Clay Travis, Boobs and CNN

What gets lost in the argument that "they're young athletes, they'll be fine" argument is that those making it aren't going to give a shit about those players if they develop long-term complications down the road. If you're not still on their team directly entertaining them, they do not care about your well-being.

 

And what gets lost in the "long-term complications" argument is that this disease has been around for less than a year. How do we really know how it'll affect people 5 or 10 years from now, or how many might be affected by it? It might be double that before there is enough data and credible analysis to draw conclusions, and even then there will certainly be dissenting opinions. It certainly won't happen in the next 6-12 months, in time for the 2021-22 sports year. It's the same problem with saying we need to wait for a vaccine that might or might not be ready in a year or two.
Should the entire multi-billion dollar sports industry just fold up the tents for years while scientists chase what might be an elusive goal? Or is there a way to adapt and do business?

 

The pros are adapting. So the entire sports industry isn’t folding. The Big Ten and PAC 12 are probably hoping every campus has outbreaks so they save face.

 

I heard a good argument about how the economic and political realities are a lot different in the Pac-12 compared to other conferences. Most Pac-12 schools are located in major metro areas - or even minor metro areas (with Pullman, Corvallis and Eugene) being the exceptions (perhaps Boulder). In the SEC, no football would cause a lot more damage to Tuscaloosa, Oxford, Starkville, College Station, Auburn, Athens, Gainesville etc. than it will in Seattle, LA, the Bay Area and Phoenix. I doubt the mayors in those areas were lobbing dozens of calls a day at the Pac-12 presidents.

 

True on the pros, although MLB took plenty of heat from the Marlins and Cardinals fiascos and you know the NFL will as well if there is a team with an outbreak.
The bigger push is among the college and high school programs to shut it down, rather than figure out ways to proceed with caution. Several school districts in my state are already canceling fall sports -- football season was pushed back two weeks to Sept. 4 -- even though football teams have been working out for two months without any major incidents. One or two teams have had to quarantine some players, but nothing widespread as far as I know.
There are definitely reasons to be cautious, and protocols we should be following, but I haven't seen anything this summer that is a bright red flag as to why we can't at least attempt it. Especially when there's no indication the situation will be appreciably better or worse five or six months from now. The general consensus from the coaches I've talked to is that COVID is something to be worried about, but the hysteria in regards to sports and football is a bit overblown.

And you're also right about the Big Ten and Pac-12. If the other conferences figure this thing out and make it through unscathed, their athletic programs are done as a competitive force. There's got to be doubt among athletes and recruits about being able to play in 2021 and beyond in the Big Ten and Pac-12. Then, at some point, if they decide it's unsafe to play in 2021-22 there will also be discussions at those schools along the lines of, "If we can't play, why are we paying all this money to pay all these coaches and maintain our athletic infrastructure?"

 

Travel will probably be a bigger issue in basketball than in football, just because of the number of times they'll have to do it. Football teams will only have to travel four or five times in a season, but basketball teams might have to do it 10 or 12 times in a shortened season.
Travel might not be a huge issue, though, because I think most college teams keep the traveling party under tight control. Football teams might come in on a Friday afternoon and then have meetings and a walk-through all evening. Basketball teams might fly or bus in the day of a game, head straight to the arena, and then come right back home. They're not exactly hitting the town.
As for the hangers-on, there are ways to limit the number of those folks and protocols you can put into place to screen them.

 

If I’m the unpaid labor in a billion dollar industry I’m not taking long-term health advice from the same people who have downplayed a major health crisis every step of the way and who just wants some entertainment. As you say, we don’t know how it’ll affect people years down the line. We do have some evidence of lingering bad effects. I’m not going to feel obligated to be a guinea pig to make other people money or give them something to watch on Saturday/call talk about radio about Monday. If an independent doctor who knows what they’re talking about presents me the risks as experts know them and I decide I’m comfortable playing, that’s another thing altogether.

If I’m getting paid millions of dollars and have a union and post-playing health benefits and a bubble, sure I might take the risk. Which, by the way is what’s happening in real life right now despite your strawman fold up the tents for years comment.

 

the grift

 

When I really want to listen to somebody talk about sports, I prefer it be Donald Jr.

Shooting a stationary giraffe - the essence of the competitive spirit.

 

Jeff Snook posted his most recent piece on Facebook, an outlet known for its journalism. The Daily Caller then picked it up.
It’s got to be hell for Trumpists to fight for Black athletes. Unless, of course, those athletes are an entertainment source. Then the Trumpists can manage.

 

They are not unpaid. They are literally paid a stipend, and their schooling/food/housing is paid for, too.

Avoiding the student-debt crisis crushing many of America's youth is a big deal. It's kind of like a gift that keeps on giving.