JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ Greg McGarity loathes the mandated isolation that COVID-19 imposes every time he goes to the office. That's why the Georgia athletic director felt uplifted Monday when he was in Birmingham for a meeting with his SEC colleagues.
"It was so refreshing, that human interaction had been missed," McGarity said in a Wednesday interview. "You go into the office and you're the only one on the floor. It's so lonely.
"We all crave being able to be around friends and co-workers. Zoom calls are so impersonal. The toughest thing for everyone is the lack of personal interaction."
At proper social distancing, with masks, being able to have conversations in regular attire at work is one thing. But college football players banging against each for three hours, trading sweat and even saliva, on a weekly basis is something else entirely.
It's no secret the 2020 college football season is currently in the danger zone. Some FCS leagues have already canceled their seasons, but the high-profile Power 5 conferences aren't feeling a whole lot safer.
Given the alarming July increases in coronavirus cases, McGarity and his SEC/ACC brethren should have serious trepidation about whether football _ even if it's a conference-only schedule _ can be played on a normal timeline in 2020.
"A month ago, I would have said nine (on a scale of 1-10)," McGarity said about playing football. "Now, I'll say a lucky seven."
Actually, that might be a tad optimistic at this point. The way COVID-19 has been trending lately, college presidents and athletic administrators are clearly in holding-their-breath mode.
