Michigan Football, the 2020 Abbreviated COVID Season

[iam416]

Finebaum is sowing very fertile soil with M fans.

[Jeff Buchanan]

These days, among the M fan base, there's more resignation than there is rainbows and unicorns. I'm immune to hating on Harbaugh. He is what he is, not what too many expected.

[lineygoblue]

These days, among the M fan base, there's more resignation than there is rainbows and unicorns. I'm immune to hating on Harbaugh. He is what he is, not what too many expected.

Spot on.

[Jeff Buchanan]

As you can see, I'm spending my afternoon following CFB news. Fuck the markets, the economy and COVID. When I arise a week from today, nothing much will have changed in any of those departments. Having said that, there is this:

Some insight into what ADs are dealing with regarding home game tickets is at the link below (you may have to scroll to find it). The assumption seems to be, yes, there will be CFB and Neb's AD Bill Moos thinks the NCAA will have a decision by mid-July. Of course, the elephant in this discussion that's not discussed? Will students be back on campus in August?

I should also point out that among our group of M season ticket holders, one has already said he's buying whatever package they offer as a place holder but he's not going to any home games in 2020. The rest of us have heard nothing but idle talk and nothing concrete has come out of the AD..

https://apnews.com/19a8d58f7d8f0ffd6be47d7397f2dd64

[lineygoblue]

Interesting take on what the MMB will be doing this year, if they actually play football.

Among the highlights:

The band will observe the 6 foot social distancing requirement, making formations on the field quite interesting

They won't be able to enter thru the tunnel. Too tight to satisfy the social distancing requirements.

The band, in marching to the field will likely be stretched out for nearly a mile, while approaching the stadium.

Oh, .. and no road games. John Pasquale (MMB Director) says that may be the policy for a few years. No more road games for a while. I'm sure they're disappointed in Columbus and East Lansing.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...nd/3201904001/

[Jeff Buchanan]

Contingency planning only ...... I just don't see how games with fans are going to happen. It's fanciful to think a stadium full, even if M goes to 50% capacity full, can be done in the face of the harangue they will receive for doing something so "dangerous" to the public health. I really don't see how teams can practice or play football either in any kind of mitigated way that doesn't turn ouot to be a PR fiasco.

The 2020 season is going to be victim of the potential for legal liability and political backlash not to mention that stadium based sporting events will not be on the CD's list of OK things to attend.

[THE_WIZARD_]

50 or 100 percent...wtf difference is it in reality? 25 is a ridiculous idea. So either go 100 or nothing.

[lineygoblue]

I believe (Jeff can correct me here) that the bowl seating in Michigan Stadium was 'expanded' from 19" per seat, to 21" per seat with the recent renovations. So, if my community college math education is right, there would need to be 72" on either side of each fan in the bowl seating area, which is just a bit more than 3 1/2 seats on either side. Again, if my calculations are correct, that takes the capacity down to just a tad over 25% (25K to 30K) for each game.

Oh, and Gretch will not allow you in the game without a mask. She'll sic Nessie on anyone that dares to enter without one.

To me the most entertaining part of the game would be watching the student section. How they plan to have those kids remain 6' apart should be way more entertaining than watching Michigan try to beat Penn State.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'd rather be in my bar watching on my ultra hi def telly with ample brew

[AlabamAlum]

I hear you serve the 8th best wings in Ogallala at your bar.

[lineygoblue]

I'd rather be in my bar watching on my ultra hi def telly with ample brew

I'd gladly join you. And I'd definitely try the 7th best wings in Nebraska.

[lineygoblue]

There's still a lot of pessimism that the 2020 CFB season will happen. I'm still in the club that believes there's less than a 20% chance that we have any kind of season at all. Just yesterday it was reported that Texas had 13 players test positive for Covid. Michigan has had 2 so far. How much cases like that have spread will be important to how this all proceeds.

The article I linked talks about scenarios where the season could start, then stop. Or, it could start, stop then start again, etc.

I think if there is any season at all it will be conference games only. I think there's less than a 5% chance that Michigan plays at Washington. There may be a slightly higher chance that the Ball State game gets played, but I'm not sure that Arkansas State is going to show up. Especially since the visitor's share of the gate will be drastically reduced.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2020/06/19/michigan-football-warde-manuel-coronavirus/3218882001/

I think the next 2-3 weeks will tell a lot of the story. How much the newly discovered cases have spread will be key.

[Jeff Buchanan]

That's the best article I've read that details how schools and ADs are dealing with plans to try to make a return to college and a return to athletics for those on football scholarships. I follow the Miami Hurricane news down here just trying to see how they are handling it. Nada.

So, Manuel's description of what's going on is both detailed and informative. Fans can draw their own conclusions. I think there will be games. The way they appear to be implementing mitigation measures probably makes travel possible. I can understand "we're not the NFL and can't play in a bubble like the NFL is proposing." I still think, as I see the measures they are implementing, that football is possible but it's going to look a whole lot different with starters going down with + tests. That has to create one hell of a mess developing the kind of substitution plans required to support starters being out. A simplified play-book is one of them. I'm sure there are tons of other issues that massive subbing is going to create as players test +.

Not fun for the coaches. I would anticipate there are go-no-go algorithms being developed when circumstances dictate a game can't be safely played. On the plus side, guys deep on the roster list might get opportunities to play a lot more than normally. But, think about that. What a mess.

[WingsFan]

Losing 2 times to osu in one season ...Cancel Now!




Spath -


• I expect that U-M will play fewer than the 12 games on its schedule and that the trip to Washington and the Arkansas State game will be either canceled outright or replaced by Mid-American Conference opponents.

• I expect Michigan to play at least one home-and-home and potentially two or more with other Big Ten teams, most likely Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State. I expect Notre Dame to be a very real possibility as a fill-in game because of the location and access via buses.


• I expect at least one Big Ten program not to play football this fall and as many as four or five.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Interesting ...... on the outside chance Speight is right - and I don't think he is - it will be without fans and then without a full roster. There will be COVID casualties on the team and I don't mean serious illness. The players and/or coaches will catch it and pass it along. Most will simply have mild symptoms but one, maybe two of them will have their ass kicked by COVID. Players will practice and play and coaches will coach.

There is no way that someone among those 140 or so folks aren't going to get the virus and be out for some length of time for quarantine or recovery from 10-14d of illness. 2 weeks minimum .... and that is going to be 2 games for the players or coaches that have mild symptoms, longer than that for a player who gets moderately ill from C-19 then needs to regain playing health and strength.

On the outside chance that anyone might attend home games, it will be students. I don't see how M can manage the complexities and the risks of some how assigning seats to season ticket holders.

If you look at this through Schissel's eyes, I don't see how he would allow this, take the risks, and it's why I think Speight is dead wrong.