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A very satisfying read...........even jaded I am surprised.
Posted on: August 10, 2020 at 21:55:35 CT
Ozland Tiger LSU
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Doyel: Big Ten swings and misses on a brand-damaging Monday, looking dumb and weak
Gregg Doyel
Indianapolis Star 8-10-2020
INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday, the biggest day in college sports since the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled in March, which was the biggest day in college sports since ever, nothing happened.
The Big Ten didn’t cancel the upcoming football season, as we were told it had. The Pac-12 didn’t follow and do the same, as we were told it would. No teams switched conferences. No players, far as we know anyway, entered the transfer portal.
Nothing happened on Monday.
Nothing, except for college players rising up as one and claiming ownership of a sport that has used them and abused them for the price of a scholarship.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke out agains Big Ten college presidents who were considering shutting down the 2020 football season.
Nothing, except for Big Ten college coaches rising as one – even Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh – and speaking out against their bosses, the league’s university presidents, who are very much leaning toward canceling the 2020 season.
Nothing, except for one school from a smaller league – Old Dominion of Conference USA – and one entire smaller conference, the Mountain West, canceling the season out of coronavirus concerns.
Nothing, except for President Trump retweeting Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence at lunchtime, then tweeting out his own college football hype video after dinner.
Other than all that, I mean.
Nothing happened Monday.
President Trump trolls B1G
The Big Ten damaged its brand on Monday. Irrevocably? Oh, probably not irrevocably. People forget things.
But it will take some time for people to forget what the Big Ten did on Monday, when it allowed word to get out that its presidents had voted – informally, apparently – to cancel the 2020 season. We didn’t just have the results, but the score. It was 12-2 in favor of canceling the season. We even had the scorecards: The presidents of Iowa and Nebraska were the two in dissent. Everyone else, including the bosses of Michigan and Ohio State, and of IU and Purdue, voted (informally) to cancel.
But then the coaches got wind of it. They read Twitter, same as you and me. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh put out a statement lauding the UM athletic department’s handling of the coronavirus, and it has been rather successful: just 11 positive tests outs of 893 administered, and none in the last 353. Ohio State’s Ryan Day put out a statement of his own, saying: "Swinging as hard as we possibly can right now for these players!! This isn’t over! #FIGHT"
Nebraska’s Scott Frost suggested – no, he came out and said – the Cornhuskers would look to join another league if necessary: “We want to play no matter who it is or where it is. We'll see how those chips fall. We certainly hope it's in the Big Ten. If it isn't, I think we're prepared to look for other options."
And then Ryan Day went on ESPN and suggested – no, came out and said – the same thing: "We need to look at every option. And if (another league) is the only option, we need to explore it and see if that's something we can do."
Imagine that: Ohio State joining the SEC for a year. Hey, Notre Dame already joined the ACC football race this year. What’s so weird about Ohio State to the SEC, Nebraska back to the Big 12, and so on?
The Big Ten, though. You look stupid, and weak. People against canceling college football – the SEC, in other words, your main competition for elite recruits – for years will use the league’s premature evacuation of the 2020 season against it for recruiting. No matter how this season plays out, even if (when) it gets canceled eventually, the Big Ten will always be the first domino that tried to fall, tried to go its own way, and was so influential that exactly nobody followed.
And then the other people, those on the side of canceling the season – and canceling on-campus college classes this fall, too – are now down on the league. The Big Ten lost those folks by backing down when the heat got too hot. President Trump retweeted Trevor Lawrence’s plea for a season and even his request for solidarity – President Trump: pro-union? – by adding: “The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled. #WeWantToPlay.”
One hour later President Trump tweeted, “Play College Football!” And then at about 7 p.m., he tweeted a 29-second hype video on the upcoming season.
The Big Ten is alone on an island, mocked by other conferences, trolled by the President, scorned by those who actually agree with its initial premise of canceling the season.
Well done, folks. Now step aside and let the adults in the room handle this.
Follow the money
So, um, are there any adults in the room?
Yeah, there are. But they don’t have the power to do anything. They’re in the room, same as a potted plant is in the room. They’re there, but making no noise at all. Here I'm talking about the Football Championship Subdivision (what we once called Division I-AA), as well as NCAA Division II and Division III.
Those lower rungs of college football have mostly, if not unanimously, decided not to play this fall. Seven of the 13 FCS leagues have said they won’t play football this fall, including the Pioneer League, home to Butler. Division II and Division III have announced they will not hold football championships this fall, because both divisions have dropped below the 50% threshold needed to compete.
It’s an easy decision for those lower levels of college football – the silent majority, you could say – to cancel the season, because they don’t have all that money to distract them. College football generates money for those schools, but it doesn’t exactly make a profit. Most FCS schools depend on subsidies from their university to bankroll such a large undertaking. Most FCS schools, you could argue, would be better off financially without football.
Not so, the Power Five schools. They need football to pay the bills for an entire athletic department. They’d like the revenue of attendance from home games, but they need that TV money. They need games, whether played in an empty stadium or not.
