coronavirus
staying empty this fall [Patrick Barron]

Report: Big Ten Cancels Fall Sports, Football Included Comment Count

Ace August 10th, 2020 at 11:47 AM

A team of Detroit Free Press reporters is breaking the inevitable news. According to their sources, the Big Ten has voted to cancel the 2020 fall sports season:

The Big Ten has voted to cancel the 2020 college football season in a historic move that stems from concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, multiple people with knowledge of the decision confirmed to the Free Press.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected to Tuesday, the sources said. 

The presidents voted, 12-2, Sunday to end the fall sports in the conference. Only Nebraska and Iowa voted to play, Dan Patrick said on his radio show Monday. 

The move comes two days after the Mid-American Conference became the first in the FBS to cancel ts season, and sources told the Free Press the Big Ten is trying to coordinate its announcement with other Power Five conferences. 

There's no word on whether a Spring 2021 football season is under consideration, though I imagine they'll keep that possibility open until/unless it becomes totally unfeasible, much like how the leadup to this announcement has played out.

Though the Big Ten's decision evidently was already made, this news also comes on the heels of some of college football's most prominent stars releasing a joint statement about wanting to play the 2020 season—if they could be guaranteed universal safety protocols, eligibility for players opting out, and a commitment to the formation of a players association.

It's hard to imagine the NCAA and its conferences meeting those demands, particularly the precursor to a full-blown players union, without a serious fight. I don't think anyone has a clear idea of what the short- or long-term future of college football holds. What is clear, however, is that we're in the midst of a significant moment in the history of the sport.

UPDATE: Too much is coming in at once for new posts for everything. A statement from Jim Harbaugh is after the jump.

UPDATE UPDATE: The Big Ten denies they've made a final decision, though they're apparently meeting again today.

[Hit THE JUMP for Jim Harbaugh's statement on rumors of a canceled season.]

Statement from University of Michigan Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh

I would like to address the rumors that are swirling today. I’m not advocating for football this fall because of my passion or our players desire to play but because of the facts accumulated over the last eight weeks since our players returned to campus on June 13. I am advocating on August 10 that this virus can be controlled and handled because of these facts:

  • The Michigan football program has had 11 positive tests out of 893 administered, including three upon initial return to campus.
  • We have had two positive tests out of the last 417 administered.
  • We have had zero positive tests out of the last 353 administered.
  • There have been zero positives tests among the coaches or staff over the entire eight weeks of testing.
  • There has been no contract tracing to our fields, weight room, locker room or facility.
  • We have had zero pauses in our training.
  • We have complied with all CDC guidelines and self‐implemented stricter standards for contacting tracing in quarantining to prevent spread.
  • We have followed all health and safety guidelines and welcome and encourage any health department, University administrators or other sports programs to visit and see how we practice and execute these protocols.
  • As Darryl Conway our Chief Medical Officer and a member of the Big Ten’s Medical Advisory Group has stated, “I wish that others could see this model.”

This isn’t easy. This is hard.

It is proven that the conduct, discipline and structure within our program have led to these stellar results. We respect the challenge that the virus has presented however we will not cower from it.

We have developed a great prototype for how we can make this work and provide the opportunity for players to play. If you are transparent and follow the rules, this is how it can be done.

I am forever proud of our players, parents, coaches and staff for being leaders and role models in our sport, at our institution and in society. We will continue to follow all health and safety guidelines, teach, train, and coach those young men and their families that have put their trust in us, while advocating for a football season in the fall.

In quoting President Theodore Roosevelt, we do this “so that our place will not be among the cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

#WEWANTTOPLAY

#WEWANTTOCOACH

Comments

Communist Football

August 10th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^

I agree with Jim. Play the games in empty stadiums if you have to -- but the Big Ten programs ought to be able to run themselves the way Jim Harbaugh's team does. The students themselves have a very low risk of serious illness, let alone death, from COVID-19, unless they have certain health conditions. That risk is comparable to the risk of serious injury that players play with every year. The key is to make sure they're not going back and forth into a community that has more vulnerable people in it. If that can't be achieved, then that is the issue.

Joined: 09/18/2010

MGoPoints: 18944

CityOfKlompton

August 10th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^

I wouldn't disagree with much of what you said, but we also do not fully understand the long-term effects of the virus, particularly the cardiovascular problems that have developed even in young athletes as a result, which are not something players normally subject themselves to on Saturdays in the fall.

And that is not even accounting for the significant liability risk the NCAA and universities are opening themselves up to by playing through a pandemic we have not yet gotten under control.

Joined: 10/14/2018

MGoPoints: 7994

TrueBlue2003

August 10th, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^

but to boliver's point, lots and LOTS of viruses including common cold coronaviruses, enteroviruses, cocksackie viruses, etc. etc have the same potential and sometimes do cause issues.  More often than we're even aware of but we don't study those instances like we're studying this.  But we've lost the ability to accept reasonable risk because we don't know how to properly contextualize what the media is feeding us.

