So far the only athletic model that seems to be working is the NBA bubble model. But it's a relatively small population (300-ish players) with NBA money and the full weight of the Disney/ESPN machine behind it. And it's still early. It seems the debate is not really about whether we think COVID will spread among college football teams (it will), but whether that is a serious problem or not and whether risk assessment should be a personal or institutional responsibility.

Looks like Idaho players aren’t excited about fall football

https://watchstadium.com/sources-idaho-football-players-dont-want-to-play-this-fall-08-04-2020/amp/?__twitter_impression=true


I figured the Montana and Idaho schools would be pushing. Supposedly BSC might make an announcement today after yet another meeting

Regarding the Reno game. Even if they play and allow fans i won’t make the trip. And that’s one of my favorite (renewed) rivalries.

I’m pretty sure there would be no visiting fans. 26 days from kickoff and no practice start date yet? That’s not happening

NCAA decides to leave it up to the individual divisions regarding fall championships. What’s the point of having an overarching board if they aren’t going to make a decision. Seems like the easy way out for the NCAA.

Link: https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/board-directs-each-division-safeguard-student-athlete-well-being-scholarships-and-eligibility

Idaho would have a hard time getting excited as of late in any case with their last 2 seasons even after “dropping down”.

“It seems the debate is not really about whether we think COVID will spread among college football teams (it will), but whether that is a serious problem or not and whether risk assessment should be a personal or institutional responsibility.“

You not the nail on the head. Risk and liability and where liability accrues is a big issue. More legal risk than “safety” risk in my opinion. Kind of ironic when we are talking about football that is not exactly a “safe” game to start with.

Todd Lowdon@tlowdon "The latest CDC provisional data shows that, in the US, only 42 children aged 14 & under - and only 244 individuals aged 24 & under - have died "with" or "from" COVID-19. The risk to young people is extremely low."

https://twitter.com/tlowdon/status/1291070751781433345?s=20

Liability is a tricky thing. Similarly, trampoline parks are inherently dangerous and always have you sign a release of liability that often says you relieve the property owner even in cases of the owner's gross negligence. Courts often say that type of clause is unenforceable and that the owner is still liable if they are negligent. Negligence in football might be outdated safety gear or improper turf maintenance, but what is negligence in a pandemic? Organizations are right to be gun shy because it hasn't had time to be tested in court. And we don't know long term effects, if any, so could be a Pandora's box years from now, sort of like how mesothelioma cases bit asbestos companies decades later.

From a liability and lawsuit avoidance standpoint, it isn't always about actual death or injury. Very few people have died from overhearing dirty jokes at the office water cooler, so we can say the risk is low in absolute terms, but it has become such a litigious matter that organizations go to great lengths to prevent it. When you are a deep pocket organization, ultimately "winning" a case is still so expensive it is really a lose-lose scenario and the only financially-winning scenario would have been to avoid the situation that compelled the lawsuit in the first place.

The Big Sky has cancelled the fall football season.

https://twitter.com/brianmacwriter/status/1291508949150314496?s=21

Who do you think spreads it around