Ten Thoughts for Monday Morning

I know what I'm going to start with isn't going to be very popular here. That's okay. If you like everything I write, I'm doing a bad job. If you want sunshine blown up your ass, this is the wrong site for you. Better or worse, I'm going to tell you what I think. And what I think right now is that we're at a point where it's time to make a decision about what college athletics is and what we want it to be.

1) Football is more important than class. For some people, it's always been that way. But the schools have usually kind of kept up the appearance that it isn't true. That's pretty much over now. North Carolina State went fully online but is continuing football. North Carolina went fully online and is resuming practice today. Then there's this from Alabama

Those rules do not apply to sports. Regular students may not enter a house in which they do not live and basically may not see anyone or do anything other than go to class. Football is practicing.I love sports. I love college football. I hope they play it. But if we're going to do it like this, knock off the charade. Don't make the players go to class or get certain grades to be eligible. Just let them play football. That's the reason most of them are there. That's the only reason most of us care who they are. That's obviously the main value the schools see in them. So let's just be honest about this thing.

2) Some will see the above as an argument to pay the players. It isn't. I see points on both sides and I don't care that much one way or another. If you pay them, they become employees and they're going to find out there are things about being employees they don't really like. It's not about paying them.

Some will also see this as an argument about COVID and how you can catch it. It isn't. Football is no more dangerous than a million other things you could do which result in you contracting the virus. It's probably actually less dangerous than a fair amount of them. But that's not the point. This isn't about health and safety because the decision whether or not to play games isn't about health and safety.

It's about admitting what these schools and administrators and the NCAA have never admitted before. It is best summed up by one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, Animal Farm by George Orwell. "All animals are created equal. Some animals are more equal than others."

College athletes aren't regular college students. College football players aren't regular college athletes. They're more equal than all the rest. Just admit it. Your actions now are saying it's true. We know it's true. They know it's true. You know it's true. Just say it out loud and go play your games. I don't have an issue with playing games. I've said many times I would play them. What I have an issue with is hypocrisy. Don't give me this line about student-athletes and the college experience and going to class and then tell regular students not to leave their houses so the football team can make $80 million this season playing games. If they would admit this out loud, I have no issue with going forward with no in person classes and students being locked down while football players can go do their thing. As long as they won't admit it, I have a problem with it.

3) This is off the topic of sports, but I have a big issue with what these schools are doing to the regular students overall.

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