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Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BitterYoungMatador2, Apr 2, 2020.

  1. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    In the summer, the MIAA, the Mass. high school governing body, which is as well-meaning and incompetent as the other 49 such bodies, canceled football season with the option of staging it in the spring. Thanks to the vaccine, this might really be the outcome, which I'm sure comes as much of a shock to the MIAA as to me.
     
    Neutral Corner likes this.
  2. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    The Mississippi private school league I mentioned crowned a champion this week that has a lot of folks upset. Most of the public schools in the Delta opted out of the season in August, so a bunch of the best players from several schools in the region transferred to a Class 3A private school (the smallest 11-man division in the association) in Week 2 of the season and essentially formed a regional all-star team. They added 25 new players to the roster between Week 1 and Week 3. The quarterback and several other key players were from a Class 5A public school that reached the semifinals last season. The results were about what you'd expect.
    A program whose best record this century was 7-4, had not won a playoff game since 1995, and got beat 27-0 in its season opener started dump trucking people left and right. After muddling through the first game with the new guys, they had one playoff game that they won 20-6. Every other game they won by at least 24 points and scored at least 46. They won the championship game 52-20 against a previously undefeated team with a similar resume.
    The transfers were all legit, according to the association. That hasn't stopped people from grumbling about it, especially since no one expects those football players to still be at the school after Christmas.
     
  3. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    That was Minnesota and Michigan's original plan but, particularly in Michigan, a critical mass of irate white parent types talked the state into it. To be fair, both of those states have large numbers of football fields north of the 45th parallel and the logistics of finding a frozen football field in early March in my neck of the woods were going to be pretty tough (even though many of those schools play on turf now). Remains to be seen if Michigan ever gets to the title games, but at least their championships are played at Ford Field (and there's a dome in the UP that could cover for a quarter or semifinal played up north).
     
  4. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    Here are the MIAA's basketball modifications for this winter.

    http://miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_...dule/Basketball_Modifications_Winter_2020.pdf

    Here are the hockey modifcations.

    http://miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_...dule/Ice_Hockey_Modifications_Winter_2020.pdf

    Wrestling was moved to the spring and may be outdoors.
     
  5. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    First round of Colorado playoffs this weekend. Eight teams in each division. One forfeit on Monday and they didn't replace that team. Semis next weekend. Then seven finals over three days the weekend after that.
     
  6. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    When I lived in North Dakota years ago, the playoffs took 10 days. Three classes (A, B, 8-man), eight teams; first round on Tuesday night, semifinals on Saturday, finals the following Saturday.

    One year the Class A state title game got postponed for a week by snow.
     
    RickStain likes this.
  7. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Regarding the "Yooper Dome," that would be an indoor facility.

    Even in a red state like Idaho, our governor's half-assed restrictions he put on as COVID numbers skyrocketed prevented the state football championship games from being held in the domes at University of Idaho and Idaho State University. They found three high school facilities (all outdoors, obviously) and each site hosted two championship games. With a limited number of fans.
     
  8. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I don't know about bursting a sports bubble - but I imagine more people will be tuning in to watch New Mexico play at Utah State tonight on FS1 than have ever done so before in a football game matching winless teams on Thanksgiving.
     
    HanSenSE likes this.
  9. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    Re moving the New Mexico Bowl to Texas: West Texas high school teams have been playing playoff games in New Mexico on a regular basis since high school sports became a thing. So I guess turnabout is fair play.
     
    maumann likes this.
  10. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Health department banned fans/parents from state high school football championships next week. But cheerleaders and bands are OK.

    Parents, rightly, are pissed. Big push to move the games out of the one-site neutral site location and to the home sites of the higher seeds and in counties where fans/parents are allowed. Surely, the state association will screw the pooch on this.
     
  11. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Another bowl bites the dust.
     
  12. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Probably a case of too little, too late here amid the holiday spike and the news coming out of Santa Clara County, but ...
     
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