This Week's Obsession: And There Shall Be
The Question:
BLACK, BROWN, OR GRAY SQUIRRELS?
Ace: I have photos for this.
Brian: Focus guys, there's news. Hockey is back.
Seth: What about the months of content we had planned? I was just getting ready to post Round 1 of the Draftageddon of Past Draftageddons.
Next week Heiko drafts a goat.
BiSB: The plural is "Draftsageddon"
The Mathlete: This is the most MGoBlog comment of all time.
Brian: First overall pick is the one where Heiko drafted Kirk Cousins to play OL.
Ace: We’re getting closer…
BiSB: Speaking of sports where sometimes you run out of dudes at a position group...
FOOTBALL BACK.
Brian:
— Pat Fitzgerald (@coachfitz51) September 16, 2020
Ace: Feeling for the Northwestern players who had to quarantine in Lake Michigan.
BiSB: Cant' catch a respiratory virus if you don't respirate. Also can't coordinate any union activity.
Ace: Let’s get ready to compartmentaliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiize. The good news is we’ve covered college sports long enough to be well-practiced at this.
BiSB: Do you think Fitz didn't know what the word "quarantine" meant, and was too afraid to ask anyone, so that was his solution?
Brian: Anyone associated with Northwestern football knows what quarantine means because they were quarantined from the endzone last year amirite
Ace: It feels good to get these jokes off again. Context be damned.
[After THE JUMP: Who's in?]
--------------------------------------
Brian: There are definitely a few schools in the conference who are like YES FOOTBALL IS BACK ... and then they remember.
TFW you were sure that test was going to be canceled. [Bryan Fuller]
Seth: The rumor that Michigan State and Maryland were going to sit this one out was the best of easily debunked but plausible COVID season rumors.
Brian: Okay, how about some TOPICS?
On a scale of 1-10 rate the Big Ten's overall approach to fall sports, from cancelling to reinstating?
This could have gone much worse. [Marc-Grégor Campredon]
Seth: If I'm giving them credit for saying "postponing" instead of "canceling" and for going ahead now because they were waiting for rapid testing all along, it's a 9 with the only point missing being some epic communication issues. You can't do anything about the people who come up with conspiracies but there's a level of forthrightness that doesn't get Chris Hutchinson on your back.
Ace: I guess it’s a giant copout to say “TBD until we see how it goes” so I’ll go with a 6. Given what we’ve seen happen in other conferences that went forward (mostly) on schedule with large swaths of players testing positive and sitting out games, it was the responsible choice to wait to start the season. Rapid testing is a big step and if players are going to be on campus anyway this doesn’t feel like a major risk on top of that, particularly since they’re getting much better protection than other students. (I don’t think students should be on campus but we’re past that point, evidently.) The communication was awful and the league is going to BS about this being entirely about testing when it’s about a large number of things, including money and PR, so I can’t hand out anything higher than that.
Other conferences that went forward get, like, a 1, so hooray for relativism.
BiSB: Agreed that it's all relative. The funny thing is that the Big Ten is making all of the headlines because of the supposed drama, while Texas Tech and LSU are like "welp, everybody caught the COVID, sorry bout that" and no one seems terribly concerned about how those conferences are handling things.
Brian: I'm usually the "people are just in charge of things" guy but here this looks fine to me. I don't give a crap about the supposed bad communication when it was obvious why the season was postponed and obvious what would get it back:
If you want to do something useful in the hopes of a spring season, advocate for the development of a protocol that uses the recently approved point-of-contact saliva test as a way to have safe football—for everyone, not just athletes—in the spring. Advocate for a nationwide testing system that will get the virus under control.
So you've got a reasonable plan to get a season in that seems appropriately cautious and is more likely to result in a non-farcical level of competition. In the circumstances I think this is about the best you can do.
BiSB: The hyperbole on both sides of this will be visible from Andromeda.
Note the date: 9/16/20, the day the vaunted Big Ten became the SEC. It choked. It got scared. It sold its soul for football. My @usatodaysports column on the darkest day in Big Ten history: https://t.co/uaWfgpgSqO
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 16, 2020
Ace: I’ve been accused of virtue signaling once or twice before but… man, that is spicy.
BiSB: Yep. Nothing questionable before now.
Seth: I feel like the only person standing on The Players Deserved More Transparency Hill holding a Don't Play Until It's Safe sign but I'm also dying on it. You need the football players on your side. Pissing them off was a huge failure.
Ace: This is why I believe the messaging was a huge problem.
