Alabama's dominant win over Ohio State came with a sigh of relief from college football observersGETTY IMAGES
The '20 college football season "faced disruptions and unknowns, from how many games would get played to the short- and long-term health risks of a highly contagious virus," so the reaction to the final whistle of Alabama's dominant win over Ohio State last night was "overwhelmingly, a sigh of relief," according to Nicole Auerbach of THE ATHLETIC. Schools, coaches and players "can now move on to what they hope will be a much more normal" '21 college football season, "in a post-vaccine world." The end of this season "comes with a feeling of survival that supersedes any victory lap" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/12). ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson writes it "might not sink in how remarkable this season truly was until much later, perhaps years down the road, with time to reflect on the extraordinary circumstances in which it all came about." Nobody "truly knew whether college football would make it to the finish line." The season "felt precarious every day, with coaches, players and trainers holding their breath awaiting coronavirus test results" (ESPN.com, 1/12).
LOOKING BACK: In N.Y., Billy Witz notes programs around the country dealt with "fits and starts that were wrought by the coronavirus pandemic." But "college football plowed ahead." That was "evident" yesterday when Hard Rock Stadium’s drive-through vaccination site was "shuttered at noon so it would not interfere" with the title game (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12). SI.com's Forde & Dellenger wrote under the header, "Was The 2020 College Football Season Worth It?" Their "conclusions: Souls were not sold; scenarios did not reach the worst-case; but the journey was far from great." The "hope is that a season without fans, a season of constant anxiety and constant swabs up the nose, a season of scheduling chaos, a season that exhausted everyone in pursuit of TV revenue, a season that laid bare how cravenly universities prostrate themselves at the feet of King Football … the hope is that we never have to go through that again." So, "was it worth it?" Forde & Dellenger: "At the beginning, players and coaches -- the people who had to actually go through the gantlet -- were adamant that it would be. At the end, the answers were a bit softer" (SI.com, 1/11).
