August 19, 2020 • 47 mins
Mike Blewitt is joined by Joe Lisi for this episode of Football Full Circle! The guys take a deep dive into the world of college football. How will this college football season look without the Big Ten and the PAC-12? What can we expect this year from the SEC? Then, Aaron Torres joins the show to discuss the pros and cons of having a fall college football season.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
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grid sports grid dot Com. Hey, everybody, welcome to this
(00:22):
hour of Football Fool Circle. It's the college Hour of
Football Pool Circle, and we've had quite a week. I'm
joined to buy co host of college football today right
here on the grid Joe Leasy and Joe Um, it's
been it's been a week. It's been a week. We're
gonna have to go over everything here in a minute,
but give me your initial thoughts on how stunned you
(00:43):
are by all of this. Well, this was like a
heavyweight title fight, Mike, almost like m m A to boot.
I mean, we had fireworks in the first staff of
the week with the Big ten and the PAC twelve canceling,
and then the other news coming out later in the
week with the SEC Big ten in a CEC forging
ahead at least for this week in terms of two
(01:04):
thousand and twenty seasons. So we'll see what the last
couple of weeks of August having the cards. But I've
never seen the news that broke this week in college football.
I've been covering the game, uh for a long time now,
and this was one of the worst weeks that I've
seen since I've covered their sport. Social media related to
(01:25):
college football was a dark, dark place this week. It
just was people were depressed. People are really angry, people
were It's really ticked off at sports writers. They felt
like we're rooting for this when the sports writers are
just reporting on things as they're going. But to your
point about it being a title fight, it was Monday
(01:45):
we heard that Big Ten Pack twelve might shut it down.
All through the day on Monday, it was like, all right,
they're doing meetings, they're gonna move conferences, we're gonna realign,
we're gonna get maybe it's not gonna happen, And then
sure enough, the Big Ten was the first major conference
to go through it. Obviously, the MAC had decided to
(02:06):
move away from a fall season, hopefully playing in the spring.
But uh. Quote here from Morton Shapiro, the chair of
the Big Ten Council of Presidents, Chancellors and Northwestern University President.
Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions
in the interest of our students, faculty, and staff, the
(02:26):
mental and physical health and welfare of our student as
a new quote, mental and health, mental and physical health
and welfare of our student athletes has been at the
center of every decision we have made regarding the ability
to proceed forward. That's from Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren.
As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our
Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the
(02:48):
Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, became abundantly clear that there
was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow
our student athletes to compete this fall. Well said, but
that's where we're at show. We're gonna have, by the way,
not to bury the lead. We're gonna have Aaron Torres
from Fox Sports on a little bit later this hour
(03:09):
to discuss all of this with a focus on the
Big Ten. But we've talked about it a lot. I'll
say this. My reaction is that I was totally stunned
that they a Power five conference is not going through
with the season. I knew it was a possibility. You
and I have talked for months about how I thought
(03:29):
college football really was in the crosshairs. I think there
are unique challenges to college football, the number of teams,
the campus life that proposed risks that the other sports
don't have. But I still thought based on schedules being released,
based on the protocols that were put in place, based
on the fact that while MLB really stubbed their toe
(03:50):
out of the gate, it was sort of nipped in
the bud by most of the other teams. The Cardinals
and the Marlins were a mass for a period of time,
but the Marlins are back playing, Cardinals still aren't, and
I just thought that they served as a cautionary tale that, look,
we're going to have to bubble up or at least
not being regular student body contact in order to make
(04:12):
this going forward. And to call it on August eleven
was really what surprised me. I think the two biggest
takeaways for me, Mike was that there was not one
uniform voice. We have the power five conferences acting independently
of each other. You heard the Big Ten in terms
of their specific task force. We heard about the Pack
(04:32):
twelve and their specific doctors, and then we heard the
other three conferences give completely a different scenario or I
want to say recommendations. So that's where we differ, and
that that was I guess the glaring aspect about why
wasn't the n C Double A, you know, really involved
in these discussions in terms of putting their doctors and
(04:53):
putting all everyone on the same page. Why couldn't the
Pack twelve and the Big Ten say, you know what,
we're all going to get with each other, meaning all
Power five conferences, we all take partake in the college
football playoff, and let's have a uniform decision that we're
not going to make a decision until let's say September one.
Why they had to jump the gun before you know,
(05:14):
anyone else, I think it was because of they didn't
want to take on the liability when the MAC did it.
The MAC had ties to the Big Ten, and that
was specifically why I think the Big the Big Ten,
and the Pact twelve acted that way. And then secondly
was the other factor. We have conflicting views pro high
school those players are playing contact football, so why can't
(05:36):
college athletes And there's another debate that we're gonna have
to see how that plays out. I'll be the first
one he's too easy of a punching bag at this
point for me to jump on Mark Emeron. I will say,
regarding this decision on Power five schools, care what he
has to say, and I certainly don't think that the
university presidents of Power five schools have any interest in
(05:59):
what Mark Emert has to say. So in terms of
being a unified voice from the n c A, I
personally don't think that's realistic. I know what you're saying.
It would be great to have a unified voice, but
Mark Emert doesn't have the the cash or the power,
frankly to be able to do that well. We will
will continue to talk about this as we welcome in
our radio audience here for this final minute, will continue
(06:22):
to talk about it through the next couple of segments.
But I think he did bring up a good point.
First of all, I don't I don't. I can't answer
for why high schools are playing in the colleges, aren't.
I think a lot of state high school association sports
associations are going to fold for the fall seasons. I
think that will continue to happen. Some of them haven't
(06:42):
made the call yet, some still had a little bit
of time. UM, I think liability is a big factor.
I'll list my three major components of why I think
this decision was made in terms of the Big Ten.
Bring the Pack twelve into the mix after this because
they had a similar statement, but they're also deal with
other issues that I think play into this as well.
(07:02):
So a lot to talk about on this topic with
Mike and Joe Lesie. This salur College footballs College Football
on Football Full Circle will be right back after this.
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(07:45):
all on Twitter at sports grid and on Instagram at
sports Grid TV. So PAC twelve, let me get to
their statement first and then I'll get through it. So
uh quote, all of the PAC twelve presidents and chance
chancellors understand the important of this decision and the disappointment
it will create for our student athletes, that coaches, support, staff,
and all of our fans, said Michael H. Shill, President
(08:08):
of the University of Oregon. Ultimately, our decision was guided
by science, a deep commitment to the health and welfare
of our student athletes. We certainly hope that the PAC
twelve will be able to return to competition in the
new year. So the health another quote from Pack twelve
Commissioner Larry Scott, health, safety and well being our student
athletes and all those connected to Pack twelve sports has
been our number one priority since the start of this
(08:29):
current crisis. So here's what I think. I think it's
good that they said that. I think if that were
the case, that would be ideal. I just you and
I followed this sport for a really long time, and
I think we're always going to be skeptical to some extent.
I think in the end, if they've protected the health
(08:49):
of some athletes, then that ends up being a good
reason to have made the decision. But I think you
and I both know a lot of this decision was
based out of fear. One. They are scared of the liability,
which frankly they should be scared of that liability. We
we have never on this show, and you and I
differ to some extent as to whether they should or
(09:10):
should not play, But I've never thought it was about
massive amounts of players getting COVID, having to go to
I c u s suffering, uh, you know, full teams
filled with a COVID outbreak. I think that could happen,
but that hasn't been my biggest concern. Um. My concern
is that it is one kid or the The university
(09:35):
presidents concern is about one kid potentially getting really sick,
or one player getting to the point where he suffered
long term heart damage from this virus, which she could
from other viruses to We understand that, but I think
that's the concern, and for a university president to have
(09:56):
to deal with that level of liability is just something, frankly,
that he's too afraid of. I'll get to my other
two points after that, but I'll let you comment. Yeah,
I understand that, and I know where the university presidents
are going. But here's my take. If the state allows
you to play the sport of either high school, college
or pro football, and they ask for specific protocols to
(10:19):
make that happen, and the school implements those protocols and
goes by the book A, B and C. What's the
problem in terms of liability? Is it any different than
a football player becoming paralyzed? I mean, we know that
there's risks in the game. I mean, who's to say
that a football player doesn't get sick from a disease
outside of COVID that we're not aware of. There's always
(10:41):
gonna be liability, and I think that that's what it
comes down to, the risk reward where it's always gonna
be there when you play sports. Now, I get what
you're saying, but if the state allows that to happen,
it would be one thing. If the state says we're
not allowing any collegiate, high school or professional sports, I
get it, then you're going against the decision of the state.
(11:03):
But if you're implementing all of the protocols like Alabama said, Uh,
some of these schools have said they have elite testing
and elite medical staffs that these kids are not going
to have anywhere else. They're gonna be monitored on a
daily basis, tested two and three times a week. How
much more do we need to go because these kids
(11:24):
are still gonna be on campus, going to school, most
of them, and we have no idea where they're gonna go. Well,
I still think that I think we can. I can
dispel that a little bit. I think these players are
still gonna be locked into their program. There's not gonna
be any games, but I think they're gonna be locked
into go into the weight room, to go into classes,
meeting with the football preparing for spring as is. I
(11:48):
know it's not quite the same, but I think they'll
be locked in in that way. There's some evidence that
some programs will continue to do that. The guys are
gonna be on scholarship and everything else, So I'm less
concerned about that. The second point I was going to make, Joe,
and you're technically right about there being liability concerning other issues,
but I think all football players at this point have
(12:09):
accepted the known risk of c t E, the known
risk of paralyzation. What's Eric's name from Rutgers, Eric Lagrant Right, Um,
it's a sad story of Metam. He is an unbelievable
guy and it's a sad situation, a rarity. But players
(12:30):
deal with other debilitating injuries for throughout their life too,
which aren't necessarily as severe as paralyzation, right so, but
we are dealing still with some unknown regarding this and
I think that's why this liability is significantly different. Now
we are going to next week next week's show, hopefully
(12:53):
get an attorney in here to talk about some some
issues related to liability and the forming of a players association,
which brings me to my next point. I think this
isn't just about this. I think there are two other
issues that are play. One for some of the schools,
which is most of them that are cash poor, not
having fans in the stadium really hurts their bottom line
(13:13):
in a way that is being underplayed to some extent.
