Eddie Cole: Playing college football in 2020 would continue to devalue Black lives

[BleedGopher]

per Eddie:


In many ways, the disproportionate number of Black student-athletes preparing for their football seasons have become the figurative lab mice as some college leaders assess the feasibility of in-person classes. The presidents of Power Five campuses voted in May to reopen athletic facilities, but some of them have since assessed that remote learning is necessary this fall. Meanwhile, dozens of students have tested positive this summer at many of the leading college football programs, such as the University of Texas, Louisiana State University and Clemson University, among others. And just last week, Rutgers University and Michigan State University quarantined their entire teams due to positive coronavirus cases.

In turn, as plans for major college football proceed as national coronavirus cases spike to record numbers, college presidents are silently upholding the long tradition of white administrators’ and white trustees’ disregard for, and resentment of, Black lives on their campuses.

OPINION EXCHANGE | Playing college football in 2020 would continue to devalue Black lives

Asking them to risk their health to preserve revenue for universities would simply be an extension of the long tradition in American higher education.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[fmlizard]

NCAA football is the biggest full scholarship program for Black males in the United States. It is also a larger producer of future Black millionaires than any student/youth organization on Earth. It's in the best interest of the Black community to keep it thriving.

I also assume that most athletic departments will make a blanket decision about Fall sports and not just keep football going, subject to ability to keep scheduled opponents in less-followed sports.

 

[rowdaboat]

Wouldn't canceling it devalue black lives? Because that's taking away a lot of NFL potential from blacks

 

[MplsGopher]

NCAA football is the biggest full scholarship program for Black males in the United States. It is also a larger producer of future Black millionaires than any student/youth organization on Earth. It's in the best interest of the Black community to keep it thriving.

I also assume that most athletic departments will make a blanket decision about Fall sports and not just keep football going, subject to ability to keep scheduled opponents in less-followed sports.

First para: of course, and it will continue to do that. This is a one year blip. If need people, people can live without college football for one year. Black players don't need to be putting their lives at risk to just to entertain white (and other color) fans.

 

[Some guy]

First para: of course, and it will continue to do that. This is a one year blip. If need people, people can live without college football for one year. Black players don't need to be putting their lives at risk to just to entertain white (and other color) fans.

Nor do white players if they don’t want to risk it.

If college football is played any player has the option not to play.
In fact, at any moment any college football player can quit the team.
There are about 11,000 FBS scholarships out there in a given year.

there are about 20 million college students in the US in a given year.


saying that there is going to be a season is in no way a race issue. If a player thinks it is they have the option to drop out of the 11,000 and join the ranks of the other nearly 20 million.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

It should of course be optional to play.

Are baseball players being devalued?

I don't buy into the idea of trying to do some things and not others is devaluing anyone.

 

[MplsGopher]

It should of course be optional to play.

Are baseball players being devalued?

I don't buy into the idea of trying to do some things and not others is devaluing anyone.

What do you mean by the last line, can you elaborate?

 

[Johnny Olson]

Any player at the U can opt out this year and retain their scholarship. I'm sure this will be the case everywhere else. There would be quite a lawsuit if players were forced to play.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

Any player at the U can opt out this year and retain their scholarship. I'm sure this will be the case everywhere else. There would be quite a lawsuit if players were forced to play.

Yes, and players are guaranteed scholarships and can't get run off of teams, right? I think a lot of players who sit out the year will find themselves persona non grata when they come back (except for anyone that has a specific health issue, like Casey O'Brien if he wasn't a senior). Teams will say all the right things, but behind the scenes coaches and other players will be pressuring people to play or else.

That said, I think this author is disingenuous. Any sport, regardless of percentage of race makeup, made the money rather than football, the same questions would be asked. It has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with money.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yes, and players are guaranteed scholarships and can't get run off of teams, right? I think a lot of players who sit out the year will find themselves persona non grata when they come back (except for anyone that has a specific health issue, like Casey O'Brien if he wasn't a senior). Teams will say all the right things, but behind the scenes coaches and other players will be pressuring people to play or else.

That said, I think this author is disingenuous. Any sport, regardless of percentage of race makeup, made the money rather than football, the same questions would be asked. It has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with money.

Can you please elaborate on what you think is the gist of the message of the OP author? I have a feeling you have misunderstood it.

