Blowin' Smoke Presented by Weston Tobacco

What's more fun than us giving you a chance to mock us every single week? In our new feature, Blowin' Smoke presented by Weston Tobacco, we will do that each and every Thursday. Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will make five predictions almost sure to go wrong every week in this space. These will range from big games to big picture predictions with a bit of the comedic and absurd mixed in most weeks as well. On to this week's predictions.

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Mitchell: Since the SEC made the move to cancel all events for the remainder of the academic year, we now know we'll have to wait until next fall. I saw you had put on the board that the volleyball's Black and Gold game is sometime in early August. Hopefully things are back to normal enough by then that it happens. If it does, it might set a record for most media members to ever attend a volleyball scrimmage.

Gabe: The next actual game that counts I'll say is going to be a volleyball match some time in late August. I think. I'm not sold the fall sports are going to start on time without interruption. I hope they do. I want them to. But I think we've got to see what things look like a month from now before we're sure it's going to happen.

Mitchell: I'm leaning towards no, especially since I believe seven NBA players have now tested positive for coronavirus. That league is going to be extra conscientious of its players' safety, and if one of the two cancels its season, I can't see the other one resuming play. On Monday, the CDC advised people to avoid gatherings of 50 or more for the next eight weeks. Eight weeks from then would be May 11. The NBA playoffs were supposed to start April 18. I don't think it's happening.

Gabe: I think it's doable, but it is going to take some negotiating with the players' unions. I could see a scenario where those sports are able to restart in mid-May. So if that's the case, do you play any more of the regular season or do you just go to the playoffs with the standings as they were the day you had to cancel? I mean, it could very well cause problems where a team misses the playoffs because it had played two fewer games than the eighth seed so maybe you go by winning percentage? I don't know. There are logistical issues, but I feel like both sides could come together because being able to get back out and play games would be so good for everyone involved. The negotiation then comes when you're talking about maybe not finishing a season until mid-July so the offseason is a month or six weeks shorter. But again, you can figure it out if it's safe to play again.

Gabe: I think this is the longest delay. It's as if spring training didn't happen. You don't need a full spring training again, but I think you need at least a couple of weeks. You can't just ask a pitcher to go out there and start throwing 98 without enough time to make sure he's worked into shape. Yes, I'm sure these guys are doing their best to stay in shape, but can you imagine what happens if you rush to get back on the field and a star pitcher blows out his elbow and needs Tommy John in his first start? I mean, sure, it could happen anyway, but I think you're probably opening yourself up to lawsuits in this case. I think you have to operate with a lot of caution. I wouldn't be surprised by a July start and an 81-game season. If we get to the point where they're not starting until the summer, I actually think it would be really cool to start every team on July 4th. The national pasttime with a full schedule of Opening Day on Independence Day might actually be pretty cool.

Mitchell: Using that eight-week guideline and then giving teams and players a few days to get back in shape and work out together and all that, I will blindly guess Sunday, May 24.

Mitchell: That's a good question. It pretty much has to be from the Denver Broncos, because that's the only team I really live and die with. I suppose I will say the 1996 season, when John Elway finally broke through and won his first Super Bowl and the first Super Bowl for the franchise. I turned two right around the time of that Super Bowl, which was capped by Elway's helicopter-spin into the end zone, so I don't exactly have vivid memories of it.

Gabe: It would be simple for me to say last football season, but the truth is I have every Chiefs game from last year still on my DVR and could watch all 19 (and if this lasts long enough, will probably do so). I'm going to go under the radar and go back to the 1988-89 basketball season. Mizzou and Oklahoma (my second favorite team growing up) were top ten teams. It was the year Billy Tubbs told OU fans not to throw things on the court no matter how bad the officiating was. The Tigers won 29 games and lost to a Syracuse team with Derrick Coleman and Sherman Douglas in the Sweet 16. Rumeal Robinson beat Seton Hall for the national title in the pre-Fab Five years. It was one of my favorite college basketball seasons of all-time. If I'm talking just from a Mizzou point of view, I'd probably go back to the 1993-94 team that got blitzed by 52 at Arkansas and then ended up going unbeaten in the Big Eight when I was a senior in high school.

Gabe: There's no doubt I'd be flipping around. I'd probably mostly watch the golf, but I'd definitely be using two or three screens and changing channels on all of them during commercials. I can honestly see there being some reaction this September where people say "This is amazing having all this stuff on at once. Let's do this every year!"

Mitchell: That would be fun. Man, I miss sports. I would like to say a little bit of everything. It probably depends on which teams are playing and what time. I would for sure tune in for the Derby race itself, but not the preview and all that. It would only take five minutes to watch and see the payouts. Around that, I would shuffle between whatever else is on, prioritizing the best college football matchups. If I had two TV's, I would probably devote one primarily to college football and the other to the golf tournament and then switch over to the Derby when it happened or the ends of the baseball games if they're close.