Welcome to another day in the pandemic. Just survive and advance, baby!
Word of the Day: Winnow.
GAMEDAY FIGHTING TO SURVIVE. I can't say I even watch College GameDay with any frequency anymore, but with college football's back against the wall, I'm getting a little nostalgic. The theme song, that faithful Washington State flag, the headgear picks – I want all of it.
The reality is, GameDay is not going to look anything like what we've seen in the past, but if football exists, ESPN's committed to GameDay existing, as well.
“If there is college football there will be ‘College GameDay.’ Period," said ESPN's Lee Fitting, who oversees all the network's college studio shows and remote programs.
...
“We're still determining what ‘GameDay’ would look like this season and, frankly, it could be different every week what it looks like,” Fitting told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “It could be potentially on the sidelines of an early game. It could be on the concourse in a stadium. It could even still be on campus.
“Will there be thousands of fans behind our set screaming like we’ve known it the last however many years?” Fitting said. “Absolutely not.”
Fitting conceded the show could even originate from a studio in Bristol, Connecticut, for the first time since the week college football returned after the 9/11 attacks.
“I don’t think we can ever rule that out. That’s not our first option,” Fitting said. “But our first priority is the health and safety of everyone we work alongside.”
I have one (1) suggestion: allow folks to mail in signs, then stick them in the background of the shot. I'm not sure what I'd do without waking up every morning to an extremely bad "(insert coach here) wears crocks!" sign.
URBAN HAS SPOKEN. College football's in trouble and we're running out of time, but Urban Meyer seems as confident as when he's in the third quarter against Bowling Green.
If you ask him, we're playing the damn season, one way or another.
"Two weeks ago, yes. Last week, medium. I'm back to yes. We're going to play. We're going to play. I've just got so confidence the way these universities are handling this right now. I love the fact that we went conference-only, becauset they can have control over the protocol, and start stop dates, etc. – I'm optomistic right now."
...
"What really changed for me is the confernce-only games. I didn't say every conference is going to play, I didn't say every team is going to play – I said we're going to play college football. I really believe that conferences, presidents, ADs and the commissioner are going to work together with the head coaches, and they're going to work this thing out. I just have a lot of confidence in our scientists, the team doctors – I really do. I've talked with a few of my colleagues that I'm really close with and I really believe we're oging to get that done."
I can't honestly say I share his level of optimism but at the same time, he's more infinitely more qualified to have an opinion than I am. So folks, I guess that settles it. We're going to have a college football season! Prepare accordingly.
CLASS BY HIMSELF. Turns out, there's a good reason why Michael Thomas has the highest-paid contract in NFL history – he's truly in a class by himself.
Only one player in NFL history has recorded the following through his first four seasons:
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) July 14, 2020
450+ REC
5,500+ REC Yds
30+ REC TD
Michael Thomas is in a class by himself. pic.twitter.com/DVdUJkqyCY
Not too bad for third-team All-Big Ten (no, I will never find peace in this).
UPDATED ROSTER. We're all so concerned about football, people forget – basketball season is nigh, too!
And for the first time since last season concluded, Ohio State finally updated its roster, giving us some weight (and height!) changes for the returners and measurables for all the newcomers.
Other height/weight changes on this seasons roster...
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) July 15, 2020
Kyle Young: 205 to 225
EJ Liddell from 6-6/236 to 6-7/240
Justin Ahrens from 6-5/180 to 6-6/195
Musa Jallow from 200 to 210
Duane Washington from 6-3/190 to 6-2/210
CJ Walker from 195 to 205
As my esteemed colleague Colin pointed out to me, it seems Duane Washington shrunk an inch and gained 20 pounds during the offseason, according to this season's roster. Can't say I've ever seen that before.
SONG OF THE DAY. "What a Man Gotta Do" by the Jonas Brothers.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. The Colombian cartels are killing those who don't obey COVID-19 lockdowns... Notes on Beirut’s broken sewage system... A soldier's bones were found months after he was labeled a deserter... Five ways to stay cool without blasting the AC... Turns out, the moon is probably millions of years younger than we thought... A full-fledged State Bank of India branch turns out to be fake...