FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

More detailed account of the Benson story:  https://patriotnewsmn.com/news/benson-moving-on-from-character-assassination

What an a$$ that kid's dad is...

It also seems like the  Kimball administration dropped the ball on this one with how quickly they reacted, I'm curious about the opinion of the legal minds here on if Kimball would'be been putting themselves at a greater risk of liability if they hadn't acted quickly and the accusations were true?

Nice balanced piece by the Tri-County News (serving Kimball, Watkins & Eden Valley): https://tricountynews.mn/2020/07/22/benson-hopes-to-return-to-dream-life/

Nothing new in the article, other than confirmation that Benson was respected in town.  In talking with fam & friends in the area, it  sounds like 90% of KAHS community (players, students, family and town folk) have been behind Benson throughout the ordeal. If anything, attorney Liz Vieira should be held accountable for the slipshod job she did and the Admin should be replaced. Hopefully some AD & school district will see the allegations for the bull**** they were and hire themselves a winner.

[faunch]

If this is the case in Austin, TX schools the large colleges are going to be hot 🥵 zones!!!
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/austin-coronavirus-covid-19-aisd-cases/269-40f5847b-47cc-4b6d-b3a7-769a30bbab64

[johnnie_esq]

Ugh.

https://m.startribune.com/miac-to-move-several-fall-sports-including-football-to-the-spring/571901432/

[DuffMan]

Not surprised in the least.  From the Star Tribune:

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference plans to postpone competition in several fall sports until the spring, sources told the Star Tribune on Friday.

Some coaches and athletes have been told that football, volleyball and soccer are among the sports that will switched from this fall to the spring if the NCAA and public health officials allows it. Golf and tennis are likely to be played this fall.

MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane did not confirm the changes. He said via e-mail Friday that the league is "working through all details'' of a fall sports plan and will announce its decision Tuesday afternoon.

Several Division III leagues have announced the postponement or cancellation of fall sports in recent weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread. Last Tuesday, the NCAA Division III Management Council recommended the cancellation of all fall sports championships. The NCAA's Board of Governors met Friday to consider that recommendation in all divisions, but it put off that decision until next month.

Last week, the MIAC canceled nonconference competition in fall sports. Carleton, one league member, announced July 10 it would cancel all fall sports. Carleton also is postponing competition in winter and spring sports until after the fall academic term.

Uncertainty abounds as college teams scramble to find games
The D-3 Management Council approved a proposal this week to allow schools and conferences to move or extend fall sports practices and competition into the spring.

Under the proposal, playing seasons would be defined by the number of days, not weeks, and those days would not have to be in consecutive weeks.

"Flexibility will be imperative,'' Management Council chair Heather Benning said in a statement. "These are unprecedented times."

[faunch]

Not surprised in the least.  From the Star Tribune:

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference plans to postpone competition in several fall sports until the spring, sources told the Star Tribune on Friday.

Some coaches and athletes have been told that football, volleyball and soccer are among the sports that will switched from this fall to the spring if the NCAA and public health officials allows it. Golf and tennis are likely to be played this fall.

MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane did not confirm the changes. He said via e-mail Friday that the league is "working through all details'' of a fall sports plan and will announce its decision Tuesday afternoon.

Several Division III leagues have announced the postponement or cancellation of fall sports in recent weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread. Last Tuesday, the NCAA Division III Management Council recommended the cancellation of all fall sports championships. The NCAA's Board of Governors met Friday to consider that recommendation in all divisions, but it put off that decision until next month.

Last week, the MIAC canceled nonconference competition in fall sports. Carleton, one league member, announced July 10 it would cancel all fall sports. Carleton also is postponing competition in winter and spring sports until after the fall academic term.

Uncertainty abounds as college teams scramble to find games
The D-3 Management Council approved a proposal this week to allow schools and conferences to move or extend fall sports practices and competition into the spring.

Under the proposal, playing seasons would be defined by the number of days, not weeks, and those days would not have to be in consecutive weeks.

"Flexibility will be imperative,'' Management Council chair Heather Benning said in a statement. "These are unprecedented times."

Not surprised either but 😢!

