Fall Sports Starting to Get Picked Off Conference by Conference

Numerous other conference are beginning to join the Ivy League on the sidelines for fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic

It's been 10 days since the Ivy League announced it wouldn't have any varsity sports this fall, and while the Big Ten and Pac-12 subsequently rushed to announce they would only play conference games in several sports there wasn't much initial momentum among other leagues to follow suit. 

That is, there wasn't at first. 

Friday afternoon, the Atlantic 10 announced that it had postponed all fall sports. Teams will prepare as if their season will be in the spring, although the league added a provision in case things somehow dramatically changed regarding the coronavirus pandemic. 

The conference said it could allow for a shortened competitive schedule amongst conference opponents if COVID-19 risk has reduced by mid-September. 

"Safety, health and the well-being of student-athletes, coaches, administrators and the campus community at large is the primary concern and responsibility of the Atlantic 10 Conference and its member institutions," the conference said in a statement.

Granted, the Atlantic 10 is primarily considered a basketball conference, and doesn't play football, but it didn't hesitate to sideline men's golf, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's swimming and diving, and women's rowing — all sports that don't have anywhere near the logistical issues as some of the major team sports. 

On Thursday, the Big East, another basketball conference, announced that its fall sports would be limited to intra-conference competition: men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer and volleyball.

But things are really beginning to snowball at other levels, which don't have anywhere near the same financial resources as the Football Bowl Subdivision. 

The Colonial (CAA) has suspended football for the season, although decided its  schools can try to play an "independent football schedule in the fall of 2020.” James Madison released a statement that it will keep its options open. 

The MEAC will not play football. 

The Patriot League canceled all fall sports. 

Division II: The East Coast Conference suspended all fall sports. 

Division III: The Commonwealth Coast Conference canceled fall sports, but added “The decision to suspend CCC play in the Fall 2020 semester does not preclude individual CCC institutions from making institutional decisions to schedule some athletic competition.”

The National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association will play in the spring. 

Look for the list to get extensively longer by the end of the month. 

The more leagues and sports pull out for the fall, the tougher it'll be for Alabama and the SEC to play football or anything else. The conference has already postponed the start of volleyball, soccer and cross country through Aug. 31.

Baseball  

Area fans couldn't helped but feel teased about Yasiel Puig, who was expected to sign with the Atlanta Braves but will instead remain a free agent, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. 

On Friday, Puig announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus, 

pic.twitter.com/upWM0sdgtt

— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) July 17, 2020

Puig, who batter .267 with 24 home runs and 84 RBIs in 149 games with Cincinnati and Cleveland last season, says he is asymptomatic and plans to quarantine until he receives two negative test results.

"I am sad that this happened, but I believe that everything is in God's timing," Puig wrote. "When I return to the field, I will do so knowing that I have one less hurdle to overcome."

Meanwhile, former MLB player Preston Wilson talked to Sports Illustrated about why there is a lack of African Americans in Major League Baseball.

According to USA Today, fewer than 8 percent of players in the majors are black.  

Wilson said there's a lot of work ahead for baseball to address systematic racism, starting with a fundamental question MLB decision-makers need to ask themselves:
“Do you really want to fix it?”

“If you’re pulling all your talent from Ivy League schools, and Ivy League schools have racism baked in, your process has racism baked in."

Sports Illustrated

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