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Asmussen | Has the Big Ten found the right road? | Sports
You know that annoying person on the interstate who can’t decide which side of the road to be on? The one that forces you to shout: PICK A LANE!
That’s the Big Ten.
First, it is playing football. Then, it is not playing. Then, it is playing. Then, not playing.
Don’t know about the rest of you, but the dizzying way the conference seems to make decisions is giving me a migraine.
This is not to question the motives or the ultimate choice made by the Big Ten. I will leave that chore to others. Check Twitter. They are out there with all sorts of thoughts, using colorful language.
My problem is not with the message. It’s with the delivery. Here, style is at least on an equal playing field as substance.
In the past, the Big Ten had generally handled its business pretty well.
Sure, you can quibble with some of the expansion picks. I prefer to look at it over the long term. This season’s football doormat might be a power 10 years from now. Don’t believe it? Check out Northwestern football in the 1970s-80s. Or Iowa in the 1960s-70s.
Programs improve. They find their Pat Fitzgerald or Hayden Fry and they start to win. It happens and it’s a good thing. It would be very boring in the Big Ten if Ohio State won every title. Except, of course, to the fanatics in Columbus.
Worst of timesBack to the present-day Big Ten. It is not having a good summer.
The rollout of the new football schedule in early August was fine. Though there was some understandable angst from West schools that “got” to play both Ohio State and Penn State.
Soon, the fairness of the schedule became moot.
On Aug. 11, commissioner Kevin Warren postponed the season and sent conference fans and coaches into a tizzy. Not to harp on it, but the announcement was woefully inadequate in terms of access and transparency. The Big Ten made a major blunder.
Warren should have held a press conference, live (socially distanced) and/or on Zoom. And he should have answered questions for an hour or two or three. Until every raised hand had a chance to be heard.
Maybe it wasn’t Warren’s call to make. Perhaps, the conference presidents and chancellors gave him a directive and he executed it.
At the time, fans and media weren’t told how the school leaders voted. Later, the league fessed up and said it was 11-3.
Another mistake was not having a plan moving forward. Usually, “postponed” is followed with a makeup date.
To be fair, COVID-19 plays by its own rules. It is extremely difficult to predict when and where a surge in infections will happen.
Someday down the road, it will be very helpful for all of us to learn why particular decisions were made.
Certainly, the league will admit to mistakes and want to learn from those mistakes.
Long road backThe Big Ten has been damaged reputation-wise by how it has mishandled fall sports.
The conference is in a difficult spot. Its first obligation MUST be the health and safety of its players, coaches and fans. But there is such a strong passion for Big Ten sports, that the pressure to begin playing football has been tremendous. From the White House on down.
Balancing the two really isn’t possible without the help of scientists. Tada. Fortunately, the Big Ten is loaded with them.
The work done at Illinois by Marty Burke and pals is providing a blueprint for the rest of the Big Ten.
The key to the return of football and other sports is a massive testing program.
If we know Player A is virus-free, he is not a threat to Player B, C and D.
Sure, there will be a few positives that slip through the net. But if the testing is daily, those who get infected will be quickly discovered and be treated immediately.
If the Big Ten feels comfortable with the testing setup, it is possible the games can be played this fall, with reports circulating about a possible Oct. 17 start date. That didn’t seem likely two weeks ago.
If it happens — and we can dive more into the eight-game schedule or 10-game schedule that is possibly being talked about — here’s hoping we don’t spend a whole lot of time lamenting what we missed. Instead, we should celebrate the opportunity to once again enjoy the game.
Look ahead. And watch out for that (Big Ten) car in front switching from lane to lane.
