Shadowlight
Master
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3,882
Ivy League football is an American institution and last night every major network outlet pretty much led off with the story that they cancelled fall sports. For years the Ivy was seen as an antiquated low level league. But that has drastically changed over the past five years. The jump in the level of talent is obvious. NSNBC sports was televising games for the past several years and in 2018 ESPN signed a ten year contract with the Ivy League. Usually a game or maybe two can be watched on ESPN networks every week and they have rights to the Harvard Yale tilt, a game that I thought was the best and most exciting game last year. It has already obtained mythic qualities since so much was on the line for Yale. And that crazy halftime not too mention it was getting dark during overtime. Ha.
The Ivy of course features the most white skill players of any college football league and not only do they play good football some have wondered where exactly does the Ivy League stand in relation to other leagues? I feel they could be competitive against low and even mid major FBS teams.
[Late edit. Players like RB Zane Dudek will be allowed to work out and keep himself in shape at the Yale workout facilities.]
Now I am going to jump forward. I am not predicting they won't play college football this year. But as a hypothetical if they don't play here is what I think should happen if they are able to safely play in the spring.
There are obstacles but I think everyone of them can be overcome with careful planning and most importantly the NFL adjusting to the situation. I will go on the assumption that the coast is pretty clear with the virus and teams can travel freely etc.
While it would buck up against college basketball most football games are limited to mainly Saturday games. Best case scenario is the season starts as early as January but one can fit in a pretty full schedule starting as late as early March. If they have to chop down anything I would prefer they lop off the conference championships and keep the non conference games.
I keep hearing that the Combine is in February and the draft is in late April as if it is set in stone. Well hell move those damn dates NFL.
Players need a few weeks off to prepare for the combine so I would push the combine to three weeks after the final game. And then allow another few weeks for non combine players to have their pro days. They should move the draft roughly 5 weeks after the combine date.
That is how I think they should do it if they have to move the season into the spring. Of course I am sure there will be some idiots putting up stumbling blocks.
That said let's hope for a fall season. Some are cautiously optimistic but no one would be surprised if it doesn't happen either.
As for the NFL playing this fall if they do things right and follow all the protocols I see no reason why they shouldn't play. If the (now completed) German and still going English soccer leagues ( and the Italians are playing now too) can pull it off there should be no excuses for the NFL. Hell they even have their own private airplanes.
The Ivy of course features the most white skill players of any college football league and not only do they play good football some have wondered where exactly does the Ivy League stand in relation to other leagues? I feel they could be competitive against low and even mid major FBS teams.
[Late edit. Players like RB Zane Dudek will be allowed to work out and keep himself in shape at the Yale workout facilities.]
Now I am going to jump forward. I am not predicting they won't play college football this year. But as a hypothetical if they don't play here is what I think should happen if they are able to safely play in the spring.
There are obstacles but I think everyone of them can be overcome with careful planning and most importantly the NFL adjusting to the situation. I will go on the assumption that the coast is pretty clear with the virus and teams can travel freely etc.
While it would buck up against college basketball most football games are limited to mainly Saturday games. Best case scenario is the season starts as early as January but one can fit in a pretty full schedule starting as late as early March. If they have to chop down anything I would prefer they lop off the conference championships and keep the non conference games.
I keep hearing that the Combine is in February and the draft is in late April as if it is set in stone. Well hell move those damn dates NFL.
Players need a few weeks off to prepare for the combine so I would push the combine to three weeks after the final game. And then allow another few weeks for non combine players to have their pro days. They should move the draft roughly 5 weeks after the combine date.
That is how I think they should do it if they have to move the season into the spring. Of course I am sure there will be some idiots putting up stumbling blocks.
That said let's hope for a fall season. Some are cautiously optimistic but no one would be surprised if it doesn't happen either.
As for the NFL playing this fall if they do things right and follow all the protocols I see no reason why they shouldn't play. If the (now completed) German and still going English soccer leagues ( and the Italians are playing now too) can pull it off there should be no excuses for the NFL. Hell they even have their own private airplanes.
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