Michigan pausing all team activities

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Kevin Warren (and his advisors/administrators) - right that the season would be a mess due to a bunch of coronavirus cases spreading like wildfire through programs.

Also a little wrong, because to this point there are still no reports of anyone getting a bad outcome from the virus, whether among players, staffers, older coaches, or even contacts that could be traced to those people. Anywhere in college football.

The correct strategy might have been to act like the stock market and ignore the whole thing.
 

Based on how they've been playing they paused team activities before the season even started.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
IMHO, the B1G played FB this fall for 2 reasons:
1. give Ohio State a shot at making the CFP playoffs (with resulting payday for the conference)
and
2. make the crying Nebraska fans and coaches shut the f*ck up. (and end any threats of legal action)

that's it. that is why the B1G is playing.
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Bolded: worth it alone!!

Turn it up to 11: kick them out of the conference.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Based on how they've been playing they paused team activities before the season even started.
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Fleck knew this season was going to suck. Knew it all along. On defense. He figured the offense would be great again and win some games for us. That of course was with everyone back from the git-go and having full off-seasons of preparations and "pre-season games" against Tennessee Tech and Florida Atlantic, before likely going 0-2 against BYU and Iowa.
 

MplsGopher said:
How crazy would it be if OSU doesn't play the next three weeks, but the CFP still picks them for the top 4??? Almost seems impossible.

If CFP is two ACC teams (Clemson and ND) and SEC teams (Alabama and Texas A&M), I won't watch a single G-D second. Not a single second. F you ESPN, and F your advertisers!
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The CFP committee will pick the Buckeyes no matter how many games they've played. It's all about ratings and dollars - this year even more than any other year.

It does not matter how many games they've played or if they haven't won their conference championship. OSU is a monster brand with a top-5 pick QB.
 


Some guy said:
The would say Texas A&M is probably in unless Florida beats Alabama.

If florida beats Alabama and notre dame beats Clemson it is possible the playoff is 3 SEC and 1 ACC
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I am rooting for Auburn to beat Texas A&M this weekend, then. F the SEC. Screw their plans as hard as can be screwed up.
 

Biggsohnasty said:
The CFP committee will pick the Buckeyes no matter how many games they've played. It's all about ratings and dollars - this year even more than any other year.

It does not matter how many games they've played or if they haven't won their conference championship. OSU is a monster brand with a top-5 pick QB.
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I hope so.

Looks like they're still trying to play the Mich State game this weekend. Day can't be there to coach. Will be interesting to see how much fight MSU puts up, having just beat NW. Game at Sparty. I think NW just forgot to show up, but we'll see (if it gets played).

Would be something if OSU stomps them .... only for Michigan to give them the middle finger next week.

Probably still good enough to get into the CFP, even if they don't play The Game and don't play the Big Ten championship. But if this week gets cancelled too ... man that's tough.
 

EG#9 said:
They played for $$$ Yet they still want to pretend these are student athletes when it's convenient for them.
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To be fair, they didn’t recommit to a football season until rapid testing was available on a large scale
 




fmlizard said:
Kevin Warren (and his advisors/administrators) - right that the season would be a mess due to a bunch of coronavirus cases spreading like wildfire through programs.

Also a little wrong, because to this point there are still no reports of anyone getting a bad outcome from the virus, whether among players, staffers, older coaches, or even contacts that could be traced to those people. Anywhere in college football...
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Should note that unless the person dies we'll never know. Even if someone has serious, long term internal damage, we probably won't find out for quite awhile. If ever at that. Even if the person gets very sick, there would be pressure not to say anything about it. His coach, agent, school, fans etc. would all want him to stay quiet. While there would be no upside or pressure to reveal it.

Here we have a town with competing daily newspapers and local TV stations. Ones that fall over themselves to root out any information that could be construed as negative to the University. Yet before the Purdue game nobody could even give us a breakdown of how many players were injured or sat out because of COVID19 until days after the game was played!

When Fleck finally himself told us. Least I think he did.

You think in College controlled areas like ALA, Clemson, FSU, OK, where there have been big outbreaks, that those Head Coaches are going be forthcoming with anything besides "They have no symptoms" or "The symptoms were mild"?

