Open Letter from Kevin Warren
https://bigten.org/news/2020/8/19/general-an-open-letter-to-the-big-ten-community.aspx
An Open Letter to the Big Ten Community
I write on this occasion to share with you additional information regarding the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone the 2020-21 fall sports season. We thoroughly understand and deeply value what sports mean to our student-athletes, their families, our coaches and our fans. The vote by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) was overwhelmingly in support of postponing fall sports and will not be revisited. The decision was thorough and deliberative, and based on sound feedback, guidance and advice from medical experts. Despite the decision to postpone fall sports, we continue our work to find a path forward that creates a healthy and safe environment for all Big Ten student-athletes to compete in the sports they love in a manner that helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protects both student-athletes and the surrounding communities.
As you are well aware, we are facing a complicated global pandemic with the SARS-CoV-2 virus discovered in November 2019. The first medically confirmed cases did not appear in the United States until January 2020. Over the course of the past seven months, the U.S. has recorded more than 5.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in more than 170,000 deaths, with more than 22 million confirmed cases and 780,000 lives lost around the world.
We understand the disappointment and questions surrounding the timing of our decision to postpone fall sports, especially in light of releasing a football schedule only six days prior to that decision. From the beginning, we consistently communicated our commitment to cautiously proceed one day at a time with the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes at the center of our decision-making process. That is why we took simultaneous paths in releasing the football schedule, while also diligently monitoring the spread of the virus, testing, and medical concerns as student-athletes were transitioning to full-contact practice.
While several factors contributed to the decision to postpone the 2020-21 fall sports season, at the core of our decision was the knowledge that there was too much medical uncertainty and too many unknown health risks regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection and its impact on our student-athletes.
Listed below are the primary factors that led to the Big Ten COP/C decision:
- Transmission rates continue to rise at an alarming rate with little indication from medical experts that our campuses, communities or country could gain control of the spread of the virus prior to the start of competition.
- As our teams were ramping up for more intense practices, many of our medical staffs did not think the interventions we had planned would be adequate to decrease the potential spread even with very regular testing.
- As the general student body comes back to campus, spread to student-athletes could reintroduce infection into our athletics community.
- There is simply too much we do not know about the virus, recovery from infection, and longer-term effects. While the data on cardiomyopathy is preliminary and incomplete, the uncertain risk was unacceptable at this time.
- Concerns surrounding contact tracing still exist, including the inability to social distance in contact sports pursuant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. While risk mitigation processes (e.g., physical distancing, face coverings, proper hygiene, etc.) can be implemented across campus for the student body population, it became clear those processes could not be fully implemented in contact sports.
- With the start of full-contact practices and competitions, it became increasingly clear that contact tracing and quarantining would risk frequent and significant disruptions to the practice and competition calendar.
- Accurate and widely available rapid testing may help mitigate those concerns, but access to accurate tests is currently limited.
- Significant concerns also exist regarding the testing supply chain, generally, for many of our institutions.
Financial considerations did not influence the COP/C decision, as the postponement will have enormous adverse financial implications. We understand the passion of the many student-athletes and their families who were disappointed by the decision, but also know there are many who have a great deal of concern and anxiety regarding the pandemic.
Moving forward, we will continue to build upon the framework that our medical experts have developed over the past five months while we take the opportunity to learn more about the virus and its effects. As we expand upon a plan to allow our student-athletes to compete as soon as it is safe to do so, we will keep our focus on creating protocols and standards set forth and established by our medical advisors that are responsive to the medical concerns evaluated by our COP/C.
To that end, the Big Ten Conference has assembled a Return to Competition Task Force consisting of members from the COP/C, sports medicine and university medical personnel, Athletic Directors, Head Coaches, Faculty Athletic Representatives and Senior Women Administrators to plan for the return of fall sports competition as soon as possible. In evaluating winter/spring models, we will explore many factors including the number of football games that can reasonably be played from a health perspective in a full calendar year while maintaining a premier competitive experience for our student-athletes culminating in a Big Ten Championship. The Big Ten Conference will continue to collect feedback from student-athletes, families, and other constituents and remains in active discussions with its television partners regarding all future plans.