Putting on games, it comes with a certain cost, and
I think not having fans in the stadium can be costed.
There's not selling tickets right now. I think punting on
the season is something that they thought about being able
to do. Now. Do I think they're gonna be fans
full in stadiums in spring? No, I don't think that
(13:34):
at all. But uh, it's a factor. And the third
factor is what we're just talking about in terms of
players association. And let me get to this. I'll read
this statement PAC Twells Player Unity Group, or at least
a statement earlier this week in response to the conferences
postponement quote. It is obvious that the PAC twelve was
(13:55):
woefully unprepared to protect college athletes safety in response to
COVID nineteen. It could not address the basic and essential
safety and bands made by hashtag we Are United. The
Pact Wells failures have made it clear that the time
for changes now the system has broken. College athletes deserve
and need a real voice in the form of a
players association that can't form a union because it's technically
(14:16):
a nonprofit so to be association. But Joe, I think
this is number three on my list and a reason
why they are sort of trying to circle the wagons
figure out how they can prepare for this. We've gone
over n image, image and likeness litigation that has fallen
into players favor, and now we have something like this.
(14:38):
I don't think they're prepared for this all to come
crashing down and the system to be broken, and I
think they're trying to put it on pause until they
figure it out at least some that it is some
level of motivation. Are they employees? I think that's the
biggest question, you know, are they if their employees, then
you have to treat them as such in terms of pace.
So that would be a big question in terms of
(14:58):
this whole scenario that plays out with COVID. The other
the other question that I'd like to propose to in
terms of what you broke down Mike, was I understand
that the kids are gonna practice and still be a
part of their programs. I mean, Wisconsin is gonna have
twenty hours a week of practice. So what what do
we separate if if a kid gets sick from COVID
(15:19):
or test positive in practice, is it any different than
getting sick in the game. So where's the liability. It's
the same type of liability whether he gets sick at
practice or whether he gets sick in the game. So
it's fair question exactly. So that's my first point. The
other point that I want to make about Kevin ware
and the Big Ten commissioner, his son is a tight
(15:40):
end on Mississippi States team. He's so concerned, but his
tongue son is not backing out or opting out in
terms of playing in the SEC. I mean, you have
a lot of contradicting statements and a lot of hypocrisy.
And that's why not only members within their own teams
in terms of the Big Ten are upset, but you
have fans upset as well. And when you talk about
(16:02):
the repercussions. Nebraska, the city of Lincoln is gonna lose
three hundred million dollars for no games this year. Think
about that to the local economy. Wisconsin has talked about
that to um hundred million dollar loss by not playing football,
just to the school itself. So look, I've tried to
(16:23):
be in the middle on this. I've tried to look
at it from both perspectives. I do find it odd
that some conferences are playing and some are not. Currently
we have seventies six teams, although that could drop by
the time even this air is recording it a little
bit before it airs. But um so that's a possibility, right,
It could be down from their conference. USA hasn't made
(16:44):
their call yet, and we obviously have three of the
Power five. So I don't think it's a bad decision
that they decided to not play. I thought they were
going to give it a little bit more time. Um
What what is hard for me to reconcile is I
have doctors on one side saying this isn't a good idea,
(17:07):
And then I have doctors on the side of the
A SEC and SEC They're saying, go folk, we can
move forward because we are well prepared to handle this.
There are components of the college life that I think
can make the infection of players unavoidable. I don't think
they're gonna bubble up like they maybe should. But we'll
(17:27):
come back talk a little bit more about this complicated topic. Poblicy,
Joe and I'll be right back on the grid after
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Sports grid dot Com Back on the grid talking college football.
(17:54):
Uh God's Aaron Torres coming up in the next segment,
excited to hear about his thoughts on the Big ten
and PAC twelve shutting down. He's out in LA, so
we'll give us perspective on PAC twelve. How to film
the interview with him a couple of days early ages
based on availability, but nonetheless Aaron is gonna be on
with us and you'll you'll get a kick out of
(18:16):
what he had to say. So, um so here here's
I'm probably more of the let's be cautious with this thing, right.
I've really been in the middle on it because I
know there isn't a sweet spot perfect answer Joe to
saying this is the amount, this is the date we
should have started, this is when quarantine should have ended. Uh,
(18:39):
this is how many people you can have in a restaurant.
These are all sort of unknowns, right, I don't pretend
to know. I think it's why people are being cautious
is because it's unknown, and obviously many, many, many thousands
of people have died from this. But what gets difficult
about conversations like this is you have the Big ten
and PAC twelve epidemial, just infectious disease experts telling them
(19:03):
we can't move forward, and then you have something like
this with the a c C. Dr Cameron Wolf, who
is the chair of the a c C Medical Advisory
Group Group be leaves a fall season can be played
safely article by Andrea Addolson, the ESPN senior writer in
college football. So he says it can be played safely
(19:24):
was one of the biggest reason the league remains on
course to start in September. So he's a duke confessions
disease expert. It's a private school, they are not a
football powerhouse. There are many things that you could say
to say, you know what, he is not really motivated
to do this. And by the way, this report was
via the Sports Business Daily. Um, so they've learned just
(19:46):
enough over the past six months. He feels like that
they can contain this. I know you've been seeing that
sort of all along all of these other sports high
school sports are playing, and yet we're canceling at the
major D one college football level. Yeah, And and it
comes down to lawsuits, and it comes down to like
the worst case scenario, Mike, where what if? It's the
(20:08):
what if? And the what if I understand from the
health aspect, but the what if if We're sitting here,
let's say next fall, and there is no change where
you have no vaccine, we have no new data. It's
status quo. What do we do then? Is it just
because now it's not as new as it was last year,
(20:28):
meaning three months ago. Is it is that the difference
between one and playing college football because you know a
year has gone by and now we're used to it,
we understand, we're living with it, or because it is
a new disease. That's the biggest question, because from an
economic standpoint, if we wait until next year, some of
(20:49):
these programs aren't gonna be here. Now. Yes, Nebraska and
Ohio State will be there, Michigan and Penn State, but
some of these other programs out of the group of five,
are not gonna be here the way they were. There's
gonna be a loss of jobs, economy, and that's something
else that we have to take into account. And the
other factor as well is if they can do it
(21:10):
at the high school level, they can certainly do it
at the collegiate level. These are elite medical staffs you
just mentioned, Duke. There's other great staffs that are putting
processes and protocols in place so that certain testing is
done and more importantly, these players are protected. So if
the state says you can do it, what is the issue?
(21:32):
Really comes down to the biggest question. So wolf Is
also told Commissioner John Swafford and League athletic directors that
there's no way to cut the risk to zero and
that they have to be comfortable with some level of
risk tolerance. Quote, you can't tell me that running onto
a football field is supposed to be a zero risk environment.
Look at all the regular sporting injuries that we accept
(21:53):
as a certain level of risk and are part and
parcel of football. Now, the reality is that we have
to accept a little bit of COVID risk to be
a part of that. So that's probably in line with
what you your thought process is, what your thought process is, UM.
One specific area of concern is this article states is
myocarditis a condition that causes inflammation of the heart muscle
(22:14):
that could be linked with the coronavirus. Is what we've
been referring to all along. Eddie Rodriguez of the Boston
Red Sox is thought to have uh this condition now
and it's why his season was shut down. UM. This
can this condition can be caused by other viral infections
as well, H one and one influenza mononucleosis, so it
(22:34):
isn't alone in causing that condition. But to your point about, well,
what if we're here a year from down we don't
have a vaccine, or it hasn't been rolled out and
or it's ineffective or it's got other side effects that
they don't feel comfortable administering it anymore. I would say
that that's the reason we wait, so that we find
(22:54):
out we have a year it is. We have scientists
working around the clock to ryan help us with this.
From a therapeutic standpoint, which we've obviously seen the impact
of the medical community in New York, New Jersey and
the losses that they suffered. I would assume that the
therapeutics that they were able to administer to some people
(23:16):
that improved conditions are being shared with states like Arizona
and Texas and Florida and California that are currently undergoing
COVID spikes. So I would say that you do wait
the time in order to learn more, in order to
proceed with a little bit more or a lot more information.
That that's what I would say to a year from now,
(23:38):
if we don't have a vaccine, will say, well, we
still can't play because we learned all the stuff, or
will say, well, now we know we can play because
there there's a very few people that are coming down
with myocarditis, or we do have a vaccine that's going
to help of the population like a flu vaccine does. Now,
which by the way, I got the flu shot. I
(23:58):
get it every year because I have little kids. I
got the blue shot this year and got the flu.
So that's that's probably gonna happen with COVID as well.
With this vaccine isn't necessarily going to be about eradicating
the virus. No, but the people that are saying that,
Mike are in a position of strength right New York,
New Jersey, major media markets, major economic markets. Some of
(24:18):
these other areas in parts of the country are out
of position of weakness. I think that's the other concern.
Now here's the other factor as well. For take sports
out of it. If kids are on campus and they
can track COVID and they have let's say a factor
or an underlying cause that allows them to get the
health and heart issues, it's not going to change whether
(24:39):
they play football or not. And it's true, that's the
other factor that we need to take into account. This
is not just a football person uh conversation or debate.