It's not going to happen.
 
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MplsGopher said:
Fleck knew this season was going to suck. Knew it all along. On defense. He figured the offense would be great again and win some games for us. That of course was with everyone back from the git-go and having full off-seasons of preparations and "pre-season games" against Tennessee Tech and Florida Atlantic, before likely going 0-2 against BYU and Iowa.
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my joke was about Michigan
 


Biggsohnasty said:
The CFP committee will pick the Buckeyes no matter how many games they've played. It's all about ratings and dollars - this year even more than any other year.

It does not matter how many games they've played or if they haven't won their conference championship. OSU is a monster brand with a top-5 pick QB.
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OSU’s qb is overrated. Everyone seems to want to love the guy. He has all day to make easy throws. He’s nowhere near a top 5 pick in my opinion. He won’t play QB in the NFL, at least not anything but sparingly.
 



Some Day...Maybe said:
OSU’s qb is overrated. Everyone seems to want to love the guy. He has all day to make easy throws. He’s nowhere near a top 5 pick in my opinion. He won’t play QB in the NFL, at least not anything but sparingly.
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You may be correct he is overrated (I disagree with you) but you’re 100% wrong he will never play more than sparingly. How many top 10 picks just get cut without ever getting a season or two of starts?
 

Looks like Ohio State @ Michigan State is full speed ahead. Day can't be there, but I expect OSU to try as hard as they can to blow out MSU as bigly as possible.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...o-play-michigan-state-without-coach-ryan-day/

Ohio State's eligibility for the Big Ten Championship Game took a step in the right direction Tuesday as the program announced it will officially be resuming organized team activities. As such, the Buckeyes are preparing for their next game on Saturday, Dec. 5 game at Michigan State.

Ohio State halted team activities on Nov. 27 and canceled its game against Illinois after a COVID-19 outbreak. Among those to test positive was coach Ryan Day, who will be unable to coach the Michigan State game. The shortage of available players due to testing and contact tracing not only led to the Ohio State canceling its second game of the year, but putting the Michigan State game at risk as well. A major issue with teams having to cancel one game is that it oftentimes can lead to another cancellation.

Regardless of whether the game is played, Day will continue to adhere to conference isolation protocols. Ohio State assistant head coach/defensive line coach Larry Johnson was set to serve as interim coach of the Buckeyes against Illinois before the game was canceled.
 

https://sports.yahoo.com/esp-ns-kir...19-to-avoid-playing-ohio-state-021812628.html

Kirk Herbstreit quickly apologized for what he said about Michigan during Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings show.

Herbstreit tweeted out an apology video an hour after the show apologizing to Michigan and its fans for saying that Michigan could use COVID-19 as an excuse to not play Ohio State on Dec. 12. Michigan has held all team activities virtually over the last two days “out of an abundance of caution” due to COVID-19 test results.

On the show, Herbstreit said that he thought Michigan “waves the white flag and potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week” via COVID-19 protocols. The Wolverines not playing against the Buckeyes would mean three canceled games for Ohio State and prevent OSU from being eligible for the Big Ten title game.

“I had no business at all saying that,” Herbstreit said in his apology. “I have no evidence of that. It’s completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches and I just want to apologize.”

 

MplsGopher said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/esp-ns-kir...19-to-avoid-playing-ohio-state-021812628.html

Kirk Herbstreit quickly apologized for what he said about Michigan during Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings show.

Herbstreit tweeted out an apology video an hour after the show apologizing to Michigan and its fans for saying that Michigan could use COVID-19 as an excuse to not play Ohio State on Dec. 12. Michigan has held all team activities virtually over the last two days “out of an abundance of caution” due to COVID-19 test results.

On the show, Herbstreit said that he thought Michigan “waves the white flag and potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week” via COVID-19 protocols. The Wolverines not playing against the Buckeyes would mean three canceled games for Ohio State and prevent OSU from being eligible for the Big Ten title game.

“I had no business at all saying that,” Herbstreit said in his apology. “I have no evidence of that. It’s completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches and I just want to apologize.”

