Scoring Points: Sports in the US and a need vs want
Just For Fun April 19, 2020
Being that we are without sports right now in any capacity, every fan around the world seems to be speculating when they will return. There has been a lot of talk about the return of sports to a nation yearning for some hint of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball has been giving us a glimmer of hope with their talk about quarantining all of the teams, players, coaches and staff in a virus-free area and holding games in empty ballparks. The UFC has also discussed ways that they could carry on with their operations, scheduling bouts on tribal land in Central California, and Dana White has also reported that he has purchased a private island to have fights on. Even President Donald Trump has been longing for sports just like us, saying “I want fans back in the arenas.”
However as much as the common man may be longing for a return of sports, experts are saying that it may not be safe even with no spectators. Many public health experts fear it would be a risky proposition if the outbreak persists or recedes during the summer and reemerges in the fall.
One good sign for the return of sports however is the Korean Baseball Organization and their planned opening day next month. In the KBO as it stands, players are being constantly checked for symptoms and fevers, stadiums remain shuttered and rumors are that even one case of the virus in the system could halt the KBO’s return. It is easier for the KBO to return to day to day baseball operations than it is for the United States however, because of the widespread testing the Korea has access to that we do not.
Even as weird as it would look and feel, for Major League teams to be playing in empty stadiums and living in isolated hotels, I believe that it would do our country a whole lot of good to see baseball being played again. In a time like this, it is easy for people to lose hope. People are losing jobs left and right and others are unable to see their family members in fear of infecting them or becoming infected. Seeing this little sliver of normality return could really ease some peoples minds at this point, as it seems there is no complete return to normalcy in sight at the moment. I believe that we need to inch back toward reality. I understand how hard it would be for the MLB to implement their plan, but God help I pray they do. Our country needs a little joy right now. And what better way to bring joy to the masses than broadcasting professional baseball to millions of living rooms across the US filled with quarantined families.
Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Spring Sports spent getting back to “normal.” And remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.
2020 High School Bassmaster
Fetching Featured April 19, 2020For the second time in the school’s history we have a member on the all state team! Congratulations Owen Moss! It’s a well-deserved honor. I’m proud of all of our guys and girls! I hate that we were cut short this season, but we’re going to be ready when this thing goes live with GHSA in 2021!!!!
Scoring Points: Spring Sports spent getting back to “normal”
Just For Fun April 12, 2020
The Georgia High School Association has announced they are canceling sports for the 2020 spring semester. They have also decided that they will not be granting another year of eligibility to students who are losing their senior year of sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously school’s were set to go back to regular schedule on April 27th, but Governor Brian Kemp announced last Wednesday that he was signing an executive order to close all K-12 schools for the rest of the school year.
“Given the announcement yesterday by Governor Kemp, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that all GHSA activities and sports are cancelled for the 2019-2020 school year,” said GHSA director Robin Hines. Hines continued his statement by sending his thoughts to graduating seniors. “I especially want to commend the graduating seniors who have not only missed most of the spring season but prom, senior nights, awards ceremonies, possibly graduation, and spent the last few months away from their friends and classmates. Our seniors have a great deal to be proud of and while this is not the way any of us wanted it to end, I want to thank them for a job well done.”
Hines said that there were multiple requests from parents and students alike for the GHSA to grant student-athletes an extra year of eligibility, but it just isn’t logistically plausible. Kids need to get their lives started and granting them an extra year of eligibility just so they could play ball would essentially set them back a year in the real world. It is a really sad thing for these kids not to be able to play their senior year of high school, but I think the GHSA is doing them a favor by not granting them an extra year of eligibility.
I’m not sure if we as a community can find a way to be happy about the decision, seeing student-athletes unable to write the final chapter for their high school career; However I do believe that we should find some solace in knowing that the decision passed down was one that was not made lightly, and one that helps us take a step in the direction of getting sports and life as we know it back to normal. We have to start thinking about the next steps such as the upcoming football season and fall sports, and I think that now we are able to start doing that since the thought of spring sports being played has been put to bed.
Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last weeks article: Saving Spring Sports. And remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.
