密歇根新闻广播 Big Ten决定下个月开始足球比赛

Big Ten reverses course, decides to start football next month

The Big Ten has reversed course. There will be college football this fall.

The Big Ten announced Wednesday that the fall football season will begin October 23. The conference has not said when or if other fall sports will also get the go ahead.

A month ago, the university presidents voted to indefinitely postpone¹ all fall sports amid concerns about the coronavirus. But the conference announced this morning that The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors² has adopted significant medical protocols³, including daily antigen testing, and enhanced cardiac screening, to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes.

“Our focus with the Task Force over the last six weeks was to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes. Our goal has always been to return to competition so all student-athletes can realize their dream of competing in the sports they love,” said Big Ten Commissioner⁴ Kevin Warren.

The Big Ten will require student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing. The daily testing will begin by September 30.

The Big Ten Conference will use data to make decisions about the continuation of practice and competition, as determined⁵ by team positivity rate and population positivity rate, based on a seven-day rolling average:

Team positivity rate (number of positive tests divided by total number of tests administered):

Green 0-2%

Orange 2-5%

Red >5%

Population positivity rate (number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk):

Green 0-3.5%

Orange 3.5-7.5%

Red >7.5%

Decisions to alter or halt practice and competition will be based on the following scenarios⁶:

Green/Green and Green/Orange: Team continues with normal practice and competition.

Orange/Orange and Orange/Red: Team must proceed with caution and enhance COVID-19 prevention (alter practice and meeting schedule, consider viability⁷ of continuing with scheduled competition).

Red/Red: Team must stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and reassess metrics until improved.

The original decision to indefinitely suspend the fall football was criticized by many fans, players and coaches. That criticism grew louder when three other major college football conferences decided⁸ to go ahead and play.

“Presidents saw--and all the fans of their programs saw--all these other places playing. And the question was, well, if they can play, why can’t we?” Detroit Free Press reporter David Jesse told Stateside.

As COVID-19 cases continue to spike⁹ at universities, including Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, some people in those college towns are worried about game day gatherings¹⁰ contributing to spread of the virus, Jesse said. Fans won’t be able to visit the Big House or Spartan¹¹ Stadium in person, under Governor Whitmer’s current executive order. But that won’t necessarily prevent tailgates, he noted¹². After the news broke, some students also noted a discrepancy¹³ between daily testing for student athletes and the rest of the campus community.

“I’ve heard from some students today who have said, ‘Well, you can test the football players all the time, but what about me? I actually pay tuition here—where’s my tests? Can I get tested every day?” Jesse said. “So it has the potential to really turn into a mess this fall.”

College football is a major revenue source for university athletic¹⁴ departments. The decision to suspend the 2020 football season threatened to cost Big Ten programs, including the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, tens of millions of dollars.

“Revenue definitely made a difference. There’s no doubt money talks,” Jesse said. “There was also political pressure. [President Donald Trump] has been tweeting about this, about the phone call with the Big Ten commissioner, and then was out this morning already claiming credit for having helped get this through. Fans, lawsuits¹⁵, all that stuff, all that pressure definitely helped push it through.”

But in the end, Jesse said, the decision to play football came down to player safety. The conference moved forward with the football season after it was satisfied advancements¹⁶ in rapid, daily testing could be available to protect the health of student athletes and coaches this fall.

1 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。

2 chancellors   

大臣( chancellor的名词复数 )； （某些美国大学的）校长； （德国或奥地利的）总理； （英国大学的）名誉校长

参考例句：

• The opposition leader spoke against the chancellors' proposals and mincemeat of them. 反对派领导人反对大臣们的建议，并将他们驳得体无完肤。
• Chancellors and defence secretaries are supposed to keep such disputes private. 各部大臣和国防大臣本应该私下进行这种争论。

3 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

11 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

14 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。

15 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

16 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网