The Mac cancelled their season first. The Big 10 released a smaller more regionalized schedule, but planned to play. 24hours ago, that all changed. Some said the Big 10 voted 12-2 to cancel the season. Others said that vote didn’t happen. They met at 10:30 this morning to talk cancellation or postponing the start of the season. You might not think that college football is a big deal, but it is. It brings people together, keeps big universities going, and has big effects on local economies.
Baseball is mustering on, despite positive tests. Basketball is dong well in the bubble and the NFL is full speed ahead. So why the issues in college? The overall risk for the age group is pretty low. The players have spoken up and said that they want to play. We are talking about big names like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence..
Coaches from Jim Harrbaugh, Ryan Day, and Nebraska’s Scott Frost have said that they want to coach. Mind you, they get paid either way. So why are we having this discussion? One word. LIABILITY. The universities do not want to assume it. Professional athletes have million dollar reasons to take the risk. College atheletes have potential million dollar reasons, but they are not there yet. Isn’t it their right to assume that risk?
The higher ups have not listened to the players when it comes to financial compensation for their likeness. Do we really think that they care what the players think now? I don’t blame the players for wanting to play. For many, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This goes beyond football. It has an effect on towns, people, and businesses. The latter of which have already taken financial hits that were beyond hard to weather.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, the former Ohio State and NFL wide receiver, on Monday poured out an impassioned criticism of the Big Ten Conference’s pending decision to not stage football games this fall.
Over the course of a 15-minute interview with USA TODAY Sports, Gonzalez, R-Ohio, used the words “enormous mistake,” “catastrophic,” and “disaster,” to describe the pending move, and he said he had made his feelings known “with those who would be making these decisions or have influence over them,” although he declined to provide specifics.
At the end of the day, we have no control over the decision. We have no control over anything. We are living in unprecednted times. I say two things. First, let the player decide what risk they want to assume. Let them play. The second, F’ COVID!
