Will There Be a 2020 Football Season?

[Guy Chamberlin]

Ok, point. 
 

I don’t return to work until Wednesday and I’m kind of bored. 

This involves just one guy involved in the federal government. And it's two years old. Newer articles involving more associates reveal it's actually much worse. But it's a start. Hope you'll agree that U.S. News & World Report is a reasonable source. I'd like to add how much I want Husker football to return so we can keep this in the thread.

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-05/how-is-donald-trump-profiting-from-the-presidency-let-us-count-the-ways

 

[kansas45]

I fully expect all the P5 conferences to announce their plan for no football at the same time.  It will be a united front type of deal.

I can't imagine one P5 conference playing while the others don't.

I don't know but it seems like with the Big 10 announcing conference only without the others is an indication, to me at least, that there is not a unified front on this matter.

What we saw with the FCS CAA league, they suspended their competition but allowing each school to go independent. This does not make any sense to me but it is happening now.

https://sports.yahoo.com/reports-caa-call-off-2020-232330071.html

I do not know if each of these schools are intending to merely test the waters on a go it alone plan but it does appear to me that in a sinking ship it is every man for themselves. I wonder how many schools are watching this move from a small FCS conference? 

I do contend that college presidents are at a tipping point but this tipping point is on their own paradigm that they have been selling us: this paradigm is "if it is unsafe for students to be on campus, then it is unsafe for football and other athletics"; if they do not have students on campus but has the football team to play, then the whole paradigm collapses in front of their own eyes and they will not be able to argue the paradigm that they have built up and sold us. We have always known this but it is becoming even more obvious and they cannot hide around the issue anymore is that this is a money grab and the concept of "student-athlete safety is paramount" is a false premise.

 

[Branno]

This response is in no way a criticism of your comment but simply an observation made from it.

1. we complain that people are not/were not following guidelines from the CDC;

2. yet we are hoping that we put young men ages 18-23 in close contact and in groups of more than 30 and closer than six feet, essentially away from the CDC guidelines, so we can have the game of football; 

3. and because we cannot get our football, people are being blamed for us losing a season of football;

4. we have seen entire industries with employees losing their jobs and/or not being able to work, but now we worry about the economic impact of losing football? 

I ask this question: is football an "essential" aspect? We had people not have their jobs due to this classified as "non-essential" and "essential" but somehow football is essential? We worry about the overall impact of not having football on local business when many local businesses were considered "non-essential". We all knew there would be spikes, upticks, and were told there would be a "second wave." 

But now we are in the phase of "finger pointing" and the "blame game." That must be phase 5 of the re-opening. 

I don’t take it as criticism, as I feel I’ve been consistent in my messaging that I don’t feel it’s safe and we won’t have football because of it. 
 

I do want to address one part of your response though. 
 

“because we cannot get our football, people are being blamed for us losing a season of football”

People are to blame. We’ve seen, in all but 4 countries (US, Brazil, Russia, India) people do the necessary things to keep the virus in check and move on with their lives (albeit in a new normal). We’ve seen the return of sports in many of these countries, including rugby. 
 

Is the US somehow special or unique, that we would be in this situation regardless of how people acted? No. 
 

If people would have stayed home instead of demanding they get haircuts, be able to eat at restaurants, drink at bars, etc we wouldn’t be where we are now. 
 

If the idiots that refuse to wear masks worried more about their health and the health and safety of others than imaginary attacks on their “freedom” we wouldn’t be where we are now. 
 

People are entirely to blame for us not getting college football. You just need to be able to look outside our borders to see what is obvious. 

 

[kansas45]

If people would have stayed home instead of demanding they get haircuts, be able to eat at restaurants, drink at bars, etc we wouldn’t be where we are now. 

I see your point. However, would this have also been true for college football? Didn't we have student-athletes coming back on campus at one point for involuntary workouts? 

And what was the exact date in which we could have been "free and clear"?

My argument is with the media and the politicians. They said that those citizens who were fed up and doing things were a problem and should have listened YET we saw massive demonstrations/protests/riots and the news media said "nothing to worry about, there will be no spread of the virus." Thus, the average citizen cannot be blamed for this but has to ALL be lumped in to those who wanted to go to work and those who wanted to break windows and topple statues. I just hope that when they starting assigning the blame that the average citizen who did the right thing will not be blamed. Look, I have been cooped up in my house working from home and doing all the right things working from home and only got ONE haircut when it was deemed "ok" by my state. 

I will stop right there because it will get political. 

 

[Nebfanatic]

I see your point. However, would this have also been true for college football? Didn't we have student-athletes coming back on campus at one point for involuntary workouts? 

