this week, MN and CO stopped high school sports in the fall (adding to the list). PA governor today stepped in and recommended the same for his state, and Penn State announced that no fans will attend games. The Pac 12 is having a hard time convincing both their member schools and their athletes to participate, and I don't believe that students will be on campus this fall in the the U of Cal and Cal State institutions, which have at least 6 major D1 programs that I can think of off the top of my head. D2 and D3 canceled their championship series, and I believe half of the FCS conferences have canceled their seasons entirely. I've spoken to coaches that are completely frustrated with things as they are and trying to run a program during a pandemic. CSU was allegedly caught trying to intimidate athletes into not reporting tests. The governor of NM asked their state schools to suspend the start of the season. Rutgers had a bunch of positives just the other day. MSU had to shut down and quarantine. Etc. etc. etc.
I completely understand the financial ramifications (believe me, I have been over it). I completely get all of that, but this is clear that we haven't (for whatever reason) got this virus under control in many states (I understand that it is in more than a few). We've got issues in Florida, Arizona (which announced yesterday that they're playing high school football this fall starting in Oct), Texas, and the heat map of the southeast is daunting.
Given all of the above, why not postpone the start of the season until November or so and try and get everything under control? In states where mask wearing is an issue, threaten to not play any games unless certain numbers are met. Why try and forge ahead? What would be the benefit of starting and then having to stop?
I just don't understand the rush, at all. I don't understand why everything is political now; in CO, there are accusations that they held off on playing sports this fall because a "return to normal" would be seen as a win for the President in an election year. In AZ, it's the opposite side of the same coin. In major college football, it seems like the TV contracts are ruling the day and the health and safety of the players and coaches is secondary in many states (ACC, SEC especially).
If we had this under better control, I would be all in favor of playing. If we could get a mask mandate in place and get these numbers down, I would be in favor of playing. But we're doing very, very little and it is frustrating as hell.