I'm keeping my fingers crossed about football being played this fall but I give it the same likelihood as coming up with a vaccine by Labor Day.
The Big Ten is canceling all non-conference football games this fall
- Thread starter 82hoosier
- Start date
They should move the season to spring. Conference games (9) only, first game Feb 27, Bucket (last) game April 24 (or May 1 if a bye is essential), with a conference championship to follow.
Doubtful there will be any bowl games either with the way the South is getting hit.
Pretty hard to rationalize that non-conference games are too dangerous but conference games are an acceptable risk.
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They're saying a 10 game conference schedule, which would mean adding a road game v. MN, NW or Nebraska.....so maybe we see PR again after all. More likely, they're BSing us and that 10th game doesn't happen.
They are saying fewer games, more breaks, less travel, more scheduling flexibility.
If it actually happens, I'd like it. I hated our NC schedule anyway.
Here’s what I don’t get.
Today there were roughly 80000 airline flights in the US. The flights I’ve heard of, and been on, since Covid have varied with the number of passengers. But I’ve heard of, and have been on, flights that were 100 percent full. But let’s just say half full, average of about 30 passengers per plane, taking into account smaller regional planes and bigger planes.
That’s 2.4 million people daily, in cramped indoor quarters, with a recirculating air system.
And they/we can’t figure out how to practice and play sports? And can’t figure out how to have games?
I suppose airline travel is more essential in some ways. But there are hundreds of thousands of people out there that rely on these sports for their livelihood. Players, coaches, school budgets, apparel companies, the list is fairly long.
I’m going to be in a really chitty mood this fall and winter when I’m sitting on cramped airplanes every week, hearing how irresponsible it would be to have college football and basketball.
Today there were roughly 80000 airline flights in the US. The flights I’ve heard of, and been on, since Covid have varied with the number of passengers. But I’ve heard of, and have been on, flights that were 100 percent full. But let’s just say half full, average of about 30 passengers per plane, taking into account smaller regional planes and bigger planes.
That’s 2.4 million people daily, in cramped indoor quarters, with a recirculating air system.
And they/we can’t figure out how to practice and play sports? And can’t figure out how to have games?
I suppose airline travel is more essential in some ways. But there are hundreds of thousands of people out there that rely on these sports for their livelihood. Players, coaches, school budgets, apparel companies, the list is fairly long.
I’m going to be in a really chitty mood this fall and winter when I’m sitting on cramped airplanes every week, hearing how irresponsible it would be to have college football and basketball.
The problem is at this point you can't re configure a whole season's schedule to get to 12 Conference Game. However I like the idea of getting rid of the meaningless Non- Conference games against Directional State and getting to at least 10 Conference Games. Maybe this will become the model and we can get to 12 conference Games and no Non- Conference Games.
The reason they chose this route was so that they could adjust at a moments notice so moving to a 12 game conference schedule isn't out of the question. I will be curious to see how this unfolds but there has been talks in the past of big conferences going this direction in the future anyways so this might be more of the norm than we are realizing.
I think you answered your own question. Airline travel is essential. College sports - - even revenue-generating college sports - - aren't.
Also, while airline travel no doubt carries increased risk these days, at least mitigation is possible. The airlines are supposedly undertaking enhanced disinfecting methods, and air purification systems are considered state of the art. And, with everyone wearing a mask, there's that additional level of protection. Football, on the other hand, is literally an in-your-face activity with guys grunting, coughing and breathing hard for three and a half hours. If a football player plays with Covid, particularly a guy up front, it's almost a guarantee that he's going to transmit it to other guys. Then, before you know it, there's an outbreak.
I still don't get why they don't just commit to moving the season to the spring and buy themselves some time. Play baseball and softball and track in the fall - outdoors, minimal contact, small crowds - and move volleyball and football to the spring. If things go south, at least spring sport kids don't get screwed twice and football is spared the futility of an interrupted season. By that time we will either have a handle on the situation or at least know in advance that it isn't doable.
It’s not safe to fly either. Some of the earliest outbreaks occurred on flights.
snowling
Hall of Famer
If you play football in the spring you have several issues. First and foremost depending upon when you are starting your season, you may be running into the middle of NCAA Basketball and March Madness. How much interest and attendance do you get if you have a Football Game Scheduled at the same time your Basketball Team is in the NCAA Tournament? i remember when IU had a key football game against Michigan State that could determine Bowl Eligibility years ago. The headline and lead story in the local sports Section was " Midnight Madness at IU Tonight", and the Football game was a footnote on page 3. Then you may also be competing against the start of baseball season. PGA Golf and particularly the Masters,
Last, in the Midwest, you are coming out of winter to spring and the urge to be outdoors. Whether that involves kids in baseball, soccer, or just spending time hiking or fishing together at a local or regional facility.
