I’m an addict.
I freely admit it, and I’m not ashamed of my problem.
My addiction began more than 50 years ago, and its pattern never varies. It comes upon me in early September and often does not leave me until after the New Year.
Then I’m cured for a little while, but by the end of July I begin to feel that all-too-familiar craving that becomes increasingly stronger through the month of August until I can no longer fight it and find myself once again hopelessly hooked by the first part of September.
When I was younger, I used to attend meetings with other addicts. And it always was comforting for me to look around the meeting venue and see that I was not alone in my suffering. Indeed I was only one among 100,000 other people with the same problem, and we admitted our addiction by screaming O H and I O at each other. Now that I am older, however, I am content to attend meetings by joining them on television.
Yes, my addiction is Ohio State football, and this year I have been forced to give it up “cold turkey.” Last Tuesday the Big 10 canceled its football season because of COVID-19.
After the decision was made, Big 10 Commissioner Kevin Warren issued the following statement: “The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward. As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.
“We know how significant the student-athlete experience can be in shaping the future of the talented young women and men who compete in the Big Ten Conference. Although that knowledge made this a painstaking decision, it did not make it difficult. While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point. Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
As soon as I heard the news and read Warren’s statement, I felt myself going into withdrawal. No more watching the scarlet and gray conquer opponents in the horseshoe. No more seeing the best damn band in the land marching down the field in perfect sync like 228 wind-up dolls. No more dotting the I. No chance for Justin Fields to compete for the coveted Heisman Trophy, No more…by now my breathing became labored, and my knees felt weak. I felt faint, so I sat down.
While I was still trying to breathe more easily, I heard the PAC-12 also had canceled its season. That news did nothing to relieve my withdrawal symptoms however, and then I heard the ACC, the SEC, and the Big 12 all were going to play. As of this writing, that hasn’t changed.
Now it’s time for some serious talk.
Yes, the Buckeye room in my house will eerily quiet on Saturdays. And yes, I will miss the game-day parties. However, what I’m going to be missing pales in comparison to the monumental amount of money the Big 10 stands to lose. Last year it brought in more than $780 million. Read that again. $780 MILLION!
Now tell me that those Big 10 authorities didn’t debate long and hard before making their decision, but although Warren described the decision as “painstaking,” he also said it wasn’t a difficult one. And that’s because it was the right one! I applaud them and the PAC-12 as well because as of 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, the Coronavirus had infected 5,497,613 Americans and killed 171,999 of them. Those numbers will have increased by the time this piece went to print. Those numbers are horrifyingly astronomical, and right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Just before I finished writing this, I read where some Iowa and Ohio State parents had written to the Big 10 to express their anger about the decision. And I am willing to bet that if their son or daughter contracted the disease while playing fall sports and subsequently developed a heart condition (one study showed 78 out 100 had lingering heart problems) or even worse died, they would be first in line to sue the university.
No, the Big 10 and PAC-12 got it right, and I sincerely hope that the conferences opting to participate in fall sports don’t pay an unimaginable price.
I think my addiction has been cured.
But only until next spring!
