Holding Their Breath     
   
   Thousands of college football-connected people are holding their breath.

   Not what you think. No kicker is about to attempt a game-winning field goal with 
2 seconds on the clock. 

   People across the country are rooting for the 2020 season to play out...with fans - a Hail Mary proposition - or without fans in the stadiums. Put "without fans" in the loss column. 

   The most frightened folks are those with businesses that score big on home-game weekends. 

   A cancelled season would cost a local economy tens of millions of dollars.
"Whoa, Nellie!" former announcer Keith Jackson would say. 

   Merchants depending on their teams - never mind rivalries - all root for the same thing: Home games drawing big bucks for hospitality, restaurants, bars...even clothing stores.  

   Oddsmakers aren't high on their chances, especially iffy considering Major League Baseball's virus woes, even without fans. College cities that can somehow accommodate crowds with games on outdoor screens might have a little something to cheer about.

   Football boosts so much of the local economy that a lost season - yes, seven weekends - may result in closed businesses. Of course, universities themselves will enjoy TV revenue, but that doesn't feed the hotel maids, the cooks and servers or the bartenders.

   Then there are the All Stars. Just when they win the right to profit off their popularity, the pandemic may turn out the lights. 

   What would Grantland Rice say? "It matters not whether you play." (?)

         Jimmy

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