 

[harley_gopher]

I'm confused as to why playing college football devalues 'black-lives'...but not 'white-lives'...or any other lives. Am I missing something here?

per Eddie:


In many ways, the disproportionate number of Black student-athletes preparing for their football seasons have become the figurative lab mice as some college leaders assess the feasibility of in-person classes. The presidents of Power Five campuses voted in May to reopen athletic facilities, but some of them have since assessed that remote learning is necessary this fall. Meanwhile, dozens of students have tested positive this summer at many of the leading college football programs, such as the University of Texas, Louisiana State University and Clemson University, among others. And just last week, Rutgers University and Michigan State University quarantined their entire teams due to positive coronavirus cases.

In turn, as plans for major college football proceed as national coronavirus cases spike to record numbers, college presidents are silently upholding the long tradition of white administrators’ and white trustees’ disregard for, and resentment of, Black lives on their campuses.

OPINION EXCHANGE | Playing college football in 2020 would continue to devalue Black lives

Asking them to risk their health to preserve revenue for universities would simply be an extension of the long tradition in American higher education.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

who is this Eddy?

 

[GoldenRodents]

who is this Eddy?

Eddie Cole is a professor of some made up soft science discipline who is trying desperately to say something profound. He has failed spectacularly.

Football is a high risk occupation made no more dangerous by SARSCOV2.

I can't wait for kickoff.

 

[MplsGopher]

^^^ guy who didn’t test high enough to go to college, talking down to a college professor. LOL!!

You and Ogee must get along famously.

 

[harley_gopher]

Eddie Cole is a professor of some made up soft science discipline who is trying desperately to say something profound. He has failed spectacularly.

Football is a high risk occupation made no more dangerous by SARSCOV2.

I can't wait for kickoff.

He MUST be from Minneapolis.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

Can you please elaborate on what you think is the gist of the message of the OP author? I have a feeling you have misunderstood it.

He is implying that the universities are making the decisions they are because they don't value black lives. Again, I don't care if football was exclusively white, exclusively black, something else or exactly what it is. They would do everything in their power to keep it going simply because it is the cash cow.

 

[MplsGopher]

He is implying that the universities are making the decisions they are because they don't value black lives. Again, I don't care if football was exclusively white, exclusively black, something else or exactly what it is. They would do everything in their power to keep it going simply because it is the cash cow.

Thank you.

Do you not agree it can be both, at the same time? I don't think the OP is suggesting that there is a diabolical, racist plot to force college football through this fall just in order to devalue black lives. You're correct, they're doing it for the money.

He's saying that because they're trying to force it through (for the money), that forcing (for the money) is also devaluing black lives.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Thank you.

Do you not agree it can be both, at the same time? I don't think the OP is suggesting that there is a diabolical, racist plot to force college football through this fall just in order to devalue black lives. You're correct, they're doing it for the money.

He's saying that because they're trying to force it through (for the money), that forcing (for the money) is also devaluing black lives.

I don't think think the second follows unless race is really a factor in the decision.

Just going through and arguing "bad choice devalues X people" because the stats happen to work out that way seems like a really shallow / weirdly segregated sort of view of things.

 

[MplsGopher]

I don't think think the second follows unless race is really a factor in the decision.

Just going through and arguing "bad choice devalues X people" because the stats happen to work out that way seems like a really shallow / weirdly segregated sort of view of things.

It follows because the vast majority of the (star) players in the top 25 (the ones that generate the vast majority of the TV and ticket value in college football) are black.

I think your way of thinking is subconscious racism. I don't think you're trying to be racist, or were brought up racist, or have conscious racist thoughts. I think it's deeper than that.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

It follows because the vast majority of the (star) players in the top 25 (the ones that generate the vast majority of the TV and ticket value in college football) are black.

I think your way of thinking is subconscious racism. I don't think you're trying to be racist, or were brought up racist, or have conscious racist thoughts. I think it's deeper than that.

No, my thinking is that math alone doesn't make for racism.

Racism isn't math.

The bar for racism can't be some imaginary 50/50 system, that's not how numbers work, they never will.

It's just a careless way to approach a complex topic.

 

[zman]

I think your way of thinking is subconscious racism. I don't think you're trying to be racist, or were brought up racist, or have conscious racist thoughts. I think it's deeper than that.

Or it’s not and you are searching for something that doesn’t exist in every particular case.

 

[MplsGopher]

Or it’s not and you are searching for something that doesn’t exist in every particular case.

