The Beat of Sports

Don't blame Alabama for it's $16m upgrade to its football facility and locker room. Don't blame them for leather movie-theatre style recliner, personalized locker, cup holder and cubbies. Don't blame them for each locker having the players picture, home town, position and number inside. Don't blame them for state-of-the-art recovery pools and cryotherapy chamber. Nope, it's not their fault.

Yesterday there was a lengthy video conference discussing the upcoming high school football season and as of now the plan is to start at the end of the month. JC Carnahan joins the show to talk about the latest on if and when we play high school sports and what the plan to keep players safe will be.

After witnessing all the other professional sports have shortened or delayed seasons, the NFL had time to watch and figure out a plan. And then the months passed. Now the league is facing a battle with players about a return to play plan. Marc talks about how this happened and how we all got here.

As Marc discusses, the biggest reason P5s play non-conference games against G5s and FCS schools is money. Yes, it's about money. And wins.

As all eyes are on the NFL as to what it will do when it comes to health and safety protocols, there is goring talk that the season might have a shortened training camp and preseason. Marc talks about how he wonders if fans will be comfortable watching a season that could be marred with more injuries and games that have preseason level precision.

On this weeks episode of the Beat Of Sports: Weekend Pod, John Feinstein and John U Bacon joined the program to discuss the latest with college football, how the sport deals with the coronavirus, and what will the response be when it returns.

As college football is gathering all of the headlines as to when and if it will be played, what about college hoops? Mike O'Donnell joins the show to talk about the chances we have a college basketball season starting on time in November, and if there is a testing procedure that could work for the sport.

On this weeks Sports Legal Segment, Richard and Marc discuss if universities can enforce requiring athletes to wear masks during the pandemic. Then they talk about the legal ramifications for the Washington Post story on the Washington NFL team and the toxic culture found within their offices.

The saga to have a college football season seems to be changing daily, John U Bacon the college football historian joins the show to talk about the change in even trying to play this season. He and Marc discuss how the economics for towns around campuses will be impacted, can a spring season work for everyone, and what the sport will look like in the next few years.

With the return of NBA basketball 2 weeks away, Josh Robbins joins the show to talk about the latest Magic news from the bubble. He talks about the arrival of two more players with the team, the latest with Jonathan Isaac, and the muscle gain for Mo Bamba.