Where is Kevin Warren?

Submitted by smitty1983 on August 18th, 2020 at 11:45 AM

How has this guy not had a press conference yet? This is turning into a shit show and is embarrassing for the big ten (did they vote?). I don't care what side you are on for playing or postponing/canceling until 2021, this is a lack of leadership. He will not have a job for very long the way he is dealing with this. 

MGoBoard

BooKooBlue

August 18th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^

Reports are he had a big part in the decision.

Last week, Minnesota president Joan Gabel offered a similar sentiment.

"We didn't vote, per se. It's a deliberative process where we came to a decision together," she said. "But I absolutely support the decision that we came to. Safety first. Absolutely, safety first." 

Warren had a heavy influence on the decision, Big Ten sources told CBS Sports. In the past, the league has typically voted as a body on matters this important. A league spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Joined: 12/19/2014

MGoPoints: 6136

BooKooBlue

August 18th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^

Even his comments make it sound like he was part of the decision. 

Warren said. “When you look at this decision, we just believe collectively there’s too much uncertainty at this point in time in our country to encourage our student-athletes to participate in fall sports. We take this responsibility seriously and I will continually do everything in my power to make sure that we put our student-athletes in a position to be empowered and to be elevated.”

Joined: 12/19/2014

MGoPoints: 6136

BooKooBlue

August 18th, 2020 at 4:18 PM ^

If I had to speculate. I would say the Presidents were on the fence since other conferences were still going forward. When they asked Warren what he recommended I think he told them his recommendation was not to play and that tipped the scale. 

Are you saying the Presidents didn't even consult Warren before they made their decision? Cause I find that hard to believe.

Joined: 12/19/2014

MGoPoints: 6136

1VaBlue1

August 18th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^

Yes, many times.  In fact, far more often than not.  It's pretty rare for a team of engineers to vote on the best path forward instead of talking it out to a consensus.

But in this case, you're right - a vote seems far more likely to have happened.  Especially in the case of a clear lack of consensus, as with an (allegedly) 8-6 vote.

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127087

Erik_in_Dayton

August 18th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^

I genuinely don't mean to be glib, but what do you want him to say? That the fall season is still canceled? That there is some discord within the conference? That he doesn't know what the conference will do with basketball season? There doesn't seem much point.

Joined: 12/03/2008

MGoPoints: 59152

michgoblue

August 18th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^

Well since approximately half of those 170,000 death certificates are for people who lived in nursing homes, I agree that we shouldn’t have nursing home patients play or coach college football. Of the remainder, the vast majority (not all) had significant pre-existing conditions or were either morbidly obese or elderly.  And I would agree that in any time, but especially with this disease rampant, we should do thorough physicals of all kids who are going to play D1 football to identify whether those kids have pre-existing conditions that might expose them to increased covid risk. Wait, we do that already and generally speaking, we are able to identify MOST pre-existing conditions (and we don’t have elderly kids playing college football). 
So, if we were going to simply gesture to 170,000 death certificates, and take the information from those certificates, wouldn’t that actually show why we COULD be playing college football, not why we should be cancelling a sport played by the lowest-risk individuals? Note, I am not saying that we should have fans in attendance - just that the players, who are almost certainly socializing anyway, can play the games with proper precautions. 

Joined: 11/16/2009

MGoPoints: 32166

MRunner73

August 18th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^

Too bad you've gotten a ton of of thumbs down votes, but that's how it goes. The big deal is let's see how far the SEC, ACC and Big-12 season gets. It could be one week or it could be more. I will take it week by week concerning those three conferences and wish them well and success. They are the canary in the coal mine.

Joined: 11/11/2018

MGoPoints: 16883

AC1997

August 18th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^

While I think most would agree that transparency around how they made these decisions would be nice so that we can better understand the process.....it really doesn't matter.  The simple answer is that we're in a global pandemic with unknown health risks and an unknown method to mitigate risk sufficiently to ensure the safety of our players and coaches.  Therefore they made the difficult, but safer decision to postpone the season.  It sucks....but sharing stats and data isn't going to satisfy everyone.  

My kid started high school yesterday from my dining room table.  I wish he could go to school.  I know this isn't as good of an experience and that he doesn't like it.  I also know that no one has a great plan for how to keep everyone safe in large gatherings or what the lasting effects are of getting the virus.  Erring on the safe side is what our school, and the B10 chose to do.  While it is disappointing and I wish for other outcomes.....I understand it even without hearing about votes, stats, or studies because those are still evolving. 

Joined: 09/19/2008

MGoPoints: 13809

Bluesince89

August 18th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^

FWIW, I think it's ridiculous that students are back and I doubt it will last.  I can also see the difference between say, attempting at having in-person classes (educating students is the goal of a university, after all) versus not playing sports (ancillary to the mission of a university, and some would argue completely out of line, at least how they are done across most universities).  

Joined: 09/14/2008

MGoPoints: 14739

gobluem

August 18th, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^

The simple answer is that we're in a global pandemic with unknown health risks and an unknown method to mitigate risk sufficiently to ensure the safety of our players and coaches.  Therefore they made the difficult, but safer decision to postpone the season.  It sucks....but sharing stats and data isn't going to satisfy everyone.  

 

Exactly. The people clamoring for "more explanation" just want something to poke holes at. It's a bad faith request.

Joined: 09/15/2017

MGoPoints: 6824

buddha

August 18th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^

Exactly.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling many people want explanations not so much to understand but rather to argue and to disagree. Meaning, rather than making a genuine effort to learn why the Presidents of the B1G cancelled fall sports, they'd rather take the same data, interpret it through their own risk analysis, and surface all the faults with the body's conclusion. Thereafter, if they can utilize a platform to scream the loudest, they may become a source of truth for some segment(s) of the population.

At the end of the day, the people accountable for the management of their respective institutions made an informed, data-driven decision based on the knowns and unknowns of this disease. That's their job. Given the current climate, it's an unenviable one to have. They are all in a lose-lose situation; but, I have no problems with them choosing to preserve the primary mission of the university, education, over sports during this time. 

Joined: 10/08/2009

MGoPoints: 5033

MEZman

August 18th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^

He won't have a job for very long? This is what the B1G has always done. I'd say he's in for a long and successful career based on how transparent his predecessors were.

Joined: 12/13/2008

MGoPoints: 15315