Shut Up and Play

As a sports fan, I hope to see the MLB and NFL in action this summer and fall.  It would be good for me and good for the country, something to take people’s minds off their troubles, which is pretty much how FDR framed it when he gave baseball the thumbs-up to keep playing during WW II.  I also like that the players, at least in baseball, have a safety protocol in place along with the right to opt out of playing if they so choose.  No one should be forced to do something they fear will make them sick, perhaps fatally so.

 

And then we have the college scene, where schools are pressuring athletes to sign COVID-19 waivers.  The message here is clear:  You play, and it’s on you if you get sick, even fatally so.  I saw in today’s Trib U of I linebacker Milo Eifler expressing his concerns about playing under current conditions.  He was all very respectful and thoughtful, which still got him a meeting with the AD and coach Lovie Smith.  They obviously weren’t expecting Eifler to have an opinion.  Hey, Coach, aren’t you the one always talking about football—as you coach it, of course—molding players into adults?  In that case, Eifler’s your proof.

 

And then we have Notre Dame, which is pretty much pretending there is no COVID.  Oops.  Forget about the athletes.  Faculty is expressing concerns about returning to campus to teach in the fall.  School administration is thinking photo ops and pretty recruiting videos; other people are thinking in terms of life and death.  C’mon, guys.  The flock doesn’t have to pray, pay and obey as you decide anymore.

 

Really, why can’t college be more like the pros?