ASU Football: Today’s PAC-12 Football Mayhem May have just Ended on a Good Note for Fall Football Hopes
Today was a true rollercoaster of emotions for all people emotionally invested in PAC-12 football.
Reports were being dished out left and right about all sorts of ‘answers’ that were being obtained regarding the start of PAC-12 football.
First off, it was announced today that there was a unanimous vote by the Council of Presidents and Chancellors in the Big Ten to play football this fall. They will be beginning their season on the weekend of October 23rd and October 24th.
As for the PAC-12, recent advances in rapid testing had already raised spirits around the conference a little bit. The likelihood of a fall season was still very murky, in large part due to another issue.
The issue was that in California and Oregon (two states that host half of the conference) were not allowing teams to practice.
However, California Governor Gavin Newsom actually then denied that today.
“I want to make this crystal clear. Nothing in the state guidelines denies the ability for the PAC-12 to resume. That’s been a misrepresentation of the facts,” said Newsom (comments retrieved from the Twitter account of Ryan Kartje, USC beat writer for the LA Times).
This was confusing, as California has made it clear that the college football teams in California are not allowed to even practice as a full team (no cohorts bigger than 12), as well as not allowing tackling or blocking.
Something else very odd in this puzzle was when an anonymous California official told Jon Wilner of Mercury News that teams could indeed find ways to work around these regulations and practice.
The official cited options such as five-on-five practices, tackle dummies, competing against air, and virtual reality.
I’m sure you’re as unimpressed as I am.
On the other hand, Oregon made progress during this madness. They decided to essentially blame the conference to an extent for not officially coming to the state to do something about this.
That was a much quicker fix for being on the path to football.
Not too long after, Commissioner of the PAC-12, Larry Scott, issued this statement:
Statement from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott on positive developments from governors of California and Oregon: pic.twitter.com/bZVuGT6vuW
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 16, 2020
To paraphrase, the PAC-12 can now resume full practice and competition as long as they get clarification from and follow the safety guidelines of the teams’ respective county public health officials.
Don’t worry; I’m sure the confusion will kick back up again in the coming days (or a minute after you stop reading this) with new reports circulating and being relayed all throughout PAC-12 media.
However, this is the story as of right now. I, and the rest of the team here at AllSunDevils, will be keeping you updated.
