Will There Be a 2020 Football Season?

Chances of a 2020 season?

  • Full 12 Game Schedule

    Votes: 20 36.4%

  • Shortened Season

    Votes: 13 23.6%

  • No Games Played

    Votes: 22 40.0%
  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .
FrantzHardySwag said:
B1G: Is football safe enough to play this fall? It will take weeks to debate.

B1G: NOVEMBER BASKETBALL MOTHERf#&%ERS......... YEEEEE-HAWWWWWWWW
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So they can't even attempt to play football, but they can play all basketball including non conference? Something isn't adding up. .

 
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CAHusker said:
think a concern for liability is driving this decision, followed by a concern for health.  

I’m not saying this doesn’t have some validity.  Additionally, if this is the case then why are the ACC, SEC and Big 12 conferences playing?  Does the Big10 know something the others don’t know or understand?  It just doesn't feel right, but hey if I am wrong I will be the first one stepping up and say so.

I think the people saying it's "political" have a lot more dot-connecting to do before that's a realistic scenario. Let's apply our skeptical minds to the "it's political" idea.

1. There's no direct line between withholding football and getting Candidate A or Candidate B elected.

Probably not, but there is something to be said about the nature of the statements below.  Additionally, my original message included Politics and/or Power.  Why you could argue these statements are not political, you can’t argue that they are not a power play.  I believe they are both.

·         Ongoing lock-down banter between Michigan’s Governor and Trumph

·         Big 10 Commissioners lack of communication and transparency about the decision to play.  You could add the unprofessional response to the economic concerns of the University of Nebraska and others. 

·         Biden launches commercials that show empty stadiums in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio

·         Trump reaches out to assist in medical equipment and asks what the federal government can do to help the Big 10

2. There is no evidence that greater than 60%, and possibly up to 11, of the COC/P's are of a like political mind.

3. There is no evidence that, presuming #2 to be true and #1 to be the aim, that 60%, and possibly up to 11, of the COC/P's are willing to risk their careers - and likely the election if they were discovered - on the off chance that by colluding they could have an effect on the election.

I don’t think they care if they are discovered or not.  What is the repercussions?  You can literally say anything you want if you state that you are trying to save lives, even if there proof you may be causing more damage in other ways. 

A skeptical mind needs evidence before believing these scenarios. Other than "it's an election year," there's none for "it's political."

Sure

I do want to be clear about one thing, you may be right on all of this and that's fine.  I am just stating that it all feels odd.  Additionally, I am not a Trump guy, but are perplexed by the some of the decisions being made that differ from other conferences.
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Ugh. I hate in-line responses. Let's dig this out.

The Big Ten doesn't have to "know" something the other conferences do or don't know. They have the same access to the CDC, who is, despite what anyone says, the best judge of what's going on.  So, the Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, ACC and Big 12 all have big-time academic big-wigs all in touch with America's best epidemiologists and whatever. But they're all independent institutions, all able to interpret all that data independently, and arrive at whatever conclusion they want. So they do. Separately, to the best of their abilities. Two of them see the data and say they shouldn't play ball. Three see the same data and say they should.

Who's right? Who's wrong? With a novel virus, who knows?  None of them have super secret knowledge better or worse than any of the others. It's academia - if they had it, they'd do two things: 1) They'd trumpet their superior knowledge to the academic world, and 2) they'd share their data so everyone could verify they're so smart.

Nobody has done that, which means they're all operating with the same data. That's pretty easy to suss out.

So, to the lock-down banter between Michigan's governor & trump... so? Witmer has opened up high school ball, under her word, so she owns that decision. If she can do that, why not open up MU & MSU? Presumably that's the argument that the "it's politics" people are using, right? What possible good could she get from opposing DT by stopping the Michigans from playing?

Because if that's her super-dooper plan to influence the election... WHOOPS!!! We've all figured it out, and literally no one's vote is going to be changed by that. I mean, right? This bigly plan to force us undecideds to vote Choice B instead of Choice A... by stopping the Michigans from playing football? Really?

If people actually factually think "it's politics," they have to figure out how these decisions are going to influence voters. Because if there's no influence, there's no point.

And that influence has to affect undecided voters. Only. Because the rest of us have our decision figured out already. After four years of... this, we know what we're voting for.

So the "it's politics" line is at the very kindest on the superest of shaky ground. Absurdly so.

So, to the middle speculation about "it all feels odd," sure. Yes, it does.

But because it's odd, doesn't mean there's some vast political conspiracy. Sometimes my left elbow feels odd, but that's not a sign my limbs are conspiring against me. Sometimes my body is just malfunctioning.

And that brings me to my trump card (pardon the pun):  Big organisms/organizations just sometimes function oddly. Sometimes your body, perfectly functioning as it should be, breaks down. You get cancer or the leprosy or lumbago or just a rando pain in your left hip. It happens. It's not evidence that something is conspiring against you, it's just that complex systems don't always function properly.

Colleges are complex systems. They don't always function properly, or reach their professed goal. Nebraska joined the second-best academic institution nearly ten years ago, with access to literally billions of dollars in grant money they never had before, and despite that their academic standing has dropped, precipitously, over that span.

That's not a sign of any conspiracy, that's evidence that Robert Burns knew his business all those years ago when he so eloquently wrote about what we're likely experiencing today: "The best-laid plans of mice & men so often go astray."

And the biggest clue that this is not political, but a bunch of well-meaning people just bumbling about, is from anyone who's spent any kind of time inside a large employer, whether that's a government, or any kind of academic institution, every single person, if they're honest, will tell you their experience is that evil or good, good or bad management, no matter what, that organization will make a bad decision.

It happens. It's human. None of those people, whether a college chancellor or CEO or mom or babysitter knows what the heck they're doing. They're all winging it on the best guess they have.

Bad management exists everywhere. It's the third most common thing to afflict humanity after death & taxes.

Before we declare there's some "it's politics" conspiracy, we have to rule out basic human blundering.

 
nic said:
Only if she shuts down venues and they have to play out of state, but she just reversed that edict. I doubt many here have been paying attention to her, but she was pretty authoritarian about COVID restrictions. My relatives either love her or hate her. My earlier point was that her comments are probably to simply support the Uof Michigan President for holding out on football.
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Will she shut down or oppose the Detroit Lions?

 
Notre Dame Joe said:
Will she shut down or oppose the Detroit Lions?
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Nope....but she just mandated masks with exec order 180 for the fall sports she allowed with exec order 176. What a side show. :snacks:   I don’t think she’s ever played sports.  :facepalm:  Anyone known if other HS teams are wearing masks while on the field?
 

“The COVID-19 virus is easily spread through airborne particles and can affect everyone differently,” Gov. Whitmer said in a release. "By wearing a face covering when proper distancing is not possible, athletes will be better protected from contracting the virus and spreading it to family members, frontline workers, and vulnerable populations.

 
taking away anything that requires toughness, team mates, coordination, merit, roots, culture, process, work, reliance on others and self, smarts, etc. Taking away the ability for one generation of men who want give back, love and minister to the next generation of young men about responsibility, accountability, and punctuality. 

stripping away 130 yrs of culture that matured young men and helped them become better versions of themselves in America. 
 

Football isn’t perfect but it has helped shaped millions of young men over dozens of decades to become better people. Stupid and long lasting “cure” for a virus that is mild among young people. 

 
I am I said:
taking away anything that requires toughness, team mates, coordination, merit, roots, culture, process, work, reliance on others and self, smarts, etc. Taking away the ability for one generation of men who want give back, love and minister to the next generation of young men about responsibility, accountability, and punctuality. 

stripping away 130 yrs of culture that matured young men and helped them become better versions of themselves in America. 
 

Football isn’t perfect but it has helped shaped millions of young men over dozens of decades to become better people. Stupid and long lasting “cure” for a virus that is mild among young people. 
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I hope they find a way to play, I really do.

But take a step back from the ledge my friend.  Even if the Big 10 doesn't play this year, it's not going to ruin a "generation".  Even if every school, in every town was closed to EDUCATION this entire year, it wouldn't ruin a generation.  We'd adjust.  And some may make a point that it could make us better by showing each other how resilient we can be if we actually try.

I agree with you on the benefits football, and other sports, provide.  But I think we might be overstating the importance of "one college football season" in the grand scheme of the future of American culture.

 
nic said:
Nope....but she just mandated masks with exec order 180 for the fall sports she allowed with exec order 176. What a side show. :snacks:   I don’t think she’s ever played sports.  :facepalm:  Anyone known if other HS teams are wearing masks while on the field?
 

“The COVID-19 virus is easily spread through airborne particles and can affect everyone differently,” Gov. Whitmer said in a release. "By wearing a face covering when proper distancing is not possible, athletes will be better protected from contracting the virus and spreading it to family members, frontline workers, and vulnerable populations.
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Who cares, they’re playing aren’t they. If the B1G made the same decision and allowed football starting oct 10,  would any of us give a s#!t? 

 
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FrantzHardySwag said:
Who cares, they’re playing aren’t they. If the B1G made the same decision and allowed football starting oct 10,  would any of us give a s#!t? 
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The players probably don't want masks on while playing. I play basketball each week with local HS teachers and coaches. We played outside most of the summer, but got indoors the other day and were required to wear masks. They were pulled down to get air alot of the time. I can't imagine playing many sports with a mask. 

 
nic said:
The players probably don't want masks on while playing. I play basketball each week with local HS teachers and coaches. We played outside most of the summer, but got indoors the other day and were required to wear masks. They were pulled down to get air alot of the time. I can't imagine playing many sports with a mask. 
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Honestly If I were still coaching I would try and get the team matching neck gaiters, tell them they need to be pulled up on the sidelines and if they slip down when your helmet is on - so be it. Lets play ball.

 
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