[art76]

Not surprised in the least.  From the Star Tribune:

Under the proposal, playing seasons would be defined by the number of days, not weeks, and those days would not have to be in consecutive weeks.

"Flexibility will be imperative,'' Management Council chair Heather Benning said in a statement. "These are unprecedented times."

So, it looks like Fall sports may extend into the Spring semester, thereby setting the precedent for Spring sports to complete their seasons over the Summer. Looks like they are trying to allow all 20/21 athletes the opportunity to complete their seasons with multiple quarantine periods included. This can happen because the post season tournaments to crown national champions appears to have been revoked at the national level.

[faunch]

I spoke to someone last week that has a daughter playing big ten softball...the daughter's boyfriend plays big ten baseball as well. Apparently the NCAA is working to move those two sports to permanently to summer. As a fan of college softball i would love have the SEC and PAC 10 teams travel here for non conference softball and baseball!

[Pat Coleman]

I spoke to someone last week that has a daughter playing big ten softball...the daughter's boyfriend plays big ten baseball as well. Apparently the NCAA is working to move those two sports to permanently to summer. As a fan of college softball i would love have the SEC and PAC 10 teams travel here for non conference softball and baseball!

With what's happening to minor league baseball, there's definitely room for this to happen.

[Retired Old Rat]

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.  Well, I was a little off by saying all sports.  The only thing that really matters to me is football.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the MIAC will cancel all fall sports. There were 50,000 new cases today. I don't think I'm going out to far on that limb.

I have some doubts about spring football.  Until we have a vaccine or very effective therapeutic we are highly exposed.  I am really afraid of what is going to happen when flu season kicks in.  Overwhelmed hospitals I fear.

There is also the issue of kids playing something like 20 games in a 12 month period.  With three months off in between.  And all the kids that play multiple sports.  SJU baseball has a lot of football players due to Jerry Haugen being a football assistant and baseball head coach.

The cynic in me says holding out hope of spring football is a ploy to get the kids to enroll in the fall.

[wally_wabash]

Not surprised in the least.  From the Star Tribune:

Under the proposal, playing seasons would be defined by the number of days, not weeks, and those days would not have to be in consecutive weeks.

"Flexibility will be imperative,'' Management Council chair Heather Benning said in a statement. "These are unprecedented times."

So, it looks like Fall sports may extend into the Spring semester, thereby setting the precedent for Spring sports to complete their seasons over the Summer. Looks like they are trying to allow all 20/21 athletes the opportunity to complete their seasons with multiple quarantine periods included. This can happen because the post season tournaments to crown national champions appears to have been revoked at the national level.

In 2017 when the NCAA disallowed two a days, I asked some of the coaches that I interviewed for Kickoff that year what they thought about it and if they would want an extra week of fall camp to offset the practice opportunities they lost that year.  Surprisingly, I got a universal no.  An extra week of fall camp in D3 means an extra week of housing and feeding the team which is a significant expense to the program/department.  While they may be able to extend spring sports seasons deep into the summer months at the P5s, in D3, it's hard to see where the resources exist to play seasons for all of a school's spring sports way beyond the academic calendar. 

I personally don't hate the idea as I find the spring sports season to be really squished into a small window (particularly baseball/softball seasons in the northern areas), but there's really significant costs associated with housing and supporting baseball, softball, M/W tennis, M/W lacrosse, M/W outdoor T&F, and a few other less abundant programs. 

[Pat Coleman]

The cynic in me says holding out hope of spring football is a ploy to get the kids to enroll in the fall.

I am sure there are a number of schools in D-III that feel this way. Maybe even in the MIAC, but it's not the first place I'd look for those motivations.

[Texas Ole]

I spoke to someone last week that has a daughter playing big ten softball...the daughter's boyfriend plays big ten baseball as well. Apparently the NCAA is working to move those two sports to permanently to summer. As a fan of college softball i would love have the SEC and PAC 10 teams travel here for non conference softball and baseball!

With what's happening to minor league baseball, there's definitely room for this to happen.

