Pete Thamel: B1G vote expected in next 72 hours
Fingers crossed.
Sources: The Big Ten presentation by the Return to Competition Task Force has ended successfully today. The full 14 Big Ten Chancellors and Presidents will meet tomorrow are expected to vote on return to play in next 72 hours. Today is the step before the step.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 12, 2020
September 12th, 2020 at 5:15 PM ^
Hearing a lot of rumbling among Big Ten sources about an informational meeting and a pending vote. Nothing concrete yet, but more chatter than I've heard since the original decision to postpone. Take it with a shaker of salt, but potentially interesting.
— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) September 12, 2020
September 12th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
Bacon is a consistently credible source. I respect that he values accuracy over speed.
September 12th, 2020 at 6:14 PM ^
Bacon > Yacht
September 12th, 2020 at 6:41 PM ^
Maybe, just maybe Bacon = Yacht???
September 12th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
I'd just really like to see a yacht made of bacon. Yumster!
September 13th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
Boeing 787 made from plastic
September 12th, 2020 at 10:08 PM ^
Bacon > Musburger
although they would be great together...
September 12th, 2020 at 5:21 PM ^
Finally sanity reigns. “Bleacher Report” is reporting that essentially it is a done deal. Just looking to decide what date in October to start.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:54 PM ^
Yes, this. It’s a brutally bad look - especially for our players - to have this opening weekend of games happen and just be totally and completely absent and the fact that today actually happened (the games and broadcasts) would provide a huge shove. Remember back to when the original Big Ten vote happened and everyone was SURE that simultaneously no one wanted to be first or last to cancel. It turns out it was just two that wanted to cancel, and assumed everyone else would follow, and the rest... did not.
September 12th, 2020 at 6:44 PM ^
I don't think this weekend's games have any impact on how the B1G looks. It's too soon to tell what the effect of the college games will be. And, while their roll out and communication were poor, postponing the season to see how others did it is actually the smart move. They've allowed time for more data to be collected about the virus, testing, vaccines, treatment, and how to manage football games/programs. They get to watch what the SEC BIGXII and ACC do and learn from their mistakes. And if they play in time to have their teams still qualify for the Playoffs then there was no loss.
The initial communication was pretty piss poor though.
September 12th, 2020 at 6:46 PM ^
This will be the revisionist history version of what the Big Ten did.
September 12th, 2020 at 9:38 PM ^
Whitewashing at it's finest. Just face it - the B1G made a decision in haste. There was no need to announce a postponement until spring at that time.
September 12th, 2020 at 10:49 PM ^
That is absurd. The SEC rushed into a decision in haste for profit and greed. The Big 10 is making a fact based decision as facts become available. In other words, you don’t rush into a burning building unless you know it’s safe first and the roof wont cave in.
September 13th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
It is a "homer" take to say that SEC was wrong and looking our for profit and greed and Michigan was right and full of virtue and truth.
Michigan / Big10 made the decision earlier than they needed to. Did Michigan / Big 10 believe they were making the right decision based on the facts? I believe so.
Did the SEC decide to play? Yes they did. Does this mean they don't care about their students / athletes and only care about money? No. You can actually care about keeping people safe and play football at the same time.
Being in the medical field, no one knows exactly what the data means. They are making their best guess and some will be right and some will be wrong. 190,000 have died but we have no idea how many have been infected. There are probably hundreds of thousands of people that have contracted COVID and didn't know or didn't go and get a confirmatory test. Time will tell who made the better / wiser choice.
September 13th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Oh come on...out of anyone the SEC did the smartest thing by delaying the start of their season until late Sept. That gave them more time to figure out figure out testing and see if any other advances happened (they did). The ACC and Big 12 didn't really change much at all, and just started roughly on time.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten abruptly voted to cancel their season a week or so into players practicing. There was no reason to cancel at that time. All they had to do was announce something like the SEC was doing and delay the start of their season until late Sept/early Oct. and reassess then.
Which is basically what they've wound up doing, but have done so while looking like complete idiots.
Plus, it didn't help any of their cases that they voted to cancel football because you can't have a bunch of players in close proximity, but sure lets invite thousands of students to campus and throw them in dorms and on campus housing without much of a plan in place for how you're going to keep everyone safe and things clean.
September 13th, 2020 at 10:53 AM ^
Remind me again which facts the big ten cited when they made their decision? I seem to recall not much transparency from their announcement.
Here's a fun fact for you, the us is now under a 5% positivity rate for covid testing.
September 13th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
“Smart move” is in no way applicable to the poor decision they made. It wasn’t just their communication that was bad.
September 12th, 2020 at 10:46 PM ^
Not so fast Clarence. That is a bad take. Our players can be assured that the Big 10 is not rushing in to decisions for profit. Rather they are making sure the players safety is evaluated thoroughly first.
September 13th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Clarence's take isn't bad....and neither is yours. They are simply different takes on the same situation. You can look at the data (as long as you don't politicize the data or emotionalize the data) and see that there are solid arguments for playing and for not playing. Time will tell who made the better decision, but unless you have a crystal ball you cannot (at this time) tell someone their take on the situation is "bad" or "wrong". You can disagree till the cows come home, but it is too early to say which decision will prove to have been best.
