SEC commissioner Greg Sankey unsure if season will happen but they’re trying to make it work
By John Buhler
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey doesn’t want to stop trying having a season.
In trying times, leadership shines through when someone like Greg Sankey refuses to give up.
The SEC Commissioner tweeted on Monday afternoon about his Power 5 conference’s chances of having a college football season. The Big Ten has supposedly punted on playing college football this fall. They will make a formal announcement on Tuesday, with the Pac-12 expected to follow their lead. However, the ACC, Big 12 and SEC are on the fence and aren’t giving up just yet.
Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: “Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day.” @SEC has been deliberate at each step since March...slowed return to practice...delayed 1st game to respect start of fall semester..
— Greg Sankey (@GregSankey) August 10, 2020
...Deveoped testing protocols...We know concerns remain. We have never had a FB season in a COVID-19 environment. Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student-athletes every day, and will continue to do so...every day.
— Greg Sankey (@GregSankey) August 10, 2020
Greg Sankey’s willingness to try is a sign of positivity in desperate times.
If we can’t have college football, then we can’t have college football. This is a scenario we can accept, no matter how painful it might be for some. However, we all want to believe that university presidents, league commissioners, athletic directors, head coaches, coaching staffs and players are doing everything in their power to use every last resource to give us a shot at games in 2020.
If having college football this fall is not possible, we can learn to live with this, but we cannot accept university presidents hiding behind relative anonymity from there palatial estates deciding the fate of college athletics, now and in the future, because they aren’t willing to do everything in their power to try to make this work. Every other sports league has or will come back this year.
The Power 5 players have united under the #WeWantToPlay initiative, throwing a wrench in the plans of conferences like the Big Ten to cancel their football season and get off Scot-free. Playing college football are these kids’ livelihoods. It was way out of poverty for some and it was a way to grow as young men. Punting on fourth down when you’re inches to go means you’re a quitter.
If the SEC can’t have a college football season, then no one will have a college football season. We accepted the cancellation of March Madness, college baseball, college softball and all spring athletics only a few months ago. That was in the infancy of the age of the coronavirus. Perhaps we have learned a thing or two in the last few months.? Then again, we can’t be so sure of that.
What is important is Sankey isn’t giving up without a fight and we applaud him for his courage.
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