The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1279712
20 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2020 trated for the players. I'm frustrated for the coaches. They did everything they were asked to do, and as Coach Harbaugh laid out, they went out and did above and beyond even more. "Yet, they were denied the opportu- nity to go out and compete. I think it's terrible." SEEKING A BETTER EXPLANATION Harbaugh released numbers re- vealing the protocols Michigan had in place showed two positive tests for coronavirus among the last 417 taken. There were no positive tests among the latest 353. Schlissel's official message in tweet form came with the notation: "There are too many poorly understood health and safety concerns unique to intercollegiate athletics to move for- ward at present." Skene, and many others, would like to know what those "poorly under- stood" concerns involve. "Absolutely, and I would take that straight to the governor of our state," Skene insisted. "All of these leaders in these positions to make decisions for massive chunks of our culture and our society, they keep pointing to things that are science and data, technical stuff that you just can't understand. "Well okay, people — put in my terms, so I can understand it. This is what leaders do. Don't just make de- cisions and act like we're a bunch of idiots that could never possibly under- stand what you're talking about. I find that to be offensive. "So if it's Governor [Gretchen] Whit- mer or President Schlissel, somebody has got to explain something so you can justify these decisions. We've been told the same thing for four months here in Michigan, from our governor — science and data. Yet we don't get an explanation of what the science and data is. "We went back to, 'Oh, we've got to flatten the curve to save everything in the hospital system.' Well, it appears to me that was absolutely accomplished, but now the rules have totally changed and everything is up in the air, but yet nothing gets explained. "I don't want to go to medical school to have to figure it out. Smarter people than me can probably put it in terms that I can understand, or other people can understand." The former All-Big Ten offensive lineman also wonders how Michigan can offer classes on campus when it cannot allow its athletes to compete. "They're not going to shut down English 125 lectures?" he mused. "They're not going to shut down labs for chemical engineering students? Somehow that's safe for them, but it's not safe for the football team to gather in the meeting room at Schembechler Hall and watch film and get ready to play Wisconsin? "Inconsistent is a word that is ap- propriate. Ridiculous is another word that comes to mind. I don't understand it, but again, no one wants to explain it from a leadership point of view. "It would be great if someone could explain why it's not safe for a football team to play and practice and be to- gether, but the auditoriums and the lecture halls on campus magically are safe. I didn't get the memo that the virus is not going to go up into the aca- demic buildings but only hang around the athletic buildings of Big Ten institu- tions." SPRING FOOTBALL HOPES DIM, WHILE FALL STILL EXISTS FOR SOME The Big Ten's cancellation of the fall football season, followed closely by the Pac-12 doing the same, led to hopes of the leagues competing in the spring. Many in the sport appear very dubious about that prospect. Former Ohio State head coach Ur- ban Meyer fielded a question from the Big Ten Network regarding a spring football season, and his response proved blunt: "No chance." The FOX Sports football analyst has talked about the physicality of the sport, and joined those in strongly doubting anyone will ever see two Michigan President Mark Schlissel noted he "fully supported" the Big Ten's decision, explain- ing that there were "too many challenges to preventing spread of the infection among our student-athletes and coaches during practice and competition, and the impact of extreme physical exertion on the health risks of COVID-19 are not yet well understood." PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Former All-Big Ten offensive lineman Doug Skene "It would be great if someone could explain why it's not safe for a football team to play and practice and be together, but the auditoriums and the lecture halls on campus magically are safe. I didn't get the memo that the virus is not going to go up into the academic buildings but only hang around the athletic buildings of Big Ten institutions."