Pistols Locked And Holstered
Boone Pickens Stadium sits silent.
First, there was a planned off week. Now comes an unplanned break in play, the result of an off-kilter week for Baylor resulting in postponement of OSU’s game scheduled for Saturday with the Bears.
A rash of COVID-19 positives – 28 players and 14 staff members – leaves Baylor reeling.
And it leaves the Cowboys on ice, trying to maintain momentum and focus during what will be a 21-day stretch between games.
Obviously, this isn’t ideal, not that anything is during this crazy and often sad year of 2020.
While Mike Gundy and the Cowboys try to downplay the impact of so much time off (what other option do they have?), this period of no games presents a stiff test for a group built on routine and driven by the promise that there will be games to play, on schedule.
Gundy said all the right things Monday in addressing what his team will do with more down time. Players will echo the company line in the days to come.
But it’s not that easy.
Hurry up and wait is a maddening way to live. Ever been on the golf course behind the slowest foursome, that group of would-be pros disguised as hacks lining up every two-foot putt before scrawling a snowman on the scorecard?
No fun.
That’s where the Cowboys sit, now marking their calendars for Oct. 24, when Iowa State visits BPS… hopefully.
Mark the 📅 for the next game!#LetsRide | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/ByMy3Uz6On
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 12, 2020
Hey, this was bound to happen to someone, somewhere, at some point. Full squads of players, plus coaches and staff and various managers and trainers, that’s a big ask to believe that teams can slide on through unaffected. This virus transmits easily, as we’re being reminded daily with outbreaks occurring across the country.
It’s becoming more and more apparent, it’s hard to hide from COVID.
An there’s no bubble on campus.
Now, there is a possible upside for the Cowboys. Spencer Sanders and any other players struggling with injuries get more time to heal. And that’s a legitimate positive.
But there are multiple downsides, most notably inactivity.
The Cowboys are not going to play a game for 21 days. They are not going to hit and tackle with any real intent in practice; that’s not Gundy’s way. They’re not going to run a play under stress for three weeks.
Any athlete will tell you, it’s really difficult to turn it on and off repeatedly in competition. And this isn’t OSU’s first forced off week; the opener against Tulsa was delayed a week. And it may not be the last.
The sports team most impacted by the virus, the St. Louis Cardinals, missed 17 game days, prompting many pundits to suggest they should just bow out of the season. They returned to play rather well, making the playoffs. But the Cards never found any consistent traction, earning a postseason spot in an expanded field that included more than half MLB’s teams, finishing at just two games over .500.
In a normal year, the bowl season reminds us of what can happen when minds and bodies go on an extended break from action. Some teams find a way to focus and play well. Some are unrecognizable.
Gundy’s teams, to his credit, have mostly played well in bowls, finding focus and energy to carry them through the extended breaks in play.
Still, this is different.
This is unscripted.
This is unexpected.
This is unprecedented.
This is unpredictable.
