Sports are back: a fan’s perspective

Wesley Kirchharr As the ever-changing landscape of college sports evolves by the hour, fans across the country are gearing for the start of college football. Many teams have already started play, while many others pledge to never begin, making for a true roller coaster of a season. Troy’s biggest rival, South Alabama, handed Southern Miss its first loss on the biggest stage. The matchup itself wasn’t very anticipated; perhaps, it was more the fact that two teams were actually playing football that landed the game on CBS. The only other game that day was a matchup between UAB and Central Arkansas, a game that landed on ESPN3. The double-digit point underdog Jags put together a solid showing in front of a limited capacity stadium to grab their first road-win in three years. Maybe we can learn something from the Jags here. All eyes were on this game to get a first look at low capacity stadiums, proper sideline safety and limited fan interaction. It may alleviate some worry to know that this game seemed to do everything right in regard to keeping everyone safe while providing entertainment for the fans. To my knowledge, there has been no outcry of negligent practice on behalf of the two programs. The stadium capacity for the game in Hattiesburg was a slim 25%, leaving room for 9,000 fans for the game. However, the crowd still interacted with the game in front of them, showing the air will be far less silent than many anticipate. College sports are clearly going to look very different this year, and despite the plans being put into place now, it will likely change again before it is over. Of course, schools are taking every precaution necessary to ensure safety, but as we saw in last week’s South Alabama game, fans are just really excited for football. Sports news outlets were showing highlights, Instagram pages were posting content, and people were talking about football again. The excitement continues to grow as the SEC prepares for play later this month. The Troy football team kicks off on Sept. 19, while the SEC programs will get the green light the following Saturday. In the whirlwind of excitement and worry, college football will put its best foot forward to keep everyone safe, all while giving fans a football experience they will likely never forget.