And what was the exact date in which we could have been "free and clear"?

My argument is with the media and the politicians. They said that those citizens who were fed up and doing things were a problem and should have listened YET we saw massive demonstrations/protests/riots and the news media said "nothing to worry about, there will be no spread of the virus." Thus, the average citizen cannot be blamed for this but has to ALL be lumped in to those who wanted to go to work and those who wanted to break windows and topple statues. I just hope that when they starting assigning the blame that the average citizen who did the right thing will not be blamed. Look, I have been cooped up in my house working from home and doing all the right things working from home and only got ONE haircut when it was deemed "ok" by my state. 

I will stop right there because it will get political. 

How many of the protests were in Texas, Florida, AZ, Mississippi where I'm at? We had no protests really and we are near the top of the list for spread right now 

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

I don't know but it seems like with the Big 10 announcing conference only without the others is an indication, to me at least, that there is not a unified front on this matter.

What we saw with the FCS CAA league, they suspended their competition but allowing each school to go independent. This does not make any sense to me but it is happening now.

https://sports.yahoo.com/reports-caa-call-off-2020-232330071.html

I do not know if each of these schools are intending to merely test the waters on a go it alone plan but it does appear to me that in a sinking ship it is every man for themselves. I wonder how many schools are watching this move from a small FCS conference? 

I do contend that college presidents are at a tipping point but this tipping point is on their own paradigm that they have been selling us: this paradigm is "if it is unsafe for students to be on campus, then it is unsafe for football and other athletics"; if they do not have students on campus but has the football team to play, then the whole paradigm collapses in front of their own eyes and they will not be able to argue the paradigm that they have built up and sold us. We have always known this but it is becoming even more obvious and they cannot hide around the issue anymore is that this is a money grab and the concept of "student-athlete safety is paramount" is a false premise.

Even if the admins said it for the wrong reasons, the student-athletes are much safer in the the athletic department then they would be on their own having house parties.  None of the fake reasons offered to justify why "the season is impossible" stand up to scrutiny.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

How many of the protests were in Texas, Florida, AZ, Mississippi where I'm at? We had no protests really and we are near the top of the list for spread right now 

Downtown Phoenix had densley packed streets of protestors when it was 109 Fahrenheit. And we lost no statues.  I respect their spirit if not their virus protection sense.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Even if the admins said it for the wrong reasons, the student-athletes are much safer in the the athletic department then they would be on their own having house parties.  None of the fake reasons offered to justify why "the season is impossible" stand up to scrutiny.

Not sure this holds up at all really. This isn't pro sports,  ADs can't keep kids in a bubble. Its cute you don't think they will be attending house parties if there is a season 

 

[Nebfanatic]

Downtown Phoenix had densley packed streets of protestors when it was 109 Fahrenheit. And we lost no statues.  I respect their spirit if not their virus protection sense.

That makes sense I suppose they probably had protests in all of the major cities we just heard about some more than others. Thanks for sharing 

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

not worried, just aware.  i can see those not stepping up for vaccine being restricted from mass transport, air or cruise ship travel,

attending stadium or arena events. there is way more to this than any of us realize.

slippery slope ahead.  just my opinion.

Can you imagine a bat-eating man from Wuhan wanting to get on a plane to America, and being denied because his personal choices are putting others at considerable risk? 

It's kinda like that. 

 

[krc1995]

This involves just one guy involved in the federal government. And it's two years old. Newer articles involving more associates reveal it's actually much worse. But it's a start. Hope you'll agree that U.S. News & World Report is a reasonable source. I'd like to add how much I want Husker football to return so we can keep this in the thread.

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-05/how-is-donald-trump-profiting-from-the-presidency-let-us-count-the-ways

Nothing but reaching assumptions. Not a trump person, and truly I do not know who I will vote for, but this doesn’t tickle my wire at all. 
 

the price of putting a business man into office I guess. 

 

[kansas45]

That makes sense I suppose they probably had protests in all of the major cities we just heard about some more than others. Thanks for sharing 

There was supposed to be a protest march in my city and it got cancelled....due to rain. 

God has a sense of humor. 

But I will stress this: if you simply put college athletes in a dorm and try to keep them sequestered in order to keep them safe and they get tested so they can play, do the other students on campus get the same benefit? I would think it would be best to bring back students for on-campus housing, keep them sequestered, get them tested so they could take online classes and still perform in the band, concert choir, chemistry club, do their piano or music recital, or have those students work in the labs on a professor's grant.

