I think this is a great take. College football (this year especially) is infinitely complicated. Consuming it neither aligns you with the gods nor condemns you forever. In general follow labor’s lead.
I respect the players that play. I respect the ones that opt out. None of this needs to happen, but whatever we get of our big, dumb, beautiful sport this year I will appreciate.
It seems like some conferences asked doctors if they could play, and some asked if they should play. The sad part is that I would assume that players in some conferences are being used as political pawns, as a means to prop up decisions made by governors in April as to how to handle opening up the states. You'll notice that the most vocal politicians about playing come from states where they opened up early, and even declared pro wrestling an essential service. I don't know how I feel about watching games this fall, I'm sure that I will watch less.
Agree with following Labor (players) lead, what does everyone think about players using their platform like the NBA is doing? Does that change the balance?
I don't think I can watch college football in good conscience this year. Been increasingly of the opinion that big time college football is getting to be more and more at odds with the whole "college" component. COVID's really made it abundantly clear what big-time CFB is, and I don't think I can partake anymore.
College football’s response feels so much like America’s in general. There could have been a coordinated, national direction if not for a combination of structural and leadership failures, both longstanding and new. Instead, decision making gets delegated down to smaller bodies with less ability and will to take meaningful action. When one conferences decides to charge ahead, it has ripple effects on the options of those conferences (and players) who have deemed it too risky to continue as normal. All the while, the burden for addressing these collective failures (that require collective action to solve) gets foisted onto individuals who are given conflicting and ineffectual guidance — and when they make poor choices, it’s framed as a failure of “personal responsibility”. Nobody’s making great choices, because there aren’t any, and because they shouldn’t have to.
I still have no idea how I feel. The part of my brain that has always ignored my objection to the exploitation and violence of the sport is telling me this is no different than other years, while the part of my brain that's upset at our country's response to this pandemic is telling me there's no way I can watch. Ultimately, I know I'll be entertained, but will I enjoy it as much? All that to say, there's no moral high ground here, like you said, but not watching sure does feel like it's closer to one.
I think my only issue with the "they want to play" argument is that of course they do! I work on a small residential college campus that is using this exact rationale for welcoming students back... 90% of the student body is returning because they said they wanted to in response to polling done by the college. Of course they don't want to take online courses from their parents' houses for 4 months. Obviously there are other reasons in play there, but if we are putting 18 and 19 year olds in a position to fail and they then fail with potentially serious consequences for public health, then that's on the "adults"--justifiable demands from a growing labor movement or not.
I think this is a great take. College football (this year especially) is infinitely complicated. Consuming it neither aligns you with the gods nor condemns you forever. In general follow labor’s lead.
Thank you for saying this better than I did!
I respect the players that play. I respect the ones that opt out. None of this needs to happen, but whatever we get of our big, dumb, beautiful sport this year I will appreciate.
It seems like some conferences asked doctors if they could play, and some asked if they should play. The sad part is that I would assume that players in some conferences are being used as political pawns, as a means to prop up decisions made by governors in April as to how to handle opening up the states. You'll notice that the most vocal politicians about playing come from states where they opened up early, and even declared pro wrestling an essential service. I don't know how I feel about watching games this fall, I'm sure that I will watch less.
Agree with following Labor (players) lead, what does everyone think about players using their platform like the NBA is doing? Does that change the balance?
I think it's very cool, personally.
I don't think I can watch college football in good conscience this year. Been increasingly of the opinion that big time college football is getting to be more and more at odds with the whole "college" component. COVID's really made it abundantly clear what big-time CFB is, and I don't think I can partake anymore.
College football’s response feels so much like America’s in general. There could have been a coordinated, national direction if not for a combination of structural and leadership failures, both longstanding and new. Instead, decision making gets delegated down to smaller bodies with less ability and will to take meaningful action. When one conferences decides to charge ahead, it has ripple effects on the options of those conferences (and players) who have deemed it too risky to continue as normal. All the while, the burden for addressing these collective failures (that require collective action to solve) gets foisted onto individuals who are given conflicting and ineffectual guidance — and when they make poor choices, it’s framed as a failure of “personal responsibility”. Nobody’s making great choices, because there aren’t any, and because they shouldn’t have to.
I still have no idea how I feel. The part of my brain that has always ignored my objection to the exploitation and violence of the sport is telling me this is no different than other years, while the part of my brain that's upset at our country's response to this pandemic is telling me there's no way I can watch. Ultimately, I know I'll be entertained, but will I enjoy it as much? All that to say, there's no moral high ground here, like you said, but not watching sure does feel like it's closer to one.
I think my only issue with the "they want to play" argument is that of course they do! I work on a small residential college campus that is using this exact rationale for welcoming students back... 90% of the student body is returning because they said they wanted to in response to polling done by the college. Of course they don't want to take online courses from their parents' houses for 4 months. Obviously there are other reasons in play there, but if we are putting 18 and 19 year olds in a position to fail and they then fail with potentially serious consequences for public health, then that's on the "adults"--justifiable demands from a growing labor movement or not.
Totally fair and reasoned, and it feels easy to imagine this quickly becoming the clear best argument