Nothing brings rival fanbases together like the postponement of an activity that is a way of life. Fall Saturdays have always been a staple of culture and in the very fabric of Midwesterners are.
It should come as no surprise then that several fans are outraged at the Big Ten’s perceived lack of leadership and communication surrounding the postponement of the Big Ten football season. And it has gone even further now.
Parents of both Iowa and Ohio State have expressed disappointment and outrage at how the Big Ten handled the whole ordeal. Both groups believe the communication and planning were poor, and that players should have had more of a say in the decision-making process.
According to a piece by ESPN, Iowa parents hand-delivered a letter to the Big Ten offices Friday and asked for a meeting with commissioner Kevin Warren. The letter was tweeted out on Friday and can be seen below. In it, the parents asked for the league to reconsider playing in the fall, and for a response by no later than next Wednesday.
BIG10 parents are uniting and want transparency. Letters are going to the commissioner, speaking with the press, more are joining in. This letter represents the voice of many Iowa football parents that have joined together to get some answers. @KCRG_Sports @HawkeyeReport pic.twitter.com/bWlFLJ916g
— Dawn Beyer (@DawnBeyer2) August 14, 2020
“The Big Ten had months to develop a strategic plan but instead chose to leave it up to each individual school creating confusion, inconsistency and no plan of action,” the letter stated. “There is time to fix the wrongdoings and come out as leaders. We strongly encourage the Big Ten to reconsider playing the fall college football season, develop a plan of meaningful action and letting these young adults be included in the decision-making process.”
But that’s not all. Several Ohio State parents also reached out to ESPN expressing concern about how things were handled.
“It’s unacceptable,” Corey Teague, father of Ohio State running back Master Teague III told ESPN. “It’s something that needs more explanation because when you go in a certain direction and days later it changes, and no one has spoken to anyone else, and players weren’t able to be involved in this decision, and the protocols that were put in by Ohio State were very successful. It’s unfortunate and I don’t know if it’s shortsightedness there, lack of leadership, but it’s definitely something that needs to be rectified and more dialogue needs to happen. It’s just a very messy situation, and we want to clean it up.”
Kristina Miller, the mother of sophomore OSU offensive lineman Harry Miller took things into her own hands and wrote her own letter to Warren. She said there was confusion and a lack of communication to the parents and players throughout the whole process.
“There’s been no communication, no transparency, nothing to say what has changed in the last five days that we give you your schedule and we cancel the season within five days,” she told ESPN. “There’s been nothing.”
Miller also suggested that schools and players should have been provided with an option to play or opt-out — citing the glaring differences in thoughts and cultures at schools in the conference.
“Similar to players having the opportunity to opt out if they choose, we feel like our teams should have that opportunity,” Miller said. “We’re at a different level of Rutgers and Maryland. I don’t mean that to sound pompous, it’s just true. Our guys want to play. They want to play and they should have the opportunity to play if they want. They shouldn’t be subjected to this vote, yes or no. Well, if you guys don’t want to play, opt out. Opt your team out. Let the six teams that want to play, play.”
While all of this seems like another Hail Mary gasp at getting the Big Ten to change its mind and reconsider having games this fall, it’s unlikely to make much of a difference in what Warren and the Big Ten has decided.
Clearly, we’re under a pandemic and it’s hard to do everything perfect here, but the Big Ten could have been more transparent and inclusive in its decision making at the least.
We’ll keep an eye on this, but don’t get your hopes up about this being a catalyst towards things turning around this fall.
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