We're On The Verge Of Not Having A Season Here
Remember when Jim Harbaugh was perpetually almost hired but nobody was quite ready to come out and say this is 100% happening? Feels like we're in this holding pattern about the cancellation (or possibly delay) of the 2020 season. Pat Forde last night:
Sources: Attempts to salvage the fall 2020 college football season are all but over. “It’s gotten to a critical stage," one told SI. "I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) August 9, 2020
And today on his radio show Dan Patrick is reporting that the Big Ten and Pac 12 are set to cancel tomorrow:
DP was told an hour ago that the Big 10 and Pac 12 will cancel their football seasons tomorrow... The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence.. And the SEC is trying to get teams to join them for a season.
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 10, 2020
Watch live: https://t.co/sMaeXQkLfl pic.twitter.com/oSUNGMTEqw
Reportedly there was a vote that was 12-2 for canceling, with Nebraska and Iowa opposed. Seems like it's all over but the shouting, which there will be plenty of.
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August 10th, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
SEC...play at all cost.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
It just means more.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
... cases of COVID.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
If a postponed season happens, it will hardly be a surprise.
Is it not a big disingenuous, to say the least, that certain universities, including Michigan, are about to resume classes?
August 10th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
In what way is it disingenuous? Universities exist to educate. Over 70% of Michigan's classes are online. I don't see the disconnect between having class and not having sports.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:02 AM ^
Ignores the thousands of students returning to live in dorms and other student housing in a city where the K-12 school system said its not safe to have in person class. At least we removed the risk of them being in class 16 hours a week. I'm sure the other 152 hours a week they spend in the city will be much lower risk.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
K-12 schools and college are not the same thing.
Many K-12 kids need day care if not in school, and all of them are required by law to attend school.
College kids are all 18+ (except for a few who enter younger than 18) and have high school diplomas. None of them need day care. They go to college by choice.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
Help me out with the logic here. So, K-12 kids, specifically K-5, need things like daycare if not in school and also are much more likely to struggle with on-line learning. It seems like its important to get them back in school but we can’t do that until we dramatically reduce the amount of the virus spreading in the community. College’s are offering the vast majority of their classes on-line and college students, being much more mature and already having high school diplomas, are much better equipped to take on-line courses. So the best move is to bring them back to live in dorms, where there is a high likelihood that they will increase the spread of the virus in the community, to take on-line classes? We will then decide its impossible to have in person K-12 schools because the virus is increasing in the community due to the college students living in dorms taking on-line classes.
August 10th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
We can go back and forth on this kind of thing forever. The whole thing has a chicken-or-the-egg feel to it.
The fact remains that college kids have a choice to gather together, which will spread the disease.
K-12 students do not have a choice.
You can twist that or interpret it however you want, but that's a basic fact that needs to be acknowledged for anyone who's in a position to make decisions about this sort of thing.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
Having gone to college and had two sons follow suit at Michigan, I am aware of the distinctions you noted Magnus. My concern is about spread of CV19 in the Ann Arbor community and I am hardly alone, I hate to acknowledge anything that Michigan State does but in this regard, I think their approach of going remote is better for the fall.
Many communities that are college towns are apprehensive about what students on campus will bring with them and a piece in yesterday's Washington Post noted these concerns:
August 10th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
The vast majority of those classes are online or remote, and those that require in-person access (such as lab usage) will be greatly restricted. And last time I checked, an educational institution trying to keep teaching going isn't "disingenuous". Now, it would be disingenuous if they pushed for athletes to play so that they could collect millions of dollars while letting "normal" students stay home.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
So if you are both saying that Michigan isn't bringing the bulk of their students back to campus, then I'm wrong and they are not being disingenuous.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
I assume at this point it'll be the SEC, Clemson, FSU, and, like, Oklahoma playing for a championship with the biggest factor being which team happens to have missed an outbreak the week of the game.
I've said this elsewhere, but if an unintended consequence of this pandemic is death to the NCAA's BS amateurism cudgel, 2020 won't be a complete wash.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
How do you prove - yes, prove, because claiming isn't an argument - that someone's C-19 death is the result of the "NCAA's BS amateurism cudgel"?
August 10th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
Huh?
My point is that the NCAA has for years tried to convince us that student-athletes are just students and shouldn't be able to, you know, create a union to advocate for their own interests, have a say in how their likenesses are used by the billion-dollar organization that sells them, etc. Certain member schools largely tried to strong-arm kids into playing games without a coherent plan for keeping them safe, and as we saw when teams started practicing a decent number of them had outbreaks. This led to a number of athletes pushing for better care and more of a say in how they're treated both on and off the field, changes the NCAA has pretty consistently pushed back against in the past, usually with the amateurism argument being central to that resistance.
August 10th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Okay, now I understand what you were saying there... And I agree with you.
August 11th, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
The problem with the professionalization of college athletics is that no NCAA school has a remit in their mission statement to operate professional sports teams. Sure, they can make their teams professional, but then they'd have to sell them off.
The problem with that, of course, is: who would buy them?
If you want to kill college sports, just keep pushing to professionalize them.
The current system has many flaws, but the fact that athletes don't collect a bigger salary isn't one of them.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Add OSU to your list and I think you nailed it.