We have tremendous appreciation and understanding regarding what participation in sports means to our student-athletes, their families, our campus communities and our fans. We will continue to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes. We appreciate the passion of the Big Ten community and will harness that energy towards providing the best possible experience for all Big Ten student-athletes.
Kevin Warren
Commissioner
Big Ten Conference
August 19th, 2020 at 8:48 PM ^
I know when I think of greatness I think of putting random schmoes in charge of finding a cure for a virus.
August 20th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
Exactly. I’m sure when a lab (military, govt, or private) finds a treatment or vaccine for the virus, the first thing they will do is tell mypillow guy. So glad he is on the hunt for the cure.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:47 PM ^
I will eat lemons again...
Nothing to do with when college football is next played, but I will NOT eat another lemon again. And, since we're on the topic, if you didn't eat the whole lemon and chase it with Everclear, you did not eat the lemon.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:34 PM ^
This changes nothing!
/s
August 19th, 2020 at 6:34 PM ^
Given what has happened at ND, UNC, NCSU, etc., the Big10 leaders are looking pretty smart right now.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
Well said nookie.
August 20th, 2020 at 12:31 AM ^
I once was thrown threw a glass window trying to hear the nookie (via limp bizkit).
August 19th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
You rarely turn down millions in revenue without thinking long and hard about it.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^
You rarely turn down hundreds of millions in revenue without thinking long and hard about it.
FIFY
August 19th, 2020 at 7:36 PM ^
The money that could be lost from one adverse lawsuit against a university or the conference dwarfs the revenue that might be gotten in the fall.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:49 PM ^
Yes, the strangest criticism here is that the Big Ten made its decision without considering the financial fallout. I feel extremely--even super extremely!--confident in saying that they thought about what this would mean for the bottom line.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:16 PM ^
Lol. The BIG 12, ACC, SEC, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, UFC and MLS all look really dumb to you, huh?
COVID 19 is nonsense. It’s the seasonal flu with a 99.8% recovery rate.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
Putting aside all but 4 are professional leagues, the NBA is in a bubble, UFC is on an island, and the NFL hasn’t played a down yet. Not really comparable to the situation in college.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:44 PM ^
Exactly this. The NHL and MLS also are in bubbles. MLB has looked extremely dumb as they have had to cancel games and lose players. I will withhold judgement on the NFL until they show how they are doing to handle it but I don’t have a lot of hope.
the three college conferences are just being obstinate. Maybe in a way that the Big 10 should have but waiting until the last minute to cancel will still count as cancelled.
August 19th, 2020 at 9:15 PM ^
I award you the very coveted Asshole Merit Badge, much like my own except I wiped my dog’s ass with yours.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:35 PM ^
The NHL moved all of their games to Canada - great example.
August 20th, 2020 at 2:24 AM ^
In Feb San Francisco and NY were at the same COVID briefing. SF immediately took action and NY waited and debated.
LOL all you want
August 20th, 2020 at 7:37 AM ^
Thank you for posting EXACTLY the kind of covid disinformation for which I've been threatening to weed out accounts.
You're gone.
August 20th, 2020 at 8:12 AM ^
Yeah, just the seasonal flu except with three times the deaths (in a really bad flu season) in half the time...
August 19th, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
The Big Ten looks better today and Penn State looks like a complete clown show. Maybe even purposely trying to undermine the league in an underhanded manner.
Their AD publicly questioned whether there was even a vote. Nebraska's chancellor had to come out yesterday and say there was a vote and it was overwhelming against playing, although he voted the other way.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:36 PM ^
Nothing we didn't know. Anyone have thoughts as to why the season start was not simply postponed while they evaluate all these factors above? If we have answered to the many unknowns surrounding this decision by October, why can't we just start the season in October and bleed into the next semester? Do sports need to be blocked into a fall or spring semester?