Gregg Doyel
Indianapolis Star 8-10-2020
INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday, the biggest day in college sports since the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled in March, which was the biggest day in college sports since ever, nothing happened.
The Big Ten didn’t cancel the upcoming football season, as we were told it had. The Pac-12 didn’t follow and do the same, as we were told it would. No teams switched conferences. No players, far as we know anyway, entered the transfer portal.
Nothing happened on Monday.
Nothing, except for college players rising up as one and claiming ownership of a sport that has used them and abused them for the price of a scholarship.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke out agains Big Ten college presidents who were considering shutting down the 2020 football season.
Nothing, except for Big Ten college coaches rising as one – even Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh – and speaking out against their bosses, the league’s university presidents, who are very much leaning toward canceling the 2020 season.
Nothing, except for one school from a smaller league – Old Dominion of Conference USA – and one entire smaller conference, the Mountain West, canceling the season out of coronavirus concerns.
Nothing, except for President Trump retweeting Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence at lunchtime, then tweeting out his own college football hype video after dinner.
Other than all that, I mean.
Nothing happened Monday.
President Trump trolls B1G
The Big Ten damaged its brand on Monday. Irrevocably? Oh, probably not irrevocably. People forget things.
But it will take some time for people to forget what the Big Ten did on Monday, when it allowed word to get out that its presidents had voted – informally, apparently – to cancel the 2020 season. We didn’t just have the results, but the score. It was 12-2 in favor of canceling the season. We even had the scorecards: The presidents of Iowa and Nebraska were the two in dissent. Everyone else, including the bosses of Michigan and Ohio State, and of IU and Purdue, voted (informally) to cancel.
But then the coaches got wind of it. They read Twitter, same as you and me. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh put out a statement lauding the UM athletic department’s handling of the coronavirus, and it has been rather successful: just 11 positive tests outs of 893 administered, and none in the last 353. Ohio State’s Ryan Day put out a statement of his own, saying: "Swinging as hard as we possibly can right now for these players!! This isn’t over! #FIGHT"
Nebraska’s Scott Frost suggested – no, he came out and said – the Cornhuskers would look to join another league if necessary: “We want to play no matter who it is or where it is. We'll see how those chips fall. We certainly hope it's in the Big Ten. If it isn't, I think we're prepared to look for other options."
And then Ryan Day went on ESPN and suggested – no, came out and said – the same thing: "We need to look at every option. And if (another league) is the only option, we need to explore it and see if that's something we can do."
Imagine that: Ohio State joining the SEC for a year. Hey, Notre Dame already joined the ACC football race this year. What’s so weird about Ohio State to the SEC, Nebraska back to the Big 12, and so on?
The Big Ten, though. You look stupid, and weak. People against canceling college football – the SEC, in other words, your main competition for elite recruits – for years will use the league’s premature evacuation of the 2020 season against it for recruiting. No matter how this season plays out, even if (when) it gets canceled eventually, the Big Ten will always be the first domino that tried to fall, tried to go its own way, and was so influential that exactly nobody followed.
And then the other people, those on the side of canceling the season – and canceling on-campus college classes this fall, too – are now down on the league. The Big Ten lost those folks by backing down when the heat got too hot. President Trump retweeted Trevor Lawrence’s plea for a season and even his request for solidarity – President Trump: pro-union? – by adding: “The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled. #WeWantToPlay.”
One hour later President Trump tweeted, “Play College Football!” And then at about 7 p.m., he tweeted a 29-second hype video on the upcoming season.
The Big Ten is alone on an island, mocked by other conferences, trolled by the President, scorned by those who actually agree with its initial premise of canceling the season.
Well done, folks. Now step aside and let the adults in the room handle this.
Follow the money
So, um, are there any adults in the room?
Yeah, there are. But they don’t have the power to do anything. They’re in the room, same as a potted plant is in the room. They’re there, but making no noise at all. Here I'm talking about the Football Championship Subdivision (what we once called Division I-AA), as well as NCAA Division II and Division III.
Those lower rungs of college football have mostly, if not unanimously, decided not to play this fall. Seven of the 13 FCS leagues have said they won’t play football this fall, including the Pioneer League, home to Butler. Division II and Division III have announced they will not hold football championships this fall, because both divisions have dropped below the 50% threshold needed to compete.
It’s an easy decision for those lower levels of college football – the silent majority, you could say – to cancel the season, because they don’t have all that money to distract them. College football generates money for those schools, but it doesn’t exactly make a profit. Most FCS schools depend on subsidies from their university to bankroll such a large undertaking. Most FCS schools, you could argue, would be better off financially without football.
Not so, the Power Five schools. They need football to pay the bills for an entire athletic department. They’d like the revenue of attendance from home games, but they need that TV money. They need games, whether played in an empty stadium or not.
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A very satisfying read...........even jaded I am surprised. - Ozland Tiger LSU - 8/10 21:55:35
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