This is a student debate because the school presidents still
have to worry about the other thirty five thousand kids
on campus, and if one of those kids come down
with the health issue or an underlying heart condition due
(25:02):
to COVID. Guess what, They're gonna be sued just as
much as the football player is going to sue them.
So then what is the situation in that type of scenario,
Because to me, I don't see it. I think it's
fair to raise that question. But I think all students
are assuming some level of risk of going back on campus.
(25:22):
A friend of mine is driving his son to the
University of South Carolina that's gonna be full in person classes.
They're starting a little early, attempting to have all the
students out by Thanksgiving and doing finals or and the
last part of the semester virtually, so as to have
tried to avoid cold and flu season. I think they're
not alone in doing that. I believe Notre Dame and
others have followed suit as well. So I do understand that.
(25:47):
I think what I've always been concerned about with players
is obviously football brings a level of risk to it
amongst all things, but just related to this virus, injuries
and everything else, just related to this virus. We know
that the on field stuff is riskier. Right. They're constantly
sweating on each other, they bleed on each other, it's
(26:09):
you know, all the gross stuff at at the bottom
of a pile that happens. It could obviously lead to
transmission of a virus. That's never really been my biggest concern.
It's really about fraternizing on the sidelines when you're got
your helmets off, which will probably be modified this year
to wearing masks potentially under the helmets, or at least
(26:31):
when you come off the field, putting a mask on.
All the locker room stuff that occurs. We saw hard
knocks earlier this week. They're doing everything they can with
the rams and the chargers to keep people distant. But
at the end of the day, like people are like
these baseball players are getting too close to one another.
I'm like, what are you gonna do their baseball players?
They're gonna high five and hug and fist bump and
(26:52):
all that kind of stuff. I think that's just going
to happen. Let alone. I've been to college. I know
what it's like. They're they're not gonna stay in there dorms.
They're not going to do it. And I'm not killing
them for it. I'm not, but they're not going to
do it. You can't kill them. But but it's a
matter of the lifestyle, right, So they're gonna do it anyway.
And here's the argument. You mentioned your your friends, uh
(27:15):
son or daughter that's going to campus. They're not gonna
be tested nearly half as much as these football players
two and three times a week. So we're really gonna
be on top of them in terms of monitoring not
just COVID, their heart condition and heart rate, their blood pressure,
other factors that possibly can lead to you know, bacterial infections.
(27:36):
So I mean, and that's the other thing as well.
And when we talk about these other Power five conferences,
the a, SEC, Big twelve and SEC, the SEC, college
football is their brand. If they're gonna find a way
to do it, they're gonna find the best way possible
to get around and get through this COVID situation. And
I think that's why you give them the benefit of
(27:58):
the doubt. Yes, but if I'm playing devil's advocate on
the other side, and by the way, their schools like
Duke that are not sending all their students back to campus.
Duke is only freshman and sophomores this semester. I think
they're going to switch to juniors and seniors for the
spring semester um. The obvious argument on the other side,
which isn't unreasonable, is that I get that you're testing
(28:21):
these guys and they're You're doing everything you can to
try to keep them healthy, but ultimately you may fail
and you will have done it for college football television money,
which is really at the very heart of all of this.
I get the college experience and those players and they
work their asses off and all that kind of stuff.
But there are people that are making a reasonable point
(28:44):
Joe in saying you're doing all of this for college
football money when maybe they shouldn't be around each other
at all. But that that I'm just trying to play
a devil's advocate there. It's always about the money, Mike,
follow the money. Yeah, it's a great point, but it's
in not just in football and athletics. It's in a
way of life, right, and that's not gonna change tomorrow
(29:06):
or this college football season. Yeah, I think that's true.
As far as the last point I would make here,
viability of the spring season, I just don't know. We
We've talked about it a whole bunch. There's new plans
coming out. I'm as skeptical of that as anything in
all of this, I don't want them playing two seasons
in twenty one. I just don't joke now me neither.
(29:28):
I think it's gonna be too much. And from a
fan perspective, we're gonna get a less uh in terms
of a product on the field. I don't want to
see that. The players will do it. You got to
save them from themselves. Sometimes there's probably really the whole
point of all of this discussion. So Aaron Torres next,
and then Joe, I'll wrap it up at the end.
Be right back on the grid sports grid dot Com
(29:51):
Betting Insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks and more. Want
the edge, then get on the grid sports grid dot Com. Everybody,
Welcome back to the grid. We're joined here by Aaron Torres.
(30:14):
You can find Aaron on Twitter at Aaron underscored tore As.
He's college football in college Hoops writer and host of
the host of a podcast, The Aaron Torres Podcast, and
he has been really outspoken about some of the things
that we've discussed earlier in this hour on Pro Football Today.
So Aaron, first of all, thanks for joining us. We
appreciate it. And what's been a really hectic week. Yeah, Fellas, No,
(30:38):
it's no problem at all. I'm very excited. I'm obviously
very passionate. Don't know where you guys stand, but obviously
it's a surreal moment in time for everybody. And you know,
if we had if you had ever imagined, if any
of us had ever imagined in March when we had
to cancel the basketball tournament, that now we'd be canceled
on football games. It's just a surreal time, it really is. Yeah.
So I'll start out with that, and then Joe and
(30:59):
I'll pass it back and forth. How surprised were you
that they decided to shut it down? Because that's when
people are asking me this question. That's really what jumps
out to me is I was completely surprised, So scale
one to ten, how surprised were you? You know, Uh,
the season itself not as surprised as just the timing
(31:22):
of it all. I mean, I think we really have
to go back, guys. It's only Thursday here. Last Wednesday,
the Big ten came out with this schedule. They trumpeted
out proudly September five, We're gonna start, We're playing conference only,
We're finishing our season December six and playing the Big
Ten championship game. And so to go from that to
(31:43):
even just the rumblings on Saturday that there was thought
of potentially postponing, and I guess the rumbling Saturday were
they were they weren't going to proceed forward with padded
practices to where we are now, to all this stuff
from the weekend to actually canceling on Tuesday. Uh, it
was shocking. There was shocking that they moved that quickly.
It was shocking that they moved that decisively. I still
(32:06):
believe that they had time. I still believe that there
were other steps they could have taken to ease in
the possibility of of figuring out if it was realistic
to play or not. But to put the players through
all the protocols that they did since the middle of
June when they brought them back to campus, only to
pull the plug without even attempting a single practice, I
(32:29):
thought was pretty disgusting. To be perfectly honest, I don't
I agree with you, and you know feel the same
exact way in terms of your sentiments about the Big Ten.
Of the biggest question I have is they came out
and they made a statement about the heart issues for
these players, and now they are allowing them to practice
twenty hours per week. So if you can explain to me,
(32:51):
because I can't I'm not a doctor, what the differences
on campus practicing and then playing a game under those conditions,
it seems contradictory in my opinion, Joe. That's that's what
the frustration is from everybody, is that everything that they've
done is contradictory. And I mean, you know, listen, they
came out and said, oh, it's about the safety of
(33:12):
the players. Meanwhile, as I've been saying since the weekend
when these rumblings first started, thirteen of the fourteen Big
Ten campuses are having in person classes this fall. Uh.
The only one that isn't is Rutgers. The rest of
them are having some variation. I will say in defense
of some of the schools, everybody's a little different. Some
of them are a fifty fifty hybrid. I was not
(33:34):
having classes more than forty nine students. And so when
you say it's about player safety, but then to your point, Joe,
You're still letting them hang out around the facility, You're
still letting them practice, they're still going to classes online.
And oh, by the way, it's about safety. But but,
but we're gonna play games in the spring and then
(33:55):
immediately transition into summer workouts and play again next fall. Uh.
It sounds contradictory because it is contradictory, and it's funny.
You know. I've been asked every angle of this throughout
the weekend or throughout the week excuse me. And one
of the questions I've gotten, which might be the best one,
is would the public sentiment be any different if they
had just come out and been honest and said, it's
about liability. We can't have one of these guys suing
(34:17):
us ten years down the road. I think it would have. Um.
I don't know if any outcome that ends in canceling
the season in August would have been well received, but
at least it would have been a little bit better
than this. It's about the player's safety. Were worried about them?
It's not. It is and that's the bottom line. And
you hate to see so many lives of these kids. Coaches,
(34:40):
for everybody being impacted the way that they were. Yeah,
and I think I'll agree on this absolutely. On this
one point, I think the three of us are skeptical
of the actual motivating reasons for this to get kicked
into the spring kicking the can down the road, especially
when we're talking about potentially playing to football seasons, even
(35:01):
if one is truncated inside of a calendar year, which
would bring I don't know what the right number is.
I just know that playing two football seasons feels like
to me could lead to a lot of unnecessary injuries
in your desperation to try to get games on TV.
So where do you lie the blame? If there is
any where? Do you lie the blame in this playing
(35:23):
out the way it did in either the You're out
in l A. So whether it's a Pack twelve or
Big ten perspective that you were outspoken about as well,
do you lie the blame at anybody's feed in particular? Well,
you know the Pac twelve guys, I was kind of
telling you off air, it is a little bit different. Um,
there's a lot of campuses, including the two in the
city that I live u C, l A and USC.
(35:44):
They are not going to be open for fall classes um.
And also what's important with the Pack twelve is these
California schools, the facilities are you know, gyms aren't open,
so the facilities aren't allowed to be open, so players
haven't had a chance to really work out in the
traditional sense. And I think that there were some logistical
issues that the PAC twelve had that other conferences didn't.