Brian: We only hear from the ones who are mad.
Ace: Of course! But they made a lot of people mad.
BiSB: And their lawyers. And anyone in the state of Nebraska.
Ace: They may have been mad anyway but they gave them good reason to be mad. And then a loose Clay Travis got in the building.
Seth: I don't care about them. Jim Harbaugh was mad.You know how to get Jim Harbaugh on board with a plan that makes sense? Pick. Up. The. Phone.
Ace: That’s how you get loose Clay Travises.
BiSB: And now they get to celebrate like my 9-month-old when "he" makes a shot in our driveway.
Ace: People are thanking the president.
BiSB: Like, good job, buddy. You totally did that.
Ace: I’M STOPPING THERE DON’T WORRY.
Brian: There was no way to prevent any of that. Look at the general state of the country. There is no possible way to convince a large swath of the population of anything. Clay Travis is a constitutionally dishonest asshole who would have slammed the Big Ten no matter what. It's a Dunning-Krueger world.
BiSB: SMASH CUT TO:
FOOTBALL BACK. STATE GON' SUCK. Thoughts?
Ace: I’m definitely in support of that second part.
Seth: Do they still have Tre Person? Can someone let Nico Collins know that so he doesn't realize he doesn't have to do this season?
Ace:
Wyatt Davis, Ohio State offensive lineman who opted out recently, just called AD Gene Smith in the middle of the zoom call.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) September 16, 2020
BiSB: So, when last we left the Big Ten, the best receivers in the conference were probably going to be Nico Collins and Rondale Moore. So the question has to be: how many people are un-opting out?
Ace: Early returns suggest there’ll be a decent number, though Ohio State having everything go their way maybe shouldn’t count when trying to figure these things out. Some players may not have schooled enough to be eligible now. Though it’s probably early enough to, uh, fix that.
Seth: Ohio State having everything is like bad faith people bad faithing; inexorable and inevitable. Also if universities haven't figured out how to eligible up some football players in all kinds of circumstances by now they're never getting out of the 1950s.
BiSB: A worthwhile note on players opting back in:
Something to keep in mind re: B1G or P12 players who’ve opted out and declared: they’ve likely signed with an agent and possibly taken a cash advance on their earnings.
— The Solid Verbal (@SolidVerbal) September 16, 2020
Guys opting back in *seems* unlikely.
Seth: Ah, yes, another "problem" that members of the NCAA have never found a way around.
BiSB: From a football standpoint, I'm not sure if I have a sense of who took the worst beatings from NFL declarations, but it feels like Michigan has to be high on that list. Penn State losing Micah Parsons might be the most painful single opt-out, though.
Seth: Rondale Moore.
Brian: Purdue is #1 because they don't get to see the crowning season for their most exciting player since Drew Brees. Moore is the kind of player where I was devastated he was opting out despite caring for Purdue in no way at all.
BiSB: Purdue still has David Bell, who is still fun. Not Rondale fun, but fun. Penn State was literally building positions for Parsons.
The one that got away [Purdue Athletics]
Seth: Don't forget Michigan State, which lost its avatar in Jacub Panasiuk. I actually don't think the declarations are over. When the Big Ten was canceled anyone with nothing to gain from playing in a pandemic under any circumstances could quietly go about their training. Now some decisions are going to have to be announced.
BiSB: It'll go both ways; some guys will opt back in, some secret opt-outs will be announced. This is your weekly reminder that MSU was already losing 263 career defensive starts before Panasiuk opted out.
Brian: …and completely airballed on transfer QBs.
Seth: Come to beautiful East Lansing, where the beautiful green vistas (and all things) are never blocked by offensive linemen.
BiSB: At least they still have Jordan Reid...
/checks opt-out list
...oh.
Ace: Even with the month-plus to prepare, I’m expecting a chaotic start to the season as teams figure all this out while, in several cases, attempting to get back to a normal practice schedule for the first time in a while. Can we petition to make The Game a week one matchup?
BiSB: The mandatory 21 day exclusion for players who test positive is gonna have some WILD effects.
Seth: Transitioning from a month of "optional" no-padded practice to a month of fall camp might be the most normal thing about this season.
Ace: Some of these teams are transitioning from quarantine.
BiSB: Maryland is going to have a socially distanced Praetorian Guard around Taulia Tagovailoa at all times.
Seth: /Praetorian Guard assassinates Tagovailoa, auctions starting Maryland QB job to booster.
Ace: But yes, the 21-day rule paired with the 5% covid-positive rule and the lack of bye weeks… this is gonna take something.
