It’s tempting to say that Ohio State football coach Ryan Day had a tantrum on Thursday when he demanded to know why his team couldn’t play this fall and compete for a national championship.
Because, you know, Notre Dame plays Saturday and why us?!?!?
It’s tempting to say the same thing about Penn State football coach James Franklin, who expressed similar frustration and sought to know what he intended to tell his players.
On the one hand, any of the coaches can tell their organizations that the University of Wisconsin is moving their courses online and has quarantined academics for at least two weeks in two of their larger dormitories after an increase in coronavirus cases on campus. who postponed his season opener opposed SMU after an organization of players and staff tested positive. And that several other schools have postponed their seasonal openings.
They can also remind their players, already themselves, that 11 of the league’s presidents voted to postpone the fall season on the basis of medical advice, and that starting the season in September is too risky.
But in the other hand? Both coaches are right, because Big Ten hasn’t explained why he made his decision yet. And that won’t be the case.
Kevin Warren, the league commissioner, may have taken the microphone and exposed medical reasoning and explained why those 11 presidents didn’t need to threaten a season this fall. Not yet. And that’s a shame.
Even if it’s not his fault. He is indebted to school presidents, who are accustomed to managing their campuses as Fortune 500 corporations and therefore hide in cones of silence.
As leaders of establishments whose project is to teach and, to some extent, to teach academics how to keep the fact in power, it is regrettable that school rectors have been silent, though not just them. They all voted with them.
So here we are, a month after the decision, and Day and Franklin continue to blow up their own league for their decision, and Jim Harbaugh of Michigan marched in protest and politicians continue to write letters because they see an opening, even cynical, to bet. to their constituents who, like the players and coaches, need to know why Clemson is in a position to take the box this weekend and they can’t.
Because in many parts of the country matches are played, categories are played and life returns to . . . Normal? Or so.
This belief is an explanation for why Day and Franklin and, to some extent, Harbaugh, are so frustrated with the league’s decision. They want more information on why football is allowed from the best schools in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, at least in some districts. while Big Ten football isn’t. Why the CCA, SEC and Big 12 are advancing and Big Tens aren’t. Why can an organization of public fitness officials say one thing when another organization disagrees?
Be open about it. Explain the medical process. Or admit that the threat is to value it. Or responsibility. Or a combination. From the moment the league announced its decision, the explanation was lost. Not to mention his public relations. If the convention has science on its side, use it, as the Pac-12 did when it published a full volume of medical reasons for its decision.
Day and Franklin can be just great. In fact, they’re probably great, but they also protect their players.
And while it’s easy to say that they don’t deserve more explanation than, say, a history teacher, that’s not how it works. This is a lot of cash. There are too many jobs at stake. The pandemic would have possibly revealed a damaged and unfair style in college sports, but it remains the style.
So while Day would possibly complain about some on Thursday, and possibly seem like a disgruntled opportunist to others (he has a team smart enough to win all this year), that shouldn’t take away his basic problem. He and his fellow coaches deserve more information. It is not enough to point the pandemic with your finger and say that football is too risky, although possibly it is.
The Big Ten might be right to be so cautious, it’s time for the league to tell us why.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress. com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.