Ivy League Football: Another Coronavirus Casualty?

If one can look past the death, loneliness, and economic ruination ("Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"), one benefit of the coronavirus is that individuals and organizations of all shapes and sizes are seeing more clearly what is important to them.

For example, the Ivy League is ready to drop football, at least for this season:

Calvin Hill (Yale '69) was in multiple
Pro Bowls a half century ago.

everyone is bracing for the prospect that the Ivy League is going to take a pass on football this fall.

Officials from the Ivy League will announce on Wednesday the status of athletics for the 2020-21 academic year. The best-case scenario is that fall sports will shift their competitions to the spring of 2021. At worst, fall sports will be called off with no chance for seniors to recoup their lost year of eligibility...

Unlike teams in the top tier of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Ivy League does not bring in millions from ticket sales or nine-figure television deals. There’s less revenue at stake if games don’t happen. Other small conferences have the same situation...

all face the specter of elevated costs that accompany testing athletes frequently. Broad public health guidelines from the NCAA suggest that athletes should be tested at least once per week. Frequent testing is potentially a $100,000 addition to a budget.

No single activity is essential to the college experience, as the coronavirus has proved. One need not reside in a dorm, or participate in-person in an advanced seminar, or play poker all night, or eat in the dining hall, or join a fraternity, or study in one of many campus libraries, or do the laundry needing a roll of quarters, or cheer for Old Blue together with thousands of students and alumni, but eventually it stops being "college".

And whatever it is certainly isn't worth $40,000 a year in tuition.

Note: Ivy League teams are not competitive against the major football conferences, but 22 graduates made the cut at the beginning of the NFL's 2019 season.

Old-Fashioned Dining in Seattle

This time the calendar wasn't our friend. Our one day in Seattle coincided with the Cowboys-Seahawks game, and hundreds of Dallas fans augmented the usual weekend lines. We had to wait over an hour for a table.

Dining at Ivar's Acres of Clams (est.1938) is like going to Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf, where you will encounter hardly any locals.

2-lb. "bucket" of clams

Infrequent visitors should go at least once to see the old-fashioned paneling and bar, as well as the history on the walls.

Naturally, I had to order the signature "Acres of Clams." A two-pound bucket for $29, it was not grotesquely overpriced.

Most seafood places cook the clams a short while so that they turn out plump and juicy. Ivar's leaves the local Manila clams in the steamer longer; the mollusks are smaller, but the flavor is more intense.

By the time we were done the crowds had dissipated. Traffic was light back to Tacoma. It was time to head home.

Advice from a Champion

Eddie DeBartolo introduced Charles Haley at his 2015 HOF induction

Local sports talk radio station KNBR interviewed Hall-of-Fame linebacker and five-time Super Bowl champion (three with the Cowboys, two with the 49ers) Charles Haley about his new book Fear No Evil. Not one for fancy erudition, Mr. Haley gets his point across.

Q: You must be dismayed at what you're seeing on the field. Why aren't they [the 49ers] winning, Charles?

A: Winning is a tradition. Winning is an attitude. I tell the guys, I know the secret to winning. Do you know the secret to winning? (pause)
Do your effin' job and win!

(Yes, he had the presence of mind to say "effin'" on AM radio.)

Charles Haley was known both for his tremendous talent and wild bouts of behavior (one of the most highly publicized--and tamer--episodes was urinating on a teammate's car). After football he was diagnosed with and received treatment for bipolar disorder. He now coaches, teaches, and engages in charity work.

From his Hall of Fame induction speech:

My life spiraled out of control for years, for years, but today, guys, I am getting back into the locker room, to my teammates, and tell them guys the mistakes that I've made, and that the only way that you can grow is that you've got to ask for help.

I walked into the league a 22 year old man with a 16 year old inside of me screaming for help, and I would not ask for it. I would not ask for that help. But today, guys, I take my medicine every day, and I try to inspire others to do the same, and that's because I finally listened and thank you.

What Charles Haley did during his playing days was impressive, what he did after is inspirational.

Not 1968 Yet

This week's fatal police shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana brought the issue of "blue on black" violence to a boiling point, culminating in widespread demonstrations. Tonight's headline, Snipers open fire on officers during Dallas protest, killing 4, is shocking, but not surprising, given the inflamed emotions of the current day.

[Update - 7/9: the final casualty count is 5 officers killed, 7 officers wounded, 2 civilians wounded, and 1 shooter killed.]

The zeitgeist of the times has evoked memories of a Presidential election year a half-century ago, but we have a long way to go, thankfully, before 2016 will be as tumultuous as 1968, which had two assassinations and hundreds of American troops dying each month in a far-off war. True, there are protest movements that threaten to disrupt the major parties' conventions, there's a cloud of uncertainty over Europe as Russia and China are ascendant, and neither of the leading Presidential candidates excites the majority of the country, but 2016 is not 1968, and we'll pull through.

In one respect the past was much better than today. Here are 1968's top 20 songs, many of which are still played. (50 years from now I doubt that we'll have more than a couple from 2016.)

1. Hey Jude, The Beatles
2. Love is Blue, Paul Mauriat
3. Honey, Bobby Goldsboro
4. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding
5. People Got to Be Free, The Rascals
6. Sunshine of Your Love, Cream
7. This Guy's In Love With You, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
8. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Hugo Montenegro
9. Mrs. Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel
10. Tighten Up, Pt. 1, Archie Bell and The Drells
11. Harper Valley P.T.A., Jeannie C. Riley
12. Little Green Apples, O.C. Smith
13. Mony Mony, Tommy James and The Shondells
14. Hello, I Love You, The Doors
15. Young Girl, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
16. Cry Like a Baby, The Box Tops
17. Stoned Soul Picnic, The Fifth Dimension
18. Grazing In the Grass, Hugh Masekela
19. Midnight Confessions, The Grass Roots
20. Dance to the Music, Sly and The Family Stone