Seth: One worry I have about the 21-day rule is it's so extreme there's a major incentive for a program with a sketchy record of credibility when it comes to safety versus football concerns to lie.
BiSB: That's why they have the "you have to have documented test results for everyone" rule.
Brian: I think that's pretty hard to do when you're testing everyone and documenting it and holding people out of practice for the safety of players and coaches.
Ace: That’s also how you destroy your program’s reputation forever. I don’t think any coaches are that stupid. Probably.
Seth: Just put someone who doesn't care about football in charge of that and I'm okay with it. No, I do not entirely trust a school that was clamoring to go the SEC/ACC/BigXII route to test, document, and hold people out of practice. I was just doing a bunch of eighties stuff so I got a refresher on how the steroid epidemic went down. I know juice isn't contagious but I also know that not testing certain players you can't afford to lose has been done.
Ace: I highly doubt the coaches are in charge of the testing.
BiSB:
From the people who brought us "you may have rhabdo" == "YOU ARE A BAD GUY!!!"
Who wants to talk about Joe Milton?
Prepare for a different set of photos we're going to cycle through quickly. [Patrick Barron]
Ace: Can throw the ball over them there mountains.
BiSB: JUST THROW IT UP TO NI... dammit.
Brian: Nico is apparently opting out and Webb has "three program sources" indicating that Dylan McCaffrey is going to opt out as well.
Ace: JOE MILTON CAN THROW THE BALL ACCURATELY OVER THEM THERE MOUNTAINS
Brian: uh
Ace: Let us have this.
BiSB: Can Milton throw a football so far that Xavier Worthy can't get there?
Brian: Looking forward to hockey.
Ace:
Look, I’m ready for Big Ten ChaosYear, maybe this is the breakthrough. Hockey will be very good and also on BTN+.
Brian: Zero returning OL and presumed starting QB has opted out, best WR has opted out, OSU will get all their players back and have relentless COVID discipline. Lookin' forward to some hockey though.
Ace: When were we ever right about the starting QB? It was Milton as soon as McCaffrey went first in HTTV.
Seth: Projected 2017 starter John O'Korn did start the meat of 2017.
BiSB: The last genuine surprise was, what, Denard in 2010?
Brian: McCaffrey went first because about a quarter of Milton's throws on tape went directly to the chest of a defender.
BiSB: But with zip.
Ace: So much zip! Joe Burrow was a 50% passer and then he was a throw-god, wild stuff happens.
Seth: Not gonna lie, taking Nico, Mayfield, and Ambry out of this season removes a huge chunk of my optimism. I wasn't really expecting better than treading water at quarterback.
Ace: I’m excited to cover a game that didn’t already happen. Still from the couch, though.
Seth: This is true. Between the pain of a 2017 and (no offense) rehashing old games on twitch while the official Texas account weaponizes Tarik Black stats, give me life.
BiSB: Yes, that is a good point, and one worth emphasizing... FOOTBAW.
Ace: Just muted my college group text, it’s really back.
Seth: Penn State is on our level and taking similar hits. We get to thrash MSU in Ann Arbor a second year in a row, survive an Indiana scare, nearly fall for a lot of Maryland hype, and get a conference win for pummeling an Ivy League reject. At one point there will be extremely unwarranted optimism that results in a t-shirt I am embarrassed to wear.
Ace: That sounds like the most normal season we can have given the circumstances.
Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez on #B1G Zoom presser said schedule is eight games PLUS one. Teams from East and West will matchup (2 seed vs 2, etc) and play on B1G Championship weekend. Schedule to come later this week.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) September 16, 2020
I know I have a sickness because I’m legitimately excited for the 7 vs 7 game.
…which I hope beyond hope is MSU/Nebraska.
Seth: This is how I know they've been reading my schedule proposal. I've been advocating replacing the conference championship with a showcase of the best games not played for years.
Ace: Rutgers/Northwestern on championship Saturday!
BiSB: We’re this close to a plan that involves relegation and promotion.
Seth: The drama of Week 6 that pulls out a 3% chance Indiana-Purdue game.
Ace: Remind me to write a post comparing each year’s MAC champion to Rutgers.
Seth: Next offseason, Ace. This one is OVAH!
September 16th, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
Next season! Hey. No. Wait. Hold on. Surely there's something else between now and then...
September 16th, 2020 at 2:21 PM ^
It has been interesting.
It's about to get interestinger.