Seems like the appropriate statement should have been "We have decided to postpone the start of the season until more information can be collected regarding A, B, C, and D. If at any point, we collect enough data or answer enough questions where we feel comfortable in having a season, we will commence the season. As such, we've asked each school to continue workouts and practices so that, when the time comes, teams will be ready to commence a season immediately."
Why jump to the conclusion that we have to wait until the spring to have a season?
August 19th, 2020 at 7:00 PM ^
Because an indefinite postponement simply pushes off the inevitable, creates unnecessary problems as schools and communities have to plan for games, then cancel them, and players are stuck in limbo about whether their class schedule conflicts with future games, among other complications.
There is value in making a decision and sticking to it - I said the same about Governor Whitmer's order to keep schools closed earlier this year. Even if I disagree with the decision, I would rather they go with it and stick to it than try to play both sides on something as complicated as a 70 game football season across 14 teams.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:56 PM ^
Because things will be worse in October.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:22 PM ^
Since you can predict the future will give me some lotto numbers to play. I will give you a quarter of the jackpot if you give me the numbers to play.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:22 PM ^
Since you can predict the future will give me some lotto numbers to play. I will give you a quarter of the jackpot if you give me the numbers to play.
August 20th, 2020 at 4:53 AM ^
You make it sound like what's happening with regard to Covid is random. It is not.
Nostrodamus wasn't needed to predict spikes in cases when some states reopened well ahead of the CDC guidelines. Some while cases were rising.
He won't be needed to predict reopening public schools is going to cause another rise in cases, including in smaller towns and rural areas that have largely been spared.
Even those among us with the least foresight can tell that more universities will be sending their students home in the next month.
People can legitimately argue about whether doing these things is a good or bad idea, weighing the various risks involved. Let's not confuse that with the outcomes being unpredictable. While I can't tell you what the exact temperature will be in two months. I can certainly tell you it will be colder.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:37 PM ^
Timely.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:41 PM ^
If it is really that dangerous, there should be absolutely zero in-person instruction or on-campus living at every B1G college too. Makes absolutely zero sense to start school as usual this semester when playing sports doesn’t give you the virus at a higher rate than cohabiting with fellow students does.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^
Yeah that’s coming too
August 19th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
Several schools have already closed down in person classes and Michigan will follow soon once we actually start
The big ten has no authority in regards to the academic pursuits of any school, only over sports
August 19th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^
You know what DOES spread the virus at a higher rate? Cohabiting with fellow students and then traveling to a different school to play against 70-80 people who have been cohabiting with an entirely different student population and then returning to your own school to mingle with students from your own school. Only to do the very same thing the next week Against an entirely different set of people.
I personally think in-person schooling is a pretty bad idea right now. The results from some of the schools making national headlines seems to back that up. But let’s not sit here and pretend playing sports right now doesn’t exponentially increase the risks of catching and spreading the virus.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
No, I don't think having a bunch of continually tested players playing a game against another set of continually tested players does have any meaningful contribution to spread on campus compared to what is already going on. Sounds like a good ad hoc explanation though I guess?
August 19th, 2020 at 9:09 PM ^
I don't understand why people don't get this. The players would be tested regularly, thus leading to earlier detection and quarantine of positive cases. Instead we're cancelling football and thus getting rid of the avenue by which they would be tested regularly, leading to a higher likelihood that if they do get the virus they will just spread it around. Good thinking Big Ten.
August 19th, 2020 at 9:34 PM ^
Yeah. I’m sure no one making these decisions understood this. Boy, if only you were in the room to contribute.
August 19th, 2020 at 9:44 PM ^
The commenters like you don't seem to understand. Or don't have a response as to why this makes football a bad thing to do right now.
August 20th, 2020 at 9:02 AM ^
No, it has been answered repeatedly, you just choose to ignore it. It's exhausting, and just so incredibly stupid.
August 19th, 2020 at 9:48 PM ^
They do not get tested everyday and the test results are not immediate. Even with regular testing, the chances of spreading among athletes who train together closely are very high.
