Gamesmanship Part of Argument for Playing College Football Season or Not

Mississippi governor gets in his jab, while Washington coach Jimmy Lake takes a strong stance on everyone not having fall games.

It's 10 days until the FBS football season begins.

A week and a half until Central Arkansas plays at UAB and South Alabama travels to Southern Mississippi. 

Seventy-six schools have vowed to push ahead and take their chances with the pandemic. 

Fifty-four have opted out, unwilling to risk making the virus rear its ugly head.

Rather than respect each other's decisions on a  major health issue, the great divide has done just the opposite.

The stance for each side is this: we're right and you're wrong. 

Huddle up. 

Or huddle break. 

In actuality, no one really knows what the next step should be.

If they did, there would be universal acceptance of it. 

They're guessing that the contagion is either to be feared or that it has been feared too much.

This great unknown has brought out some untimely gamesmanship. 

For one, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, who sounds a lot like a character in a John Grisham movie, couldn't help himself. 

He's on the side of the SEC, ACC and Big 12, which have chosen to push ahead and play, even while there's no clear evidence that it's safe to proceed.

Again, nobody knows.

In telling his constituents they can't tailgate, party or hold rallies at Mississippi, Mississippi State of Southern Mississippi football games, Reeves tried to lessen that disappointment by pointing to the college game's more cautious members to the north.

"I'd still rather be in the SEC with no tailgates," he said, "than the Pac-12 or Big Ten with no football."

I know this will not be popular, but there will be no game day social gatherings around stadiums: rallies, parties, tailgates. It’s no fun, but it’s what allows the athletes to play. I’d still rather be in the SEC with no tailgates, than the PAC-12 or Big 10 with no football.

— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) August 20, 2020

So what if Reeves is wrong and plenty of players, students and fans get sick from hanging out together?

Oops.

On the other side, the Pac-12 braced for the backlash to opting out on its season almost from the beginning. 

Washington coach Jimmy Lake was defiant in defending the stance of the two conferences that backed away.

"If other teams are playing and we're not playing, I go back to my previous answer," he said, repeating his point. "The Pac-12 and Big Ten have led the way into going to conference schedules only. We've led the way into keeping the health and safety of our staff and players as a No. 1 priority. 

"I expect all three conferences to follow suit."

In other words, you're making a mistake and we're not. 

The Mississippi governor's dig came not long after new Mississippi football coach Lane Kiffin, a former Pac-12 leader at USC, offered one of his own.

Kiffin suggested rather pointedly that football players from the shuttered conferences should be able to play for him without incurring any transfer penalty.

So that's two zingers coming out of this SEC stronghold. The only thing worse would be the Ole Miss PA announcer offering this sort of stadium pronouncement:

"Starting at defensive tackle for the Rebels, Levi Onwuzurike."

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