(36:05):
Um With the Big ten, I don't they didn't have
the the issues that the PAC twelve did. All their
students have been on campus working out since June. They
don't have the funding issues like my alma mater, Yukon,
like the MAC, like the Mountain West, that those schools
simply can't afford to test at the rate that you
need to to keep players safe. So when you ask
(36:25):
who who is to blame here, Mike to me, it
is in fact these school presidents, not because they canceled
the season, but to bring the players back in June,
to ask your you know, athletic administration, your doctors to
to put protocols into place so these guys can be
safe to get back to campus, to take classes on
(36:48):
campus even if most of them were online, to work
out in the facilities, to live in the dorms, and
then to pull the plug on all of that before
we even attempted padded practice is disgusting. You know. This
was the point that I've made throughout this week, and
I've said it over and over, so if somebody has
heard me this week, I apologized for saying it. Most
people were not frustrated that the season was canceled. Most
(37:11):
people were frustrated that the season was canceled in the
manner that it was. If the concerns were that big
from these school presidents from the beginning, they shouldn't have
brought the players back to campus. They shouldn't have had
them working out uh the last two and a half months. Oh,
by the way, they could have saved their schools a
bunch of money on testing these guys once twice a
(37:32):
week during the summer. If you knew you weren't gonna
do this, you should have been transparent with us from
the beginning. Um, And if you were going to give
it an opportunity and bring the players back, then you
have to see the opportunity through and at least let
them get into pads. Considering that the offseason workouts, the
summer workouts were mostly successful in terms of containing this virus.
(37:54):
So again to to kind of over art. That is
the frustration of most people is the idea that you're
gonna bring these kids back for two months, You're gonna
put them through these insane protocols, They're going to live
up to the protocols, they're gonna do their part, and
then to pull the season without even seeing if it's
at all possible to play aaron when you just look
at the landscape right now in terms of you know,
(38:16):
one season is bad enough, but there's the potential to
have two seasons disrupted. We saw Jeff Brown Brown come
out with his ten, ten or eight game plan, but
some SEC coaches said, do they expect us to adjust
the schedule in that regard, there's always the potential that
this could have a ripple effect where two seasons are
(38:37):
affected and then we don't get back to normal until
and listen, that is part of why I think the
SEC a CEC in Big twelve moving forward, and I
give those three conferences credit four right now, seeing if
the fall is a possibility, I will No one even
Greg Sanky, the Commissioner of the SEC, has ever said
(38:59):
we will will play. But I do think they are
going to exhaust every option because of all the reasons
that we're talking about with the Big ten, the reality
that you'd have to play two seasons in the calendar
year of one if you push back to the spring,
the reality that there's no by the way, we haven't
even talked about this guy's what is the definitive proof
(39:21):
that things are gonna be safer or healthier in the
in the in the winter, going into the spring, you're
praying for this vaccine that maybe here, but there's no
promise that it will be here. And then all the
other stuff that we've talked about over these last couple
of weeks. For the schools that over the last couple
of minutes excuse me, for the schools that aren't on campus,
uh sending these kids home to an environment where they
(39:43):
will not be as safe, where they will not be
as tested as much. For the students who are on campus,
there are still the mental health issues, the health issues
that go outside of football, of what happens when you
have the season pulled out from under you. And then
there are the other variables as well. The point that
you bring up, Joe about the two seasons in one
how it impacts NFL Draft, how it impacts high school recruiting,
(40:06):
how it impacts scholarships. We all want players to be safe. Okay,
I have guys correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't
heard one person yet say screw the players. We gotta
get this season. And if if you guys have heard that,
please send me that press clip or whatever, because I
have not heard that. Everybody wants to do it safe.
Everybody wants the players to be safe. But there are
(40:27):
real tangible reasons to try to get this thing in
in for all the reasons that I just referenced, and
most importantly Joe, to kind of keep everybody on on
a semblance of a normal schedule, in to allow all
the things that happened in the offseason, whether it be recruiting,
NFL Draft, crep, all that stuff. I don't think people
(40:47):
are saying screw the players, but some people are are
more dismissive of it's potential dangers than others. I think
that's where a disconnect comes in. I'm I've sort of
been sitting the fence on a lot of this. I
think what the A, C, C and SEC are doing
currently is reasonable. They do have medical guidance. They're going forward.
(41:08):
They haven't technically made a decision yet because they haven't
had to. They haven't added to cancel anything yet. They
made some schedule adjustments, but there are people out there
that are being dismissive of the dangers as well. I
wanted to ask you a couple more questions before we
hit the break and we again, we appreciate Aaron Torres.
You can find him on Twitter at Aaron Underscore Torres.
Go to Arran Torres podcast and listen to his thoughts.
(41:30):
They are but two part question here, do you mind
if it this ends up being a truncated or heavily
impacted season for those that continue? That's A and B.
What would it take for you to just say, you
know what, they got to shut it down here, it's
just getting out of control. Well, as far as if
we get a truncated season, I would love it, because one,
(41:53):
I want everybody safe. But I would love for those
three other conferences to rub the nose of the Big
Ten in the dirt and say, you guys acted way
too quickly. We wanted to be patient. You guys tried
to strong arm us into playing or into canceling and
it didn't work out. And I'll tell you this if
I was thinking about this this morning, if you're an
(42:14):
Ohio State player. First of all, I think all the
impactful players in the Big Ten, in the Pac twelve
are gonna skip the spring season, are gonna prep for
the NFL as they should. And I say that as
somebody who loves college football. But imagine being an Ohio
State player gets trying to get yourself fired up for
a season when you see potentially Alabama and Clemson getting
(42:34):
ready to play for a national championship after playing in
the fall. So I would love to see it happen.
But look to your point, Mike, I, I don't think
anything that I'm gonna say in the next whatever couple
of minutes is unreasonable. I think that if if we,
if students come back to campus, this virus we know
will spread, if the rates go way up, if we
(42:56):
start blocking and tackling, and and you know, player upon
layer gets infected. I'm not talking about one or two.
I'm not talking about something that's easy to control. But
I'm talking about a big chunk of players. And I
don't want to say a number and say if it's
we gotta keep pushing on. I think it just depends. Um.
But you know, I want to see basically all I
(43:16):
want to see, and I think all anyone in football
and college football, the coaches, the players, the parents want
to see what happens when we do start blocking and
tackling and all the things that come with playing football.
Is it possible? And then if it isn't, if all
of a sudden players do start getting sick, even testing
positive and are asymptomatic, I have no problem saying, look,
(43:38):
we had three practices and half our team came down
with this. We can't do it. Let's push to the spring,
to the point we brought up earlier, whether it's realistic
or not, let's hope for a vaccine. Um. But I
would have no problem with it. And so my only
issue all week was to do what they did, to
put the players through what they did, and then to
pull the rug out without even trying. We're gonna we're
(43:58):
gonna bind out in the coming week. So yeah, here
it's Aaron Torres and Aaron Torres podcast, Fox Sports College Football,
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips.
As our team covers the most important topics in sports wagering,
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(44:20):
want the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid
dot Com back on the Grid closing out this hour
again with Joelisi, host here of College Football Today on
the Grid, ibout that errantres air good John, he's fired up. Yeah,
he was definitely fired up. I love what Aaron had
(44:41):
to say about the Big ten and the Pact Pact
twelve and living in Pact twelve country. We get to
see the West Coast sentiments. So great insight by Aaron,
and I'm with him. I want to see a college
football season in so the one thing we didn't talk
about two we've talked about over the hour are about
the viability of a spring season. Um, what about fans
(45:05):
being in attendance? I wanted to ask him if he
thought there should be fans there, and what do you
think of that? Well, I mean the Big twelve is
gonna make a push Texas Texas Tech I've already said, respectively.
I mean some of the other programs like Oklahoma as well,
they claim that they're gonna have fifteen to twenty fans.
So we'll see how that situation plays out. The SEC
(45:26):
is trying to get fans as well. I mean, if
they can get fans in the stands and do it
in the month of September and it goes through October,
it's gonna it's gonna make the Big ten Impact twelve
look bad, especially if they can continue the momentum for
a full season. Yeah, and it creates this ugly undercurrent
right where the Big ten and Pac twelve aren't. They're
(45:47):
not rooting for them to fail, but they know it's
to their detriment. If everything goes off without a hitch,
which I I don't expect, I think you'll have Marlins
and Cardinals like MLB situation sent throughout. I think teams
will have to lose games off the schedule due to
all this. I just wish they would all play the
same amount of games. This one's eleven, this one's ten,
(46:09):
the other one's ten. That doesn't really make sense to me.
I know the a c C is doing it to
try to keep some of these group of five teams
in the mix, or to at least play a bunch
of games Conference USA teams as well. So, um, three
thousand fans were at an MLS game earlier this week.
I think you'd have to go mandatory mask right if
(46:30):
you're gonna be there. I just don't. But as getting
in and out of the stadium, to me is the
riskiest part of the whole thing. You're you're in close
quarters with people when you're doing that. It is. If
they do it in a systematic way or approach with
temperature checks, I think that's the best possible scenario for them,
I really do. I think it's doable. But do they
have to have those structured in place prior it's a
(46:53):
temperature check on the way in masked up? That's how
you would do it. Yep. Imagine getting pulled off the line.
Oh man, that's a bad day. It's a bad day
for everybody in that area. So I don't know, folks,
I really don't know how I feel about all of this.
Um I got conflicting doc medical opinions, so I'm sort
of at a loss and all that. But thank you
(47:15):
to our guest Aaron Torres again, try to listen to
his podcast. Thank you for joining, Thank him for joining us.