Not letting anyone play jeopardizes far more guys ability to make a living in their sport than the virus.

And this all assumes that not playing is safer than playing which is questionable.  The testing regimen and protocols and constraints they have while playing might be safer than what they're doing when they're not playing (we can suspect this because more guys tested positive when they arrived on campus than cases that have been traced to the actual sport).

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

grumbler

August 11th, 2020 at 9:31 PM ^

we know a lot more about the other viruses than we do about Novelcoronovirus 19.  We can make judgements about the risk they pose, but not about Covid-19.   Saying that they haven't been studied as much as NCV19 is absurd.  We've lost the ability to accept reasonable risk not because of some bizarre-ass media conspiracy, but because the science isn't there.

As soon as someone starts talking about the covid-19 crisis as a media event, I know they are full of shit.  

And the same number of college guys and gals will get drafted into pro sports this year as ever.  They are just less likely to be the "right" guys and gals.

And your numbers about arriving versus playing players is based only on the numbers from Michigan which is generally accepted as an exceptional program in this regard.  No coach at Michigan can say that he can protect his or her players from the effects of other programs not being as stringent, however.

Cancellation was an unfortunate necessity.  In a well-run country, it may not have been needed.

Joined: 08/17/2011

MGoPoints: 14112

1201 S. Main St.

August 10th, 2020 at 2:44 PM ^

I agree.  Sure, there are ways that this could work, but the NCAA hasn't stepped up and the conferences are all looking around at each other for answers. If you put the players in a bubble, had them take only remote classes, made sure they did not interact with anyone outside of the bubble and had access to a ton of testing with quick results then sure, it might work.  But how many schools can actually afford to do that? It isn't like a lot of these guys are going to be in the NFL so getting an education, which is kind of the point of college, is a necessity.  We all want to watch them play, but they have to see what it is like when students are on campus.  It's a little easier to keep track of an entire team right now opposed to when 20 somethings want to do something other than sit in a room/building with only their teammates and actually want to go out and do things. What happens if someone on a Thursday or Friday tests positive?  Does the whole team get quarantined?  Will the opposing team even want to play?  There are ways where this could have possibly worked, but no one stepped up to direct exactly how that can be done.  Isn't that the idea behind the fucking NCAA?  They give more of a shit about bagel spreads and athletes using campus water to wash their car than they do about trying to figure out how to operate during a pandemic.

Joined: 10/09/2015

MGoPoints: 844

Glennsta

August 10th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^

I fully understand JH and the players being pissed.

However, in order to sustain what sounds like our team's success in minimizing Covid exposure, you have to deal with A) what the athletes are going to be exposed to once the other students get back to the campus  B) what the athletes will be exposed to in traveling and C) how well your opponents have minimized exposure. 

As for the NCAA setting protocols, they could set up protocols to minimize exposure, but they have to be not only effective but also affordable to all the schools that fall under their umbrella. Not all schools have the money to set up something like the NBA.

And then there's the issue that you described about what you do to deal with what happens when you have an outbreak. Do you quarantine the whole team or just a position group and for how long?  What about the team they last played? Are you going to make up games? MLB still has no idea what to do about all the missed games for Miami and St.Louis and their pronouncement that a playoff is going to be based on winning percentage is blatantly unfair. Miami may as well stop now and get in.

Joined: 01/28/2011

MGoPoints: 4887

jmblue

August 10th, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^

If you have an outbreak, you test everyone to see how many have it.  (If you are testing regularly, you really shouldn't have big outbreaks in the first place.)

We should be at a point where the self-quarantine isn't necessary.  It was necessary in the spring because we lacked test kits.  It's not the case now.  Now we can actually find out how many people have it.  

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102810

RyMiller2

August 10th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^

@los barcos...I think you are failing to realize that 85 million people died during WWII.  732K have died to date with the Coronavirus.  It's not even close...

Follow the protocol, play the games.  As Trevor Lawrence stated players and their families are likely safer in that environment than they otherwise will be...

Go Blue!!

Joined: 02/23/2012

MGoPoints: 12

MRunner73

August 10th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^

That photo is so appropriate: sun setting over an empty Michigan Stadium. We'll be seeing plenty more of those this fall.

We all lose on this decision. No joy in Mudville.

Joined: 11/11/2018

MGoPoints: 16883

rym

August 10th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^

This. Everyone needs to understand this — especially Michigan voters. 1,100+ Americans are dying each day because of Trump’s catastrophic failure to manage the virus, but some people remain blind to that failure or willing to overlook it. Maybe losing football will get their attention.

Joined: 09/07/2019

MGoPoints: 1676

Littlefurrybuddha

August 10th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^

Or because it's, you know, factual.  If you can defend this administration's response to the virus with a straight face, you will also believe I would have been Michigan's starting left tackle this season.  At 56.  With a bad knee.  Standing 5 foot 8 and weighing 220 flabby pounds.

Joined: 08/25/2015

MGoPoints: 837