The ACC will delay the start of competition for all fall sports until at least Sept. 1

[RonJohn]

If that is true: There are about 1,500 Big 10 football players. I haven't heard any numbers, but suppose about 5% have tested positive. That would mean about 75 confirmed positives. If 10 of those have actual heart issues, that is 10/75. If the entire conference were to become infected during the season and that ratio were to hold, that would be around 200 student athletes with heart issues. That does sound alarming. But of course it is based on "reported" numbers of people with issues and estimates of how many are infected.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

GREAT! Let’s schedule them all!

This could be the best season ever. Can you imagine playing that schedule plus Clemson and Auburn, etc?

 

[GT_EE78]

If that is true: There are about 1,500 Big 10 football players. I haven't heard any numbers, but suppose about 5% have tested positive. That would mean about 75 confirmed positives. If 10 of those have actual heart issues, that is 10/75. If the entire conference were to become infected during the season and that ratio were to hold, that would be around 200 student athletes with heart issues. That does sound alarming. But of course it is based on "reported" numbers of people with issues and estimates of how many are infected.

and if a frog had wings ..... - it's anecdotal

 

[Milwaukee]

If that is true: There are about 1,500 Big 10 football players. I haven't heard any numbers, but suppose about 5% have tested positive. That would mean about 75 confirmed positives. If 10 of those have actual heart issues, that is 10/75. If the entire conference were to become infected during the season and that ratio were to hold, that would be around 200 student athletes with heart issues. That does sound alarming. But of course it is based on "reported" numbers of people with issues and estimates of how many are infected.

Holy “IF” Batman. What an impressive jump to make.

 

[RonJohn]

GREAT! Let’s schedule them all!

I think Nebraska is the only one that has said they are going to try to play anyway after the announcement. They released an announcement from the Chancellor, President, Athletic Director, and Head Coach that basically said they are going to look for opportunities to play. James Franklin said this morning, before the announcement, that if the Big 10 cancelled that he would "exhaust every opportunity and option.." to play. However, the Penn State AD released a statement supporting the Big 10 decision.

I think it is very possible that Nebraska will be an independent next year. They are already on shaky ground in the Big 10 because they lost AAU status. I don't believe the Big 12 would take them back.

 

[RonJohn]

and if a frog had wings ..... - it's anecdotal

Somebody who died from the General Motors ignition issue is anecdotal. If that somebody was your parent, it wouldn't be just an anecdote. This isn't anecdotal to the Big 10, who made their decision. They know the number who have tested positive, so they know the ratio of athletes with heart issues to athletes who have tested positive.

 

[Techster]

If that is true: There are about 1,500 Big 10 football players. I haven't heard any numbers, but suppose about 5% have tested positive. That would mean about 75 confirmed positives. If 10 of those have actual heart issues, that is 10/75. If the entire conference were to become infected during the season and that ratio were to hold, that would be around 200 student athletes with heart issues. That does sound alarming. But of course it is based on "reported" numbers of people with issues and estimates of how many are infected.

The overall point decision makers are trying to make is that this goes beyond infections and death...there's a lot of runway in the middle that could affect the long term health of an SA. There's still a LOT for science and medicine to learn about Covid, much of which won't happen for years. This is a disease that affects the heart, lungs, brain, nervous system, etc. It affects people differently, and scientist are still trying to find out why. You go back to the early days of this virus, and most of the assumptions would now look stupid (Anyone remember the virus was supposed to disappear during warmer months? How about if you had the cold or flu you built up some antibodies?). Worst thing for anyone right now is to make ill informed decisions that could harms these SAs for years...even worse, lead to death.

As I said earlier, from the POV of an SA, I want to see them play because they can't have this time back. Once it's gone, it's gone...the vast majority of them will not play in the NFL so this is it for them. If they lose just this season, that's 25% of their college career. If it bleeds into next season, that's 50% of their career if the NCAA doesn't pass Covid eligibility measures. That's like a 40 year old man losing his 20's or 30's...all of it beyond an SA's control. You have sympathize with these kids because they've invested most of their lives to play on this stage.

Tough all around. Decision makers are trying to do what's best for the players and the schools, medical experts want a safe environment, coaches want to see their players safe as well, but also want to coach the kids they invested time in, players want to play...and us fans want to see them play.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Somebody who died from the General Motors ignition issue is anecdotal. If that somebody was your parent, it wouldn't be just an anecdote. This isn't anecdotal to the Big 10, who made their decision. They know the number who have tested positive, so they know the ratio of athletes with heart issues to athletes who have tested positive.

Yet they aren’t shutting down their campuses. They know they can get that dorm, on campus housing, tuition, and meal plan money with plausible deniability.

