Labor Impasse????

[Ute2]

I’ve heard a lot of stuff being thrown around that the Pac-12 and big10 bagging the season is more because of the organizing athletes rather than cardiac uncertainty.

 

im not big on conspiracy theories….but….the only place I’ve ever heard cardiac issues being talked about in relation to Covid is surrounding college football…  and I keep my ear pretty close to the ground about that stuff….  makes ya think.

 

also, if this is a lockout we’re dealing with rather then a player safety cancellation then maybe, just maybe, the Pac-12 reverses course in the next few weeks????

 

i mean heck, they’re still letting teams go at it for 20 hrs a week….

 

I dunno, just some feee thoughts to ponder…

 

things could always change…

[Central Coast Ute]

Hope you’re right but I don’t have any faith that we’ll see PAC 12 football this fall. Just my opinion.

[Ute2]

I’m probably not….

But fingers crossed!!! I think it’s a little better then grasping at straws…. but not by much…

[CB]

Really hoping you’re onto something. Not gonna get my hopes up, but I consider myself a conspiracy theorist so I could see it being possible.

[Ute2]

I mean, don’t you think people would be FREAKING out at the NFL moving forward shamelessly of cardiac stuff were a big time issue?

Just a thought….

[Hellhound152]

A poor thought.  Professional athletes are different than amatuer athletes and no one seems to be getting this point.  Student athletes are not being compensated [handsomely] for assuming the risk [sorry boys, state school tuition and housing is not hazard pay, it is more like a years salary working at jiffy lube], all liability falls directly on the institutions and conferences because they alone created the safety measures rather than the NFLPA or MLBPA who helped negotiate and approved the health measures taken by the league.  A viral pandemic is not an inherent risk of the game. [this is the CTE argument everyone is so fond of]

This is a simple cost benefit analysis, how much money do we stand to lose by not playing (a fixed amount) versus the potential cost of a class action lawsuit in the event there is an outbreak in the conference and God forbid someone dies or is permanently disabled the cost would bankrupt the conference and it’s institutions because the players were not really presented with a choice. [That would be the argument and it would be a winner] 

[Stone]

A class action lawsuit if someone gets sick at a game? Under what theory of law? Schools are allowing in person teaching, kids living in dorms, athletes are allowed to train with the team. How is the a few hours of game time significantly different in terms of exposure to liability? 

Getting sick at training or class = no risk of lawsuit

Getting sick during a few hours of a game = huge risk of class action lawsuit

Bull s**t

Also, the cost/benefit may not be sufficient for YOU, but there seem to have been plenty of players willing and wanting to play. I am not one to presume what is worthwhile for someone else. If the players and coaches want to play, LET THEM PLAY! 

 

[Hellhound152]

“In the event there is an outbreak.”  That would create a class of damaged parties.  Negligence theory for a breach of a duty of care seems pretty obvious…

If you are not the one bearing the financial liability [I include myself in that group] it is pretty easy to sit back a lob grenades at the decision makers with skin in the game.  I am super disappointed the season is being postponed but I just don’t get the vitriol of some fans on this issue.  Especially when many of these same fans are also simultaniously incensed that these “ingrate players” have the audacity to organize and ask for additional benefits.  I just don’t get it.   

[Central Coast Ute]

Having been someone that has received hazard pay, I’d take school tuition, room and board, free meals, a nutritionist, strength and cardio training, plus all of the other perks over that anyday, hands down. Trying to compare the two is ridiculous and an even worse thought than the one you were trying to counter.

[Ute2]

It’s an interesting point that the players associations agree with the league on a test plan so that nobody is particularly more liable than the next.

But that nuance doesn’t matter in the court of public opinion. The NFL would still get smashed in the court of public opinion.

—-

So essentially your point is that the universities don’t want to carry the liability… I just don’t think it’s likely that p5s are split right down the middle on that issue.

Im no statistician but I’d guess it’s more likely that there are other factors unique to each conference influencing conference decisions as opposed to conferences seeing the same set of data and interpreting it so differently.

What are those factors? Could a unionizing group of athletes. Be one?

I’m not saying I’m fully in this camp of belief… but there is some stuff that just doesn’t add up here… and i don’t think you’ve debunked it for me, mr. hellbound.

[Stone]

As for the organizing athletes, if they think they can get more from the schools, go for it. Maybe they will be successful. I do not begrudge them for asking. But the universities seem to have more leverage, so I do not think that is why the season got shut down.

If, for example, the universities say no, some teams would lose some players. But there are plenty of kids that would gladly step into the spot of a scholarship athlete at a P5 school. Maybe not as good as those that leave, but the drop off might not be that noticeable. And for the players that sit, what are their other options? It is not as though another conference is offering more. And for the star talents that sit out, they would likely hurt their NFL prospects due to lack of film and competition.