September 16th, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
I gotta say, I don't usually like these things, but this one made me laugh a few times. I think BiSB took the cake with "Cant' catch a respiratory virus if you don't respirate. Also can't coordinate any union activity."
September 16th, 2020 at 2:24 PM ^
Nico, Ambry, and Mayfield opting out really sucks
Not getting to watch Nico for a fully weaponized season just makes me sad
And of fucking course Michigan's guys stay gone and OSU will get all theirs back.
September 16th, 2020 at 2:29 PM ^
Red squirrels!
September 16th, 2020 at 2:32 PM ^
Flying squirrels!
September 16th, 2020 at 3:13 PM ^
Rabid Doom Squirrels!
September 16th, 2020 at 2:35 PM ^
BPONE is back, baby!
September 16th, 2020 at 2:36 PM ^
I don't get Nico opting out. He's a bad combine performance away from falling to day 3. Then again, to come back and not get utilized enough wouldn't help him much either.
September 16th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^
Excitement mixed with impending doom...the usual Michigan Football offseason in its final month
September 16th, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^
I feel the need to point out that black squirrels and gray squirrels are both Eastern Gray Squirrels, the black variety is a genetic mutation. Fun fact: Black squirrels do well in Michigan because their coloring makes them better adapted for our cold winters. They are less prevalent because they were hunted more extensively since they are easier to spot. Populations were re-introduced in Battle Creek and East Lansing and they thrive in both locations.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:05 PM ^
That Battle Creek black squirrel population has migrated east, because the Albion College campus is FULL of them.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
They are all over the place in West Michigan. The black squirrel is the unofficial mascot of Hope College. They're on the frisbees sold by the bookstore and everything!
September 16th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
Does anyone know why some players waited for the decision to play to opt out?
September 16th, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
There are lots of potential reasons, but one possibility is that they never wanted to play a truncated COVID season anyway. When there was no return announced, there was no reason for Nico to say anything. Now that the season is imminent, he doesn't have a choice.
Plus, as others have said he may not even be signed up for classes. So it could be a situation where he's known he's done for the past month, but just hasn't announced it.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:15 PM ^
To tease us and cause as much BPONE related pain as possible. Same reason OSU keeps finding diamonds in that pile of shit they live in.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:08 PM ^
Ace: "People are thanking the president".
BiSB: "Like good job, buddy, you totally did that".
Your sarcasm is noted, and the only thing more amusing than insinuating that the president had everything to do with this is insinuating that the president had nothing to do with it. I'd give his intervention more stock than "rapid testing". "Oh, we can know 24 hours sooner who can't play Saturday. Let's do this!"
September 16th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Yes, I absolutely do believe that POTUS spending valuable time calling and tweeting at the head of the Big 10 about playing a game like an over-caffeinated sports radio caller did have an effect on the conference's decision to play. The fact that we live in a world where that happened is something different.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
The current tests take about 5-7 days to confirm a "not detected" while the rapid tests they think they can mass produce are able to tell in about 10 minutes (it's possible to get that down to seconds but they're focused on making many of them cheaply). They also take WAY fewer resources to administer (swabbing almost to your brain is not something anyone can do). We're talking about 10x, 100x, maybe 1000x as many tests this fall.
But sure, calling Kevin Warren who doesn't have a say in the matter and being told to go away because you're making things worse by the presidents and chancellors who do is just as important.
What this means is widespread testing, not just for the players but on campuses and people who come in contact with the players. It means being able to shut down outbreaks at 4-5 people not 30 people who then need 14 days to make sure after contact. It means knowing before one team comes into contact with another that none of them have the disease. This is a tool to actually control the disease! It could put the kids back in school, reunite families, make people feel safe enough to have Christmas together (and shop for it). Can't you be happy for it?
September 17th, 2020 at 1:48 AM ^
You are a not smart person
September 16th, 2020 at 3:23 PM ^
I'm not particularly optimistic this season will play out any differently than past years, but I do feel happy for the kids who wanted to play that they'll get their chance and that the kids who opted out were able to do so without much anger directed at them in the moment.
I still don't see this being much better than your run-of-the-mill monkey rodeo, but so be it.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
I'm trying to get on board. Happy for the players, assuming the protocols keep them safe.
Maybe I have a poor attitude/trust issues, but there are two areas that seem ripe for manipulation. Please let me know if my understanding of the protocol is incorrect:
- School-designated testing official. No reason this should be left to the school - I just don't trust Ohio State to put accurate testing/reporting/player safety ahead of winning a game. IMO there should be neutral, unaffiliated oversight of testing. It's too easy to see Gene Smith telling his designated testing flunky "just check the box".
