More and more difficult to be a sports fan these days, the prospect of athletes in action this fall growing dimmer by the day.

Last week the Big 10 Conference announced the league would play only conference games during the upcoming football season. The PAC-12 quickly following suit, announcing it will do the same. The Atlantic Coast Conference will wait until the end of the month to decide. The almighty Southeastern Conference hasn’t said what they will be doing but look for an announcement soon.

The Ivy League has cancelled its entire fall sports season. Stanford, a bastion of athletic program health for generations, announced it will shutter 11 programs primaily because of coronavirus impacts.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey gave this warning: “I’ve been optimistic. But I’m prepared that optimism is not reality.” Not good coming from the deep South where college football falls behind only God, family and country.  No football equals no fun, no life, and a bleak future for people below the Mason Dixon Line.

Less than two months away from kickoff and we are already down to only conference games. A college football season without fans defeats the purpose. Only conference games. No. No fans. No season. Why do we continue to pretend this virus will just go away and hide?  Please. Please let’s be realistic.

The Kentucky Motor Speedway is hosting the Quaker 500 and its NASCAR weekend at Sparta without fans in the stands. Lou City FC soccer is scheduled to christen its professional soccer season Sunday in brand new Lynn Family Stadium at 30 percent capacity. A few signs of life at the University of Louisville where football players are doing some limited workouts.

Covid-19 cases continuing to rise in almost every state, thanks to people feeling invulnerable, reluctant to wear masks, tired of dealing with an invisible enemy. I was optimistic in March and April things would work out and the virus would be defeated. No way did anyone feel we would be talking about this in mid-July. Still, there appears to be no end or relief in sight. The hope is that everyone will start taking the virus seriously. 

One can only wish things were different. No positive spin on this. Time for college administrators to stop the posturing, grow some spine and make some decisions. Until then, they are only postponing the inevitable.

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By Ed Peak

Ed Peak has covered UofL sports since 1973, as a student reporter, as a correspondent for the Courier-Journal, a freelancer for the Associated Press and United Press International, as well as ScoreCard, Fox Sports and CBS radio.

3 thoughts on “College football games without fans defeats purpose”
  1. Eddie, What do you think about the idea of exchanging the football and baseball seasons, playing baseball in the fall and football in the spring?

    1. No. Don’t like the idea. Football was made for the fall and baseball for spring and summer. It really doesn’t matter when they play if they aren’t going to have fans. If fans are allowed still rather have it during thier usual months. Thanks for reading.

      1. If trading places or seasons will help get baseball and football players back on their respective fields, one has to give it some serious consideration. The world is already upside down, how is one more backward equation going to cause any harm? We badly need some diversions from all the fractured things going on in society these days.

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