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Especially these days, lots of people say things in jest or that others are thinking, but FEW people apologize when they're made aware the comments were perceived as distasteful.

My respect for Herbstreit has grown exponentially the past year. Seems like a standup guy.
 

MplsGopher said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/esp-ns-kir...19-to-avoid-playing-ohio-state-021812628.html

Kirk Herbstreit quickly apologized for what he said about Michigan during Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings show.

Herbstreit tweeted out an apology video an hour after the show apologizing to Michigan and its fans for saying that Michigan could use COVID-19 as an excuse to not play Ohio State on Dec. 12. Michigan has held all team activities virtually over the last two days “out of an abundance of caution” due to COVID-19 test results.

On the show, Herbstreit said that he thought Michigan “waves the white flag and potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week” via COVID-19 protocols. The Wolverines not playing against the Buckeyes would mean three canceled games for Ohio State and prevent OSU from being eligible for the Big Ten title game.

“I had no business at all saying that,” Herbstreit said in his apology. “I have no evidence of that. It’s completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches and I just want to apologize.”

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I think Kirk was guilty of the same behavior that made him have to move out of Columbus because of fan abuse. Glad he set it straight.
 

STrib editorial board:

https://www.startribune.com/it-s-time-to-shut-down-the-big-ten-football-season/573269531/

It's time to shut down the Big Ten football season

COVID-19 is surging in Big Ten football locker rooms and in the states that the conference's universities serve. Conference officials should cancel what's left of the 2020 season not just to protect student-athletes and staff but to prevent team outbreaks from spreading to the broader community.

This week, the University of Minnesota announced that 47 Gophers football players and staff have tested positive for the virus since Nov. 19, causing the team to cancel a second consecutive game. The number infected is about 30% of the program's personnel. This appears to be the biggest Big Ten football outbreak so far, but that could change rapidly without responsible action by conference officials.

Clearly, the testing, social distancing and "stringent medical protocols" the conference touted to justify resuming play after initially deciding to delay the season are inadequate. There's been only one week since the condensed season's late October start when the virus hasn't forced cancellation of at least one game.

To its credit, the Big Ten put in place more rigorous restrictions than other conferences. But recent remarks made by Gophers coach P.J. Fleck during a radio interview suggest how difficult it is to defend against the virus. Walling off players is not realistic.

"These are student-athletes. They live in dorms. They are around 55,000 other students somehow, some way, even if the class is virtual," Fleck told KFAN.

In an e-mail to an editorial writer, Paul Rovnak, director of communications for Gophers athletics, also stressed the rigor and diligence of the team's infection control efforts. Said Rovnak: "Our recent situation with football is not a result of anyone doing anything wrong. The virus just found a way in."

The pair's comments make a strong case for canceling the rest of the season. No screw-ups are required for a team outbreak to happen. Even the best measures and intentions aren't fail-safe. Given how seriously ill COVID can make people and how much is unknown about its long-term risks — including possible heart damage among athletes — the most responsible course of action is to stop the season.

The Gophers now have just one regular-season game left, plus a Dec. 19 divisional crossover game. Although the Gophers appear to have more COVID cases than the rest of the league's teams, by shutting down the entire conference now and canceling the postseason the Big Ten would send a strong and educational message that the risks vastly outweigh any rewards of playing on.

It's also critical to note that the virus could spread from football programs to the broader communities in which schools are located. The nation is in the midst of an alarming surge of COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The Minnesota Department of Health has "not identified any community cases associated with the Gopher football team, but that doesn't mean we might not in the future," a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Dr. Dan Diekema, director of the division of infectious diseases at University of Iowa College of Medicine, had lauded the conference's August decision to postpone football. When the conference reversed course a month later, he was critical and told NBC News it was not safe to play.

"Nothing has happened since I gave that interview that would change my view — in fact the COVID-19 activity across the Midwest (and in other areas of the country) has worsened considerably, making it even more problematic," Diekema told an editorial writer this week.
 

How many threads are you going to put the isolated opinions of these few individuals in?
 

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