The season was canceled because, despite five months to work things out, the Big Ten had no plan for player safety

This is what’s utterly baffling. They had months to prepare multiple solutions for multiple scenarios for their cash cow sport. And they chose not to. It’s one thing if they had a plan, stuck to it, and it didn’t happen to work. We’re living in unprecedented times and I can’t fault folks for doing the best with what they have at the time. 
 

But now SF and Neb have become the whipping boys for the B1G’s complete lack of preparation or accountability. All for expressing the same thoughts and sentiments that multiple other coaches and programs have. 
 

Absolutely unreal. 

 
What if there's no non-bubble situation that would've worked?

We haven't had an event like this in more than a century. Situations have developed swung rapidly and wildly since February.

Personally I'm getting a bit sick at hearing the "players are safer inside the program playing ball than they are on their own" rebuttal. It infantalizes the players and frankly we have no way of knowing how well that would work in the fall until we actually tried it.

Everybody seems so sure there's some clear cut plan out there that could've been devised that could've prevented the season from eventually imploding. Given all the moving parts are we really sure that's the case?

 
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Danny Bateman said:
What if there's no non-bubble situation that would've worked?

We haven't had an event like this in more than a century. Situations have developed swung rapidly and wildly since February.

Personally I'm getting a bit sick at hearing the "players are safer inside the program playing ball than they are on their own" rebuttal. It infantalizes the players and frankly we have no way of knowing how well that would work in the fall until we actually tried it.

Everybody seems so sure there's some clear cut plan out there that could've been devised that could've prevented the season from eventually imploding. Given all the moving parts are we really sure that's the case?
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That’s likely the case. I highly doubt there’s any plan out there that’s fool proof. But it’s become evident that the B1G didn’t even try. 
 

Why not just do division games? 6 games total, 3 home 3 away. Space them out every other week to allow for testing, quarantining, etc. Players and coaches can show up to away games a week early and quarantine in a local hotel (that has likely been vacant for months and could use the business). Then in place of a bowl game, you play the equivalent of your standing in the East.

Is that foolproof? Absolutely not. Folks could poke holes in that all day long. But that’s why folks like Kevin Warren are paid to figure things out, and at least try. 

 
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Fru said:
That’s likely the case. I highly doubt there’s any plan out there that’s fool proof. But it’s become evident that the B1G didn’t even try. 
 

Why not just do division games? 6 games total, 3 home 3 away. Space them out every other week to allow for testing, quarantining, etc. Players and coaches can show up to away games a week early and quarantine in a local hotel (that has likely been vacant for months and could use the business). Then in place of a bowl game, you play the equivalent of your standing in the East.

Is that foolproof? Absolutely not. Folks could poke holes in that all day long. But that’s why folks like Kevin Warren are paI’d to figure things out, and at least try. 
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Yeah, I wasn't sure I bought the whole "they want to cancel the season to quash the player's union movement" but the decisions don't make a lot of sense through any other lens. Especially making the call now - there was still time to see how workouts and testing progressed before making the call either way. And the all or none piece sucks too. If some schools don't have defined and approved testing protocols, they can't play. Could've been as easy as that.

 
Decked said:
Boy that Warren guy sure was a good hire. Clueless. Wtf was he doing?
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I mean it is an entirely unprecedented situation, but yeah it's not being handled super well. Cancelling the season is one thing, and may very well be the right call. But it looks like at best they've been stringing schools along, and at worst just completely failed to come up with a unified plan and gave up before getting called on it. 

 
Decked said:
Boy that Warren guy sure was a good hire. Clueless. Wtf was he doing?
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I read his very long and detailed background story / resume’ when looking up who the Big Ten commish was recently.   My reaction was - the guy moves from job to job, school to school, etc all too frequently to impress me.  He has done many things many places but has little or NO college admin experience.  He likely has little real feel for how ADs and collegiate orgs function etc.  

He may be a very bright man but he has been AWOL on the whole mess.  He is a rookie in the job and seems to be trying to get in front of the mob instead of lead it.  imo

 
Fru said:
That’s likely the case. I highly doubt there’s any plan out there that’s fool proof. But it’s become evident that the B1G didn’t even try. 
 

Why not just do division games? 6 games total, 3 home 3 away. Space them out every other week to allow for testing, quarantining, etc. Players and coaches can show up to away games a week early and quarantine in a local hotel (that has likely been vacant for months and could use the business). Then in place of a bowl game, you play the equivalent of your standing in the East.

Is that foolproof? Absolutely not. Folks could poke holes in that all day long. But that’s why folks like Kevin Warren are paI’d to figure things out, and at least try. 
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To be sure, and in line with what @Husker in WI said, I think it's 100% the case calling off the season was about avoiding legal liability and maintaining the current power structure than it was truly about solely safety concerns.

That said, I think they decided there's just too much risk involved if something goes wrong that could potentially upset the apple cart and pulled the plug. Even in the situation you mentioned, all it takes is ONE guy screwing up, making the wrong choice, getting unlucky or one false negative test outside of quarantine that brings it inside and it could ravage an entire team.

That would plunge the team/university/conference into a legal minefield.

I think the B1G is operating more out of selfish self-interest than they are looking out for players. To that end, they determined there's no workable solution, combined with not knowing what the virus situation will look like in the fall, and pulled the ripcord. I think people are just salty they didn't delay the inevitable longer.

 
Danny Bateman said:
To be sure, and in line with what @Husker in WI said, I think it's 100% the case calling off the season was about avoiding legal liability and maintaining the current power structure than it was truly about solely safety concerns.

That said, I think they decided there's just too much risk involved if something goes wrong that could potentially upset the apple cart and pulled the plug. Even in the situation you mentioned, all it takes is ONE guy screwing up, making the wrong choice, getting unlucky or one false negative test outside of quarantine that brings it inside and it could ravage an entire team.

That would plunge the team/university/conference into a legal minefield.

I think the B1G is operating more out of selfish self-interest than they are looking out for players. To that end, they determined there's no workable solution, combined with not knowing what the virus situation will look like in the fall, and pulled the ripcord. I think people are just salty they didn't delay the inevitable longer.
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Ravage? an entire team.  You mean like has already happened or you mean kids will actually get sick?  The vast majority of kids who have had this didn't even get symptoms.  Maybe some of those will have side effects?  I guess that remains to be seen.

If you take 200 random college age kids and split them into the following 2 groups, who is likely going to fare better over the next 4-5 months?

Group 1 - Attend normal in person college classes.  Eat out because it's almost impossible to cook all meals.  Go to at least the occasional social gathering.  Most kids in this age bracket aren't afraid of the virus so is it really necessary to social distance?  What is their motivation to even try?  I know some of these kids - they don't care about the virus.  

Group 2 -  Be part of a football team with serious motivation to stay Covid free.  Have at minimum bi-weekly testing along with the best physician care at your disposal.  Have excellent food available to you in a safe setting.  Be surrounded by peer and coach leadership to help keep you safe.    

It is very easy to see what group will end up with fewer cases and be less likely to have a serious problem even when they do get a case.   

They THEY you refer to are the presidents and the comish.  They know what I stated above is true 100%  They made this decision 100% to avoid liability.     

 
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