I'm after Joe Lisy, Brian Rokowski on Mike Luett. Thanks
for watching football. Full circle. We'll see you next time
on the grid. Sports grid dot com betting insights and
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
(47:37):
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than get on
the grid sports grid dot Com
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fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in
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and more. You want the edge than get on the
grid sports grid dot Com. Hey, everybody, welcome to this
(00:22):
hour of Football Fool Circle. It's the college Hour of
Football Pool Circle, and we've had quite a week. I'm
joined to buy co host of college football today right
here on the grid Joe Leasy and Joe Um, it's
been it's been a week. It's been a week. We're
gonna have to go over everything here in a minute,
but give me your initial thoughts on how stunned you
(00:43):
are by all of this. Well, this was like a
heavyweight title fight, Mike, almost like m m A to boot.
I mean, we had fireworks in the first staff of
the week with the Big ten and the PAC twelve canceling,
and then the other news coming out later in the
week with the SEC Big ten in a CEC forging
ahead at least for this week in terms of two
(01:04):
thousand and twenty seasons. So we'll see what the last
couple of weeks of August having the cards. But I've
never seen the news that broke this week in college football.
I've been covering the game, uh for a long time now,
and this was one of the worst weeks that I've
seen since I've covered their sport. Social media related to
(01:25):
college football was a dark, dark place this week. It
just was people were depressed. People are really angry, people
were It's really ticked off at sports writers. They felt
like we're rooting for this when the sports writers are
just reporting on things as they're going. But to your
point about it being a title fight, it was Monday
(01:45):
we heard that Big Ten Pack twelve might shut it down.
All through the day on Monday, it was like, all right,
they're doing meetings, they're gonna move conferences, we're gonna realign,
we're gonna get maybe it's not gonna happen, And then
sure enough, the Big Ten was the first major conference
to go through it. Obviously, the MAC had decided to
(02:06):
move away from a fall season, hopefully playing in the spring.
But uh. Quote here from Morton Shapiro, the chair of
the Big Ten Council of Presidents, Chancellors and Northwestern University President.
Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions
in the interest of our students, faculty, and staff, the
(02:26):
mental and physical health and welfare of our student as
a new quote, mental and health, mental and physical health
and welfare of our student athletes has been at the
center of every decision we have made regarding the ability
to proceed forward. That's from Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren.
As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our
Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the
(02:48):
Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, became abundantly clear that there
was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow
our student athletes to compete this fall. Well said, but
that's where we're at show. We're gonna have, by the way,
not to bury the lead. We're gonna have Aaron Torres
from Fox Sports on a little bit later this hour
(03:09):
to discuss all of this with a focus on the
Big Ten. But we've talked about it a lot. I'll
say this. My reaction is that I was totally stunned
that they a Power five conference is not going through
with the season. I knew it was a possibility. You
and I have talked for months about how I thought
(03:29):
college football really was in the crosshairs. I think there
are unique challenges to college football, the number of teams,
the campus life that proposed risks that the other sports
don't have. But I still thought based on schedules being released,
based on the protocols that were put in place, based
on the fact that while MLB really stubbed their toe
(03:50):
out of the gate, it was sort of nipped in
the bud by most of the other teams. The Cardinals
and the Marlins were a mass for a period of time,
but the Marlins are back playing, Cardinals still aren't, and
I just thought that they served as a cautionary tale that, look,
we're going to have to bubble up or at least
not being regular student body contact in order to make
(04:12):
this going forward. And to call it on August eleven
was really what surprised me. I think the two biggest
takeaways for me, Mike was that there was not one
uniform voice. We have the power five conferences acting independently
of each other. You heard the Big Ten in terms
of their specific task force. We heard about the Pack
(04:32):
twelve and their specific doctors, and then we heard the
other three conferences give completely a different scenario or I
want to say recommendations. So that's where we differ, and
that that was I guess the glaring aspect about why
wasn't the n C Double A, you know, really involved
in these discussions in terms of putting their doctors and
(04:53):
putting all everyone on the same page. Why couldn't the
Pack twelve and the Big Ten say, you know what,
we're all going to get with each other, meaning all
Power five conferences, we all take partake in the college
football playoff, and let's have a uniform decision that we're
not going to make a decision until let's say September one.
Why they had to jump the gun before you know,
(05:14):
anyone else, I think it was because of they didn't
want to take on the liability when the MAC did it.
The MAC had ties to the Big Ten, and that
was specifically why I think the Big the Big Ten,
and the Pact twelve acted that way. And then secondly
was the other factor. We have conflicting views pro high
school those players are playing contact football, so why can't
(05:36):
college athletes And there's another debate that we're gonna have
to see how that plays out. I'll be the first
one he's too easy of a punching bag at this
point for me to jump on Mark Emeron. I will say,
regarding this decision on Power five schools, care what he
has to say, and I certainly don't think that the
university presidents of Power five schools have any interest in
(05:59):
what Mark Emert has to say. So in terms of
being a unified voice from the n c A, I
personally don't think that's realistic. I know what you're saying.
It would be great to have a unified voice, but
Mark Emert doesn't have the the cash or the power,
frankly to be able to do that well. We will
will continue to talk about this as we welcome in
our radio audience here for this final minute, will continue
(06:22):
to talk about it through the next couple of segments.
But I think he did bring up a good point.
First of all, I don't I don't. I can't answer
for why high schools are playing in the colleges, aren't.
I think a lot of state high school association sports
associations are going to fold for the fall seasons. I
think that will continue to happen. Some of them haven't
(06:42):
made the call yet, some still had a little bit
of time. UM, I think liability is a big factor.
I'll list my three major components of why I think
this decision was made in terms of the Big Ten.
Bring the Pack twelve into the mix after this because
they had a similar statement, but they're also deal with
other issues that I think play into this as well.
(07:02):
So a lot to talk about on this topic with
Mike and Joe Lesie. This salur College footballs College Football
on Football Full Circle will be right back after this.
Sports grid dot Com Betting Insights and entertainment at your
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(07:24):
and more. Want the edge than get on the grid.
Sports grid dot Com Back on the Grid. Joe Lisi
can find him on Twitter at Go for the Two.
You find me on Twitter at Mike Blewett. Find us
(07:45):
all on Twitter at sports grid and on Instagram at
sports Grid TV. So PAC twelve, let me get to
their statement first and then I'll get through it. So
uh quote, all of the PAC twelve presidents and chance
chancellors understand the important of this decision and the disappointment
it will create for our student athletes, that coaches, support, staff,
and all of our fans, said Michael H. Shill, President
(08:08):
of the University of Oregon. Ultimately, our decision was guided
by science, a deep commitment to the health and welfare
of our student athletes. We certainly hope that the PAC
twelve will be able to return to competition in the
new year. So the health another quote from Pack twelve
Commissioner Larry Scott, health, safety and well being our student
athletes and all those connected to Pack twelve sports has
been our number one priority since the start of this
(08:29):
current crisis. So here's what I think. I think it's
good that they said that. I think if that were
the case, that would be ideal. I just you and
I followed this sport for a really long time, and
I think we're always going to be skeptical to some extent.
I think in the end, if they've protected the health
(08:49):
of some athletes, then that ends up being a good
reason to have made the decision. But I think you
and I both know a lot of this decision was
based out of fear. One. They are scared of the liability,
which frankly they should be scared of that liability. We
we have never on this show, and you and I
differ to some extent as to whether they should or
(09:10):
should not play, But I've never thought it was about
massive amounts of players getting COVID, having to go to
I c u s suffering, uh, you know, full teams
filled with a COVID outbreak. I think that could happen,
but that hasn't been my biggest concern. Um. My concern
is that it is one kid or the The university
(09:35):
presidents concern is about one kid potentially getting really sick,
or one player getting to the point where he suffered
long term heart damage from this virus, which she could
from other viruses to We understand that, but I think
that's the concern, and for a university president to have
(09:56):
to deal with that level of liability is just something, frankly,
that he's too afraid of. I'll get to my other
two points after that, but I'll let you comment. Yeah,
I understand that, and I know where the university presidents
are going. But here's my take. If the state allows
you to play the sport of either high school, college
or pro football, and they ask for specific protocols to
(10:19):
make that happen, and the school implements those protocols and
goes by the book A, B and C. What's the
problem in terms of liability? Is it any different than
a football player becoming paralyzed? I mean, we know that
there's risks in the game. I mean, who's to say
that a football player doesn't get sick from a disease
outside of COVID that we're not aware of. There's always
(10:41):
gonna be liability, and I think that that's what it
comes down to, the risk reward where it's always gonna
be there when you play sports. Now, I get what
you're saying, but if the state allows that to happen,
it would be one thing. If the state says we're
not allowing any collegiate, high school or professional sports, I
get it, then you're going against the decision of the state.
(11:03):
But if you're implementing all of the protocols like Alabama said, Uh,
some of these schools have said they have elite testing
and elite medical staffs that these kids are not going
to have anywhere else. They're gonna be monitored on a
daily basis, tested two and three times a week. How
much more do we need to go because these kids
(11:24):
are still gonna be on campus, going to school, most
of them, and we have no idea where they're gonna go. Well,
I still think that I think we can. I can
dispel that a little bit. I think these players are
still gonna be locked into their program. There's not gonna
be any games, but I think they're gonna be locked
into go into the weight room, to go into classes,
meeting with the football preparing for spring as is. I
(11:48):
know it's not quite the same, but I think they'll
be locked in in that way. There's some evidence that
some programs will continue to do that. The guys are
gonna be on scholarship and everything else, So I'm less
concerned about that. The second point I was going to make, Joe,
and you're technically right about there being liability concerning other issues,
but I think all football players at this point have
(12:09):
accepted the known risk of c t E, the known
risk of paralyzation. What's Eric's name from Rutgers, Eric Lagrant Right, Um,
it's a sad story of Metam. He is an unbelievable
guy and it's a sad situation, a rarity. But players
(12:30):
deal with other debilitating injuries for throughout their life too,
which aren't necessarily as severe as paralyzation, right so, but
we are dealing still with some unknown regarding this and
I think that's why this liability is significantly different. Now
we are going to next week next week's show, hopefully
(12:53):
get an attorney in here to talk about some some
issues related to liability and the forming of a players association,
which brings me to my next point. I think this
isn't just about this. I think there are two other
issues that are play. One for some of the schools,
which is most of them that are cash poor, not
having fans in the stadium really hurts their bottom line
(13:13):
in a way that is being underplayed to some extent.