Scoring Points: Saving Spring Sports
Just For Fun April 5, 2020
(Although Kemp has since closed schools for the remainder of the year. FYN Sunday Edition is still running this opinion in its original form to highlight some Georgia student athletes and their efforts for Spring Sports this year.)
With Georgia Governor Brian Kemp extending order for schools to remain closed until April 24th, April 27th is the new date that everyone should have circled on their calendars. That is the date that schools will reopen and high school sports should resume, however the threat of Covid-19 cancelling the rest of the spring season still lingers. Georgia High School Student-Athletes are starting to voice their concerns about the cancellation of their season. In an effort to perhaps calm some of those fears, GHSA Executive Director Dr. Robin Hines said Friday that Georgia still hopes to have some sort of spring sports this year.
Hines told a reporter of the Oconee Enterprise, “We would do everything that we could do to have some sort of abbreviated season and abbreviated championships. That would be our first goal that we would like to see happen. That goes on down to it being after the school year ends where it’s safe to do things again to allow schools to play games and have a senior night. The worst case scenario would be to cancel the spring season. But here at the Georgia School Association I’m not prepared to do that now.”
That worst case scenario is exactly what Georgia High School athletes are worried about. Georgia athlete Daniel Martin started a petition on Change.org that can be found here, a petition that already has over 30,000 signatures that is simply titled, Do Not Cancel Spring High School Sports. Many athletes all across North Georgia and the rest of the state have signed this petition in an effort to perhaps have one last couple of practices and games together with their squad. For some kids, they are facing the reality that they may never get to throw another pitch again or run in another meet. A reality that some might not be able to come to terms with yet and maybe they won’t have to. With as much support as this petition is getting and with as many athletes that are speaking their minds on social media across the state it is going to be a really tough decision that the state is going to have to make, in regards to a full cancellation of the season.
One positive thing that can be taken away from all this is it’s good to see the kids standing up for themselves and saying that they understand that this is a situation that can’t be dealt with lightly, but they also need us to understand where they are coming from. Hopefully Dr. Robin Hines is a man of his word and will do everything in his power to do right by these kids.
Scoring Points: Recruiting amid the shutdown
Just For Fun March 29, 2020
With all NCAA sports being shut down for the rest of the school year and with all high school sports in North Georgia and the surrounding area being axed for the foreseeable future, what does that mean for college recruiting?
The two biggest issues for recruiting as of now are how the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA handle the extra year of eligibility that the current spring semester college athletes will be given. The NCAA has announced that they will be giving this year of eligibility back to those athletes if they want it, but what has not been announced and what I don’t think anyone in the aforementioned establishments even knows, is how the scholarships are going to work. Extending scholarships to these athletes coming back could really cut into the scholarship dollars that current high school seniors and juniors might be expecting. I would think that the only logical thing that the NCAA could do is to say “if there are 4 seniors on your team we’ll give you 4 extra scholarships to offer,” and just give and exception to being over the scholarship limit for the upcoming year.
This scholarship exception would answer the first problem at hand, but perhaps an even bigger problem is how can spring high school athletes gain exposure when there are no games to produce anything that colleges can scout?
In high school, I think most would agree that junior year is the year that most young athletes flourish and pop up on college recruits radars. In the area that we live in and enjoy, I know first hand that most athletes have wanting to compete in a conference or state championship at the forefront of their mind over college recruiting, but with the spring semester of sports being taken away and with no chance at being able to do either of those, most are switching their focus to how this is going to impact them long term.
Speaking to some scouts from local schools and colleges the answer that most had for fringe highschool athletes without any offers or much exposure to recruits, was to put together an email that explains why you think you’d be a good fit at the school you’re interested in. Tell them in detail what you bring to the table athletically and academically, along with your transcripts and any tape that you might have that could set you apart from the rest of the other 8 million high school athletes in the US.
In this day and age with social media and the internet at everyone’s fingertips, good players always surface. If you have a high school athlete at home or you’re a kid reading this worried about what your future holds, maybe the best thing you can do is take a breath. Go get up some shots in your driveway and put in some work at home. We’re in a situation that nobody has ever been in before. It’s more of the unknown that worries a lot of people, so control the things that you can and stay in shape and get to emailing those coaches.