This is going to be a huge week. Key decisions likely aren't coming for a couple of weeks, but the upcoming week is going to shape those decisions.

As Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes always says when games get tight late, "Buckle your seat belts."

Buckle up, indeed.

1. Despite the ominous quotes, like the one given above by West Virginia's athletics director to Ross Dellenger, it's very clear that the Power-5 (or at least most of it) still very desperately want and need to play a college football season.

For some demented reason, I feel some optimism today. Mind you, it's merely a gut feeling, but I do believe the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12 are going to do all they can to play a season, whether that be independently or in concert with one another.

Cecil Hurt, the long-time columnist for The Tuscaloosa News, expressed a similar sentiment this morning.

"Economics are the driving factor and the SEC, along with the Big XII and the Atlantic Coast Conference are doggedly holding on to every possible scenario that would allow every possible game to be played, right up until a 12-game season," Hurt wrote Sunday. "If that were not the case, we would have heard some sort of decision before the start of the season was just six weeks away. That’s not a criticism of commissioners or athletic directors, whose primary job is to keep the money flowing. It’s just a recognition that those leagues, like the NBA, NHL and (especially) the NFL are big businesses. College presidents might have other considerations, but they get it. No one is going to walk away from the money unless there is no other way."

I agree. We can debate cases and numbers. We can argue about the numbers being manipulated. We can fight about masks. Whatever. At the end of the day, the money at stake can't be ignored.

"The major conferences will not make a 'choice' not to play," Hurt wrote. "They will play unless they have no choice."

Again, I couldn't agree more. This week will be full of stories, I suspect, stories with lots of speculation and guessing. There will be blame distributed. Hell, one national college football writer has already begun speculating about the viability of the 2021 season.

I find myself wondering if no news is good news. Teams are still working out. Even schools that have paused workouts have kept the players on-campus. No news tells me the people in charge are looking for reasons to play and not reasons to cancel.

I don't necessarily disagree with West Virginia's A.D. The season is absolutely in some degree of peril. All hope, however, is far from lost. And there are hundreds of millions of reasons to try to make it work.

2. One thing that has become abundantly clear in all of this is college football, especially those programs in the Power-5, needs a commissioner.

I don't know that it's realistic, certainly not in the current environment, but the lack of one central voice has made for a hectic, confusing message and fueled much of the apocalyptic forecasting.

A breakaway of the Power-5 feels inevitable, if not now then soon. Players have never had more leverage. Transfer rules are going to change soon, making the sport even more transient than it currently is. Players may very well seek to unionize. Name/Image/Likeness issues are coming soon.

The sport will need a central figure to represent it. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exposed that weakness.

3. First, kudos to the SEC. This was absolutely the right thing to do, and the league should be lauded for doing the right thing.

If a player, for any reason, doesn't feel comfortable playing football during a pandemic, he absolutely should have the option to opt out without losing his scholarship. Some players have family concerns. Some have health conditions that make it riskier for them. Some simply don't feel comfortable with the situation. Again, letting them sit out the 2020 season while remaining on scholarship is the ethical thing to do, even if it's more about covering itself vis-a-vis liability than it is anything else. .

All of that said, I took a degree of hope from the league's announcement. It further solidified my opinion that the SEC has every intention of moving forward and at least starting the season, even if it is delayed at the beginning.

4. If you're looking for the most tangible piece of optimism regarding the return of college football, cling to this from the NFL.

The NBA and MLS are in bubbles, scenarios college football can't and won't replicate. Major League Baseball is similar logistically, but there isn't as much contact on the diamond as there is on the gridiron.

College football won't go first, and the league that offers the most clearance, if you will, toward a season is the NFL. If the NFL can conduct training camps, college football can have fall camps in August. If the NFL can play preseason games, college football can move forward with its plans for a season.

And if the NFL can play regular-season games with limited attendance -- several franchises are reportedly considering 20 percent capacity for their home games -- college football programs can plan for something similar.

Rookies and selected veterans are scheduled to report to training camp Tuesday, with full squads anticipated one week later. Texans and Chiefs rookies are expected to report Monday, as those teams are scheduled to play the league's Thursday night opener Sept. 10

5. Let the record show that the NFL and the NFLPA aren't on the same page just yet, and several NFL players have expressed concerns about their health, but the announcement from the league over the weekend marked a major step forward toward the NFL season we've all assumed would happen.

Still, the NFL would be wise to listen to the players and not play hardball as it pertains to their concerns. Unlike the NBA, which aggressively prepared for a return to play in the bubble in Orlando, and MLB, which put together an exhaustive, comprehensive set of protocols, the NFL has been quiet on that front, trying to present a front of business as usual.

On Sunday, however, players all over the league addressed their concerns.

"The NFL's unwillingness to follow the recommendations of their own medical experts will prevent (playing)," New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees tweeted. "If the NFL doesn't do their part to keep players healthy. there is no football in 2020. It's that simple."

"If the NFL doesn't do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020," Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett tweeted. "It's that simple."

"NFL, please address health and safety concerns so we can play football this year!" Chicago linebacker Khalil Mack tweeted.

It was like that all day, from all corners of the league, putting the pressure on the NFL.

Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, said recently that the NFL hopes to plow a road for the entire country as it deals with the pandemic.

"I think this is important not just for the NFL or for professional sports -- not even for sports at all levels," Sills said at a virtual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. "I think what we are trying to do -- which is to find a way to mitigate risk and to coexist with this virus -- this is really key information for schools, for businesses, for all segments of society. I think we have a unique opportunity but also a responsibility to use the platform and resources of the NFL to really study and learn and to take that knowledge and apply it for the benefit of the other segments of the society. That is what we plan to do."

From ESPN.com:

Thursday night, NFLPA representatives had a conference call with several NFL team physicians, who gave the players their reasons why they felt it was safe to start training camps with COVID-19 protocols in place. On a video conference call with reporters Friday, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said the players want to go back to work but that the union and the league continue to negotiate important health and safety measures involving testing and opt-out procedures, as well as economic issues involving the impact of lost 2020 revenue on the 2021 salary cap. Sources say those negotiations are expected to continue through the weekend, and that it's possible the league and union could start camp if they've agreed on the health and safety portion of the negotiations while still working through the financial portion.

Early training camp practices will look different. Because the entire offseason program was conducted virtually, with no actual football work, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed that there should be a longer acclimatization process. It will begin with two days designated for medical exams and equipment fitting, and more than a week could pass before players participate in full team drills. The specifics of the acclimatization process are still a matter of negotiation between the league and the union. Union president JC Tretter on Friday detailed the union's proposal, which he said grew out of discussions with doctors. The players are asking for 21 days of strength and conditioning work followed by 10 days of non-padded practices and then 14 days of "contact acclimation" process in which practices could be conducted with pads.

Of course, there are other concerns. There is a disagreement between the league and the union about preseason games. The league wants two preseason exhibitions; players want zero. And, obviously, there are financial disagreements. From ESPN.com:

The biggest unanswered question is how the NFL and NFLPA will deal with the strong likelihood of reduced 2020 revenues. There have been some discussions -- the NFLPA considered a proposal to put 35% of salaries in escrow a nonstarter -- but nothing close to an agreement. The NFL's salary cap is designed to spread the gains and losses among owners and players by an agreed-upon ratio, but that would lead to a big drop in cap figures for 2021. The players' union favors a plan that would spread the revenue hit out over several years, keeping the salary cap flat or increasing it only slightly until revenues are caught up. The owners prefer to take the hit in the short term and then quickly return to the annual rate of cap growth the league has seen over the past decade. The union's concern is the short-term impact a significant reduction would have not only on player salaries but also on players' health benefits, which are calculated as part of the player costs under the salary cap. The sides are well aware of, and hope to avoid, the spectacle that MLB made of its economic negotiations.

College fans would be wise to follow this closely. Rest assured college players are, and if NFL players ultimately decide it's not safe to play, many college players would likely follow. Again, as I've said for months now, college football won't go it alone.

6. Major League Baseball begins Thursday. It's a 60-game sprint with a normal playoff set-up. No one is taking the season's results as legitimate, but getting through the season safely is of paramount importance. For a week, MLB gets the stage, and everyone in American sports is watching to see how baseball fares.

Even if you're not a baseball fan, you should be cheering for all 30 MLB teams. Their success could absolutely embolden some of college athletics' decision-makers.

Because I've missed being able to actually write about sports, here are my sure-to-be-dead-wrong predictions for the 2020 season:

American League East:

1. Tampa Bay Rays

2. New York Yankees

3. Toronto Blue Jays

4. Boston Red Sox

5. Baltimore Orioles

American League Central:

1. Minnesota Twins

2. Chicago White Sox

3. Cleveland Indians

4. Kansas City Royals

5. Detroit Tigers

American League West:

1. Los Angeles Angels

2. Houston Astros

3. Oakland A's

4. Seattle Mariners

5. Texas Rangers

National League East:

1. Atlanta Braves

2. Philadelphia Phillies

3. New York Mets

4. Washington Nationals

5. Miami Marlins

National League Central:

1. Cincinnati Reds

2. Milwaukee Brewers

3. St. Louis Cardinals

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

National League West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

2. San Diego Padres

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

4. Colorado Rockies

5. San Francisco Giants

A.L. Playoffs:

Wildcard Game: Yankees over Astros

ALDS: Yankees over Rays, Angels over Twins

ALCS: Yankees over Angels

N.L. Playoffs:

Wildcard Game: Brewers over Padres

NLDS: Dodgers over Brewers, Reds over Braves

NLCS: Dodgers over Reds

World Series: Dodgers over Yankees

7. Here are my even-surer-to-be-oh-so-wrong individual MLB predictions for 2020:

American League Rookie of the Year: Luis Robert, OF, White Sox

National League Rookie of the Year: Gavin Lux, SS, Dodgers

American League Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, Angels

National League Manager of the Year: David Bell, Reds

American League Cy Young Award Winner: Jacob deGrom, Mets

National League Cy Young Award Winner: Jack Flaherty, Cardinals

American League MVP: Francisco Lindor, Indians

National League MVP: Ronald Acuña, Braves

8. There has been really good sports-related COVID-19 news from around sports this week. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wouldn't give numbers during an interview with Outkick's Clay Travis on Sirius/XM earlier in the week, but he said the number of players in the SEC testing positive for the virus is close to zero.

Major League Soccer provided an update Sunday on the results of COVID-19 testing for players, coaches and staff from the 24 clubs participating in the MLS is Back Tournament along with referees, league staff and other members of the MLS delegation staying at the host hotel in Florida.

Of that group, 1,114 individuals were tested for COVID-19 during the period from July 16-17. Zero individuals from this group were newly confirmed positive for COVID-19 during this period.MLS is providing regular updates with aggregated COVID-19 testing results of members of the MLS is Back Tournament delegation at the host hotel in Florida. The next update is scheduled to be published July 20.

In a press release Friday, Major League Baseball revealed it had collected 10,548 samples from players and staff, and that six of those samples tested positive for COVID-19 (0.05 percent). Five were players, and one was a staff member. There was also a five-day stretch over the past week during which no new positives were recorded.

Since the start of intake testing on June 27, MLB has collected 21,701 total samples. 93 of those have tested positive for COVID-19, which is a 0.4 percent positivity rate. 80 are players, and 13 are staff members.

As Yahoo's Liz Roscher wrote Friday, "while it appears that MLB’s testing program is running more smoothly than it was a few weeks ago, the biggest takeaway is that players seem to be taking social distancing seriously. Despite several players testing positive since the start of spring training 2.0, there have been no massive team-wide outbreaks. For example, New York Yankees closer Aroldis Champman tested positive on July 11, after he’d reported to Yankee Stadium for workouts, but there hasn’t yet been a spike in positive tests on the Yankees.

"The players deserve all the credit for that. MLB can set the rules, but they only work if the players follow them. Players seem to be taking social distancing and hygiene rules seriously, which is a good sign as real games approach."

9. It's time to eat. So here's our resident Parisian chef, Buton Webb, with Taste of the Place, Lesson 45: Fried Pickle... Spears

Some of you might need to sit down for what I am about to say. Others, not so much. I do not like fried pickle chips. If you are going to fry a pickle, do it in spears. One could say that it is a personal preference, yet when you actually breakdown the difference between the two ways, it makes sense.

