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I am an Ohio State fan, and would love to see the Big 10 play, but me thinks the President would have more pressing issues to deal with. Anyway it might be refreshing to see football de-emphasised at least on a few campuses. I do not think football is mentioned in THE’s mission statement.

The Big Ten folded its tents weeks ago. Does anyone think they're going to cold start the football season? Heck, who needs practice? All the guys will be in game condition from their regular off-season routines? Playbook? What playbook? We'll just go out and play sandlot football?

There are a lot of sports that could cold start. People would understand that no one would be in peak shape at the beginning and that they would play their way into shape over the season. The same would go for team chemistry and coordination. For example, soccer and basketball could cold start. They are basically the same game, in case you hadn't noticed, except the ball is played with the hands in one and the feet in the other; they are both open, fluid, improvisational, continuous motion games, with constant changes of possession, and with the goal of putting the ball in the net. Scoring is harder in soccer mainly because the field is much bigger and because goaltending is legal. Sure, everybody would be rusty at the beginning and team coordination would be lacking. But you could play your way through that.

Football, however, is a collision sport; it would by physically dangerous to put out-of-condition athletes on the field. And since it is a stop motion game with intricately designed, set piece plays, long practice is essential. If the Big Ten were to restart now, it would be playing a clown game. They would do better to take off the helmets and pads, and play a sandlot flag football demonstration season as a conditioning exercise.

The school presidents voted against playing 11-3. Here is how the votes broke down and the party affiliation of the state’s governor...

YES Ohio State - R
YES Iowa - R
YES Nebraska - R

NO Maryland - D
NO Rutgers - D
NO Penn St - D
NO Michigan - D
NO Michigan St - D
NO Illinois - D
NO Northwestern - D
NO - Wisconsin - D
NO - Minnesota - D
NO - Indiana - R
NO - Purdue - R