College Football: COVID's Next Victim

 

So we saw the MAC cancel their season this past weekend...Then Monday the Mountain West cancelled theirs...Then the rumors started swirling about the Big-10 canceling with the PAC-12 following their lead...The PAC-12 which has been publicly AT WAR with their commissioner...We talked about what a dick he is in this week's MONDAY MOANING...

Sunday and Monday Twitter was filled with numerous college football players tweeting about how they want to play...There was also plenty of tweets from college football media, analysts, talking heads, and that idiot Trump, saying how College Football needs to be played...With today's announcement that The Big-10 (which has 14 teams) and PAC-12 are canceling, it looks less likely...The SEC, ACC and Big-12 (which only has 10 teams...Jesus Christ these places of higher learning can't fucking count!) now have college football fans on the edge of their seats...Because college football fans are fanatical fucking people...And we know the SEC, those crazy southern schools are the wild card...It won't surprise me if they play...It won't surprise me if they are the only ones to try and play...

But what people need to realize as they say players are "safer on campus," and the games "need" to be played, no matter what the conference heads say, the main reasons for these cancellations are, ‪fear of lawsuits if players get sick, loss of game day revenue, and unwillingness to compensate players with heath insurance and money.‬...Insurance and monetary compensation were big points brought up by the PAC-12 players...and without that that makes it easier to open the door for lawsuits...We have to remember this is about COVID...COVID which we have seen, if you have paid any attention to reality and facts, leaves many who recover with permanent damage...lungs, heart, liver, kidneys in many cases have all shown permanent damage, along with many patients having to deal with blood clot issues...

While people are bitching and moaning about the conferences canceling or that they dragged their feet preparing for a season with COVID, people really need to look at the NCAA...They are the governing body and they pulled the trigger in March to cancel the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament...But as Football approached, they decided all the decisions should be made by the individual conferences and there were no NCAA mandated rules or guidelines...It was all on the schools and conferences...The NCAA doesn't seem to mind when handing down penalties for recruiting violations or players selling their jerseys or some one buying them a plane ticket to go home or a coach giving them dinner...But when it comes to a global pandemic, and the health and safety of their largest money maker...The so-called "Student Athletes"...With 6 months to prepare, they make no plan and put all the blame on conferences...

To which I say, Fuck the NCAA...

If you want to see some good raging against the NCAA follow @SportsbyBrooks on Twitter.

Monday Moaning 8-10-2020

 

Kate and I are back with another edition of Monday Moaning...I'm going to try to avoid talking about Lying, Asshole Trump and Idiot Republicans, but if you want to read about those topics, you can find them on the sidebar...I'm going to try to stick in the sports lane  for MM this week...

-Over a month the Cleveland Indians announced they were looking into changing the team name...That got lots of people excited about the possible name change and lots pissed off...A couple weeks later we heard ownership say they were going to do this and that but we've still heard nothing as they seem to continue to  DRAG THEIR FEET...

One Cleveland business that has been very vocal about the Indians keeping their name and the Chief Wahoo logo for a number of years now, is CV Art + Apparel...Talented artist and cool local business...We have some of their stuff...Yesterday they released a new Indians themed shirt...

Lots of cool details of Jacobs (Progressive) Field and baseball imagery, Cleveland landmarks, and Native American imagery, forming a skull...I will admit that it looks cool...But it doesn't really help their argument that the name isn't offensive...A fan  who has been supporting the name be changed to the Siders...actually changed his twitter name to #ClevelandSpiders tweeted a couple images back at GV saying "same energy...& not in a good way 💀"  #ChangeTheName

....

This one highlighting the "Indian"...Native American imagery 

And this one just creep as fuck with nude women forming a skull...

GV Art + Apparel quickly blocked #ClevelandSpiders....I'm sure the same will happen to me after I tweet this blog out...I'm sorry Cleveland, it's time all of us Indians fans move on...Although as I said in my previous blog on this topic, I truly believe that Indians ownership are dragging their feet and will try to wait this out until the majority of people forget about it, and won't end up rebranding the team...

-Now college football...There has been a big push to get a half assed college football season in...This week the MAC (Mid-American Conference) cancelled their Fall sports season but are holding out hope to have some kind of Spring football season...Healthy and Safety were the biggest reasons, followed closely by the fact that the Power 5 Conferences are only playing shortened season just within their individual conferences...The MAC and other smaller conferences get paid well to take non-conference games with power 5 schools...They get paid to take an ass beating...Losing that revenue stream hurts them, including hurting them in being able to assure their student athletes health...

