Posted on 08/21/2020 11:28:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
The Big Ten circus is an unmitigated PR disaster with a leader who wants to hide in the corner without suffering from the consequences of a premature decision.
After a sudden and unpredictable shift in optimism within 72 hours, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren canceled football, with little evidence to back up his decision. Now parents of affected students are demanding justification as to why Warren reached this verdict.
After Dr. Venk Murthy, a University of Michigan cardiologist, questioned the evidence the Big Ten used to cancel its season, parents of Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa football players have submitted a letter to the Division I conference. In it, parents demanded the conference reverse course and play the 2020 season. The letter advocates for full transparency about the data that led to the decision, reinstatement of the original schedule the league released Aug. 5, and a call with Warren.
These parents have every right to ask questions, especially since Warren’s own son is set to play a full slate of games this fall at Mississippi State. Warren is effectively telling parents he believes it’s too risky for players of his own conference to play football this fall but perfectly safe for his own son to continue his NCAA career. Parents aren’t buying it.
All players want is the option to decide their own fates, the same option the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 are giving their players. It’s no surprise the reaction from Big Ten players was swift. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has created a petition, which had more than 200,000 signatures in less than 24 hours, requesting the Big Ten immediately reinstate the 2020 season.
If Fields were smart, he would realize the #WeWantToPlay movement isn’t enough to persuade the Big Ten to have a season. No number of waivers can convince university presidents to redirect on a football season, which has been about restricting player empowerment from the get-go. These presidents have secured the moral high ground using questionable medical research with the help of a willing media.
What will change the momentum of this conversation, however, is putting presidents on the defensive over denying minority opportunity. Athletes making this about a lack of economic opportunities, especially for minority players, is something no college president wants to push back on.
Football is a great equalizer. It provides opportunities, especially for young minorities looking to change their family trajectory, to attend college at greatly reduced cost. After graduation, college football provides opportunity in the business world as well as the financial and medical fields. No president wants to be seen as suppressing minority opportunities, and players such as Fields spinning the argument this way could change the discussion.
Fields should repeatedly make the point about how canceling sports disenfranchises minority student athletes. If white activist students can gather in large settings on campus, football players should be able to play a game that provides economic and social opportunity.
The Big Ten circus and its ringleader Warren are anything but the greatest show right now. They’re an unmitigated PR disaster with a leader who wants to hide in the corner without suffering from any of the consequences of a premature decision.
Meanwhile, the SEC announced Tuesday it’s planning not only to play but to allow fans in the stands. In Ohio this week, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state is moving forward with all high school sports.
Ohio State’s football team physician, Dr. James Borchers of the Wexner Medical Center, was one of the main medical health experts from whom the state sought advice. As of today in Ohio, high school football is allowed, NFL football is allowed, and even the University of Cincinnati Bearcats can play — but not Ohio State University. If it’s safe enough in Ohio for the NFL to play, it should be safe enough for any football team with the proper health protocols in place.
This absurd logic has allowed multiple Big Ten campuses to reopen, along with cafeterias, dorms, and even intramural sports at Michigan State University. Somehow, that same logic won’t allow competitive football games in a conference with standardized, COVID-19 testing protocols for freakishly healthy 18- to 22-year-old men. It’s time for the media to start asking what the Big Ten is thinking.
The Big Ten dumpster fire continued to get hotter this week when Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour spoke publicly. “It’s unclear to me whether there was a vote or not,” Barbour said, concerning a formal vote among presidents and chancellors. “No one’s ever told me there was.”
With the new details emerging over the weekend about an FDA-approved, rapid saliva test for COVID-19, which could be a game-changer for the Big Ten and Pac-12, it is even more critical that coaches, players, and parents have a fair and open discussion instead of a rushed and one-sided decision. According to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, these tests are more rapid and have more accuracy than the standard nasal swab tests. If this test lives up to the hype, the Big Ten and Pac-12 should reverse course.
You probably never thought the biggest advocate for the Big Ten having a season would be a former SEC quarterback — but then again, this year is mad.
It is simple stay away from Blue States and Democrats.
Killer comment.
I’ve had professional dealings with college athletes and know exactly how this is.
Thank you. The previous posts to yours were just childish drivel. It’s nice to get somecoherent thoughts on the topic.
What is it the Dems say? Learn to code?
REPORT: MICHIGAN GOVERNOR A ‘ROADBLOCK TO OHIO STATE’S 6-TEAM BIG TEN FOOTBALL PLAN
I’m a Buckeye fan. Love the college game. But, the pandemic has taught me not to get too attached to entertainment. Any or all of it can be taken away at a whim.
Americans have lost their fight, and will eventually lose their standard of living, their influence and possibly their country.
Wouldn’t it be fun if Michigan and Michigan State scheduled their game to be played in Indianapolis this year?
Up yours, Governor Karen.
They should still be able to take classes, right? That’s why they’re there isn’t it, right? Oh yeah, “We ain’t come here to play school”.
‘it’s because these parents know that little D’whatyoucallhim won’t make it in the real world’
you are aware, I’m sure, that the great majority of college players have no chance of turning pro...God forbid their parents try and do what’s right for their kids...
“You mean college is about.....going to classes and studying?! “
A friend that was All-State in basketball, his first stop on campus is to meet with the coach... His class schedule is all worked out?
The coach says,’coach Joey, here will work it all out for you... he has a list of instructors that are’FRIENDS OF THE TEAM’!
That said, well into his fourth year he was not 100% sure he would graduate on time. Not every instructor was a ‘Friend of the Team’.
The Professor of his worst class announced that his friend Prof. Soandso had been in a terrible auto accident and needed blood donations, please see him for details after class.
A gentleman’s C and graduated on schedule.
Drafted about number 999? But said school teaching was a steady check.
I think the Big Ten should not play. I think the University presidents & chancellors made their bed and should lay in it. If the players bolt (some will) and the schools lose a boatload of money why should I care? They don’t.
These stories about how upset about football season being canceled crack me up.
They aren’t bitching about the fact that the government, at every level has decided to completely destroy the economy of this country. They aren’t concerned that we have mobs of people destroying cities. No. They are upset at football being canceled.
Somehow, the priorities of people just blows my mind.
Bingo!
I talked to a guy in Columbus today - he is retired from The Ohio State University - he told me the Lawyers are in now charge of every decision.
gee what happened to the college football union where the players were going to demand safety and the right to sit out and retain their scholarship if they get scared of the covid.....what happened to all their bravado?
yeah, because if they can’t hide out in football, they would have no excuse when they don’t show up for class and fail....
Answer: lawyers are the reason we can’t have nice things.
BS! The headline is saying it hurts MINORITY athletes.
The policy also hurts all other athletes.
I hate racist themed articles.
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