September 12th, 2020 at 11:41 PM ^
There’s a deadly pandemic on and you’re worried about how the Big Ten “looks.” Maybe rethink your priorities.
September 13th, 2020 at 12:48 AM ^
They gave the southern “schools” too much credit.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:25 PM ^
Bacon is so solid he doesn't offer with a 'grain' of salt, instead preferring the entire shaker.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:44 PM ^
Bacon is a little salty today.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:46 PM ^
He really mulls things over as he chews the fat.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:50 PM ^
so what is the cure for that? hang him and smoke it out of him?
September 13th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
I'd prefer having him standing/sitting on the downwind side of the smoker for several hours, rather than hanging him. But that's just me...
September 12th, 2020 at 5:56 PM ^
akin to a Sam Webb gut feeling and preferring a full BM. . .
s/
it sounded funnier in my mind.
September 12th, 2020 at 8:00 PM ^
Yes. It sure did.
September 12th, 2020 at 7:38 PM ^
totally read this in his voice
September 12th, 2020 at 10:51 PM ^
Surely Bacon is preparing to write the book on the COVID season.
September 13th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
And don't call him Shirley!
(I again rewatched Airplane! yesterday evening at my daughter's house. More laughs than from any movie I've seen in a long time!)
September 12th, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
Great news. The only problem: it is the same 14 people voting. Hopefully a few of them have the humility to be willing to change opinions with new testing availability and new data.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:36 PM ^
I respect that they have to consider the health of the players and the fans, etc. The other side of the equation is/are millions of dollars needed by the university budgets. A tough decision for sure.
September 12th, 2020 at 6:06 PM ^
One altered life is too many.
September 12th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
Seriously? If we knew with 100% certainty that a season could be played and the only negative result is a single player (1) with health issues as a result of covid you’d have an issue with playing?
September 12th, 2020 at 7:00 PM ^
I suspect that he is being facetious. A player dies in this country from football at some level every year from head and neck injuries. Numerous players suffer life-changing knee, head, and arm issues every season. This is a violent and dangerous game. But players make a conscious decision - knowing the risks. Covid risks are real, and are just starting to be understood. I am physician, yet I do not pretend to be an authority. I do believe that the players, coaches, and refs should have the opportunity to choose what risks they are willing to take; they don't appreciate academic elites unilaterally making that choice for them.
September 12th, 2020 at 7:12 PM ^
People make these argument by analogy all the time. And they always use comparisons with things that aren't spreadable through the air person to person.
Yes everything we do has risks. No, the things you named can't potentially exponentially spread to countless others. Without the parties involved realizing it.
The fundamental nature of the virus is the elephant in the room with all these things. But there aren't enough bodies piling up, nor enough long term health issues afflicting people, nor enough surges in cases popping up out of nowhere to get people to come to terms with the reality of the uncontrolled mess we're stuck in.
It's just a sport everyone.
September 12th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
Very well said NV. But this is still a sports blog where fans like us spend a lot of time because we are passionate about sports.
I would vote to let people sign waivers to play - using consistent testing precautions with observation of CDC guidelines. It looks like the majority of the world feels the same way: from youth leagues to professional leagues. Who knows the right choice? Truly - no one does. But money talks. Only a fool would deny that. Also, watching ND play today probably had a psychological impact on B1G leadership - for various reasons. This vote will be fascinating...
September 12th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
University of Michigan is, you know, an academic institution. Seems like the 'academic elites' at that academic institution should have a say in what people do in its name.
September 12th, 2020 at 7:47 PM ^
Touché - and I am on the edge of my seat to see how they vote! And regardless of how they vote this time - hopefully they have learned their lesson about the importance of transparency and effective communication!
September 12th, 2020 at 8:46 PM ^
Indy, I want to take a moment to commend you on your comments here. No vitriol, opinion stated while respecting others - well done.
Have a great evening!
September 12th, 2020 at 8:58 PM ^
Have you ever read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson?
September 12th, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
Ahh, yes: mob mentality/ scape goating - it is disturbing how pervasive it is. I have personally witnessed it in high level peer reviews, academic medical institutional leadership, and corporate board rooms. It reveals some of the ugliest aspects of human nature.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
My insiders claim that the (informal) vote has already taken place, and the main question now is whether or not to start on Oct 10 or Oct 17. Hallelujah if true.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
I hope you’re not fucking with me.
September 12th, 2020 at 9:43 PM ^
Communists always fuck with you. The promise is equality and the result is everyone suffers.
September 12th, 2020 at 11:03 PM ^
I'm not myself an insider, comrades, but the people I know definitely are—the facts on the ground are not constant, but it appears that football is going to happen. Main questions are: (1) Oct 10 or 17; (2) do all 14 teams play, or do a couple (Rutgers? Wiscy?) sit out.
FWIW, while we all love making fun of Sir Yacht, my understanding is that he is connected to Gene Smith—so the way to interpret his tweets is that they reflect Smith's understanding of the situation (which obviously has been far from perfect, and it is interesting in and of itself that Gene Smith's window into the facts has not been completely accurate).
September 12th, 2020 at 5:38 PM ^
If they're going to have a season, do it sooner, each university needs the $$ in their budgets.
September 12th, 2020 at 5:45 PM ^
Are you Sir Yacht? Everybody has sources these days...