- Ambiguity about exactly who is included in the "% positive" calculations. As I understand it, that calculation is based on everyone associated with the team, not just players. Is there anything to prevent a school (in Ohio) to add a few more "advisors" or "managers" (or more walk-ons) if their positives creep up? Maybe (hopefully) this has been addressed. I find it hard to believe a team wouldn't be allowed to play if all players are Covid-free but 30% of staff members are positive, pushing the overall number over 5%.
I sure hope I'm wrong, and everyone will be on the up-and-up. I'm not confident - especially re: aOSU.
September 16th, 2020 at 10:49 PM ^
I honestly don't think OSU will mess with the numbers all that much; I assume they'll get their positive infections out earlier rather than later. But I look at places like Iowa, Nebraska, etc. that have states with high infection rates and, at least in Iowa's case, a governor who seems hell-bent on ignoring warning signs, and I can just see places being sloppy out of negligence and laziness, not purposeful behavior.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:35 PM ^
No Ambry and Mayfield are a bigger impact than Collins IMO... (WR position is pretty deep)
I am not excited by Milton, I thought McCaffrey was going to be an upgrade over Shea
my biggest reason for hope is this is our 2nd year in the offense, biggest concern is DB
I would be surprised if we play more than a handful of games
I don't want to write off the team without seeing them play, there will be new McGrone's that show up this year
September 16th, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
If you thought McCaffrey was an upgrade and Milton is better than him, why wouldn't you be excited about Milton?
September 16th, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^
Just so we're clear, is Brian's shtick this year going to be continually just wanting to talk about hockey?
I could support that if at some point a primer was written to explain hockey to those of us who didn't grow up in frozen wastelands watching the whitest sport in the world.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:52 PM ^
In the 90's, hockey was like 'alternative music' - it was a sport that a certain class of of nerds and sort-of misfits could rally around and be slightly hip. The Red Wings and Michigan Hockey were winning and you could actually find the sport on TV. In the early days of this blog, hockey was more common.
From that perspective, it makes sense that Brian C would be nostalgic for hockey when almost no one else cares.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:01 PM ^
I'd argue that it still took a rather specific geographic location to get into it. I was a grunge kid who grew up doing the same academic competitions Brian did, with the addition of band and drama, but because I'm from Indiana, hockey was nothing past breaking legs on NHL '94.
I'd genuinely be interested in trying to follow it, but even after years of reading Brian's posts on it, I can't follow anything going on with the team or why it was awful last year and might be good this year aside from the goalie is really good.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
Fair enough. There's always been more marginal hockey interest in MI and the east coast than the remainder of the US.
If you watch certain movies from the 90's - Clerks and Swingers come to mind - you'll find significant hockey references. ESPN had nearly wall-to-wall coverage and Fox used a glowing puck that was supposed to convert and entertain the masses. There was a definite low-key push that apparently didn't take.
September 16th, 2020 at 6:27 PM ^
Yep, I remember all of that stuff. I turned 40 this year, so all of that is right in my wheel house. I remember feeling slightly motion sick trying to follow the glowing puck. My only understanding of hockey back then was using the Red Wings to destroy all comers in NHL '94.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^
I know I need help but I just can't get over people still acting like testing was really a factor here. There was a rapid test developed and approved on a big ten campus in August. This is just one option that was available.
https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1795135071
September 17th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
"developed and approved" does not equal "widely available."
September 17th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
That sounds good but completely ignores reality. Illinois was up and running shortly after and every campus could have done the same. And again, that is only one option. There are multiple others that were available for big ten schools to set up on their very own campuses.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:09 PM ^
MSU, having eschewed on-campus living, has seen 300+ cases since Aug. 23. The actual number is hard to determine since MSU only updates their COVID tracker weekly. This is beyond stupid based on what we know about the spread of this disease. UofM does have dorm occupancy, albeit with some restrictions. UofM has 109 positive cases in the same time frame.
Ask yourself, would you rather have your child living in a dorm that has a janitorial staff that cleans twice a day, or in some random off-campus house with their buds that might get cleaned never? The choice is obvious to me.
September 16th, 2020 at 11:04 PM ^
I thought it was another otter.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:39 AM ^
Ahh.... The weekly ciecle-jerk, but transcribed for our pleasure.
September 17th, 2020 at 12:36 PM ^
Christine Brennan thinks she graduated from Northwestern Medical School instead of Medill School.
Comments