#StayHealthy and practice social distancing
Has Cal figured out a way to play college football this fall? In order to protect it’s student body, they have decided to hold all of its classes for the fall online. This means that the regular student body will not be on campus to start the semester and maybe longer.
Which means, there is a limited chance of exposure for those who already on campus to the virus. Cal may have inadvertently created a bubble for it’s football players. This means they can limit who comes in and goes out of it’s weight room and dorms. Cal can bring everyone onto campus, quarantine everyone for 14 days, contact trace those who have tested positive, and isolate players without having to worry about the student body as a whole.
Now, no one wants to broach this subject, because the NCAA lies to itself and says that FBS football players are students first. However, everyone, except the NCAA knows these players are full time athlete’s who also take classes on the side. The NCAA won’t ask it’s FBS football playing members to require students to take online classes that allow football to be played.
No one is willing to stare the financial crisis in the face and to what it is necessary to mitigate the downturn that is about to happen. The business of college football is not being run as a business. It is being run by people who have their mindsets in the 1950’s and their belief that these players are students first and athlete’s second.
In reality, it is quite the opposite. These players have fulltime jobs, and that is playing and getting ready to play football. They are taking classes on the side because they have to. I am not here to start the argument of compensation. I agree they are being compensated in some way. However, they are not being compensated in a way that is commensurate in the revenue they generate.
Unlike the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL, college football players do not have anyone who is looking out for their best interests. There is no union pushing college athletic departments for better safety procedures. There isn’t millions of dollars at stake for college football players, because they have no stake in it. For those athletic departments not just millions but billions of dollars are at stake. Using Cal as an example, individual bubbles can be created. However, it requires an unsavory decision to be made that effects the rest of the student body.
The tuition difference between online instruction and in person instruction is stark. If I am a student, I think it is profoundly unfair that I have to take my classes online so the athletic department can be saved I might go to a Community College for a semester or taking a semester off.
I know this idea of how to save college football isn’t idea. Actually, let me call it what it is. It is a completely unfair, disgusting way to mitigate the financial damage that is coming from the loss of football revenue. It is a purely selfish way to save college sports going forward. The decision makers told the public to wait and not rush to make decisions about the season in March. No one stepped up and planned for this eventuality.
No one took lead to make sure that the season could be saved. Now, everyone is standing out there with no answers and the questions are the same as back in March. The leadership of college sports has failed.
Everyone bet on hope and no one took steps to have a plan. It’s like in college when we went out and bought rounds at the bar like everyone else was buying. Now, it’s 2:30 AM and the bill is due and everyone is looking around for someone to pay it. Just like that night, no one wants to take responsibility for college sports, like no one wanted to settle up on those nights. Someone is going to have to pull out the credit card, bite the bullet and pay the man……
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply