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The Pac-12 Conference is joining the other four most powerful leagues in college sports in deciding to play football this fall, defying the risks of the coronavirus pandemic to salvage a season for fans and shore up the financial health of its schools. The Pac-12, which said last month that its teams would not compete until at least 2021, said Thursday that it would attempt to play as soon as Nov. 6. The decision came eight days after the Big Ten, which had also elected not to compete this semester, reversed its approach and announced that games would begin in October. (Blinder, 9/24)

Every morning, before making breakfast, Chris Tyndorf looks at a sign on the kitchen wall that has become his family's motto: "God, Family, Football." For more than 10 years, Tyndorf’s 14-year-old son has been playing football and during that time family vacations and work schedules have revolved around daily practice, weight and agility training, and games on the weekend. But as businesses and facilities began to close down as coronavirus ravaged his home state of New York in late March, football practice, a sacred family routine for Tyndorf’s son, came to a screeching halt. (Romero, 9/25)

The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021, and amid the ongoing pandemic, officials now are preparing for every possible contingency for what the race and the world might look like in March when the Iditarod starts. It’s not the mushers who worry Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach; they’re used to social distancing along the 1,000-mile trail. The headaches start with what to do with the 1,800 volunteers and staff needed to stage the race, some scattered in 21 villages that serve as checkpoints along the trail between Anchorage and Nome, and how to protect them and the village residents from the coronavirus. The goal is zero community transmission. (Thiessen, 9/25)

Walmart is getting ready for a different holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The retail giant announced plans Wednesday to meet the demands of increased online shopping, gift availability and how it is preparing stores for "safe shopping. "Walmart is "promising an all-new Black Friday experience" and says it "will spread traditional Black Friday savings throughout the season" with more deals available online. (Tyko, 9/23)

Lorne Michaels doesn’t usually spend six months away from his office, but this year he had no choice. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, he and his colleagues at “Saturday Night Live” had to leave behind the show’s home at Studio 8H in NBC’s Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in March, and its live broadcasts came to an abrupt halt. Though “S.N.L.” was able to close out its previous season with three remotely produced episodes, the show only recently announced that its live episodes would resume when its new season begins on Oct. 3. (Itzkoff, 9/24)