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The Big Ten is full of idiots. There is no rational basis for canceling non-conference football games. Zero.
The only reason to cancel non-conference football is if there are health issues or travel issues. There are neither.
If there are health issues to participating in non-conference games, it really should be looked into. Where’s the data?
There is no legitimate justification for canceling non-conference college football games.
Why shouldn’t Iowa and Iowa State be able to play each other in the state of Iowa?
Why in the world Nebraska can travel all across the country to play against Rutgers?
This is a move made by idiots in the Big Ten to placate idiots in the media who don’t — or won’t — understand the data.
It makes no sense why it would be safe to play conference games but not play non-conference games.
College kids who are playing athletics are safer on their campus than they would be if they are off campus.
After all, they have access to doctors all the time and they’re being tested every day.
There is less danger to college football players on a college campus than there is off of a college campus. The data is clear: there is almost a zero percent chance of anybody dying who is college age.
There is almost a zero percent chance of anybody dying who is playing college football.
But if you are going to get sick, the best place to be treated is on a college campus where they have tons of medical professionals.
Many players have already gotten the virus and none of them are getting hospitalized. They either have no symptoms or it’s like they have a cold.
Idiots in the Big Ten are being supported by the idiots in the college Coronabros media because they aren’t willing to look at or accept the data.
You are absolutely right. But here’s a little devils advocate with sliver lining. First with the sliver lining. At least they just didn’t make a knee jerk reaction and just cancelled everything based off fear and pressure from social media. As of now they will play, but just conference games. So that means College Football in the fall, and the small college town economies wont collapse. Now for the devils advocate. You gotta start somewhere with these people. They, for some reason follow the news word by word and ignore any data. So the fact we are starting with just conference games, and with room to change it down the road, I’m ok with that. They are the scared ones, so if they step back out into the sun just a little to see it’s all ok, I consider that a win.
I agree that some college football is better than none at all, but the non-conference games are huge revenue generators for the “smaller” D-1 programs. Schools in the MAC and C-USA are hurt by decisions like this. We can only hope that this year is an anomaly; otherwise, stuff like this can cause irreparable damage to a number of programs.
Just one missed out of conference game is costing Alabama $6 million dollars.
That is just one sport from one school. And I use the word ‘school’ very loosely. I love my Bama, but time and money do not wait or hold. Time presses on and money is moved to where it has value.
I’m a college football fan. In fact, other than NFL playoffs, College football is king Of all sports. But football is either ON or OFF. You can’t adjust the flow or use partial enthusiasm. It’s too dangerous and too complicated to do halfway or In a broken Way.
By Not playing all sports in full at the college level, The damage to the inner city and poor southern athletes will be catastrophic. It will be devastating to everyone connected to college, but worse for the very poor that depend on college being open.
We all know that the financial damage is coming like a tsunami and will be delayed, because sponsorship money and tv money are disconnected from current events. Unlike missed ticket revenues, which are more immediate.
I’m so disappointed in the athletes in America. Ordinarily brave humans are behaving like … P_ssies … ‘er … Wussies …
Keep up the Great Work Outkick!
Agreed. I fear college football might be lost for this fall. Everyone is running scared of COVID-19 and although not justified that is what is going to happen. Sad but I think true.
It wouldn’t shock me at this point. But if does get cancelled, watch at how many small college towns die because of it. Which would be worst then the covid19.
I have to play Devil’s Advocate on this one. My guess is that the Big 10 is ensuring it gets its 12 games (or whatever they can this season) instead of risking non-conference cancellations. They should be applauded – especially if that is reality come fall.
If the rest of college football chickens out, the rest of the country will remember the Big 10 is THE premiere conference. The National Champ will probably be Wisconsin – by default.
Can you get an athletic director to agree to an interview? It would be insightful to have an answer to one question: “You’ve said that you are concerned for the safety of your players and are weighing whether to allow them to play this fall. You said last week that it is not looking good. What is the current mortality rate/survival rate for healthy people, under the age of 25?”
I’d love to see if they know it.. or if they are just not brave enough to say it. I’d say it’s the second choice. But a scared AD would never consent to an interview with you. So let’s say a brave one agrees, and actually admits that the survival rate is 100%.
So what is your safety concern? “It’s the fans and players infecting others who have a risk of death. You know…cases are really skyrocketing!!! ” (Code for “I don’t want to get bulldozed on twitter”). If you could get to this point there is a chance that it could turn into a discussion of logical steps that could be taken to mitigate these risks. There are plenty. At minimum you should be able to get the AD to acknowledge that, under current protocols, the chances of a player unknowingly infecting Grandma (or any other high risk person) are close to ZERO. Sending them home… not so much.