It’s been a day of seemingly unfortunate news in the world of college sports. First, we got breaking news that the Mid-American Conference has canceled football for 2020. That alone has set social media ablaze with speculation and doomsday scenarios for college football in general.
But that’s not all.
At around the same time this morning, the Big Ten conference released a statement on prudence and caution as it moves through the natural progression of fall camps, electing to keep athletes in helmets only, and not moving to pads beyond the first two-acclimatization days.
The statement painted a rather grim picture of Big Ten teams being able to progress through fall camp and be ready to play in week one — especially Ohio State that is scheduled to kick off even earlier on Thursday, Septemeber 3.
Here is the complete release from the Big Ten.
Next … Big Ten statement on fall camp progression
Complete Big Ten Statement on Fall Camp Progression
“The Big Ten Conference announced today, based on the advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, that, until further notice, all institutions will remain in the first two days of the acclimatization period in football (i.e., helmets shall be the only piece of protective equipment student-athletes may wear) as we continue to transition prudently through preseason practice. All other fall sports will continue to work locally with team physicians and athletic trainers to adjust practices to the appropriate level of activity, as necessary, based on current medical protocols.”
“Each new phase of activity provides new intelligence and experience and allows us to evaluate the implementation of our Conference and institutional medical protocols in real-time. In order to make the right health and safety decisions for our student-athletes, we believe it is best to continue in the appropriate phase of activity referenced above while we digest and share information from each campus to ensure we are moving forward cautiously.”
“We understand there are many questions regarding how this impacts schedules, as well as the feasibility of proceeding forward with the season at all. As we have consistently stated, we will continue to evaluate daily, while relying on our medical experts, to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes.”
There’s no other way to look at this other than to realize this is not a good sign for the on-time start to the college football season. Heck, it’s not a good development for even having a season.
This is a developing story and we’ll have more when things progress. It could happen quickly.