I always love fried pickles, especially from Phillip’s Grocery in Oxford. They do pickle spears there, haha. When it comes to the chips, you will probably get a little basket of them if you place an order. The problem for me is that it doesn’t allow for any air circulation. They just sit one on top of the other which will cause them to be soggy, the frying skin will fall off, and some chips will probably be over seasoned with salt. It is just my take, so let’s get into the tidbits first.

Tidbit #1: When frying items, it is easiest to use small flat casserole dishes to dip your items into instead of bowl beforehand. There is more surface area that will allow your item to get maximum coverage of either flour, cornmeal, or flour and cornmeal.

Tidbit #2: After you have fried your items, you need to put them on a wire rack to allow the grease to drip off. By doing this, the skin of the fried item will stay crispy. Make sure to put a sheet pan underneath to catch the oil.

Tidbit #3: If you ever have to fry a lot of items, have your oven ready. Set the temperature to 225 Fahrenheit. Fry your items in batches and once the first batch is completed, pop the tray into the oven to stay warm. Repeat for as many batches that you make.

Tidbit #4 (Last one): With frying pickles over the years, I like to use forks to not only dip the pickles in the buttermilk and then the cornmeal mixture and then again, but also to then place in the hot oil. It will allow for the whole pickle spear to be covered in your dry mixture and not one end missing it. If you use your fingers of course.

Things you will need:

4-6 People

A good pilsner to balance out the flavor

25 Minutes to goodness

Utensils needed:

1 Work surface with a chef’s knife

2 Shallow and small casserole dishes

1 Medium saucepot

Measuring cups of 1 cup, 1 tbsp, 1/2 tsp, and 1/4 tsp

Two forks

1 Stovetop

1 Sheet pan with a wire rack

Ingredients needed:

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 Cup cornmeal

1 Quart dill pickles

1/2 Tsp garlic powder

1/2 Tsp onion powder

1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 Tsp salt

1/4 Tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Cup buttermilk Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Step 1: Pour the vegetable oil into the saucepot so that it is 2/3 of the way full. Next, place on your stovetop eye and turn to medium heat.

Step 2: In one casserole dish, add your buttermilk. In the other casserole dish, add everything else... the cornmeal, flour, and spices. Mix with one of your forks to combine.

Step 3: Quarter your pickles and place them to the side of your work surface.

Step 3.1: Check to ensure that your oil is hot but not smoking. Add a pinch of flour to it. If it starts to cook, you’re ready.

Step 3.2: Using a fork, drop a pickle spear into the buttermilk and then place it into the cornmeal mixture. Use your other fork to put the spear back in the buttermilk and then repeat back into the dry mixture. Add to the oil. For the procedure: wet -> dry -> wet -> dry -> oil.

Step 4: Cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Being careful, use your fork to take the pickle out by scooping up under it. Place on your wire rack that has the sheet tray under it. Repeat as many times as needed. Let cool for 5 minutes before enjoying... or you will shoot your tongue out. Accompany with your favorite dipping sauce of ranch, honey mustard, blue cheese dressing, spicy ranch, or comeback sauce. For an easy snack or a great side dish to your outdoor outing, from the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!

10. We'll have coverage of things this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me -- and hopefully, to you -- for your reading pleasure:

Staples: What must happen for the 2020 college football season to be played – The Athletic

In-Season Testing, Game Interruptions Top Concerns for College Football

College Sports Consider Impact of a Potential COVID-19 Death – Sportico.com

Feldman: Feeling squeezed out, should Group of 5 and FCS take over the spring? – The Athletic

College football coaches on the prospect of losing players to a postponed season – The Athletic

SEC's Possible Football Plans Coming Into Focus

Why Baseball Has Lost Black America

Greenberg: A live look at White Sox OF Luis Robert has me ready for the season – The Athletic

Dan Winkler's unique journey to the Cubs

Can Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ stay hot for 60 games? – The Athletic

The Blue Jays can’t play in Canada. Now what? – The Athletic

Lott: MLB is making a big mistake, and there’s only one way to fix it – The Athletic

The NBA’s Seven Most Intriguing Returns in Orlando

Inside the bubble for the NBA’s one-of-a-kind Disney restart

Why didn't summer kill the coronavirus? Experts explain what White House officials were missing

CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins on Reporting on Trump | InStyle

Johnson confirms Hancock will be doing a review into PHE statistics

Rhiannon Walker: ‘I want to move forward from this’ – The Athletic