What If... Looking Ahead, Not Back

Oklahoma State’s spring semester whimpers to a close.

No students on campus.

No in-person finals.

No graduation or fond farewells for Cowboys and Cowgirls who spent four or more years forming friendships and relationships, and really, forming themselves.

No sports, either.

Still, we remain optimistic, knowing that this, too, shall pass.

But will it pass in time?

Hey, this is no time for downplaying or disregarding the need for safety in the quest for better health. This virus has proven to be formidable. And deadly.

Still, we long for normalcy. And that’s OK. So if we continue to make progress with this virus, and gain greater insight into how to overcome it, why can’t we look forward to sports in the fall?

Students are returning, we’re told.

If that’s the case, no reason sports shouldn’t, too.

For the sake of all sports, football is at the top of the list when it comes to neediness.

In an effort to fill these quiet days, sports writers have been forced to spin a lot of different directions in order to provide content and keep you engaged.

Brackets for everything. Bingo card selections. Best of this and that. Select-a-Team grids. Flashback has been one of my favorites.

Now, “What If” is the trend.

Maybe you saw this one, by The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel, on What If Mike Gundy had gone to OU.

All the What Ifs tend to peer back in time. I’m going to peer ahead with a few What Ifs, some that come with frightening answers.

WHAT IF… there is no football season? This is the scariest scenario of all, because the impact is so far reaching. The lack of a football season, and the revenue it produces, will hit every other sport on campus, crippling many, and could produce long-term issues across campus. At some other universities, so-called minor sports have already been disbanded. And that will occur more if football never kicks off. At OSU? I doubt it, but who can really rule it out.

Football is the trigger to so many things, extending well beyond athletics. Consider this quote from Burns Hargis, for a piece I did for Posse magazine:

“I really do think that sports are very important for the university. I think it is, in many respects, the front door.”

The front door for donors and their giving, not just to athletics, but to OSU.

“My flippant line always is, ‘It’s hard to get 60,000 people to show up for a math contest,’” Hargis said. “But time and time again, we’ve seen where the alums come back, they get excited going to the games; same for the fans. And maybe even start out supporting athletics.

“But slowly they’ll gravitate back to their roots, academy or leadership, activities on campus. It really is a tremendous advantage to have teams that do things the right way and that are competitive. So in that sense, as president of the university, I think it’s one of the key components to our success.”

WHAT IF… there’s a football season, but it’s delayed, pushing even into spring, as some have suggested? We’ll take it, for sure. But what will that look like for the Cowboys? There’s more optimism and excitement for this season than any, arguably, since 2011. But messing from routine can be tricky. And then there’s the big question: are Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace, and possibly others, still on board so close to the NFL Draft? The season sure looks different without those guys.

Hubbard doesn’t even want to speculate at this point – and why would he? – as seen in this story from teammate Robert Allen.

"Right now I am planning on playing this season," Hubbard said. "I think this season will be on time. We'll have to see what happens. As of right now, I'm locked in on getting ready for the season."

But, if the season is significantly delayed?

"We'll just keep that for another time," Hubbard answered. "We'll keep that for a rainy day and hopefully we won't have to talk about that.”

WHAT IF… some schools are ready to roll come August, but some aren’t in other areas of the country? I mean, the virus looks much different here and in the Big 12 region, than it does on the two coasts, and some other cities. Could we see a college football season with limited participants? Or is it all or nothing?
WHAT IF… the season starts, but the warnings of a fall flareup become reality, igniting hot spots of new cases of the virus? What happens then? Well, it wouldn’t look pretty. We could see a replay of the spring, when school went online only and students were told to stay away. That would put an end to football, and likely every other sport until the fall of 2021.

WHAT IF… students return and football returns and we navigate the virus with new treatments and technology and push on through to a new sense of normalcy? Sports, as they often do, plays a major role in uniting our spirits and the country, and gives us more reasons to cheer. Yeah, that’s the ideal scenario.

Had to end it with a glass half full.