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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: MAC Season Cancelled
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LuckySparrow
8/8/2020 10:15 AM
Brett McMurphy
@Brett_McMurphy
·
Aug 8
Huge news: Mid-American cancels fall football season because of COVID player health & safety concerns, sources told
@Stadium
. MAC took a huge financial hit when Power 5’s cut nonconference games & intends to try & play in spring, sources said #RIPMACtion
Last Edited: 8/8/2020 10:15:33 AM by LuckySparrow
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bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
8/8/2020 10:45 AM
Real reason they cancelled, without power 5 buy games they would lose big money.
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ohio9704
8/8/2020 10:57 AM
Not a comment about the decision, I am a teacher/coach, so I get the tough decision (how can you force remote learning, but then say we can hit each other at 3 PM). This should mean this league takes a long look at FCS going forward or league membership changes. Might mean all Group of Five are told to step up or move to FCS. Might mean an unholy alliance with some Conference USA or American Conference schools that want to continue the financial commitment.
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LuckySparrow
8/8/2020 11:00 AM
bigtillyoopsupsideurhead wrote:expand_more
Real reason they cancelled, without power 5 buy games they would lose big money.
That's it right there. And a Spring Season ain't happening, folks.
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BillyTheCat
8/8/2020 11:03 AM
All fall sports are cancelled
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Chad E Guess D.C.
8/8/2020 11:17 AM
Money or not from power 5 games, this is the best thing for them to do.
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SBH
8/8/2020 11:28 AM
Gonna be some massive athletic dept cutbacks now.
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cc-cat
8/8/2020 11:58 AM
Look for AAC to be next. How many and how quickly will others follow?
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Alan Swank
8/8/2020 12:02 PM
ohio9704 wrote:expand_more
Not a comment about the decision, I am a teacher/coach, so I get the tough decision (how can you force remote learning, but then say we can hit each other at 3 PM). This should mean this league takes a long look at FCS going forward or league membership changes. Might mean all Group of Five are told to step up or move to FCS. Might mean an unholy alliance with some Conference USA or American Conference schools that want to continue the financial commitment.
Lots of public schools doing exactly that - remote till 3 then athletics at 3:15.
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UpSan Bobcat
8/8/2020 12:54 PM
https://watchstadium.com/sources-mac-cancels-fall-college...

NIU's president, who has a medical background, insisted NIU would not play. Everyone eventually came around to her side. I think other conferences will start to do the same.
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ytownbobcat
8/8/2020 2:02 PM
Very disappointed but it is the correct decision. I am proud that our conference put student / athlete well being ahead of financial ramifications.
What happens in the spring? Stay tuned.
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OhioBobcat
8/8/2020 3:35 PM
I don’t like the decision but I also fully understand and support the decision at the same time.
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oldkatz
8/8/2020 4:04 PM
According to ESPN, the MAC has canceled ALL Fall sports and is working on a plan to move them to a Spring season. Could be quite a sports facility log jam.
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ZIPsCAT
8/8/2020 5:02 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Not a comment about the decision, I am a teacher/coach, so I get the tough decision (how can you force remote learning, but then say we can hit each other at 3 PM). This should mean this league takes a long look at FCS going forward or league membership changes. Might mean all Group of Five are told to step up or move to FCS. Might mean an unholy alliance with some Conference USA or American Conference schools that want to continue the financial commitment.
Lots of public schools doing exactly that - remote till 3 then athletics at 3:15.
For now. It's an easy call to make to let kids practice over the summer while you still have a month (most schools have pushed back to Labor Day). It's just kicking the can down the road for the inevitable cancellation decision.
Last Edited: 8/8/2020 5:04:40 PM by ZIPsCAT
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Pataskala
8/8/2020 5:07 PM
B10 commish wants spring football season: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2020/0... /
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Buckeye to Bobcat
8/8/2020 7:36 PM
Been saying we should go FCS on this board for years. Now is the time
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Mark Lembright '85
8/8/2020 8:40 PM
LC’s done the analysis several times and can speak to this far better than I can, but a move down to FCS would be an even bigger financial mistake and a financial burden than being in FBS. Ohio goes down to FCS and no more TV money. If Ohio is to go to a lower football division to save money, it needs to go lower than FCS.
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Maddog13
8/8/2020 8:56 PM
I literally fell out of my chair in response to the news. I didn't think the MAC had it in them, but good for them. It is the right call.
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Alan Swank
8/8/2020 10:26 PM
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
LC’s done the analysis several times and can speak to this far better than I can, but a move down to FCS would be an even bigger financial mistake and a financial burden than being in FBS. Ohio goes down to FCS and no more TV money. If Ohio is to go to a lower football division to save money, it needs to go lower than FCS.
Assuming the MAC office takes nothing which is probably an eroneous assumption, we only get $800,000 a year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2019/03/20/ap... /
Last Edited: 8/8/2020 10:31:21 PM by Alan Swank
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Pataskala
8/8/2020 11:01 PM
The MAC deal with ESPN goes to 2027 and the CBSSN deal goes through 2023. Both would be worth a lot less if the MAC drops to 1AA. A big part of the ESPN deal is the midweek November package. ESPN does only one 1AA football regular season game a week, Thursday or Friday nights with the Ivy. I don't think CBSSN does any. Both would want to renegotiate downward.
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LuckySparrow
8/8/2020 11:31 PM
What is the evidence that this is the "right decision?" The data has shown that the virus is not that dangerous to college kids. I guess the MAC couldn't swing the financials so they played the virus fear card. Smart PR play, I suppose, since shutting down/cancelling is seen as the virtuous thing to do these days - especially because they beat other FBS conferences to the punch. But what's the long term cost of shutting down? Also, can someone please explain why kids are safer at home without supervision than on a college campus under supervision with medical treatment at the ready?

