Wednesday’s consultation seemed to run out of words for a moment through SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: What would be a successful season for his league in 2020?
As the SEC prepares to open the game on Saturday of a 10-game season, in conference, like no other in history, Sankey’s reaction has pointed on December 19 to having two groups in Atlanta betting on the title.
“Today is a start, so we’re close to the starting line,” Sankey said. “It’s not close to the finish line, and we’re defining it by appointing a SEC champion this year. “
While this is almost an oversight of a factor he did not expect, he noted that Sankey’s definition of good fortune for the SEC did not include any reference to maintaining player and workers’ safety, minimizing COVID-19 outbreaks, or making sure players contracting the virus will not suffer long-term complications.
Of course, we know the SEC can’t guarantee any of this. More problematic, we have no idea how hard they tried.
Make no mistake, the SEC will have its championship match on December 19, no matter what happens in the coming weeks, they have passed the point of no return, and from what we have accumulated in the first weeks of the school football season, the Bar does not appear at the top to keep the exercise on the way. Of course, this can be a colossal disaster with positive testing, touch tracking issues, game deferrals and demolished intensity graphics, but it’s going to take place one way or another.
Is it a success? Maybe, somehow, but what’s the reason for this success?We don’t have a genuine idea, especially within the SEC, because we know a lot about the terms of those programs.
Of the 14 SEC schools, only Florida updates its COVID-19 numbers, while others were rare or shared anecdotally, such as Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, who revealed Tuesday that seven players were quarantined for positive tests or contacts. so strict with their COVID-19 data that a Freedom of Information Act request was needed only to gain some knowledge dating back several months.
In an interview with HBO’s Real Sports in July, Sankey was evasive and defensive when asked how many positive cases in the league, but made sure to point out that players were safer on campus than on the field.
That may be true, but when you listen to LSU coach Ed Orgeron say last week that “most of our players have understood it,” you just can’t settle for this talking point as a dogma.
And when you hear the coaches communicate with such arrogance about the number of their players who have had coVID-19 and then allude to the competitive merit of this progression, you don’t have to re-review them for 90 days!- The general of the SEC for fundamental transparency gives the impression that there is something that does not need us to know.
In this regard, school athletes’ rights advocate Ramogi Huma sent a letter Tuesday to NCAA President Mark Emmert asking the ruling framework to open an investigation into compliance with COVID protocols on campuses.
The letter, sent on behalf of the National Association of Collegiate Players, cites a recent survey by the National Association of Athletic Trainers in which respondents stated that only 35% of school athletes and 47% of coaches and staff fully complied with protection protocols.
“College athletes will have to have physically powerful and consistent COVID protections,” Huma wrote. “Currently, there is a dizzying variety of COVID policies at and between conferences. Several of these policies do not incorporate the most productive PRACTICEs related to COVID in athletics. . Many actors lack data on what those protocols are and whether or not there is recourse if they are not followed ».
The SEC is a microcosa of confusion. In Alabama, players are controlled every day; in other schools, they are two PCR controls a week and an antigenic control before a game. The SEC believes that its plan, which includes touch search systems, is the “reference standard,” as Sankey said, although they perform checks less frequently.
“The other leagues are betting right now and we are 3 days away,” Sankey said. “And if they play, and when they play, we will be interested in seeing what we can find out about them. “
But what have we learned from the SEC, which has postponed its season until September 26 to get through campus reopening and gain more knowledge about other sports that have already restarted?players have had coronavirus in some schools.
In the NFL, which publishes its check numbers every week, it turns out we are much more confident than a few months ago that you can spend a season minimizing the number of players who have had COVID-19. You did not provide us with such guarantees.
If we knew the genuine SEC numbers, would that make us more confident or less about the wisdom of seeking to do so in the midst of a pandemic with an unpredictable virus whose long-term effect is unknown?Would you give us another glimpse of whether this season is really a good fortune or a appropriation of money that puts people’s fitness at risk?
We don’t know, because the SEC has told us it’s none of our business to know, and that’s a shame given the scale of this public fitness crisis. Maybe we can celebrate a good fortune if the SEC ends its season with a championship. December 19, but not without reservation.
If the charge is a widespread disease, an unnecessary spread of the disease, and God does not allow a dreadful end result for those involved, it will only be a pristine victory for the sport.
Follow USA SPORTS columnist TODAY Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken