the NCAABoard of Governors votes this week to cancel the FCS playoffs, that will do it for our season. I am at the point now of giving up on football and just hoping we have a basketball season. If the virus continues to spread, there is no way these same big conferences will allow its teams to play out of conference games.

But if we aren’t going to kick the scholarship players out or fire the coaches, aren’t we still spending the money? It seems like if we play we can at least recover some of it. Gameday revenues are certainly higher than gameday expenses.

At least it is looking like the virus is settling down in the South. SC had nice drops in ICU and ventilators use today. Hope the trend continues.

[FurmAlum]

I wish the SoCon and maybe all of FCS would agree to count these games as forfeits just to mess with them. After all, these ARE forfeits. One team is ready and the other is a no show.

I also hope somebody at least threatens loudly to take legal action. The “the SEC made me do it” argument is only valid if your school voted against it. I might even accuse them of conspiracy to defraud because that’s what it is. Anyway I hope we mess with them.

I guess we’re gonna find out how many programs can’t survive without a money game. I think that notion is exaggerated or at least I hope it is.

None of that is correct.

These are no more forfeits than it was when Colgate canceled on us with a pending hurricane or we bought out Delaware to play Missouri.

What legal action would you suggest? The entire reason the SEC has made the decision it did is to foreclose legal action. They sacrificed some big money games to avoid having to be sued by three dozen or more different schools for breach of contract.

I don't specifically know how each conference works, but they are a confederation of teams that make decisions based on a unified structure. I'm sure USC wants to play Clemson, but the conference decision is the one that matters.

It was reasonable for Colgate to fear coming to a state threatened by a hurricane. They are Yankees and don’t understand such things. But isn’t it absurd to assert that UT would be endangered by allowing Furman to come and play on their field but not endangered by letting Florida, UGA or LSU come and play? A game is a game. There is no force majeure argument because such forces do not recognize conference affiliations.

The other defense in the contract is if cancellation is forced by the SEC. The way I understand it, the decision was made by a vote of AD’s. I assume UT voted to screw us. So I’m not sure they can argue that they were forced to cancel when they colluded to make sure they would be forced.

They are just assuming correctly that nobody will force the issue legally for fear of being blackballed and no longer being allowed to whore themselves out to the SEC. Our lawyers could at least mess with them if we weren’t chicken.

As for forfeits, that’s in the eye of the beholder. But most of the time in most sports, games etc for hundreds of years its been accepted that if a contest is scheduled and somebody chooses not to show up just because he doesn’t want to, he didn’t cancel, he forfeited. Calling them forfeits is only a silly gesture (an accurate silly gesture) but it’s the kind of thing that can give the average SEC fan apoplexy. So go FU we’re 1-0. The Vols are 0-4.

Maybe we should sue the SEC and not UT? I don't see how they can cancel the Furman game while playing 10 SEC games? The "safety" argument is full of s***. Its about the money.

As for the SoCon. I don't see any logical reason not to go ahead and play the season. We used to do it before big money games were played. Why could we get it done then and not now?

The CAA is crazy. Cancelling the season and then saying each team can go out and schedule games independently is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

We should play the season, collect from gate receipts, season tickets, concessions, sponsorships, TV revenue, and whatever else the marketing people can think of, borrow a little money if necessary until next year when we can schedule 2 FBS games to make up the difference. A little CREATIVE THINKING is called for here if anybody has the balls to do it.

By the way the golf business is all of a sudden booming this year because golf is an OUTDOOR sport and people have nothing else to do. And its being done safely. Football is an OUTDOOR sport. I bet more people would come to our SoCon games than we might think and could still social distance if all space was utilized. A lot of them aren't going to be going to ACC and SEC games because of the stadium restrictions.

We need people in leadership positions that can find a way to get it done instead of making excuses why it couldn't be done. I have confidence in JD. Not so sure about ED, but would like to hope that she can too.

[The Jackal]

I am still of the opinion the SoCon cannot afford to have a season without the big money games. If the NCAABoard of Governors votes this week to cancel the FCS playoffs, that will do it for our season. I am at the point now of giving up on football and just hoping we have a basketball season. If the virus continues to spread, there is no way these same big conferences will allow its teams to play out of conference games.

But if we aren’t going to kick the scholarship players out or fire the coaches, aren’t we still spending the money? It seems like if we play we can at least recover some of it. Gameday revenues are certainly higher than gameday expenses.

At least it is looking like the virus is settling down in the South. SC had nice drops in ICU and ventilators use today. Hope the trend continues.

None of us - or at least very few of us - know how the money flows. So anything there is speculative.

The point I am trying to make is that baseball, with zero fans and teams staffed with professional athletes on much smaller rosters are having a hard time controlling this virus.

If baseball is struggling to contain the virus, how is a college football team with 100+ players, all of whom are 18-22 years old, plus fans in the stands going to work?