Putting on games, it comes with a certain cost, and
I think not having fans in the stadium can be costed.
There's not selling tickets right now. I think punting on
the season is something that they thought about being able
to do. Now. Do I think they're gonna be fans
full in stadiums in spring? No, I don't think that
(13:34):
at all. But uh, it's a factor. And the third
factor is what we're just talking about in terms of
players association. And let me get to this. I'll read
this statement PAC Twells Player Unity Group, or at least
a statement earlier this week in response to the conferences
postponement quote. It is obvious that the PAC twelve was
(13:55):
woefully unprepared to protect college athletes safety in response to
COVID nineteen. It could not address the basic and essential
safety and bands made by hashtag we Are United. The
Pact Wells failures have made it clear that the time
for changes now the system has broken. College athletes deserve
and need a real voice in the form of a
players association that can't form a union because it's technically
(14:16):
a nonprofit so to be association. But Joe, I think
this is number three on my list and a reason
why they are sort of trying to circle the wagons
figure out how they can prepare for this. We've gone
over n image, image and likeness litigation that has fallen
into players favor, and now we have something like this.
(14:38):
I don't think they're prepared for this all to come
crashing down and the system to be broken, and I
think they're trying to put it on pause until they
figure it out at least some that it is some
level of motivation. Are they employees? I think that's the
biggest question, you know, are they if their employees, then
you have to treat them as such in terms of pace.
So that would be a big question in terms of
(14:58):
this whole scenario that plays out with COVID. The other
the other question that I'd like to propose to in
terms of what you broke down Mike, was I understand
that the kids are gonna practice and still be a
part of their programs. I mean, Wisconsin is gonna have
twenty hours a week of practice. So what what do
we separate if if a kid gets sick from COVID
(15:19):
or test positive in practice, is it any different than
getting sick in the game. So where's the liability. It's
the same type of liability whether he gets sick at
practice or whether he gets sick in the game. So
it's fair question exactly. So that's my first point. The
other point that I want to make about Kevin ware
and the Big Ten commissioner, his son is a tight
(15:40):
end on Mississippi States team. He's so concerned, but his
tongue son is not backing out or opting out in
terms of playing in the SEC. I mean, you have
a lot of contradicting statements and a lot of hypocrisy.
And that's why not only members within their own teams
in terms of the Big Ten are upset, but you
have fans upset as well. And when you talk about
(16:02):
the repercussions. Nebraska, the city of Lincoln is gonna lose
three hundred million dollars for no games this year. Think
about that to the local economy. Wisconsin has talked about
that to um hundred million dollar loss by not playing football,
just to the school itself. So look, I've tried to
(16:23):
be in the middle on this. I've tried to look
at it from both perspectives. I do find it odd
that some conferences are playing and some are not. Currently
we have seventies six teams, although that could drop by
the time even this air is recording it a little
bit before it airs. But um so that's a possibility, right,
It could be down from their conference. USA hasn't made
(16:44):
their call yet, and we obviously have three of the
Power five. So I don't think it's a bad decision
that they decided to not play. I thought they were
going to give it a little bit more time. Um
What what is hard for me to reconcile is I
have doctors on one side saying this isn't a good idea,
(17:07):
And then I have doctors on the side of the
A SEC and SEC They're saying, go folk, we can
move forward because we are well prepared to handle this.
There are components of the college life that I think
can make the infection of players unavoidable. I don't think
they're gonna bubble up like they maybe should. But we'll
(17:27):
come back talk a little bit more about this complicated topic. Poblicy,
Joe and I'll be right back on the grid after
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Sports grid dot Com Back on the grid talking college football.
(17:54):
Uh God's Aaron Torres coming up in the next segment,
excited to hear about his thoughts on the Big ten
and PAC twelve shutting down. He's out in LA, so
we'll give us perspective on PAC twelve. How to film
the interview with him a couple of days early ages
based on availability, but nonetheless Aaron is gonna be on
with us and you'll you'll get a kick out of
(18:16):
what he had to say. So, um so here here's
I'm probably more of the let's be cautious with this thing, right.
I've really been in the middle on it because I
know there isn't a sweet spot perfect answer Joe to
saying this is the amount, this is the date we
should have started, this is when quarantine should have ended. Uh,
(18:39):
this is how many people you can have in a restaurant.
These are all sort of unknowns, right, I don't pretend
to know. I think it's why people are being cautious
is because it's unknown, and obviously many, many, many thousands
of people have died from this. But what gets difficult
about conversations like this is you have the Big ten
and PAC twelve epidemial, just infectious disease experts telling them
(19:03):
we can't move forward, and then you have something like
this with the a c C. Dr Cameron Wolf, who
is the chair of the a c C Medical Advisory
Group Group be leaves a fall season can be played
safely article by Andrea Addolson, the ESPN senior writer in
college football. So he says it can be played safely
(19:24):
was one of the biggest reason the league remains on
course to start in September. So he's a duke confessions
disease expert. It's a private school, they are not a
football powerhouse. There are many things that you could say
to say, you know what, he is not really motivated
to do this. And by the way, this report was
via the Sports Business Daily. Um, so they've learned just
(19:46):
enough over the past six months. He feels like that
they can contain this. I know you've been seeing that
sort of all along all of these other sports high
school sports are playing, and yet we're canceling at the
major D one college football level. Yeah, And and it
comes down to lawsuits, and it comes down to like
the worst case scenario, Mike, where what if? It's the
(20:08):
what if? And the what if I understand from the
health aspect, but the what if if We're sitting here,
let's say next fall, and there is no change where
you have no vaccine, we have no new data. It's
status quo. What do we do then? Is it just
because now it's not as new as it was last year,
(20:28):
meaning three months ago. Is it is that the difference
between one and playing college football because you know a
year has gone by and now we're used to it,
we understand, we're living with it, or because it is
a new disease. That's the biggest question, because from an
economic standpoint, if we wait until next year, some of
(20:49):
these programs aren't gonna be here. Now. Yes, Nebraska and
Ohio State will be there, Michigan and Penn State, but
some of these other programs out of the group of five,
are not gonna be here the way they were. There's
gonna be a loss of jobs, economy, and that's something
else that we have to take into account. And the
other factor as well is if they can do it
(21:10):
at the high school level, they can certainly do it
at the collegiate level. These are elite medical staffs you
just mentioned, Duke. There's other great staffs that are putting
processes and protocols in place so that certain testing is
done and more importantly, these players are protected. So if
the state says you can do it, what is the issue?
(21:32):
Really comes down to the biggest question. So wolf Is
also told Commissioner John Swafford and League athletic directors that
there's no way to cut the risk to zero and
that they have to be comfortable with some level of
risk tolerance. Quote, you can't tell me that running onto
a football field is supposed to be a zero risk environment.
Look at all the regular sporting injuries that we accept
(21:53):
as a certain level of risk and are part and
parcel of football. Now, the reality is that we have
to accept a little bit of COVID risk to be
a part of that. So that's probably in line with
what you your thought process is, what your thought process is, UM.
One specific area of concern is this article states is
myocarditis a condition that causes inflammation of the heart muscle
(22:14):
that could be linked with the coronavirus. Is what we've
been referring to all along. Eddie Rodriguez of the Boston
Red Sox is thought to have uh this condition now
and it's why his season was shut down. UM. This
can this condition can be caused by other viral infections
as well, H one and one influenza mononucleosis, so it
(22:34):
isn't alone in causing that condition. But to your point about, well,
what if we're here a year from down we don't
have a vaccine, or it hasn't been rolled out and
or it's ineffective or it's got other side effects that
they don't feel comfortable administering it anymore. I would say
that that's the reason we wait, so that we find
(22:54):
out we have a year it is. We have scientists
working around the clock to ryan help us with this.
From a therapeutic standpoint, which we've obviously seen the impact
of the medical community in New York, New Jersey and
the losses that they suffered. I would assume that the
therapeutics that they were able to administer to some people
(23:16):
that improved conditions are being shared with states like Arizona
and Texas and Florida and California that are currently undergoing
COVID spikes. So I would say that you do wait
the time in order to learn more, in order to
proceed with a little bit more or a lot more information.
That that's what I would say to a year from now,
(23:38):
if we don't have a vaccine, will say, well, we
still can't play because we learned all the stuff, or
will say, well, now we know we can play because
there there's a very few people that are coming down
with myocarditis, or we do have a vaccine that's going
to help of the population like a flu vaccine does. Now,
which by the way, I got the flu shot. I
(23:58):
get it every year because I have little kids. I
got the blue shot this year and got the flu.
So that's that's probably gonna happen with COVID as well.
With this vaccine isn't necessarily going to be about eradicating
the virus. No, but the people that are saying that,
Mike are in a position of strength right New York,
New Jersey, major media markets, major economic markets. Some of
(24:18):
these other areas in parts of the country are out
of position of weakness. I think that's the other concern.
Now here's the other factor as well. For take sports
out of it. If kids are on campus and they
can track COVID and they have let's say a factor
or an underlying cause that allows them to get the
health and heart issues, it's not going to change whether
(24:39):
they play football or not. And it's true, that's the
other factor that we need to take into account. This
is not just a football person uh conversation or debate.
