The timing couldn’t be worse for fans of the Buffalo Bills and St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team.
This was supposed to be the year … the season when both took a major step forward.
Sure enough, here is Buffalo, at 8-3 and atop the AFC East, in line for its first division title in 25 years. Yet through the first six home games, with a 5-1 record, not a single fan has been inside Bills Stadium. And, thanks to Covid-19, there won’t be any for the last two, nor the home playoff game should Buffalo win the division.
The Bonnies’ situation is a bit different given this season’s fits and starts and the inconsistencies of the NCAA’s Division I conferences.
This is a team that has Bona fans excited. It might be coach Mark Schmidt’s most talented squad – top to bottom – long on skill and depth with just enough experience.
As of now, 11 home games are on the Bonnies’ schedule, starting a week from tomorrow afternoon against St. Francis (Pa.) and ending Sunday, Feb. 28, versus Dayton. But, for every one of those matchups, the Reilly Center will sit empty.
The faithful were already whispering this could be an NCAA Tournament team. Instead, they’re wondering whether even the reduced 22-game season will be played in full or if the pandemic will abort it – as with last winter – before tourney time.
It’s a galling irony that Bills and Bonnies fans aren’t allowed to witness their teams’ promising seasons, in person, and are even left to wonder whether a nationwide virus could halt them without a winner being declared.
The NBA (Lakers), NHL (Lightning) and Major League Baseball (Dodgers) pulled it off, albeit in fractionalized seasons and that will stand as an asterisk on each of their titles.
Still, pro basketball and hockey pulled off their reduced seasons relatively seamlessly in the face of the pandemic and, after a staggering start, baseball did too.
But the NFL has been a mess and both college football and basketball have emerged as disasters.
PRO FOOTBALL has spent the past three months slapping itself on the back for its handling of the coronavirus … an unwarranted bit of self-congratulation at best.
Start with the inconsistency.
Six coaches – Mike Tomlin (Steelers), Jon Gruden (Raiders), Sean Payton (Saints), Pete Carroll (Seahawks), Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Vic Fangio (Broncos) – were each fined $100,000 and their teams $250,000 for mask violations during games.
Later, Las Vegas (sixth-round pick) and New Orleans (seventh-rounder) were each fined $500,000 and a draft choice as repeat offenders.
Meanwhile, Tennessee, whose mishandling of Covid-19 got the whole scrambling of the league schedule started, escaped with a modest $350,000 fine and no lost draft picks.
And the Ravens, whose game at Pittsburgh was moved three times – from Thursday, to Monday afternoon, to Tuesday night to Wednesday afternoon – had 12 players who tested positive and weren’t allowed to face the Steelers, including Pro Bowl quarterback Lamar Jackson.
If you doubt the impact, consider that the betting line on that game went from Pittsburgh minus-4 to minus-10, a huge jump.
The NFL is “considering” penalizing Baltimore.
Then there were the Broncos, who were forced to play New Orleans with all four quarterbacks quarantined, meaning Denver had to start a practice-squad wide receiver at QB. The line went immediately from Saints minus-6 to New Orleans minus-16 … that’s how obvious the mismatch was.
Where is the equity?
Teams such as the Titans, Ravens, Raiders, Saints, Broncos and Patriots have been careless about Covid-19 but continue whistling past the graveyard while teams like Seattle (no cases) and even Buffalo, with only three positive tests, are trying to do the right thing but become the victims of the franchises which have caused the reconfiguration of the schedule.
It’s clear the NFL’s goal, as admitted by Commissioner Roger Goodell at halftime of the Steelers/Ravens game, is to complete a 17-week schedule on time. Some players have recently become outspoken about the league’s hypocrisy of insistence on masks and social distancing while packing teams on planes for road games.
HOWEVER, college football and basketball are even worse. They mirror the decision to let each individual state decide how to deal with the pandemic.
Some football conferences aren’t playing at all. And, the latest AP poll lists some teams that have played nine games … others only three. This past week, Virginia Tech flew to Tallahassee only to find out that due to Florida State’s corona-carelessness, there would be no game.
Teams’ schedules have literally become week-to-week on whether games will be played.
And basketball?
While Schmidt is HOPING his Bonnies will host St. Francis (Pa.) Dec. 12 to open the season, top-ranked Gonzaga, after beating Kansas in a tournament last week at Fort Myers, Fla., had a player test positive, leading to another being quarantined, but teams in the tourney still agreed the Zags’ game the following night against Auburn should go on?
That tells you how little clout the NCAA has over college athletics at a time when guidance is needed most.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
