After a two and half month delay, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will finally take place. But without the spectators. Normally the Indy 500 has more attendance than any single day sporting event in the world. But there is nothing normal about 2020. After much hedging and attempts to accommodate the local hospitality industry, good sense prevailed and the race was closed to spectators. So Sunday August 23rd the green flag will fall and the game will begin. The race won’t be blacked out locally so there will still be an amazing number of people watching and seeing the race better than they would if they were at the track, but the thrill of being there will be lost.
The Big Ten will just play inter-conference football games this season; the first of the Big Five Conferences to do so. Some schools are lobbying for a closure of the season altogether. There are a number of insiders who are calling this unfair to the athletes who are expecting to move on to the pros in 2021 and the coaches who will lose revenue if the season is canceled. College football has even maintained that the players will be at greater risk if they do not play because they would be at large without supervision and could be infected by general contact. Coach Nick Saban says there is less danger for the players on the field than on campus or at home. Of course a number of players want to play for the sake of their careers. Colleges are looking at potential lawsuits if players play the season and come down with COVID-19. This could break college sports. There are no easy solutions and no matter what happens there will be disappointment and anger. President 45 is trying to make the situation an election issue, demanding that the season be played for the sake of the players, coaches, alum, and sports bettors. In 2016 he rode to the White House on Colin Kaepernick’s knee, so in 2020 he wants to be “The President who saved college football going into November.”
The NFL is going forward into the 2020 season. 67 players opted out because of coronavirus concerns including 3 from the Colts. The Patriots had 12 players opt out—the most in the league. The regular season will start on Thursday, September 10th with the defending Super Bowl Champs the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Colts will open at Jacksonville on Sunday the 12th.
FYI, It looks like the nation’s capital will have an NFL team named the Washington Professional Football team. At least for the 2020 season. Boring but politically correct. Probably won’t help the team to a winning season but you never know.
Remember to wear the mask and social distance!
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