Sounds like something a plantation owner would've said a few hundred years ago, in regards to the idea that black people are "actually humans, just like you and me".

 

[MplsGopher]

No, my thinking is that math alone doesn't make for racism.

Racism isn't math.

The bar for racism can't be some imaginary 50/50 system, that's not how numbers work, they never will.

It's just a careless way to approach a complex topic.

You will deny, and nothing I will say can convince you otherwise.

My position will continue to become the more commonly held position: when your labor force is largely minority, and you're putting them in harms way in order to keep the money flowing in, that is racism, even if at the subconscious level.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

You will deny, and nothing I will say can convince you otherwise.

My position will continue to become the more commonly held position: when your labor force is largely minority, and you're putting them in harms way in order to keep the money flowing in, that is racism, even if at the subconscious level.

Racism is a belief that someone has.

Math is not a belief.

It's that simple. You can't figure out what someone else(s) believe with math.

 

[zman]

Sounds like something a plantation owner would've said a few hundred years ago, in regards to the idea that black people are "actually humans, just like you and me".

It's quite clear that you see racism at every turn and there is nothing anyone can say to change your mind. It's too bad. Sounds like a crappy way to live life.

 

[MplsGopher]

Racism is a belief that someone has.

Math is not a belief.

It's that simple. You can't figure out what someone else(s) believe with math.

You're pretending that it's only math. That's on you.

 

[MplsGopher]

It's quite clear that you see racism at every turn and there is nothing anyone can say to change your mind. It's too bad. Sounds like a crappy way to live life.

LOL ... again, sounds like something a plantation owner would say.

Beliefs change very slowly. But in the end, the correct belief will win the day. Those who've become ingrained into the wrong way of thinking .... well, a human mind has very limited capacity to change its beliefs, sadly.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

You're pretending that it's only math. That's on you.

That's the only thing you've given us to show how somehow the determination on the article involves race... the number of players.

That's on you.

 

[hello-world]

I cannot and won't comment on his main argument, but I believe all players have been given the right to opt out of the season and keep their scholarship. Nobody wants to see players or their families get sick, and if they are threatened by this virus in a way above-and-beyond the normal population then they can and should opt-out of the season. I think everyone here would support that.

In its modern form, college football creates jobs and scholarships for thousands of people. In its best form, it creates personal development and grants opportunities to many students who might not otherwise be admitted to, or receive scholarships from, these institutions.

It's not just one year. It's a $100 million budget shortfall at most Minnesota-esque athletic departments. That money will not ever be recovered. Playing the season, even without fans, creates television revenue, jobs, scholarships, and benefits for student athletes.

I've noticed a lot of rich people with jobs advocating for things like school closures into 2021 and extended shutdowns of the broader economy. Those people aren't going to foot the bill for new laptops and private tutoring for kids that cannot afford them, universal basic income for those that have lost their jobs, and extended retraining programs for people who have been out of work for nearly a year. They aren't looking out for anyone besides themselves.

 

[MplsGopher]

That's the only thing you've given us to show how somehow the determination on the article involves race... the number of players.

That's on you.

You can gaslight forever -- you might as well just claim that there is no such thing as racism.

What even is a "descrimination"?? How can you "prove" any thing like that has ever occurred? Silly

 

[MplsGopher]

I cannot and won't comment on his main argument, but I believe all players have been given the right to opt out of the season and keep their scholarship. Nobody wants to see players or their families get sick, and if they are threatened by this virus in a way above-and-beyond the normal population then they can and should opt-out of the season. I think everyone here would support that.

In its modern form, college football creates jobs and scholarships for thousands of people. In its best form, it creates personal development and grants opportunities to many students who might not otherwise be admitted to, or receive scholarships from, these institutions.

It's not just one year. It's a $100 million budget shortfall at most Minnesota-esque athletic departments. That money will not ever be recovered. Playing the season, even without fans, creates television revenue, jobs, scholarships, and benefits for student athletes.

I've noticed a lot of rich people with jobs advocating for things like school closures into 2021 and far extended shutdowns of the broader economy. Those people aren't going to foot the bill for new laptops and private tutoring for kids that cannot afford them, universal basic income for those that have lost their jobs, and extended retraining programs for people who have been out of work for nearly a year. They aren't looking out for anyone besides themselves.

Yes, it is just one year.

They'll survive, just fine.