SANKEY DECIDES: DELAYED 2020 GEAUXS FORTH
BY LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
So, the SEC's decision came down today and the words of Commissioner Greg Sankey had to make anyone and everyone nervously excited:
Not only will the 2020 season now be an All-SEC 10 game rodeo, the two new teams on the schedule will presumably be the next two on the divisional rotation, making LSU's new opponents Kentucky and Tennessee...a great trade from Texas and a trip to Houston vs Rice in one of the hardest hit Covid areas.
While Florida and Alabama fans will be screaming from the mountaintops (Florida and Alabama will draw each other next while Florida also draws A&M), this is the only fair way to proceed and I'm very happy about commissioner Sankey's choices today...despite the sobering truth this highlights:
For any of the people demanding SEC play over Labor Day weekend, you were dreaming....even September 26th is arguably too soon; however, it seems the information Sankey received has led him to believe that this is cautiously possible:
“People have been clamoring for us to increase the number of conference games, so I thought there would be great celebration at that reality,” Sankey joked on the Paul Finebaum Show yesterday, "“But it is a recognition that we are in a very different environment, and the importance of a Southeastern Conference championship is primary, for us and for my thinking. A lot of discussion about whether that was the right direction,” Sankey said. “Ultimately, we announced that decision. We have great respect for the rivalries that exist across the conference, but we don’t know what the fall is going to look like and having the ability to manage our own schedule, we believe gives us the best opportunity to play for that championship, to have our division winners, which is our tradition, and then to have a conference championship game – a few weeks later than originally planned.”
Sankey was able to ride the fine line of safety and season success with this decision and hell, he could've even delayed the start for another month and a half to optimize results...
Still, this is the happy medium....as long as we the people continue to do everything possible to shut this virus down for good, we will be playing, coaching, reporting and watching college football this fall, no matter what Gavin Newsome, Kirk Herbstreit or anyone ridiculous enough to see grandma without a mask say about it.
After months of wondering, "will they even have a season?" now that talk can die a quick, evaporating death:
Football is here...it's just a highly optimistic Friday feeling....
While many considered the SEC "the standard-bearers / trail-blazers", especially when it comes to their decision for the entire country's pursuit of normalcy this fall, it will actually be the SEC watching the other leagues first...which makes Sankey's decision all the more interesting.
SEC Football will begin September 26th (the 14th anniversary of MMJ's Okonokos), a few weeks after every other conference begins its play from the Big 10 on 8/29, the Big 12 on 9/5 and other dates on up to 9/16....and this delayed start time has more to do with where SEC states' Covid numbers are at, rather than scheduling conflicts.
It is indisputable fact: Florida, Texas, even Louisiana for spells have all been horribly hit by this evil virus....let's really hope we can see those numbers drop quicker than Lance Armstrong sponsors.
Who knows how the schedules will reconfigure, although we can say goodbye to the 5 game cushion at the beginning of the LSU schedule, now full of SEC opponents.....Rice and Texas will go bye bye, replaced now with Kentucky and Tennessee and making this a far tougher schedule for Myles Brennan from the outset.
The best part?
These teams aren't walkovers, yet they're also not Top 10 teams, meaning Brennan should slice and dice both Kentucky and Tennessee, suffering just enough resistance and adversity to ensure these two new additions become meaningful competitive outings.
And now, with Sankey making these decisions, the entire University of Texas fanbase ensconced in bloodthirsty, fire-charred, discarded Covid-ready wrapping paper:
Texas wanted LSU....they wanted us baaaaaad...
And we wanted them again, too....for we couldn't wait to put their fans, their band and their team through the same hellish nightmares they put our guys through when we played them in Austin last September (locker rooms without air conditioning which caused player cramping, shoving our fans and band clear up into the nosebleed area)....although knowing how classy our program is, we probably would've allowed Texas's marching band on the field for halftime.
Will there ever be a sequel to the Texas series?
Or will the only revenge for Longhorns fans come when they press pause at 3rd and 17, the game still hanging in the balance at 37-31....just freeze it there, just keep it there...you certainly won't be able to stomach what comes after...we know McConaughey couldn't.
So, LSU's 2020 season is geauxing full steam ahead and we thank Greg Sankey for making sure this season has every chance to continue, regardless of what the media may say, paying no attention to the extreme forces on either side of the political divide trying to turn sports into the very thing we all despise:
POLITICAL JERRY SPRINGER.
Drop the political crap, put the rattling sabers down....the time to try and drag ourselves through this Covid shit into normalcy, TOGETHER, is now....the call for unification is now.
With this new era upon us, what would LSU's schedule appear like?
TBD Ole Miss
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
TBD @ Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
TBD @ Arkansas
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, AR (Battle for the Golden Boot)
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)
TBD Alabama
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)
TBD South Carolina
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
TBD @ Auburn
Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL (Tiger Bowl)
TBD @ Texas A&M
Kyle Field, College Station, TX (rivalry)
Then, add one trip to Kentucky and a game within the smoldering cauldron of Death Valley against Tennessee....doesn't look too bad, does it?
In my mind, this new revamped schedule will only tighten LSU's resolve even more, Orgeron's players knowing there won't be anymore easy early games to relax their vice-grip pressure and no time to waste if they want to defend their national championship.
9/26.....here we geaux.
BY LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
GEAUX TIGERS #BLACKLIVESMATTER
COPYRIGHT 2020 UNINTERRUPTED WRITINGS INC LLC
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I dunno what to say...this week has been hard, it has been uncertain and it has been hell....I've felt a mental drain, an ultimate rejection, a swift kick in the jaw and nuts....just brought me to my knees...through it all, I stand tall and I rise above, whether or not some of my hard work will pay off for another decade or be lost to the ether of the internet, I will keep trying. Thank you for allowing me to try, thank you for liking my attempts and thank you for hating and vilifying and ripping on my efforts...it only emboldens me, makes me fix my mistakes and makes me better.
I aint goin anywhere.
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