Last, in the Midwest, you are coming out of winter to spring and the urge to be outdoors. Whether that involves kids in baseball, soccer, or just spending time hiking or fishing together at a local or regional facility.
It's a huge Saftey risk. You want the kids to play a 12 game schedule then have 3 months to prepare their bodies for fall practice? It isn't practical with football.
snowling
Hall of Famer
If they add a tenth game which would be a road game I bet they have us playing at Northwestern.
We have played at Nebraska and Iowa since we have played them on the road.
Throw in the Payton Ramsey intrigue makes it a no brainer.
I’m sure he would like nothing better than lighting us up.
We have played at Nebraska and Iowa since we have played them on the road.
Throw in the Payton Ramsey intrigue makes it a no brainer.
I’m sure he would like nothing better than lighting us up.
All fall sports. I’m of mixed feelings. Kind of feels like a wasted year of eligibility.
snowling
Hall of Famer
No, I don't think a 12 game schedule is realistic in the spring. I think it would be 8, 9 max. It's not ideal, but I don't think it's a huge safety risk. Players train year-round anyway. Mid-May to Labor Day is time enough to physically prepare after an 8 game season.
I see no value in trying to start a season that is likely to be plagued by outbreaks in the fall and possibly failing to be completed ( if it even gets started).
Thank you Steve for the many updates and links
I don't think we should be playing ANY games until we get rid if this #$%^*ng virus--& for ME to say that, you know damn well this is situation critical, because losing a football season is akin to losing a loved one for me, & that's not as much of an exaggeration as one might think. I can't be the only one who's on his last nerve with this pandemic--it's gotta' go, I don't care what it takes. I'm BEYOND done with it. I don't care if we have to all isolate in our homes for a month Wuhan style, walk across the Serengeti, climb the Himalayas, whatever. I've SO had it.
We may never rid the world of Covid-19. Most likely, we are going to have to learn how to live with it.
If you’re gonna move football to the spring, for safety reasons, you can kiss any hope of basketball goodbye, since it pretty much starts at the beginning of cold/flu season and is played indoors.
Of the major sports, football has the best chance to be played, because you can socially distance fans a lot easier, plus it’s outside, which is much safer.
Your post brings up a point that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of people out there (Politicians in Particular), who are acting like there is a magic bullet or golden date out there, and we will wake up and it will all disappear if we shut down the economy until after the Election, or elect the "right politicians". The reality is that with or without a vaccine the disease will continue to exist, people will get it, and people will die. Even if we develop the vaccine, the virus can mutate and we will always be playing from behind , like we do with Flu Shot Roulette every fall.
There is an attitude that the function of Government should be to reach the point (however can be done) where the Virus doesn't exist and nobody will die. The best that can be done is to slow the spread of the virus and reach the point where we have an effective vaccine.
I do agree with your point that when you bring Groups of people together in larger numbers you risk spreading the disease. If Football Season needs to be eliminated we will live with that decision. Baseball and the NBA are showing us what happens when you try to bring people together. Baseball reached the point of having a meaningless short season. If the NBA tries to play out its' current season, their playoffs may end right before the 2020-2021 Regular Season is scheduled to begin.
And to expect players to play 2 season in a calendar year is pretty crazy, in my opinion.
We are learning to live with it--no sports, no work, no life. We definitely won't get rid of it if we don't try. That needs to be a bigger priority, imo.
No one knows what will happen with any typical behaviors of the past because there are too many mysteries surrounding THIS virus's behavior. I know it needs more attention, not less. & I mean ACTION. A lot of countries are living with it just fine around the world, I know a lot of people in Europe who barely have any CASES now, & they were in just as bad a shape as we were at one point. We are failing miserably.
The virus is never going away. However, other countries have managed to get it back under control, which shows that it is possible to get the cases to a more manageable level. If everyone would have taken the issue more seriously (wore masks, social distanced), then we could have been one of those countries and we wouldn't be talking about needing to cancel or change fall sports.
It should all be a priority.
We need to get rid of the virus. Full stop. This is indisputable.
But we also need to educate our kids. We need to do this as safely as possible.
We need economies to survive so taxes can be paid to our municipalities so we don't have to lay off teachers/administrators/police officers/firemen.
We need our universities and the people who work there and the businesses who support them to survive for the same reason. Can you image a place like Bloomington if a large percentage of those really, really well paid administrators gets laid off? JFC I can't even imagine. And there are a thousand Bloomingtons out there.
This is a tricky puzzle.
Wear a mask. Sorry, just wear one. There's no downside as far as I can tell. Stay home when possible. Be smart when you can't stay home. Protect the most vulnerable.
This too shall pass but we can't have scorched earth when it finally does.
