Tiger Stadium Set To Open With Restrictions

[LSUDad]

 

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LSU football back on track for full Tiger Stadium with some restrictions

• June 6, 2020
• By Ed Daniels 
• Category: Analysis, College Football, LSU

So much for just 20,000 fans at an LSU football game this fall.

In a town hall with The Advocate, LSU director of athletics Scott Woodward said he was “very, very bullish” about football being played at Tiger Stadium this fall.

And then Woodward said something that makes a lot of sense.

“We’re willing to assume risks, and I think fans are getting to that,” said Woodward.

Woodward spoke of definite efforts to make fans safer including social distancing, temperature checks and even disinfecting mists.

Temperature checks? That works.

I have been to more than one doctor’s appointment in the past month. Before you walk in, they check your temperature. It’s done pretty quickly. That can be handled at football games. It will take about as long as a bag check.

Disinfecting mists? Haven’t thought about that. Sounds good, would like to hear more.

Social distancing?

That will be very tough at Tiger Stadium. And, just how effective will it be?

If you are tailgating with thousands outside, what good will social distancing do inside?

Just asking.

In the meantime, as you ask fans in the stands to stay apart, 22 players will be blocking and tackling each other in very close proximity.

How do we protect them?

In the meantime, at some point very soon, your game ticket will reveal some new, very small but pertinent fine print.

If you attend this game, you cannot hold (school, fill in the blank) responsible for catching COVID-19.

Half the stands full doesn’t work for several reasons.

Who decides which wealthy donor doesn’t get to use all of his or her seats for the Alabama game?

Does he or she tell her best clients, “I will take Alabama and Texas, you take the Texas-San Antonio game? How about you and your family use the tickets for Mississippi State?”

Woodward said LSU is in good financial shape and doesn’t anticipate using draconian measures to cut staff.

However, a half-empty Tiger Stadium would be very bad for business.

That’s just the way it is.

As we all know, any LSU football coach that doesn’t fill Tiger Stadium regularly is probably not the LSU coach much longer.

That is the reality of the college football business model.

And it never made any sense to start the college football season in January or February or even March, as previously suggested during the height of the pandemic, in the middle of cold or flu season.

Let’s see, college football in January in the Horseshoe at Ohio State with temps in the 20’s?

No thanks.

No one has all the answers, not even the experts that we lean on heavily for common sense advice.

But tell me if this works.

Everyone inside is temperature checked. Everyone wears a mask. Those who are at risk, do the responsible thing and stay home.

If you’re not sure about all of that, a wide screen TV with food, drink and a nearby restroom wouldn’t be a bad alternative.

In the name of safety.

[LSUDad]

LSU postpones first voluntary workouts as Tropical Storm Cristobal forces campus closure

 

 

 

LSU safety JaCoby Stevens (3) celebrates with LSU linebacker Damone Clark (35) after Clark sacked Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond (11) in the first half of the Tigers' regular season finale, Saturday, November 30, 2019, at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK▲

 

 

BY WILSON ALEXANDER | Staff writer

Jun 7, 2020 - 4:23 pm

 

LSU football has delayed the beginning of voluntary workouts until Tuesday morning.

With Tropical Storm Cristobal moving through the state, LSU closed its campus Monday, shutting offices and requiring employees to work from home. The school will only allow personnel on campus who complete "weather-related tasks."

LSU planned to begin workouts Monday, the first day Southeastern Conference schools can hold voluntary workouts, but it postponed its start date because of the campus closure.

Voluntary workouts mark a critical step toward the beginning of football season. Players may train with strength and conditioning coaches. They cannot partake in required football activities.

LSU brought its football players back onto campus June 1. They had spent almost three months at home after schools shut down throughout the country. They trained with remote guidance from strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt, who provided manuals with various training regimens. Moffitt expects 85% of the team to return in-shape.

 

During voluntary workouts, LSU can’t exceed 20 players in the weight room at one time. The strength and conditioning staff will divide the team into six groups, staggering the amount of people in the facility throughout the day.

“One group is going to be people that were able to do everything we wanted them to do,” Moffitt said. “There's going to be another group of people that were not able to do anything. I have to determine who those people are, and I'm going to have to train them differently.”

When players arrived on campus, the school administered COVID-19 antibody tests. It will not use PCR tests unless someone exhibits symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Instead of constant testing, LSU will focus on daily screening to limit the spread of coronavirus. Players, coaches and staff will have their temperatures tested at designated entry points to the football operations building, and they will answer a CDC questionnaire about their health.

 

LSU expects those around the facility to practice physical distancing, regularly wash hands and use a face mask. It believes it can keep players healthier than they were at home. At the same time, LSU can take a necessary step for football season.

Under Moffitt's supervision, LSU can train its players so they're ready when and if football practice begins later this summer. Though Moffitt will have to change some aspects of the exercise routine, he can provide in-person instruction again.

"Everything is going to be modified," Moffitt said. "I think to some degree, everything we were accustomed to doing pre-COVID is going to be different for all of us, no matter what our job is and what we do in life. Things are going to be different."