COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State football is operating in its own bubble. In the pandemic world, bubbles are a solution for sports. The NBA and NHL isolate their players as they successfully restart their seasons. Major League Baseball is out of the world and has trouble.
In college football, a bubble is impossible. The Big Ten cannot gather their 14 members in a small Midwestern town and play. But as the high school football seasons crept around them, the Ohio State Buckeyes find themselves in a bubble of their own.
They believe they can try to play this season. They have yet to see any of their top players drop out of the season. Their captains released a letter Friday explaining why, contrary to the claims of many players in the country, they do not feel exploited by the pandemic, and they are not afraid that their school is skimming over security.
“I think my level of confidence in our security is really high,” center Josh Myers, one of Ohio State’s seven captains, said in a conference call with reporters earlier this week. “There is nothing more our coaches and coaches and staff can do to keep us safe. I can not say enough about what they do, and I would say that my level of care for safety is small. I do not care. ‘
That may not be a widespread feeling. At Syracuse University, players on Thursday and Friday refused to practice on safety concerns. Colorado State also put the practice as a pause, over concerns about coronavirus security and other potential issues. Around the country, more than 30 players have been selected for selection this season, including the top three non-Buckeyes in the Big Ten – Pennah’s Micah Parsons, Purdue’s Rondale Moore and Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman. And on Saturday, the Big Ten even announced a practice delay – instead of transitioning to shoulder pads for the third practice of the press season, the league keeps teams practicing only with helmets. That is usually only required from the first two practices, while the players camp easily.
But the Big Ten wants to keep on asking – while considering stopping.
For Ohio State fans, this is incongruous. Why did OSU players, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday, and coach Ryan Day, who spoke to reporters on Thursday, sound as confident this week as the season is now in jeopardy? Why did the Big Ten on Wednesday release a new 10-game schedule for each team when the season is now in jeopardy?
As for the schedule, you need to make plans during the pandemic, or you will never make progress. Making and canceling plans is much more functional then delaying and waiting for … what, exactly? As for the OSU’s confidence of the last few days – the problem is that apparently few schools have ever been as confident as Ohio State.
Ohio State operates in the top tier of college football, competing for national titles in a way that no other school north of the Mason-Dixon line consistently does. When it comes to coronavirus protections, it is easy to imagine that Ohio State also operates at a high level. Money makes it easier to be safe, and the Buckeyes have money. They also have motivation. Ohio State is behind a national title. No other team in the Big Ten thinks so. When Big Ten university presidents ask what they are trying to save this fall, the OSU response to what a football season in Ohio means is different from the answer that exists for every other school.
That motivation and money is the reason why Ohio State captains were able to release a message Friday that read in response to an earlier message from a group of Big Ten players (it claimed more than 1,000 players supported it) that the conference called for to listen to players and to increase COVID-19 safety standards.
The Buckeyes’ reaction read, in essence, “We are good.”
“We respect that these thoughts on safety and protocols should not be shared by all student-athletes across the country. But as Ohio State Buckeyes, we stand by the decisions of our athletic department and conference, ”read the end of the statement.
That’s great for Ohio State. But it does not bring them any closer to a football season.
Their bubble is not particularly useful, because a bubble with one team does not save the Buckeyes. If college football disappears this fall, her bubble may only serve to frustrate Ohio State.
The Buckeyes really believe they can play, but the problem is that they can not just play themselves. A season of 10-game controls inside-squad can be more challenging than some normal Big Ten games. But Ohio State’s confidence in its coronavirus testing protocols, its resources that enable all safety precautions, and the close relationship between coaches and players that make up a two-way belief system is not enough.
Rutgers must feel that too. And Maryland. And Northwestern and Indiana and Michigan State and Minnesota and Nebraska and Iowa. At least most should be on board. Big ten presidents held a regularly scheduled remote meeting on Saturday, but did not vote on whether to cancel the season. Ohio State is currently among presidents – Kristina Johnson will officially take office on August 24 – so no OSU rep was on Saturday’s call. But Ohio State had plans to be informed, and along the way, Ohio State believes its points have been made despite its presidential transition.
The MAC canceled fall football Saturday, aiming for the spring, and some consider that the first step. If the MAC season went away, so would the Big Ten. That thinking may be true, but it still does not sound logical to me. Every decision is a balance, and the choice here is about health and safety, and the value of playing. Part of the value that is, yes, money, because athletic divisions try to stay. Football TV cash would help that. But there is also inherent value, linked to how many people care about something, and how much they care about it. In that value portion of the equation, the Big Ten is in a different place than the MAC.
Say you plan to go out to dinner and freezing rain starts to fall. If you’ve been to Burger King with a two-for-one Whopper Junior coupon, you can stay home. If you book at a white tablecloth restaurant for your anniversary, you may still be able to get in your car, but pay extra attention behind the wheel and slow down on the highway.
It is a food and safety decision. But it is not the same decision.
That the MAC should not make the Big Ten’s decision. The Big Ten has more reasons to play, and more resources to make it as safe as possible. It is quite possible that the conclusion will be to cancel the fall, but the Big Ten will have to make their own decision, just as they did when it became the first conference to cancel games without conferences.
And whatever the Big Ten decides, Ohio State must live with it. All suggestions about Ohio State playing an independent schedule or attending another conference for this season are short sighted. It would look bad for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes were so football crazy, they would do anything to play. And the long-term well-being of the Big Ten is more valuable than a football season, even if $ 50 million or $ 80 million to $ 100 million could be at stake.
Ohio State has not been unrealistic. Day and athletics director Gene Smith both expressed complete confidence in Ohio State’s ability to exercise safely, but they expressed reservations, for now, about the ability to play safely. But the approach was to keep going, keep trying, keep believing and keep balancing.
It’s just not about them.
Myers, with most of the captains covering his mind, said, “I feel like if I want to, I should have the choice to play college football.”
Most people with the Ohio State program can agree with that. But the Buckeyes can’t really play themselves.
Fanatics has released Ohio State Buckeyes Adult Face Coverings. These 3-pack adult masks, sell for $ 29.99.
Face masks for sale in New Ohio State: Here you can buy Ohio themed face mask for coronavirus protection. A 3-pack is available at Fanatics for $ 29.99.
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