It seems like a few states play high school baseball and softball in the summer.  I could see that providing challenges for schools that are highly residential like most D3 schools.  I wish they would some of these sports back a month or two.  Playing baseball in February is just ridiculous.  It is just too cold even in some of the southern cities.  The season currently seems to favor southern schools, but a later season could have the opposite effect.  It was a nice day umpiring at 91* today.  The hotter days is just brutal.  Moving the season back a few weeks so the CWS and other championships would be over the first week of July would be awesome!  I love the lacrosse championships over Memorial Day weekend, but it might be fun to move them back a week or two.

I think the challenge will be for schools that share stadiums with minor league teams along with conference tournaments that use professional stadiums.  It's hard to see professional teams willing to give up their facilities for 2-3 weeks to play college playoff games.  Also what happens to the big early season college tournaments?

On a happier note with the Tommies going D1 that should help the Gophers get some better midweek games with baseball.  St. Thomas going D1 could be a huge help for the Gophers, or it could be a complete disaster for them.  The Gophers need to play them regularly along with the other D1 athletic teams, and they need to beat them.  The Gophers need to be able to to flex their muscle over these programs especially in hockey.

The cynic in me says holding out hope of spring football is a ploy to get the kids to enroll in the fall.

I could definitely see this as a reason be promoted by many administrations.  Playing that many games in a short period doesn't make sense.

The good news in my opinion is that the recovery rate of the virus seems to be growing.  I think we are getting better with treatments, but there is no way of knowing where this is headed.  I just finished a baseball season in a hot spot with no reports of an active case.  I am fully aware that based on percentages it is likely we there was someone at a game who would have tested positive.

If this is the case in Austin, TX schools the large colleges are going to be hot 🥵 zones!!!
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/austin-coronavirus-covid-19-aisd-cases/269-40f5847b-47cc-4b6d-b3a7-769a30bbab64

Things have gotten out of control all over Texas.  We've seen increases in the DFW area.  Public schools in Dallas County are closed until after Labor Day which is a huge deal.  I think the Catholic schools are set to open in a few weeks.  The two largest athletic classifications have had fall sports delayed 5 weeks.  High school football especially at those levels is darn near sacred.  I have a few friends that teach in the Austin area.  They are very anxious about the start of school.  I am opposed to distanced learning having worked with refugee groups and low income students, but I just don't see how we can have in person school if any illness is moving this quickly through our communities.  Earlier this year we had districts shut down for days due to the flu.  Imagine if a full US Bank caught a virus what that could do to the state of Minnesota.

[57Johnnie]

Well, we still have beer and fishing this fall.

[sjusection105]

Well, we still have beer and fishing this fall.

.......and hunting 

[Johns Knees]

Not surprised in the least.  From the Star Tribune:

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference plans to postpone competition in several fall sports until the spring, sources told the Star Tribune on Friday.

Some coaches and athletes have been told that football, volleyball and soccer are among the sports that will switched from this fall to the spring if the NCAA and public health officials allows it. Golf and tennis are likely to be played this fall.

MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane did not confirm the changes. He said via e-mail Friday that the league is "working through all details'' of a fall sports plan and will announce its decision Tuesday afternoon.

Several Division III leagues have announced the postponement or cancellation of fall sports in recent weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread. Last Tuesday, the NCAA Division III Management Council recommended the cancellation of all fall sports championships. The NCAA's Board of Governors met Friday to consider that recommendation in all divisions, but it put off that decision until next month.

Last week, the MIAC canceled nonconference competition in fall sports. Carleton, one league member, announced July 10 it would cancel all fall sports. Carleton also is postponing competition in winter and spring sports until after the fall academic term.

Uncertainty abounds as college teams scramble to find games
The D-3 Management Council approved a proposal this week to allow schools and conferences to move or extend fall sports practices and competition into the spring.

Under the proposal, playing seasons would be defined by the number of days, not weeks, and those days would not have to be in consecutive weeks.

"Flexibility will be imperative,'' Management Council chair Heather Benning said in a statement. "These are unprecedented times."

Reusse said on the radio today MIAC football will play a five game schedule next spring. I assume that means SJU will play everyone in their new Northwoods division plus the conference championship/crossover week? Anyone else heard anything about that?