Just my humble opinion.
My bad. I failed to check the identity of the poster. I appreciate and enjoy the snark. Carry on.
The comparison with European countries is a false one that is made all the time. European countries compare to individual states in the USA because they have one dominate culture and their population is the size of some of our stats. The USA is a country more varied in population density, environmental conditions, we don't have one shared like other countries, not to mention a different system of gov't.
That doesn't change the fact that our failure to take seriously mask-wearing and social distancing, and the failure of this administration to adequately prepare and mobilize a sufficient level of testing, have made the situation much worse in the US than it had to be.
Much of the fault lies with individual hard-headed, science-denying, dumbasses who for some unknown reason can't bear inconvenience. Unfortunately, many of those dumbasses take their cues from the people at the top. If the President and many Governors in this country had emphasized simple preventative measures from the get-go, and led by example, we would certainly be on a trajectory that looked more like those European countries by now.
The politicization of safety and hygiene is beyond moronic.
Whatever happens this season, they need to place a huge annotation in the record books and make some adjustments to compensate for all of this:
1. Likely will NOT be bowl games. The 9-10 games will amount to glorified scrimmages because there is no end goal. There will be no national championship playoffs.
2. They need to make a lot of adjustment on all sorts of things-
A. how many games true frosh can play without burning a redshirt?
B. Will medical redshirts be automatically granted for injuries?
C. What happens when a player tests positive? Will the said school cancel the remaking games while others continue?
D. How will verification be made that testing was done, the results, and does that conflict with HIPAA and releasing private info on players?
E. How about grad transfers? Will they receive additional time?
F. Think of the small schools who get a giant influx of their athletic budget from scheduling games at places like Death Valley, really any P-5 school, and take home big payouts. This could destroy athletic program budget of the small schools.
G. Ticket reimbursements will definitely keep the athletic ticket offices busy.
H. If you think that things get ugly at European soccer matches, wait till you see what happens when protesters start showing up outside sporting events trying to disrupt these. This will get really ugly. I don’t think that this is a matter of IF. It’s a matter of when. It could be all-out war.
Just so many policies and rules in place that NCAA is going to have to seriously rethink these.
1. Likely will NOT be bowl games. The 9-10 games will amount to glorified scrimmages because there is no end goal. There will be no national championship playoffs.
2. They need to make a lot of adjustment on all sorts of things-
A. how many games true frosh can play without burning a redshirt?
B. Will medical redshirts be automatically granted for injuries?
C. What happens when a player tests positive? Will the said school cancel the remaking games while others continue?
D. How will verification be made that testing was done, the results, and does that conflict with HIPAA and releasing private info on players?
E. How about grad transfers? Will they receive additional time?
F. Think of the small schools who get a giant influx of their athletic budget from scheduling games at places like Death Valley, really any P-5 school, and take home big payouts. This could destroy athletic program budget of the small schools.
G. Ticket reimbursements will definitely keep the athletic ticket offices busy.
H. If you think that things get ugly at European soccer matches, wait till you see what happens when protesters start showing up outside sporting events trying to disrupt these. This will get really ugly. I don’t think that this is a matter of IF. It’s a matter of when. It could be all-out war.
Just so many policies and rules in place that NCAA is going to have to seriously rethink these.
Urban Meyer on BTN said today he puts a limit on the number of - I think it was 'contacts'? Maybe not that, but he evidently kept some kind of metric. He said he only allowed a player 1,000 a year.
He said when they were playing teams they clearly overmatched, he would spend most of the week before the game just allowing the players to get back in shape. Little contact.
He said playing in the Spring, it would be putting players at risk to then play in the Fall.
In all fairness, it’s easy to single out individual leaders and second guess all the actions. Keep in mind that this was unprecedented and even leading medical experts (yes scientists) minimized the potential impact early in the year.
It amazes me that anger is turned inward on this pandemic when the real culprit is China. Not a peep about China and, depending what you read, was either a deliberate act of biological warfare or gross negligence.
Not a single peep of outrage over that.
When leadership tried to limit travelers once the extent of the impact was assessed, they were labeled as xenophobic. C’mon....people are going to push an agenda of what they labeled as “racist” over the potential death of citizens?
I fully support masks. I wear one every day and now it is mandatory in my county, so I don’t have an issue with that. There are a whole lot of folks out there not wearing masks. I find it laughable that there hasn’t been a single outcry in the media over protesters in large gatherings within inches of each other without masks.
I guess life and death take a back seat in those situations? Kind of screwed up priorities. Protest as much and safely as possible but it’s highly hypocritical to be screaming about “lives” when you are standing 6 inches away from somebody without a damn mask. You don’t care about possibly putting someone on a ventilator?
Not right.
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