This is a student debate because the school presidents still
have to worry about the other thirty five thousand kids
on campus, and if one of those kids come down
with the health issue or an underlying heart condition due
(25:02):
to COVID. Guess what, They're gonna be sued just as
much as the football player is going to sue them.
So then what is the situation in that type of scenario,
Because to me, I don't see it. I think it's
fair to raise that question. But I think all students
are assuming some level of risk of going back on campus.
(25:22):
A friend of mine is driving his son to the
University of South Carolina that's gonna be full in person classes.
They're starting a little early, attempting to have all the
students out by Thanksgiving and doing finals or and the
last part of the semester virtually, so as to have
tried to avoid cold and flu season. I think they're
not alone in doing that. I believe Notre Dame and
others have followed suit as well. So I do understand that.
(25:47):
I think what I've always been concerned about with players
is obviously football brings a level of risk to it
amongst all things, but just related to this virus, injuries
and everything else, just related to this virus. We know
that the on field stuff is riskier. Right. They're constantly
sweating on each other, they bleed on each other, it's
(26:09):
you know, all the gross stuff at at the bottom
of a pile that happens. It could obviously lead to
transmission of a virus. That's never really been my biggest concern.
It's really about fraternizing on the sidelines when you're got
your helmets off, which will probably be modified this year
to wearing masks potentially under the helmets, or at least
(26:31):
when you come off the field, putting a mask on.
All the locker room stuff that occurs. We saw hard
knocks earlier this week. They're doing everything they can with
the rams and the chargers to keep people distant. But
at the end of the day, like people are like
these baseball players are getting too close to one another.
I'm like, what are you gonna do their baseball players?
They're gonna high five and hug and fist bump and
(26:52):
all that kind of stuff. I think that's just going
to happen. Let alone. I've been to college. I know
what it's like. They're they're not gonna stay in there dorms.
They're not going to do it. And I'm not killing
them for it. I'm not, but they're not going to
do it. You can't kill them. But but it's a
matter of the lifestyle, right, So they're gonna do it anyway.
And here's the argument. You mentioned your your friends, uh
(27:15):
son or daughter that's going to campus. They're not gonna
be tested nearly half as much as these football players
two and three times a week. So we're really gonna
be on top of them in terms of monitoring not
just COVID, their heart condition and heart rate, their blood pressure,
other factors that possibly can lead to you know, bacterial infections.
(27:36):
So I mean, and that's the other thing as well.
And when we talk about these other Power five conferences,
the a, SEC, Big twelve and SEC, the SEC, college
football is their brand. If they're gonna find a way
to do it, they're gonna find the best way possible
to get around and get through this COVID situation. And
I think that's why you give them the benefit of
(27:58):
the doubt. Yes, but if I'm playing devil's advocate on
the other side, and by the way, their schools like
Duke that are not sending all their students back to campus.
Duke is only freshman and sophomores this semester. I think
they're going to switch to juniors and seniors for the
spring semester um. The obvious argument on the other side,
which isn't unreasonable, is that I get that you're testing
(28:21):
these guys and they're You're doing everything you can to
try to keep them healthy, but ultimately you may fail
and you will have done it for college football television money,
which is really at the very heart of all of this.
I get the college experience and those players and they
work their asses off and all that kind of stuff.
But there are people that are making a reasonable point
(28:44):
Joe in saying you're doing all of this for college
football money when maybe they shouldn't be around each other
at all. But that that I'm just trying to play
a devil's advocate there. It's always about the money, Mike,
follow the money. Yeah, it's a great point, but it's
in not just in football and athletics. It's in a
way of life, right, and that's not gonna change tomorrow
(29:06):
or this college football season. Yeah, I think that's true.
As far as the last point I would make here,
viability of the spring season, I just don't know. We
We've talked about it a whole bunch. There's new plans
coming out. I'm as skeptical of that as anything in
all of this, I don't want them playing two seasons
in twenty one. I just don't joke now me neither.
(29:28):
I think it's gonna be too much. And from a
fan perspective, we're gonna get a less uh in terms
of a product on the field. I don't want to
see that. The players will do it. You got to
save them from themselves. Sometimes there's probably really the whole
point of all of this discussion. So Aaron Torres next,
and then Joe, I'll wrap it up at the end.
Be right back on the grid sports grid dot Com
(29:51):
Betting Insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks and more. Want
the edge, then get on the grid sports grid dot Com. Everybody,
Welcome back to the grid. We're joined here by Aaron Torres.
(30:14):
You can find Aaron on Twitter at Aaron underscored tore As.
He's college football in college Hoops writer and host of
the host of a podcast, The Aaron Torres Podcast, and
he has been really outspoken about some of the things
that we've discussed earlier in this hour on Pro Football Today.
So Aaron, first of all, thanks for joining us. We
appreciate it. And what's been a really hectic week. Yeah, Fellas, No,
(30:38):
it's no problem at all. I'm very excited. I'm obviously
very passionate. Don't know where you guys stand, but obviously
it's a surreal moment in time for everybody. And you know,
if we had if you had ever imagined, if any
of us had ever imagined in March when we had
to cancel the basketball tournament, that now we'd be canceled
on football games. It's just a surreal time, it really is. Yeah.
So I'll start out with that, and then Joe and
(30:59):
I'll pass it back and forth. How surprised were you
that they decided to shut it down? Because that's when
people are asking me this question. That's really what jumps
out to me is I was completely surprised, So scale
one to ten, how surprised were you? You know, Uh,
the season itself not as surprised as just the timing
(31:22):
of it all. I mean, I think we really have
to go back, guys. It's only Thursday here. Last Wednesday,
the Big ten came out with this schedule. They trumpeted
out proudly September five, We're gonna start, We're playing conference only,
We're finishing our season December six and playing the Big
Ten championship game. And so to go from that to
(31:43):
even just the rumblings on Saturday that there was thought
of potentially postponing, and I guess the rumbling Saturday were
they were they weren't going to proceed forward with padded
practices to where we are now, to all this stuff
from the weekend to actually canceling on Tuesday. Uh, it
was shocking. There was shocking that they moved that quickly.
It was shocking that they moved that decisively. I still
(32:06):
believe that they had time. I still believe that there
were other steps they could have taken to ease in
the possibility of of figuring out if it was realistic
to play or not. But to put the players through
all the protocols that they did since the middle of
June when they brought them back to campus, only to
pull the plug without even attempting a single practice, I
(32:29):
thought was pretty disgusting. To be perfectly honest, I don't
I agree with you, and you know feel the same
exact way in terms of your sentiments about the Big Ten.
Of the biggest question I have is they came out
and they made a statement about the heart issues for
these players, and now they are allowing them to practice
twenty hours per week. So if you can explain to me,
(32:51):
because I can't I'm not a doctor, what the differences
on campus practicing and then playing a game under those conditions,
it seems contradictory in my opinion, Joe. That's that's what
the frustration is from everybody, is that everything that they've
done is contradictory. And I mean, you know, listen, they
came out and said, oh, it's about the safety of
(33:12):
the players. Meanwhile, as I've been saying since the weekend
when these rumblings first started, thirteen of the fourteen Big
Ten campuses are having in person classes this fall. Uh.
The only one that isn't is Rutgers. The rest of
them are having some variation. I will say in defense
of some of the schools, everybody's a little different. Some
of them are a fifty fifty hybrid. I was not
(33:34):
having classes more than forty nine students. And so when
you say it's about player safety, but then to your point, Joe,
You're still letting them hang out around the facility, You're
still letting them practice, they're still going to classes online.
And oh, by the way, it's about safety. But but,
but we're gonna play games in the spring and then
(33:55):
immediately transition into summer workouts and play again next fall. Uh.
It sounds contradictory because it is contradictory, and it's funny.
You know. I've been asked every angle of this throughout
the weekend or throughout the week excuse me. And one
of the questions I've gotten, which might be the best one,
is would the public sentiment be any different if they
had just come out and been honest and said, it's
about liability. We can't have one of these guys suing
(34:17):
us ten years down the road. I think it would have. Um.
I don't know if any outcome that ends in canceling
the season in August would have been well received, but
at least it would have been a little bit better
than this. It's about the player's safety. Were worried about them?
It's not. It is and that's the bottom line. And
you hate to see so many lives of these kids. Coaches,
(34:40):
for everybody being impacted the way that they were. Yeah,
and I think I'll agree on this absolutely. On this
one point, I think the three of us are skeptical
of the actual motivating reasons for this to get kicked
into the spring kicking the can down the road, especially
when we're talking about potentially playing to football seasons, even
(35:01):
if one is truncated inside of a calendar year, which
would bring I don't know what the right number is.
I just know that playing two football seasons feels like
to me could lead to a lot of unnecessary injuries
in your desperation to try to get games on TV.
So where do you lie the blame? If there is
any where? Do you lie the blame in this playing
(35:23):
out the way it did in either the You're out
in l A. So whether it's a Pack twelve or
Big ten perspective that you were outspoken about as well,
do you lie the blame at anybody's feed in particular? Well,
you know the Pac twelve guys, I was kind of
telling you off air, it is a little bit different. Um,
there's a lot of campuses, including the two in the
city that I live u C, l A and USC.
(35:44):
They are not going to be open for fall classes um.
And also what's important with the Pack twelve is these
California schools, the facilities are you know, gyms aren't open,
so the facilities aren't allowed to be open, so players
haven't had a chance to really work out in the
traditional sense. And I think that there were some logistical
issues that the PAC twelve had that other conferences didn't.
