Barry Alvarez: Players will have ‘enhanced training,’ but won’t play

Barry Alvarez’s suggestion further exacerbates Big Ten football nightmare.

Try to not go immediately facepalm after hearing what Barry Alvarez had to say on Tuesday.

The legendary Wisconsin Badgers head coach now athletic director appeared on The Big Ten Network Tuesday after his conference’s season had been postponed to springtime. It’s a terrible day in the world of college athletics, but Alvarez suggesting the teams who aren’t playing will continue a 20-hour work week with “enhanced training” is a patently ridiculous statement.

Why play when you can practice to enrage the entire college football world?

So apparently it’s okay for student-athletes on all 14 Big Ten football teams to stay on campus with the entire student body, continue to hold practice amongst themselves and not play football games? The Big Ten has been nothing short of a complete and utter clown show this last week. With no leadership, no wonder they are coming across as rudderless as we believe them to be.

What people don’t understand is football practice is hard. It’s not like baseball practice, football practice or soccer practice, in that it’s not fun. It’s about as thoroughly enjoyable as swimming laps in a pool or racking up the miles in cross country. Unless you get the opportunity to compete and play amongst your peers, why would you willingly subject yourself that kind of joyless activity?

Staying in shape is one thing, as is keeping close tabs of the players on scholarship. However, if the ACC, Big 12 and SEC decide to play, the amount of players who will bail on the Big Ten for good will wreck that Power 5 conference for years to come. This is why you can’t pick and choose. You either let the players play this fall or you don’t. Don’t dangle some false hope of a spring season.

You have to believe the biggest boosters of every Big Ten university are seeing this disjointed nonsense and have absolutely no incentive to give back to their alma mater’s athletic departments any more. If it’s really about health and the safety of the players, don’t give us this “enhanced training” glorified practice crap. That’s all it is and you’d be a fool to think of it being else than that.

Expect a mass exodus of top tier talent from the Big Ten if this is unfortunately the plan in place.

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