For decades, the meet has thought of itself as a different kind of sports conference. It touts the academic achievements and Great Lakes values of its like-minded, highly-regarded, internationally-ranked research institutions proudly. Big Ten was the Big 12. It was not the SEC.
One only had to look at the meet’s judicious August decision, however, to shut downfall sports amid the global epidemic, as proof. Naturally, the Big Ten follows Ivy League, and then the Pac-12 follows Big Ten. This decision was, however, costly and heartbreaking but the right one.
The conference is always concerned about Science, medicine and safety. Lt the football factories of the SEC, ACC (Clemson’s Playground) and Big Ten continue playing. Big Ten was rightly looking out for its student-athletes, treating them almost no different than the student body at large, and that was of utmost importance.
As the viral outbreaks popped up at Michigan State, Wisconsin and Maryland, the Big Ten looked smarter by the days. The league’s presidents overthrew themselves and decided to restart their football programs while other conferences playing football announced COVID-related postponements and soaring cases. The scary fact is that the games will happen between October and December. These months predicted to be some of the worst days of the pandemic in October and November.
How is the BIG Ten planning to do it?
With tons of daily antigen tests, special delivery for Big Ten football teams only. Rapid tests for players, though not for the elderly in Ann Arbor or Columbus or Evanston, or school children and teachers in Bloomington or New Brunswick or Minneapolis, or students are paying for their education amid the outbreaks in East Lansing or Madison or College Park. ESPN wrote about the issue.
According to LSU head coach, Ed Orgeron’s stated their strategy: “Not all but most of our players have caught it. I think that hopefully, they won’t catch it again, and hopefully, they’re not out for games.”
It was a fortnight ago that Trump, desperate to win votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, told the conference to play football. Initially, the league’s decision remained unchanged. Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway correctly wrote “cheap politics.” However, the university presidents ended up following right along, giving Trump exactly what he wanted.
How will they make it work?
Smooth as silk, I’m sure. Let’s look at Michigan State. The other day, all MSU students asked to self-quarantine – and thirty large houses, including twenty-three sororities and fraternities, ordered into mandatory quarantine. After the school set forth 342 new infestations.
The situation tagged urgent according to, Linda S. Vail, Ingham County Health Officer “The numerical growth of COVID-19 cases must stop.”
