The Big Ten announced this morning that it is taking back its promise not to play football in 2020 because of coronavirus and the threat it poses to its student-athletes.
From NBC Chicago:
The Big Ten said its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously Tuesday to restart sports. The emergence of daily rapid-response COVID-19 testing, not available when university presidents and chancellors decided to pull the plug on the season, helped trigger a re-vote.
Games will begin on October 23, 2020. Take that, Wuhan. You might be a world-class city, but you’re not the boss of us.
The football (and COVID-19) must flow
Initially, I thought it was a good idea not to play football this season. Of all sports, I believe football provides an optimum platform to pass viruses from one person to another. Players on the line of scrimmage are especially susceptible to the passage of viruses. I think basketball is unsafe because of COVID too, but by sequestering players like O.J. trial jurors, the NBA negated this inherent danger.
I’ve concluded it is just not feasible to try to stop people from contracting COVID-19. No matter what guidelines you put in place, people will ignore it. Too many people think they will not get COVID-19. If they acquire it, they believe they will get over it like a cold or chlamydia.
It’s pointless to try to convince these people they’re wrong. At least now people can bet those sweet pandemic unemployment payments on college football. What else could they bet on, baseball? Only psychopaths like Pete Rose bet on baseball.