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While the Big Ten and Pac 12 have already gone ahead and canceled the 2020 football season in their conferences (with plans to play in the spring), the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 are soldiering on with the idea that they will somehow still be able to have games this fall.
Good luck with that.
Because over the weekend, with zero college football games on the schedule, many of the fine folk of Tuscaloosa already showed that they have zero interest in following any sort of social distancing guidelines.
How about we social distance and have more than a literal handful of people wear a mask? Is that too much to ask Tuscaloosa? pic.twitter.com/gZ4MbbmBZn
— Chris Owens (@BGChrisOwens) August 16, 2020
That photo, shared by Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News, caught the attention of many involved in the Crimson Tide football program, and needless to say, they were not happy.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne was one of the first to respond, writing, “Who wants college sports this fall? Obviously not these people! We’ve got to do better than this for each other and our campus community. Please wear your masks!”
Crimson Tide center Chris Owens also chimed in, asking fans if it was too much to ask for people to social distance and wear masks.
How about we social distance and have more than a literal handful of people wear a mask? Is that too much to ask Tuscaloosa? pic.twitter.com/gZ4MbbmBZn
— Chris Owens (@BGChrisOwens) August 16, 2020
(Yes, Chris. Yes, it is.)
Even Bama head coach Nick Saban fired off a shot at the Tuscaloosa residents who aren’t following protocol.
Athletes are out here begging to play sports begging to provide entertainment to the students and fans and what do the students do to repay them? The exact opposite of what is necessary in order to achieve that goal. Absolutely disgraceful.
— Nick Saban (@sabanfaux) August 16, 2020
Saban’s daughter Kristen was also ticked off with what she saw and the fact that people were somehow blaming her dad, writing, “And to the next person who tells me ‘well your dad should do a PSA’…We put out TWO PSA’s in March. One from our foundation and one from the football account. If you didn’t pay attention, that’s your problem. This isn’t his responsibility, it’s your own.”
As Kirk Herbstreit said when he saw the photo, it just goes to show everyone how low the chances are that anyone is going to be playing college football this fall.
And so it begins...I’m tellin you right now these college kids aren’t thinkin about this virus. This will be the norm on EVERY campus. Buckle up. Next 2 weeks about to get REAL interesting on these campuses. https://t.co/QjkcU5c9Nt
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 16, 2020
He’s right. It is just beginning. And by beginning, I mean some of the best college football players SEC, Big12 and ACC are already bailing on the 2020 season.
https://twitter.com/jasonkersey/status/1295099078678851587
It came at 12:30 am ET on a Saturday night, but NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline pretty blunt on CNN
"Right now, if testing in the US stays the way it is, there’s no way we can go forward with sports"
Later: "We’re not in a place today where we can safely play sports."
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/KristenSabanS/status/1295111179774435328