Inevitably, the debate-that-shouldn’t-be-a-debate over whether college football should be played in the fall has spilled over into the world of politics, including the tweet we all saw coming from Donald Trump.
The president joined a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for universities to play football this year as reports say the Big Ten may have become the first Power 5 conference to cancel the season (a Big Ten spokesperson denied there was a vote on that subject).
There’s the letter sent by Nebraska senator Ben Sasse to Big Ten presidents and chancellors that includes the absurd phrase “life is about tradeoffs,” as if playing football in exchange for risking your health and life were equal. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan declared “America needs college football,” and Trump had this to say:
I couldn’t respond any better than Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds did:
That’s pretty much it. Had those in charge looked ahead and realized sports would be threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to take lives — over 160,000 as of publishing this post — months later, maybe they would have done something instead of where we’re at now, with our president continuing to simply say “it’ll go away.”
We have the NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLS sequestered in bubbles and thriving, while the National Women’s Soccer League completed a tournament with zero positive tests.
In Major League Baseball, we have two teams playing serious catch-up with outbreaks postponing their games. And now politicians think football — much more of a contact sport than baseball — should be played by teams all over the country who would flying and busing in and out of states and cities trying their best to control each of their virus situations? These are players who aren’t even earning money to participate in their sport, unlike the NFL.
It’s too late. The country and its lawmakers made their decisions and should have made this push long ago.