I was checking on a couple of D3 schools and in their announcements postponing fall sports (which was a conference decision led by the presidents and AD's) the presidents and AD's openly stated, if it falls within state laws and guidelines, they might be able to play a few games against teams if they can prove the proper procedures and cautions have been put in place, however it would not be conference sanctioned events.
If D3 schools are looking for ways to at least play a couple games despite their own leadership voting not to play conference games, you can bet OSU says, yes the Big Ten said we couldn't play Big Ten conference games, they didn't say anything about playing SEC conference games! They will not miss out on a chance to compete with Justin Fields this year even if it is a farce.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Wussification of America continues
August 10th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
This comment shows the stupidity of America continues.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
If freeelion doesn't have his freedom, then what are we left with (aside from reduced mortality and morbidity as a result of less covid transmission)? I mean, really!
August 10th, 2020 at 11:03 AM ^
Username... checks out?
August 10th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
Wussification of America continues
This characteristically awful shittake is currently at -22 and plummeting as it should be, but can we take a moment to appreciate that he at least had that grace to (unintentionally?) not also double-dip into misogyny and say 'pussification' instead?
August 10th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
fair point
August 10th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
Sometimes people say things so dumb and out of touch I genuinely don't even know how to respond because I'm sure you are beyond reasoning with
August 10th, 2020 at 11:53 AM ^
That's the point. This isn't an argument to win, because the winning position for this kind of HOT TAKE! is the destruction of discourse. Consider that it's not some original thought. It's the same right-wing sound-bite nothingburger regurgitated into every damn comment thread just because these twatwaffles have nothing better to do.
As one person wisely point out, arguing with willful ignorance is like playing chess with a pigeon. You could be Garry effin' Kasparov and it's just not going to matter. Your "opponent" is going to blissfully knock over the pieces, crap all over the board, and fly off with the smug satisfaction of having done whatever it wanted.
The negbang is the only appropriate response. One click and move on.
August 11th, 2020 at 9:00 PM ^
"Twatwaffles" is a wonderful word. Perhaps a bit misogynistic, but in a playful way.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
freelion: He's a man. A real man. He's not cowering!
Seriously, freelion: I don't think anyone's buying your bullshit framing of this issue. Maybe try another site.
August 11th, 2020 at 8:58 PM ^
The Covid-19 deaths will be over before the leaves fall.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Of course the SEC will play. They will all play one game, and declare half of the league national champions. The scoreboard has always been, and will always be, their only concern. Sacrificing safety and integrity is just the ante to play in the SEC.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
If the B1G and the PAC cancel, but the other 3 conferences play, that would be catastrophic for Michigan and the conference at large. Selfishly, I hope it is all P5 or nothing.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
This is almost certainly true. Unless the SEC season ends in disaster.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
I don't see how the SEC will play if the Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, etc. don't. It's a game of chicken, and the SEC doesn't want to cancel first.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:35 AM ^
Why would it be catastrophic? I mean, I guess the southern schools would get to play, but it's not like players aren't going to want to play in the Big Ten anymore all of a sudden due to a pandemic
August 10th, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
People can shout all they want, but it’s the right decision.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:24 AM ^
Real talk: what does this mean for MGoBlog?
August 10th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
Probably best to let this one play out rather than invite a bunch of speculation.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
They keep publishing content like they have since March until actual games are played again which will most likely be spring or fall of next year. Recruiting will still take place. Old games still exist. Play breakdowns from the previous season can still happen. Hell, Brian may even catch up on an OSU UF'er or two.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:00 AM ^
My hope is that it becomes a politics blog until the aliens come or football resumes. Whichever comes first.
August 10th, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^
Aliens? I thought it was zombies? I'm so confused...
August 10th, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
America's woeful and willful ignorance is why we can't have nice things. This totally sucks. It's bad enough we have dual economic and public health crises (both of which were somewhat preventable or at least should not have reached this level) but now we're losing symbols of American life and culture too. Thank god baseball and basketball figured it out. I'm praying they can keep it going.
August 11th, 2020 at 9:05 PM ^
Baseball and the NBA have adopted the sort of invasive testing and isolation techniques that stopped the virus overseas. The NCAA presidents have resisted that type of intrusion, and now pay the price.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
It will be interesting to see what the we want to play movement does.
August 10th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
This should surprise nobody. In fact, I have a dollar that says college basketball will also be cancelled in a couple of months.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:04 AM ^
The surprising thing is doing it now. Not sure what has changed in the last few days since they released the schedule.
I always assumed the season would ultimately get cancelled but figured it would be a game or two and then a few players on one of the P5 teams test positive and the impact of that would just put an end to the season.
August 10th, 2020 at 11:18 AM ^
what's changed is that the players are organizing their influence and the CFB "leadership" shat themselves b/c them playing an unnecessary sport in which it's impossible to be socially distant, thereby putting thousands of lives at risk by adding another vector for xmission of a virus that is out of control in much of the nation (but not the rest of the 1st world) puts the sham of ammaturism into such clear focus that their cartel of money laundering will go up in flames.
or something...
August 10th, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
....
...
Yep!
August 10th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
given the choice between admitting that the players are not "amateurs" and LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE, the ncaa will always choose the latter, up to and including cancelling sports.
August 11th, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
Exactly. The universities cannot run professional sports teams. It's not in their remit. They'd rather cancel seasons than cancel entire programs.
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