This could be the story of the year - how do we have a couple hundred thousand people with new heart issues around the country but it’s not in the news and nobody knows.

 

[bobongo]

Okay, I don't get it. I understood that the Presidents voted 10 - 2 on this, with Nebraska and Iowa voting to play and the rest voting not to play.
It was a vote, was it not? And Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State voted no season.

 

[Techster]

Okay, I don't get it. I understood that the Presidents voted 10 - 2 on this, with Nebraska and Iowa voting to play and the rest voting not to play.
It was a vote, was it not?

I see a LOT of posturing going on with some coaches and schools. NONE of the P5 schools are going to break away from their conferences as the conference bylaws would make it financial suicide, and there's no way for athletic departments to recover from leaving in this climate.

It all sounds good and gets the fanbase all fired up because their coach or school wants to play...but the reality is whatever those conferences decide, everyone else is falling in line despite what they say or tweet.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

I see a LOT of posturing going on with some coaches and schools. NONE of the P5 schools are going to break away from their conferences as the conference bylaws would make it financial suicide, and there's no way for athletic departments to recover from leaving in this climate.

It all sounds good and get the fanbase all fired up because their coach or school wants to play...but the reality is whatever those conferences decide, everyone else is falling in line despite what they say or tweet.

Are these votes that there won’t be conference games, or are they basically the conference forbidding each conference school from playing any games at all? This reminds me when certain industries were ordered to be shut down, but nothing was done to make those people whole. How can the conference do that (order no games at all) if they aren’t at the same time going to help the schools plug $50 million dollar budget holes?

 

[bobongo]

I see a LOT of posturing going on with some coaches and schools. NONE of the P5 schools are going to break away from their conferences as the conference bylaws would make it financial suicide, and there's no way for athletic departments to recover from leaving in this climate.

It all sounds good and gets the fanbase all fired up because their coach or school wants to play...but the reality is whatever those conferences decide, everyone else is falling in line despite what they say or tweet.

Yeah I know that's all a bunch of empty talk, but what I was getting at was that it wasn't some dictatorial decision by the Big 10 commissioner, it was a vote.

 

[Techster]

Non answer:

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Non answer:

Wow, what a filibuster. Why was today so emotional? Sounds like a bunch of football coaches and players vehemently disagreed with restrictions a bunch of non football people forced down upon them.

 

[RonJohn]

Yet they aren’t shutting down their campuses. They know they can get that dorm, on campus housing, tuition, and meal plan money with plausible deniability.

I have been a strong proponent of opening things up and getting as close back to normal as possible. It isn't acceptable that people go to a store and attack workers for asking them to wear a mask. It also isn't acceptable for college kids to act like times are normal. We should be opening as much as possible, and we should be pressuring people to respect social distance and to wear masks.

It is entirely possible for college campuses to be open and teaching without people exchanging respiratory droplets if the "My body, my choice" type mentality doesn't take over. It is not possible to play football without exchanging respiratory droplets.

This could be the story of the year - how do we have a couple hundred thousand people with new heart issues around the country but it’s not in the news and nobody knows.

I haven't heard any reports that we have a couple hundred thousand people with new heart issues and nobody knows.

I did see the Twitter post from the Athletic that claims that the Big 10 knows of 10 players with it. Mayo clinic says that for a mild case the person has to refrain from competitive sports for 3 to 6 months. That is the minimum treatment time.

If 10 out of (how many 60, 80, 100) positive cases in the Big 10 have this condition, I can see it causing concern among that the Big 10 presidents. The president of Michigan is an internist. The president of Michigan State was a biomedical researcher who specialized in amebic, bacterial, and viral infections. I guess we know a lot more about viruses and health conditions than those stupid ignorant university presidents.

 

[RonJohn]

I see a LOT of posturing going on with some coaches and schools. NONE of the P5 schools are going to break away from their conferences as the conference bylaws would make it financial suicide, and there's no way for athletic departments to recover from leaving in this climate.

It all sounds good and gets the fanbase all fired up because their coach or school wants to play...but the reality is whatever those conferences decide, everyone else is falling in line despite what they say or tweet.

I can actually see Nebraska breaking away from the Big 10. It might not be voluntarily.

 

[Milwaukee]

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Well you hit the proverbial nail on the head. Side A wants the freedom to make their own choices. Side B wants a dictator to mandate what they should do. It’s about as complicated as that.

To those that want a dictator to **** the season down: freedom of choice does not equal just blindly having a football season, it’s just the freedom to choose. The choice may be we’re not playing anyway.

You can have strong leadership without having a dictator. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Techster]

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

This is what I was alluding to with my post. Agreements and contracts are in place, and those can’t/won’t/don’t have to be discarded.

In light of all the other totally unprecedented things going on in this country, ANYTHING can happen.