Greg Sankey ‘prepared that optimism is not reality’ as Ivy League cancels football; Finebaum reacts - AL.com

The events of Wednesday sent a “tsunami across this country from a college football standpoint,” according to SEC analyst Paul Finebaum.

The main headline, of course, was the Ivy League canceling the fall sports season. Add to that, Stanford cut 11 sports, and both North Carolina and Ohio State shut down voluntary football workouts.

The result?

“It is a dreadful indicator for college football,” Finebaum said Wednesday.

Greg Sankey said Wednesday night he is “prepared that optimism is not reality” when talking about an upcoming college football season in the wake of the Ivy League canceling its fall season.

On Thursday, Finebaum said it was the “most negative” he’s heard the SEC commissioner since talk turned to the viability of an upcoming college football season during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I don’t think the announcement (Wednesday) is an any inflection point for decision making,” Sankey told “Freddie and Fitzsimmons” on ESPN radio Wednesday night. “Now, when you look at what is happening, those are the real inflection points for us. I want to be optimistic, but the reality is publicly we have to discipline ourselves to remain healthy as a culture. And that relates to some of the behaviors we’ve seen that have caused the spread to accelerate. I’ve been optimistic, but I’m prepared that optimism is not reality.”

Finebaum, who joined Lee Shirvanian and me on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile on Thursday, said he wouldn’t dismiss the Ivy League’s announcement.

“Every president out there this morning is reading that story very closely and asking themselves ‘What do they know that we don’t?

“If eight presidents at arguably the most exclusive schools in the country can come to this conclusion on the second week of July, it puts pressure publicly, as well as looking at the optics of where college sports goes next.”

Still, ESPN college football analyst Rece Davis, in an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up,” might be a bit more optimistic.

“I talked to several people over the last several days anticipating this decision and while they respect the Ivy League and there will be, no doubt, some presidents that will be cognizant of the fact they will be viewed as not caring as much as the academic mission as much as the athletic one if they don’t follow suit with the Ivy League, but they didn’t believe that it would have a huge impact,” he said.

Finebaum isn’t ready to throw in the towel but is pretty confident the season won’t start on time.

“We’ll have some indicator in three weeks if the season will start on time, and I’m here to tell you it won’t start on time.

“It’s a realistic evaluation. Let’s talk Alabama-Southern Cal. I can’t imagine that game being played in Texas on Labor Day weekend, considering where California is (in terms of COVID numbers), considering where Texas is and considering where Alabama is.”

Finebaum, who joined Davis on “Get Up” on Thursday, said, “Yesterday was the worst day college athletics has had since that March day when whole world shut down, and I don’t see it getting any better.”

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read Again Brow https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5hbC5jb20vc3BvcnRzLzIwMjAvMDcvZ3JlZy1zYW5rZXktcHJlcGFyZWQtdGhhdC1vcHRpbWlzbS1pcy1ub3QtcmVhbGl0eS1hcy1pdnktbGVhZ3VlLWNhbmNlbHMtZm9vdGJhbGwtZmluZWJhdW0tcmVhY3RzLmh0bWzSAZYBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWwuY29tL3Nwb3J0cy8yMDIwLzA3L2dyZWctc2Fua2V5LXByZXBhcmVkLXRoYXQtb3B0aW1pc20taXMtbm90LXJlYWxpdHktYXMtaXZ5LWxlYWd1ZS1jYW5jZWxzLWZvb3RiYWxsLWZpbmViYXVtLXJlYWN0cy5odG1sP291dHB1dFR5cGU9YW1w?oc=5

Bagikan Berita Ini