Pac-12 Made the Right Call

For those who feel that the Pac-12 was wrong in canceling their fall sports calendar for 2020, there’s no answer that will fit your narrative. You want to hear, what you want to hear. You don’t want your routine autumn football to be taken away.You may have friends or a family member on a roster, so you’re going to side with the idea of playing, rather than looking at the bigger picture. I get all of that. I agree with the decision by the Pac-12 to shut down fall sports. There will be no Territorial Cup or Pac-12 South battles to look forward to, until we get to 2021. What will all of this look like in 2030? No one can say for sure what today’s ruling will look like in 2025, or 2030. I have to believe that the economics of this move will have a long lasting impact on the conference 

Eight days ago I spoke with two Pac-12 assistant football coaches at a local watering hole. They were confused and frustrated by the lack of information that was coming from above about the potential of a season. Monday afternoon I spoke with another Pac-12 assistant, who said “teams are made in the weight room and in the grind over the summer. We haven’t had either of those and we’re not going to be ready.”  

Forget about on the field for a moment. Everything that went down today, revolved around liability, waivers, and myocarditis inflamation. 

The last one on the list is the most unnerving. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/07/research-reveals-heart-complications-covid-19-patients

It took courage today by the Pac-12 and Big 10  to push football and other sports into 2021. I applaud them for that. Of course there will be those who believe that life just needs to go on as normal and that sports should happen at all costs. Being cautious and wise in the present is the right approach. The only downside to not playing right now is purely financial. No one said they aren’t going to be playing football again. There’s a delay.

I thought Arizona State Athletic Director Ray Anderson was authoritative, confident, and performed as a leader today.