August 19th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
You’re obviously the only one who understands this. But not the experts at Michigan, NW, UCLA, USC, Stanford, and UW - six of the top hospitals in the world. You’re sick, man. And you don’t understand at all the nature and potential of Covid. And, worse, you’re disregarding medical consensus for the sake of watching football. You’re the problem. You’re why this country got so fucked.
August 20th, 2020 at 8:29 AM ^
Is there medical consensus? Perhaps among Big Ten/Pac 12 institutions. But, for each Mich, NW, UCLA, Stanford, Wisconsin, there's a Duke, UVA, Baylor, or Pitt (all med schools ranked in the same range as the ones you mentioned.) All these institutions are still signed up to play. You can approve of the Big Ten's decision without claiming there's consensus.
August 20th, 2020 at 1:06 AM ^
Don't forget the MRIs they won't be getting now. So they're gonna get it partying, they're still going to work out and keep in shape but now they won't know if they have myocarditis. There's a reason many experts say is safer to play and have the support that comes with it.
August 20th, 2020 at 1:36 AM ^
Why do you assume the athletes suddenly will not have any access to any support or resources what so ever? Given all of the precautions put in place to keep the players safe that Harbaugh talked about in his letter do you really think the school is just going to drop all of that now? Do you think there will be no practice suddenly? Just today Brian wrote a front page post about notes from camp. As long as there is not a new edict saying no practice at all, you can bet Harbaugh will have them practicing every legal minute he can which means they will continue to receive the testing and support needed to try as best as possible to keep them safe. If there is a breakout on the team, then practices and group meetings/workouts will most likely get cancelled.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:38 PM ^
I don't actually think that playing intercollegiate football really increments the risk of spread much, if at all.
My assumptions, which you are free to dispute are as follows: (1) that outbreaks within a team are basically binary: either an athlete brings it to practice and spreads it among a significant portion of the team (like we saw with MLB teams) and games have to be cancelled, or you do a good job with the distancing and tracing and you keep 100% of the players on any given team negative. I also assume good testing protocols, as Michigan has apparently implemented, so that no player will practice, travel, or play while positive.
Said a different way, I think there is significant risk that players get infected through contact with the general student body on campus, and bring it to the team where there is an outbreak. I don't think it follows that an outbreak would go undetected and infect a whole other team. At least, that risk is much lower than other risks to consider. And I certainly wouldn't consider it an exponential increase to the risks.
All that being said, it still may increment the risk enough, combined with all others, to justify cancellation. If I were school president, that's likely the side I would end up on. But, I would also not hold practices and I agree that we should not have classes on-campus, except as absolutely necessary.
Finally, I want to emphasize that I focused on football, which is relatively easy to consider - only one game a week, and a ton of resources available to ensure testing protocols are followed. I would agree, probably, that other sports, with which I am less familiar, probably increase risks more.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:51 PM ^
Let's be real. You can't make sure all the players on the team will follow strict quarantine protocols. You think a redshirt freshman who isn't even supposed to play this year isn't going to want to go to a party or sneak a girl into his room? Maybe it could work if all classes go online and football players and coaches are the only ones on campus. But that would make it seem like football is the most important thing for a University, which it should not be. Even then, you'll still probably have students living off campus who have a party and some players will eventually go.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:41 PM ^
Sounds really grim. Why haven't they told the students the dorms are closed and moved all classes on-line?
August 19th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
Going to class / having all the kids on campus to party / go out is apparently no problem. Just don’t let them play sports.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:03 PM ^
Michigan State went to all online a few days ago. I fully expect UofM to follow the same path in fairly short order.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^
Nice letter. In the end, the B1G cared more about the well being of the student athletes then they did about the almighty dollar.
I can live with that. Well done.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:37 PM ^
This letter would have more weight had it been issued along with decision to postpone season. At this point, it's CYA.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:49 PM ^
I'm pleased to learn that no attorneys were involved in the decision-making process and that legal liability was not considered.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^
Bingo!
This is 100% a legal and risk management board/dept decision. The only difference with the other conferences is they are evaluating risk factors and dimensions differently. It's no surprise based on the priorities of each region that this would happen. Risk is also fluid and in this case is changing by the day for the conference schools that are holding out.