(36:05):
Um With the Big ten, I don't they didn't have
the the issues that the PAC twelve did. All their
students have been on campus working out since June. They
don't have the funding issues like my alma mater, Yukon,
like the MAC, like the Mountain West, that those schools
simply can't afford to test at the rate that you
need to to keep players safe. So when you ask
(36:25):
who who is to blame here, Mike to me, it
is in fact these school presidents, not because they canceled
the season, but to bring the players back in June,
to ask your you know, athletic administration, your doctors to
to put protocols into place so these guys can be
safe to get back to campus, to take classes on
(36:48):
campus even if most of them were online, to work
out in the facilities, to live in the dorms, and
then to pull the plug on all of that before
we even attempted padded practice is disgusting. You know. This
was the point that I've made throughout this week, and
I've said it over and over, so if somebody has
heard me this week, I apologized for saying it. Most
people were not frustrated that the season was canceled. Most
(37:11):
people were frustrated that the season was canceled in the
manner that it was. If the concerns were that big
from these school presidents from the beginning, they shouldn't have
brought the players back to campus. They shouldn't have had
them working out uh the last two and a half months. Oh,
by the way, they could have saved their schools a
bunch of money on testing these guys once twice a
(37:32):
week during the summer. If you knew you weren't gonna
do this, you should have been transparent with us from
the beginning. Um, And if you were going to give
it an opportunity and bring the players back, then you
have to see the opportunity through and at least let
them get into pads. Considering that the offseason workouts, the
summer workouts were mostly successful in terms of containing this virus.
(37:54):
So again to to kind of over art. That is
the frustration of most people is the idea that you're
gonna bring these kids back for two months, You're gonna
put them through these insane protocols, They're going to live
up to the protocols, they're gonna do their part, and
then to pull the season without even seeing if it's
at all possible to play aaron when you just look
at the landscape right now in terms of you know,
(38:16):
one season is bad enough, but there's the potential to
have two seasons disrupted. We saw Jeff Brown Brown come
out with his ten, ten or eight game plan, but
some SEC coaches said, do they expect us to adjust
the schedule in that regard, there's always the potential that
this could have a ripple effect where two seasons are
(38:37):
affected and then we don't get back to normal until
and listen, that is part of why I think the
SEC a CEC in Big twelve moving forward, and I
give those three conferences credit four right now, seeing if
the fall is a possibility, I will No one even
Greg Sanky, the Commissioner of the SEC, has ever said
(38:59):
we will will play. But I do think they are
going to exhaust every option because of all the reasons
that we're talking about with the Big ten, the reality
that you'd have to play two seasons in the calendar
year of one if you push back to the spring,
the reality that there's no by the way, we haven't
even talked about this guy's what is the definitive proof
(39:21):
that things are gonna be safer or healthier in the
in the in the winter, going into the spring, you're
praying for this vaccine that maybe here, but there's no
promise that it will be here. And then all the
other stuff that we've talked about over these last couple
of weeks. For the schools that over the last couple
of minutes excuse me, for the schools that aren't on campus,
uh sending these kids home to an environment where they
(39:43):
will not be as safe, where they will not be
as tested as much. For the students who are on campus,
there are still the mental health issues, the health issues
that go outside of football, of what happens when you
have the season pulled out from under you. And then
there are the other variables as well. The point that
you bring up, Joe about the two seasons in one
how it impacts NFL Draft, how it impacts high school recruiting,
(40:06):
how it impacts scholarships. We all want players to be safe. Okay,
I have guys correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't
heard one person yet say screw the players. We gotta
get this season. And if if you guys have heard that,
please send me that press clip or whatever, because I
have not heard that. Everybody wants to do it safe.
Everybody wants the players to be safe. But there are
(40:27):
real tangible reasons to try to get this thing in
in for all the reasons that I just referenced, and
most importantly Joe, to kind of keep everybody on on
a semblance of a normal schedule, in to allow all
the things that happened in the offseason, whether it be recruiting,
NFL Draft, crep, all that stuff. I don't think people
(40:47):
are saying screw the players, but some people are are
more dismissive of it's potential dangers than others. I think
that's where a disconnect comes in. I'm I've sort of
been sitting the fence on a lot of this. I
think what the A, C, C and SEC are doing
currently is reasonable. They do have medical guidance. They're going forward.
(41:08):
They haven't technically made a decision yet because they haven't
had to. They haven't added to cancel anything yet. They
made some schedule adjustments, but there are people out there
that are being dismissive of the dangers as well. I
wanted to ask you a couple more questions before we
hit the break and we again, we appreciate Aaron Torres.
You can find him on Twitter at Aaron Underscore Torres.
Go to Arran Torres podcast and listen to his thoughts.
(41:30):
They are but two part question here, do you mind
if it this ends up being a truncated or heavily
impacted season for those that continue? That's A and B.
What would it take for you to just say, you
know what, they got to shut it down here, it's
just getting out of control. Well, as far as if
we get a truncated season, I would love it, because one,
(41:53):
I want everybody safe. But I would love for those
three other conferences to rub the nose of the Big
Ten in the dirt and say, you guys acted way
too quickly. We wanted to be patient. You guys tried
to strong arm us into playing or into canceling and
it didn't work out. And I'll tell you this if
I was thinking about this this morning, if you're an
(42:14):
Ohio State player. First of all, I think all the
impactful players in the Big Ten, in the Pac twelve
are gonna skip the spring season, are gonna prep for
the NFL as they should. And I say that as
somebody who loves college football. But imagine being an Ohio
State player gets trying to get yourself fired up for
a season when you see potentially Alabama and Clemson getting
(42:34):
ready to play for a national championship after playing in
the fall. So I would love to see it happen.
But look to your point, Mike, I, I don't think
anything that I'm gonna say in the next whatever couple
of minutes is unreasonable. I think that if if we,
if students come back to campus, this virus we know
will spread, if the rates go way up, if we
(42:56):
start blocking and tackling, and and you know, player upon
layer gets infected. I'm not talking about one or two.
I'm not talking about something that's easy to control. But
I'm talking about a big chunk of players. And I
don't want to say a number and say if it's
we gotta keep pushing on. I think it just depends. Um.
But you know, I want to see basically all I
(43:16):
want to see, and I think all anyone in football
and college football, the coaches, the players, the parents want
to see what happens when we do start blocking and
tackling and all the things that come with playing football.
Is it possible? And then if it isn't, if all
of a sudden players do start getting sick, even testing
positive and are asymptomatic, I have no problem saying, look,
(43:38):
we had three practices and half our team came down
with this. We can't do it. Let's push to the spring,
to the point we brought up earlier, whether it's realistic
or not, let's hope for a vaccine. Um. But I
would have no problem with it. And so my only
issue all week was to do what they did, to
put the players through what they did, and then to
pull the rug out without even trying. We're gonna we're
(43:58):
gonna bind out in the coming week. So yeah, here
it's Aaron Torres and Aaron Torres podcast, Fox Sports College Football,
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As our team covers the most important topics in sports wagering,
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(44:20):
want the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid
dot Com back on the Grid closing out this hour
again with Joelisi, host here of College Football Today on
the Grid, ibout that errantres air good John, he's fired up. Yeah,
he was definitely fired up. I love what Aaron had
(44:41):
to say about the Big ten and the Pact Pact
twelve and living in Pact twelve country. We get to
see the West Coast sentiments. So great insight by Aaron,
and I'm with him. I want to see a college
football season in so the one thing we didn't talk
about two we've talked about over the hour are about
the viability of a spring season. Um, what about fans
(45:05):
being in attendance? I wanted to ask him if he
thought there should be fans there, and what do you
think of that? Well, I mean the Big twelve is
gonna make a push Texas Texas Tech I've already said, respectively.
I mean some of the other programs like Oklahoma as well,
they claim that they're gonna have fifteen to twenty fans.
So we'll see how that situation plays out. The SEC
(45:26):
is trying to get fans as well. I mean, if
they can get fans in the stands and do it
in the month of September and it goes through October,
it's gonna it's gonna make the Big ten Impact twelve
look bad, especially if they can continue the momentum for
a full season. Yeah, and it creates this ugly undercurrent
right where the Big ten and Pac twelve aren't. They're
(45:47):
not rooting for them to fail, but they know it's
to their detriment. If everything goes off without a hitch,
which I I don't expect, I think you'll have Marlins
and Cardinals like MLB situation sent throughout. I think teams
will have to lose games off the schedule due to
all this. I just wish they would all play the
same amount of games. This one's eleven, this one's ten,
(46:09):
the other one's ten. That doesn't really make sense to me.
I know the a c C is doing it to
try to keep some of these group of five teams
in the mix, or to at least play a bunch
of games Conference USA teams as well. So, um, three
thousand fans were at an MLS game earlier this week.
I think you'd have to go mandatory mask right if
(46:30):
you're gonna be there. I just don't. But as getting
in and out of the stadium, to me is the
riskiest part of the whole thing. You're you're in close
quarters with people when you're doing that. It is. If
they do it in a systematic way or approach with
temperature checks, I think that's the best possible scenario for them,
I really do. I think it's doable. But do they
have to have those structured in place prior it's a
(46:53):
temperature check on the way in masked up? That's how
you would do it. Yep. Imagine getting pulled off the line.
Oh man, that's a bad day. It's a bad day
for everybody in that area. So I don't know, folks,
I really don't know how I feel about all of this.
Um I got conflicting doc medical opinions, so I'm sort
of at a loss and all that. But thank you
(47:15):
to our guest Aaron Torres again, try to listen to
his podcast. Thank you for joining, Thank him for joining us.
I'm after Joe Lisy, Brian Rokowski on Mike Luett. Thanks
for watching football. Full circle. We'll see you next time
on the grid. Sports grid dot com betting insights and
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
(47:37):
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than get on
the grid sports grid dot Com
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