This is just a band-aid to keep everyone's hopes up.
This is just solving a problem temporarily in HOPES there is a decrease in cases; but ANY uptick ANYWHERE in the Big 10 is going to cause people to panic; heck, ONE positive case during the season in preparation and the whole thing comes crashing down; this is simply to buy some time without having to make a decision like the Ivy League. But believe you me, the college presidents are watching VERY closely because no college president wants to be seen as "the person that put money ahead of health" as these college presidents are wondering "what do these guys know that we don't know?"
The motto of "student-athlete health is our ultimate priority" is not being taken into consideration here;
This is not firmly established as "this will occur" but should be stated "tentative" which it really is. Everything is still very much fluid. Again, this is an effort to buy time; time that they really do not have in the hopes that things will simmer down. But from the likes of it, it is not.
a. there will not be a full-slate of games played even if just conference; do not start planning your hotel and day trips and time off from work; there won't be any fans to attend;
b. there will not be any bowl games; not even the Rose Bowl. if they even played one game, who are they going to play? Other teams will say "unfair advantage" of extended practices when other teams had to cancel their seasons due to their location, individual state governor or whatever. They cancelled an entire March Madness.
c. all the same things we are concerned about now are not going to suddenly disappear with just playing a conference-only schedule;
d. outbreaks can still occur; quarantine can still throw a team out of playing a game if someone tests positive during the week and others are exposed; for example, let's say your scheduled to play Purdue on Sept 15th; great, QB gets tested positive right before the game; whole team is now exposed; game cancelled. Ohio State and UNC just proved that yesterday where ALL activities halted when 37 tested positive. Forget forfeit and contract, Acts of God clause will step in.
e. the league and schools have to put their motto of "student health first and foremost" into action and mean it;
f. cancel culture will raise its ugly head again and the media will swoop in;
g. since African-Americans are more pronounced in their community, the SJW's will swoop in claim that AA's have been sacrificed to the alter of money and big time football.
h. you cannot put an entire team and coaches and staff and all the ancillary units in a 24/7 bubble when other students are not on campus; remember the NCAA has rules that state that "student-athletes cannot get a benefit that other non-student-athletes cannot enjoy."
i. it only takes ONE, and I mean ONE student-athlete to contract this C19 and have to be hospitalized for the whole thing to comes crashing down.
j. it is the what-ifs that are the uncertain aspect here. Here is a partial list;
1. what if a team bus going to a location pulls up and one or two guys start hacking and coughing? do you wait for the test results when the game is about to be played? the body temp is above guidelines, do you just merely isolate this player? No, the whole bus has been exposed.
2. what if the guy gets it and then develops, later on, a long-term consequence such as a lung condition or Type 2 diabetes from this, but recovers? you want to be on the hook in a lawsuit that you caused this person to forego gainful employment?
3. what if the player, during the game, starts developing a fever? Oh, it's just the common cold? Really? You know that for sure?
4. you can test ALL you want but a test does NOT confer immunity; it only means that you tested negative at the time of the test; you can test, go out and get exposed, then the results come back as negative but still develop signs and symptoms.
k. look, we just saw two schools, Ohio St and UNC, and these were INDIVIDUAL WORKOUTS; wait till the whole team comes together. You can social distance in a meeting room or on the field?