If these students are not allowed to get this same benefit, then the whole illusion of amateurism is "out the door" and collapses. This is what the college prez's have to worry about.

For example, this is telling right here: https://madison.com/wsj/sports/college/wisconsin-badgers-seniors-wont-return-to-spring-sports-in-2021-athletic-department-says/article_32a85306-19dc-5969-9a61-d6608992eea4.html

One of the arguments against having senior athletes return for another season, Alvarez said, was other students won’t get a chance to finish a semester of studying abroad or be able to take part in a final musical performance that was canceled.

“Anybody that went through that, it just ended,” he said. “And so, I think our faculty reps thought that it shouldn’t be one group be cherry-picked to get credit and be able to come back to pick up that year of eligibility.”

Uh folks, we forgot to include the variable of the "faculty athletic representative." Of course, you can argue that was spring sports and not football and that was "then" and this is "now", but the same dynamic still exists. And we are also missing this dynamic as well. The African-American experience in this group's strong claim that blacks are disproportionately affected than other ethnic groups in this virus. It is no wonder that those conferences that are predominately black such as the HBCU conferences cancelled out. Right now, the SIAC, CIAA (D2 conferences) cancelled their seasons, Hampton cancelled their season (Big South) and the MEAC just did the other day. The SWAC is more than likely soon to follow. The point is this: in this pandemic, this dynamic cannot be forgotten. Not only the pandemic but the social dynamic of the race issue cannot be too far away from this conversation. 

As well, (and here are the what-ifs), a second-string OL gets the virus but it gets transmitted somehow to grandma and she dies. Oh man oh man. We are worried about the football player getting it and needing to be a ventilator; that would be enough to call the whole thing off in a heartbeat. But you will argue "but, but, we kept these players in a hotel and they did their online classes and were not allowed to venture out thus saving them for Saturday." Then the athlete ceases to be a student but an unpaid employee of the university. And this is something that the college prez's do NOT want to even remotely consider and have to defend because they cannot logically defend it. 

I venture this question: if your son was playing college ball, you would tolerate not being able to see him? Like you would accept just talking to him on the phone or through a Zoom? You would want to go see him like it is some prison with practice and games being like some work-release? All for the greater good of college football? And the only way you would get to see your kid play is on TV? All for the greater good of hopefully someday although statistically improbable of someday cashing in a pro-career so you could retire?

Here is an image of a starting linebacker, at the dorm, talking to his girlfriend after practice telling her to make sure she feeds the cat at his off-campus apartment the two were sharing.

Here is the starting DB on a college football team. In order to prevent the spread of the virus but to make sure that he is ready to play on Saturday for a very important game student-athletes are sequestered in their dorm rooms and taking their classes online. Here we see the student-athlete contacting the football office nutrition service making an order with their university debit card to get some extra food for a long hard night of studying. You must admire the student-athletes and their dedication to their studies as well as football. 

 

[Branno]

How many of the protests were in Texas, Florida, AZ, Mississippi where I'm at? We had no protests really and we are near the top of the list for spread right now 

More accurately, look at places like New York where BLM protests were prevalent and we didn’t see a major spike in COVID infections. 
 

BLM protests are a red herring. It’s a way to assign the blame to people with no power. 
 

Its not a coincidence that the states hit hardest now at the ones that refused to fully shutdown and re-opened their economy too early. 

 

[kansas45]

Its not a coincidence that the states hit hardest now at the ones that refused to fully shutdown and re-opened their economy too early. 

Can you explain California and their Shutdown 2.0? 

 

[JJ Husker]

I don’t take it as criticism, as I feel I’ve been consistent in my messaging that I don’t feel it’s safe and we won’t have football because of it. 
 

I do want to address one part of your response though. 
 

“because we cannot get our football, people are being blamed for us losing a season of football”

People are to blame. We’ve seen, in all but 4 countries (US, Brazil, Russia, India) people do the necessary things to keep the virus in check and move on with their lives (albeit in a new normal). We’ve seen the return of sports in many of these countries, including rugby. 
 

Is the us somehow special or unique, that we would be in this situation regardless of how people acted? No. 
 

If people would have stayed home instead of demanding they get haircuts, be able to eat at restaurants, drink at bars, etc we wouldn’t be where we are now. 
 

If the idiots that refuse to wear masks worried more about their health than imaginary attacks on their “freedom” we wouldn’t be where we are now. 
 

People are entirely to blame for us not getting college football. You just need to be able to look outside our borders to see what is obvious. 

Exactly. I had planned to respond in much the same way. Thanks for saving me the time  :thumbs