Opinion: Big Ten's decision to play football signals darkest day in conference's sports history

[Botany]

USA Today: Opinion: Big Ten's decision to play football signals darkest day in conference's sports history

As proof, one only had to look at the conference’s prudent August decision to shut down fall sports in the midst of the global pandemic. It was only natural that the Big Ten would follow the Ivy League, and that the Pac-12 would follow the Big Ten. It was a tough decision, heartbreaking and costly, but it was the right one.

That’s the Big Ten for you, concerned about science, medicine and safety. Let the football factories of the SEC, Big 12 and ACC (Clemson’s playground) continue playing; the Big Ten was doing the right thing looking out for its student-athletes, treating them almost no differently than the student body at large, and that was all that mattered.

snip

Then came Wednesday, the darkest day in Big Ten sports history, the day the vaunted conference caved. It choked. It got scared. It became the SEC.

Just as the Big Ten was looking smarter by the day as COVID-19 outbreaks popped up at Michigan State, Wisconsin and Maryland while other conferences playing football announced COVID-related postponements and soaring cases, the league’s presidents reversed themselves and decided to steer their schools and their football programs right into the teeth of what are predicted to be some of the worst days of the pandemic in October and November.

And how are they doing it? With a mountain of daily antigen tests, special delivery for Big Ten football teams only. Rapid tests for football players, but apparently not for the elderly in Ann Arbor or Columbus or Evanston, or for school children and teachers in Bloomington or New Brunswick or Minneapolis, or for students paying for their education amid the outbreaks in East Lansing or Madison or College Park

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2020/09/16/big-ten-football-decision-marks-darkest-day/5793238002/

[beachbumbob]

1. the darkest days re still ahead wit hBig 10 and football as

athletes catch it, some will be die and many others be left with complications. THATS the darkest days

[Botany]

4. I love Ohio State Football and this madness

Even if none of the players get it because this will take testing capacity away
from everyday citizens.

[beachbumbob]

5. students should be tested ongoing reguardless of football play or not, this has little impact

on testing services

[empedocles]

2. the next 2 months may be pretty wild on many fronts.

[Proud liberal 80]

3. I knew who the author was before I clicked on the link

Not really a big fan of hers, don’t even know why she covers sports.....she may be right about this, but she is always negative on everything

[niyad]

7. What do you think she got wrong?

[Proud liberal 80]

11. I am not saying she got anything wrong

She just comes across as sanctimonious to me....never liked her.

[USALiberal]

10. Everything? Really? nt

[Alex4Martinez]

6. Sports Education, I suppose, during these Bread and Circuses administrations. nt

[Proud liberal 80]

8. And this hyperbole

Darkest day? Coming from a conference that had the Sandusky abuse scandal, Larry Nassler, and Ohio state sex abuse.

[Deb]

9. We suspect this has everything to do with legalized gambling.

Just saying.

[OregonBlue]

12. University of Montana just quarantined their football team because so many have tested positive.

The Missoula City-County Health Department reported 24 new COVID-19 cases specific to the University of Montana on Wednesday after having just five positives since campus opened Aug. 12. Of the 24 new cases, 22 are still active, bumping up the number of total active cases to 25. The new cases are mostly football players and of course fraternities and sororities. Party on kids.

This is not a large campus so that number is pretty significant. Missoula has been very good about managing the outbreak but college kids just seem to ignore the warnings.