There's a non-zero chance that Shaun Wade's father, Randy Wade, will be spending the day protesting outside the (probably empty) Big Ten headquarters.
See ya "Early Friday Morning" We gotta Fight and we can't let these young men FIGHT ALONE.... ALL BIG TEN FANS STAND UP.... pic.twitter.com/qjbaQVcRSX
— Randy L Wade% f@Ly..... (@gslsff) August 18, 2020
You have my sincerest and fullest support, Randy. Let 'em know!
Word of the Day: Derisory.
THERE WAS NEVER A VOTE...? I naively thought the masses couldn't be more outraged at the Big Ten and Kevin Warren than they already were, mostly because I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse.
I was hilariously wrong on both accounts.
You see, after all the obsessing we did about the "vote" to postpone the season, it turns out that there actually wasn't even a vote, after all.
University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel also in this camp.
— Andy Greder (@andygreder) August 17, 2020
I'm no expert, on leading a massive collegiate athletics conference, but I am more or less a professional at flaming people online. And as such, I can tell you that this is the sort of thing you can get away with if either everyone agrees, or you publicly address the disagreement and firmly and decisively explain why the decision was made.
If either of those things happened, he would be relatively ridicule-proof, as far as I'm concerned.
However, none of that happened. So instead, we still have administrators expressing their disapproval for this decision a week later, and Mr. Commissioner straight-up declined to discuss or acknowledge any dissent, creating a steady-raging dumpster fire.
SUCCESSFUL PETITION. I've signed exactly one online petition in my life, and it was an earnest plea for the United States government to simply give the state of Michigan to Canada.
Regretfully, it did not happen. Despite the hundreds of thousands of signatures, Michigan remains a part of the United States.
Given my unpleasant experience, when Justin Fields rolled out his #WeWantToPlay petition, I didn't honestly expect it to be any more successful, even with more than 250,000 signatures.
But as we all know, I'm an expert at being wrong.
Tom Mars, the attorney who represented Fields in 2019 in his successful pursuit to have the NCAA waive its rule requiring players to sit out a year after a transfer, believes the petition is more than a Hail Mary attempt in getting the Big Ten to change its mind.
“I think it’s going to matter a lot,” Mars told The Dispatch. “I think it already matters. I don’t think this dilemma is going to be solved in a court of law. I think it’s going to be solved in the court of public opinion. I can’t think of any individual in college football — player, coach or otherwise — who has more credibility and respect than Justin Fields.”
...
Mars said he believes the Big Ten’s decision to cancel fall sports was premature, and that it was made worse by the conference’s lack of detail in its announcement.
“The failure of transparency has called into question the legitimacy of their decision,” Mars said, “which reminds me of that expression I heard and was taught long ago: Transparency is the foundation of legitimacy. Without it, you can expect people to question your motives and question whether you made a good decision.”
And it wasn't just Mars with this opinion.
The lawyer - not Tom Mars - said if waiver liability is, well, waived, that would be a big development. The new saliva-based COVID-19 test also could be a big step toward a second look. 2/2
— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) August 18, 2020
Personally, my expectations on this front remain extremely low, because it goes against logic and what pretty much every other person has reported, but it would certainly spice up my life if Kevin Warren did change his mind, so I'm rooting for it.
FINISH THE STORY. As far as we know, basketball is still going to be played this season, which means Eugene Brown's comeback story continues into its next chapter.
cant wait to finish this story.. pic.twitter.com/cYAiiWEfW3
— Eugene Brown III (@g3ne__) August 17, 2020
I can't wait to witness the "Final Four" chapter to that tale. It's coming – just wait on it.
GOOD NEWS COMETH? 2020 extremely blows, but there are bright spots – one of which is Ohio State's continued efforts to land the best recruiting classes imaginable.
And that quest continues today with four-star 2022 linebacker Dasan McCullough.
Turn ur notifications on. tmr 12:30...#ShockTheWorld
— Dasan Mccullough (@Dasan2022) August 17, 2020
I'm not sure I've ever in my life seen a 6-foot-5, 220-pound outside linebacker, but when someone with athleticism that freaky wants to come to your school, you go ahead and let them and figure out the specifics later.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Killer Queen" by Queen.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A restaurant chain in China apologizes for weighing diners to determine how much food they should eat... A snapshot of life in a 19th-century insane asylum... A man is charged after live-streaming himself breaking into an ATM with a hammer... An Applebee's worker is arrested for trying to kidnap WWE star Sonya Deville...