Last week players in the PAC-12 UNITED, asking for a number of conditions to get them to play...First in foremost were demands about their health and safety...The players want more testing than what is planned...They are asking for NCAA mandated testing and tracing rules similar to what the NFL is planning...The NCAA is leaving that up to each conference and many conferences are leaving it up to individual schools and only putting out recommended guidelines...Schools are making most students stay home and attend online, but they want the money making athletes to show up...The athletes not seeing any of the fortune the NCAA, Conferences, Universities and multiple media outlets like ESPN and Fox Sports see...

Players had a conference call with PAC-12 Commissioner, Larry Scott who told them their what they were doing was a "misguided PR stunt"...Players said after the meeting with Scott, “It was not very productive. We did not come away with many answers. He made it very clear that he does not want to meet again.” 

A few other Conferences followed the PAC-12 players in saying they may opt out unless the there were certain guarantees made for the health and safety...One was the BIG-10 but right away Ohio State players pulled back and wanted nothing to do with it...A number of Penn State players were tweeting out a statement that seemed to be clearly written by some University official, saying how they feel safe and want to play...Which lead to me tweeting this back to each of them....

Yeah, my hatred for Penn State, Child Rapists and those who cover it up will never die!

I think trying to play a college football season is crazy...Cases of COVID are still rising, you have huge rosters plus coaching and training staffs...There are going to be some serious outbreaks, especially since their is no NCAA mandated testing, and tracing policy...

I get that players want to play...I also get that some of them probably were threatened by coaches or School Officials, because we all know College Football is all about MONEY...They don't care about the "student athletes" as students and they don't care about them as human beings...They only see them as a very profitable investment...

That's it for now...I'm sure I need to write a post about Trump's latest lies and misinformation...

...

PAC-12 Athletes Unite

A group of PAC-12 "student athletes" have gotten together and via "The Players Tribune" have released their demands to the PAC-12 conference...Stating they will not participate in Fall camps and the Fall sports season if they do not get what they want...

The list is 4 key things...

1. Health & Safety Protections

2. Protect All Sports Preserve All Existing Sports by Eliminating Excessive Expenditures

3. End Racial Injustice in College Sports and Society

4. Economic Freedom and Equity

In this day and age you can't blame anyone for wanting guaranteed "health and safety protections"...."Eliminating Excessive Expenditures"...I get the impression that some of that is talking about PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott who has a $5.3 million dollar contract...It's already being reduced next year to $4.6 because of COVID pay-cuts the conference has put in...But I believe the players would also like to see coaching contracts reduced...Especially since the players are the product people pay to see and they make nothing!

Number 3 they addressed very quickly in their statement saying, "Because NCAA sports exploit college athletes physically, economically and academically, and also disproportionately harm Black college athletes, #WeAreUnited.

In rejecting the NCAA’s claim that #BlackLivesMatter while also systematically exploiting Black athletes nationwide, #WeAreUnited.

Number 4 is the big gun....

Guaranteed Medical Expense Coverage

1. Medical insurance selected by players for sports-related medical conditions, including COVID- 19 illness, to cover six years after college athletics eligibility ends.

Name, Image, and Likeness Rights & Representation

1. The freedom to secure representation, receive basic necessities from any third party, and earn money for use of our name, image, and likeness rights.

Fair Market Pay, Rights, & Freedoms

1. Distribute 50% of each sport’s total conference revenue evenly among athletes in their respective sports.
2. Six-year athletic scholarships to foster undergraduate and graduate degree completion.
3. Elimination of all policies and practices restricting or deterring our freedom of speech, our ability to fully participate in charitable work, and our freedom to participate in campus activities outside of mandatory athletics participation.
4. Ability of players of all sports to transfer one time without punishment, and additionally in cases of abuse or serious negligence.
5. Ability to complete eligibility after participating in a pro draft if player goes undrafted and foregoes professional participation within seven days of the draft.
6. Due process rights

I can't blame these athletes for asking for all of this...I doubt the conference will the 50% revenue sharing...I love the 6 year scholarship idea...That's self aware "student athletes" who know 98% of of them won't go to the pros...The amount of money the schools and conferences make thanks to these athletes, there is no damn reason why they shouldn't be providing medical insurance for them...

These athletes are making a hell of a point...the majority of PAC-12 schools have already told their students they will be doing the Fall semester online...Much of the conference's schools are in COVID hot spots...'So students don't come back to campus, except you students that make us millions, you can risk your lives!'

This theory the NCAA has had for ages that these are "amateur athletes" and "student athletes" so they shouldn't be paid or receive benefits, while the NCAA, Conferences and Schools make millions on their backs can be thrown out the window now...When you're telling students not to comeback to campus because of COVID but you expect your football players to be there, you've just acknowledged they are your money maker...They aren't merely "Student Athletes"...

Personally I think all these conferences are crazy to try and have football seasons...and by doing it they are making it clear that first and foremost the care about making money, above all else....