The First Domino Has Fallen

[WarriorVoice]

Keeping players safe and avoiding a PR nightmare is a win/win, so why wouldn't ANYONE choose that?!

[SW_Mustang]

I can not agree more, post of the year right here. You can play the game until you are blue in the face but at the end of the day risk is all round us. Essentially what makes this issue stand out is it is relatively new. College football aside over the last 8 months it has come to my attention that the doers and risk takers are the ones prevailing. Businesses, school districts and hopefully conferences in the fall. Will there be positive tests , yes, but at the end of the day the show must go on. I spoke to a trustee at a college who stated there is no way in God's green earth they cut sports for college football and are not going to have a season.

I addressed this in the previous post, but a tl;dr version - schools are doing this not in the interest of public health or player safety, but to avoid a PR nightmare. The odds of a player dying are low, but there are still odds. If 1-10, NAIA Somewhere State in Backwater, Kansas "beats" those odds - the PR nightmare could be enough to sink them. They'd become the most famous football program overnight, and not for the right reasons. The HC, AD, and possibly even the university President will have to step down - they don't want to lose their golden nugget, just like you or I don't want to lose ours.

I don't have any evidence to back this up, it's just my opinion. Personally, I think if this were about player safety and the best interest of public health, we'd see an effort lead association wide in a top-down fashion. The big schools want to play so they can keep their golden nugget, the small schools don't want to play for the same reason - if that makes any sense.

[laker]

MAAC cancels volleyball and soccer non-conference competition

[SW_Mustang]

Pretty low odds. "risk adverse" You can play the "what if" game for so many situations. What ifs are impossible to win. I'll go the other way. So, what if by canceling the season, the players drop out of school and go "south?" Probably higher odds for that. Or I'll play it this way. No covid at all. It's gone. What if 5 people die due to going/coming to the football game. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

I don't agree with how this is being handled either - I'm just telling you how it is.

The odds are low, but there are still odds. No administration wants to be the one to "beat" those odds. They don't want to be the one school with the one player who didn't survive. The PR nightmare would be enough to sink a small school. Jobs would be lost and reputations would be ruined. I don't believe what we're seeing has anything to do with player safety or the best interests of the public's health - it's all about surviving the PR storm.

You just can't win in our society. Don't play, and teams are "weak" and "scared." Play and something happens, and teams are "negligent" and "incompetent." Our country is really fickle that way.

Schools don't also want to become the next "hot spot," either... for the very same reasons.

If this was truly about player safety and public health, I'm convinced we would have seen a more coordinated top-down effort. The big schools have more to lose and better resources than the small schools. If someone gets sick, they can handle it better. The same can't be said for Somewhere State in the NAIA. It's really every man for himself right now.

[laker]

Didn't expect to see that graphic here! (I didn't make it myself, but I helped gather the information for it.)

It is a great graphic. I don't see anywhere on it that gives the original source, but I really liked the colors, the symbols and that it includes all levels. Please post the updates which will be many and soon.

[UMary1]

Pretty low odds. "risk adverse" You can play the "what if" game for so many situations. What ifs are impossible to win. I'll go the other way. So, what if by canceling the season, the players drop out of school and go "south?" Probably higher odds for that. Or I'll play it this way. No covid at all. It's gone. What if 5 people die due to going/coming to the football game. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

I can not agree more, post of the year right here. You can play the game until you are blue in the face but at the end of the day risk is all round us. Essentially what makes this issue stand out is it is relatively new. College football aside over the last 8 months it has come to my attention that the doers and risk takers are the ones prevailing. Businesses, school districts and hopefully conferences in the fall. Will there be positive tests , yes, but at the end of the day the show must go on. I spoke to a trustee at a college who stated there is no way in God's green earth they cut sports for college football and are not going to have a season.

[catatonic]

Didn't expect to see that graphic here! (I didn't make it myself, but I helped gather the information for it.)

Add the CAA to the list of conferences who gave cancelled football for fall.

[Inkblot]

Didn't expect to see that graphic here! (I didn't make it myself, but I helped gather the information for it.)

[UFOILERFAN]

Very nice!!!

[laker]

[Redwing]

That all changes when the second string o lineman from a college nobody has ever heard of becomes that *1* that passes away.

Then that university administration and athletic department get put on full blast - because they should have done something, but they didn't. It's the duality of our society, really. Grass is always greener.

Pretty low odds. "risk adverse" You can play the "what if" game for so many situations. What ifs are impossible to win. I'll go the other way. So, what if by canceling the season, the players drop out of school and go "south?" Probably higher odds for that. Or I'll play it this way. No covid at all. It's gone. What if 5 people die due to going/coming to the football game. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

[SW_Mustang]

I'm getting a sense that college admin are quite risk adverse. Therefore, in spite of tangible and intangible impacts with cancellations, many will take, in their mine, the safer route. I hope I'm wrong, but the rhetoric coming out appears to point that way.

That all changes when the second string o lineman from a college nobody has ever heard of becomes that *1* that passes away.

Then that university administration and athletic department get put on full blast - because they should have done something, but they didn't. It's the duality of our society, really. Grass is always greener.

[Redwing]

I'm getting a sense that college admin are quite risk adverse. Therefore, in spite of tangible and intangible impacts with cancellations, many will take, in their mine, the safer route. I hope I'm wrong, but the rhetoric coming out appears to point that way.

[SW_Mustang]

D1 MAC delays start of "Olympic" sports - so basically everything but football.

https://wmubroncos.com/news/2020/7/1...ts-season.aspx

[crixus]

Due to the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BIG EAST Conference and its member institutions have announced that 2020 fall sports schedules will not include any non-conference competition.

No decision has been made at this time regarding BIG EAST fall sports conference competition and championships. In the coming weeks, the BIG EAST will continue to monitor COVID-19 conditions across the country and in BIG EAST communities and will provide further updates on dates and formats as appropriate.

All decisions regarding fall conference competition will continue to be guided first and foremost by the health and safety of BIG EAST campuses and their athletics program participants and will be made in accordance with NCAA actions and policies.

The sports affected are: men's and women's soccer, volleyball, cross country and field hockey. The BIG EAST's plans for the 2020-21 winter and spring sports seasons remain unaffected at this time.
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*I copied this information from the UCONN Huskies website.