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Bacon: As Big Ten football considers start dates, serious COVID-19 questions remain

Pop-up tents, coolers, and cornhole sets will be sitting, unused, in sheds and garages across the state of Michigan Saturday morning.

Big Ten football is on hold. Both the Michigan State Spartans¹ and the Michigan Wolverines were supposed to play their season openers until COVID-19 got in the way.

Michigan Radio sports commentator² John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to discuss the propsects of salvaging³ the season.

Many possible start dates

After President Donald Trump⁴ spoke⁵ with Big Ten Commissioner⁶ Kevin Warren this week, Trump tweeted that the conference was on the “one yard line” for bringing football back. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told some players an October start is possible, but ESPN has also reported late November, early January and the spring all remain on the table.

Had a very productive conversation with Kevin Warren, Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, about immediately starting up Big Ten football. Would be good (great!) for everyone - Players, Fans, Country. On the one yard line!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2020

Bacon says a month ago, he thought there was no chance of football this fall, but he now believes a November start date is a real possibility.

“When President Trump says they're on the one-yard line, it's not clear which one-yard line. Do they have one yard to go or 99 to go? I think it's somewhere in the middle right now.”

Knowing the risks

"If a campus can't contain [COVID-19], how can college football?" -John U. Bacon

A group of Nebraska players sued the Big Ten for postponing⁷ the season. Documents revealed in that lawsuit⁸ show university leaders voted 11-3 to postpone⁹. Many players and parents who want the season to happen now say the athletes are adults and they “know the risks.”

Bacon agrees, but with a caveat¹⁰.

“The parents know the risks about blowing out your knee, about concussions¹², and the players are very versed¹³ in this stuff. So, this is just one more risk pile than to have a risk,” he says. “A concussion¹¹ is not contagious¹⁴. … [We] know a fair amount about concussions, CTE, and other related head injuries. [COVID-19] is a new virus. Therefore, our data is nine months old. We're not very good at this.”

A call for transparency

The same players and their families have criticized Big Ten officials for not being open about how the decision to postpone the season was made.

“The Big Ten made what I think is a plausible¹⁵ decision into one subject to suspicion, conspiracy¹⁶ theories, you name it,” Bacon says. “And why not release that vote? Why not release the data the vote was based on?”

The role of testing

The Pac-12 has announced a partnership¹⁷ with diagnostic testing company Quidel Corporation that will allow for rapid-response testing of its athletes. That could mean a quicker return for football for the conference.

“Although the rapid-response test is a big step … you can also ask: why is a 19-year-old football player getting this rapid test and not, let's say, a health care worker or even somebody working at a grocery store who might need it more? That's a societal value question.”

And as college campuses around the country deal with COVID-19 outbreaks among returning students, Bacon sees serious challenges for athletic¹⁸ departments.

“[NCAA] sports do not exist in a vacuum,” he says. “If a campus can't contain it, how can college football?”

Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length. You can listen to the complete interview at the top of the page.

1 spartans   

n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The ancient Spartans used to expose babies that they did not want. 古斯巴达人常遗弃他们不要的婴儿。
• But one by one the Spartans fell. 可是斯巴达人一个一个地倒下了。

2 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

3 salvaging   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求）
• It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

10 caveat   

n.警告； 防止误解的说明

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling.为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
• As I have written before,that's quite a caveat.正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。

11 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

12 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

13 versed   

adj. 精通，熟练

参考例句：

• He is well versed in history.他精通历史。
• He versed himself in European literature. 他精通欧洲文学。

14 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

15 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

16 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

17 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

18 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。