Why not play a conference schedule on ESPN family of networks? Limited or no crowd. Players can opt out without losing a year.

The conference is all but dead in my eyes.
Last Edited: 8/8/2020 11:34:07 PM by LuckySparrow
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Pataskala
8/9/2020 12:45 AM
LuckySparrow wrote:expand_more
What is the evidence that this is the "right decision?" The data has shown that the virus is not that dangerous to college kids. I guess the MAC couldn't swing the financials so they played the virus fear card. Smart PR play, I suppose, since shutting down/cancelling is seen as the virtuous thing to do these days - especially because they beat other FBS conferences to the punch. But what's the long term cost of shutting down? Also, can someone please explain why kids are safer at home without supervision than on a college campus under supervision with medical treatment at the ready?

Why not play a conference schedule on ESPN family of networks? Limited or no crowd. Players can opt out without losing a year.

The conference is all but dead in my eyes.
For one: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/08/athletes... /
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LuckySparrow
8/9/2020 1:24 AM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
What is the evidence that this is the "right decision?" The data has shown that the virus is not that dangerous to college kids. I guess the MAC couldn't swing the financials so they played the virus fear card. Smart PR play, I suppose, since shutting down/cancelling is seen as the virtuous thing to do these days - especially because they beat other FBS conferences to the punch. But what's the long term cost of shutting down? Also, can someone please explain why kids are safer at home without supervision than on a college campus under supervision with medical treatment at the ready?

Why not play a conference schedule on ESPN family of networks? Limited or no crowd. Players can opt out without losing a year.

The conference is all but dead in my eyes.
For one: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/08/athletes... /
That is an article littered with narrative, "may not," "concerned about," "raises the possibility," "many questions remain unanswered," and "nfectious-disease and cardiovascular experts do not have enough data to make conclusions about how covid-19 might affect an athlete’s heart."

Since that was the first piece of evidence you lead with - am I to presume that is your strongest piece of evidence?
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Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
8/9/2020 9:04 AM
LuckySparrow wrote:expand_more
What is the evidence that this is the "right decision?" The data has shown that the virus is not that dangerous to college kids. I guess the MAC couldn't swing the financials so they played the virus fear card. Smart PR play, I suppose, since shutting down/cancelling is seen as the virtuous thing to do these days - especially because they beat other FBS conferences to the punch. But what's the long term cost of shutting down? Also, can someone please explain why kids are safer at home without supervision than on a college campus under supervision with medical treatment at the ready?

Why not play a conference schedule on ESPN family of networks? Limited or no crowd. Players can opt out without losing a year.

The conference is all but dead in my eyes.
What, exactly, is the argument in favor of putting students at risk just to lose a bunch of money? Ohio University has limited resources and just entered a very serious budgetary crisis with no clear end in site. What's the justification for pumping a bunch of money into the precautionary measures necessary to play? Why put those resources towards football?

Why do all of that to roll the dice on the virus being "not that dangerous for college kids"? Is the best case scenario even good?
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OU_Country
8/9/2020 9:07 AM
LuckySparrow wrote:expand_more
The conference is all but dead in my eyes.
For clarification, is the conference dead to you personally because of this, OR do you think the conference will die because of this decision?
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