It’s not quite the “sports equinox” that we had a few months ago, but there are lots of sports on television today.
This is concerning. We’ll get into why shortly.
First, let’s look at the sports day we’re having: In college football, it’s championship Saturday. The Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, SEC and AAC are all playing their conference championship games today. There’s also lots of college basketball being played today with No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 3 Iowa headlining today.
And on top of that, we get Saturday NFL football today. The Bills are playing the Broncos in the first leg of a doubleheader on NFL Network. Carolina and Green Bay will cap off the night with their matchup right after.
Here’s a look at the full schedule.
Today is an ABSURDLY GOOD sports day, one of the best we’ve had in this miserable year. Here’s a cheat sheet to the best games/biggest matchups throughout Saturday. All times below Eastern; that noon window is a dooooozy. Head on a swivel, people. pic.twitter.com/NlHT6Wps7v
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) December 19, 2020
That is, indeed, a lot of sports. And that doesn’t even include the preseason NBA basketball going on today. Lots of people are going to enjoy this.
Yet I can’t help but feel uncomfortable about the sheer amount of games that are being played today, in the midst of a global pandemic that isn’t going away anytime soon.
Months of postponements and game cancelations have resulted in a compressed schedule, yet many of these leagues still don’t have an effective plan to stop the spread of COVID-19 among its athletes. So we have tons of sports, but at the cost of accepting that many of the athletes we’re cheering on may get sick by participating.
Even worse, many of the athletes you’re watching play their respective sports today are unpaid, risking their health so that their universities and conferences can profit off of their talent.
Maybe this changes soon. Earlier this week, there was a bill introduced in the Senate earlier this week giving college athletes a “bill of rights.”
Senators @CoryBooker & @SenBlumenthal have revealed the text for their co-sponsored College Athlete Bill of Rights.
This bill is the broadest overhaul of college sports to be considered by Congress. Much more than #NIL. Worst case scenario for the NCAA.https://t.co/KKLh8VIboa pic.twitter.com/Sh5MInGPu5
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) December 17, 2020
It includes provisions that would give athletes a share of the revenue from their sports, commissions and permission to profit off of their likeness. And, while this may not happen for a bit, yes, money is important. Watching the pro athletes today, you can at least maybe feel better about the fact that they are supporting their families and earning cash by participating, even if it is dangerous.
The college athletes, however, are still playing games with no financial protection from their institutions.
So, yes, appreciate your sports today. But also recognize that everyone who steps on a field or court today is putting a lot at risk to make this happen. This is the “This is Fine” meme in real life.