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Kevin Warren's political priorites ride shotgun

Reading through these posts where so many (In this case generally left against the right) are chastising others for their conspiracy theories - all the while they maintain Russia did this or Trump did that or Melania really tried to put KKK in the new garden. It's all a F'n joke and I yearn for the days when social media did not exist.
 
I was referring to posters who have been claiming this was politically motivated. If you're not one of those posters, then don't worry about my post. It just seems like people are becoming so crazy about this that they're having to make it part of a larger discussion.

I didn't start out that way (politically motivated reasons for cancelling football) but when a vacuum of information exists, conspiracies go from the loony tunes category to the only thing that makes any sense. This week saw the number of people hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms across the U.S. back to the level seen the week of March 21, about 9 days after the cancellation of the Big 10 basketball tournament. At what point does it become "safe" for normal life to continue? There will likely never be a time in the next 1-2 years where the cases and hospitalizations from COVID is ZERO across the country, which seems to be the standard for getting our lives back.
 
This must be your first day on the board, welcome. Just FYI, he posted the same boring argument that's been posted a million times, no matter if we're talking about opening schools or playing football, or anything else. And I'll give the usually well thought out response to his statement. Blah, Blah, it's just the flu, Blah Blah.

You didn't actually respond to anything I said, just that it's the same boring argument. Facts are just that sometimes, boring. But it's what normal societies base public policy decisions on, not fear-mongering.
 
I didn't start out that way (politically motivated reasons for cancelling football) but when a vacuum of information exists, conspiracies go from the loony tunes category to the only thing that makes any sense. This week saw the number of people hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms across the U.S. back to the level seen the week of March 21, about 9 days after the cancellation of the Big 10 basketball tournament. At what point does it become "safe" for normal life to continue? There will likely never be a time in the next 1-2 years where the cases and hospitalizations from COVID is ZERO across the country, which seems to be the standard for getting our lives back.

So now you're saying you think it is politically motivated?
 
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So now you're saying you think it is politically motivated?
Political at its origin, probably not. Political side chosen and used, absolutely. Even the most liberal of college presidents have to understand the value of the money that is generated by football. I would hope so, anyway, because this decision will change the college environment for years to come. Numerous local businesses that struggled to get through the spring and summer shut downs, will now lose another revenue opportunity. Millions of dollars come into towns like Iowa City each football weekend. Nothing new here I know.
 
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Probably the same place you got that the idea I was calling Warren's blunder a conspiracy.

Nobody knows what motivated Warren. It certainly could have been politically motivated, but politically motivated and a conspiracy are not one and the same. And the only evidence it might have been politically motivated is circumstantial. Of course, it certainly could have been incompetence too.

For me, it simply doesn't matter that much. That it was an epic failure of ledership is all that really counts.
 
Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland, and Seattle have all suffered some damage, so that should save you a little time in catching up on the news.
The real damage hasn't even begun. Tax revenues falling off a cliff due to Michigan Ave and the surrounding streets being boarded up from looting (2x) could very well be the end of Chicago as we know it. That area alone generates 40% of the city's tax revenues and without a bailout (which we shouldn't get), this city is on a fast track to becoming Detroit. An exodus to the suburbs is already underway for homeowners and you have to wonder how many and how soon businesses will follow.
 
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The real damage hasn't even begun. Tax revenues falling off a cliff due to Michigan Ave and the surrounding streets being boarded up from looting (2x) could very well be the end of Chicago as we know it. That area alone generates 40% of the cities tax revenues and without a bailout (which we shouldn't get), this city is on a fast track to becoming Detroit. An exodus to the suburbs is already underway for homeowners and you have to wonder how many and how soon businesses will follow.
Sad that one of the great city's is spiraling down so fast, but elections have consequences and this new mayor is something special.
 
So now you're saying you think it is politically motivated?

To imagine it couldn't have been politicaly motivated is significantly less coherent than accusing others of imagining it must have been a conspiracy, despite the fact that nobody other than you (well, perhaps acouple other apologists for failure) ever referred to it as a "conspiracy".
 
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To imagine it couldn't have been politicaly motivated is significantly less coherent than accusing others of imagining it must have been a conspiracy, despite the fact that nobody other than you (well, perhaps acouple other apologists for failure) ever referred to it as a "conspiracy".

Just to be clear, I’m not defending Warren, I just think it’s odd for some to think this is all political. If you continue down this path of thinking, you will get paranoid and everything will be political in your mind. Now would be a good time to stop the cycle.
 
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Just to be clear, I’m not defending Warren, I just think it’s odd for some to think this is all political. If you continue down this path of thinking, you will get paranoid and everything will be political in your mind. Now would be a good time to stop the cycle.

I don't think it is the least bit odd that you began referring to others characterizations as a "conspiracy theory", but have now reverted to referring to their characterizations as "politically motivated". That's the sort of thing that invariably happens when you get caught using a straw man to buttress an indefensible position.
 
I don't think it is the least bit odd that you began referring to others characterizations as a "conspiracy theory", but have now reverted to referring to their characterizations as "politically motivated". That's the sort of thing that invariably happens when you get caught using a straw man to buttress an indefensible position.
No, not really. The lunacy is believing that protecting against a worldwide pandemic is some sort of political move against Trump. It's not and there is no evidence of it being so. So, stop with the made up drama.
 
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I don't really laugh at other's conspiracies, I'm more concerned about it because it can be damaging for them. To think the B10 commissioner is doing this for political reasons is just odd. Anyone who feels that way should take a break.
excellent post , so true.
 
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Wow, do you need his dog whistles to be bull horns? "peaceful protests" we can all see how peaceful they've been, "preventing voter suppression" another marxist talking point meaning make sure we can continue with our voter fraud schemes...... Commissioner should NOT be a political position in any way.
I wonder if that is in his job description?
 
Political at its origin, probably not. Political side chosen and used, absolutely. Even the most liberal of college presidents have to understand the value of the money that is generated by football. I would hope so, anyway, because this decision will change the college environment for years to come. Numerous local businesses that struggled to get through the spring and summer shut downs, will now lose another revenue opportunity. Millions of dollars come into towns like Iowa City each football weekend. Nothing new here I know.
Hey soybean, if this fraud of a commissioner isn't being political, how is it that he is now discussing playing football in the spring? (after the election) Will we have a cure in January? What safety protocol can be employed then and not now? Huh.......
maybe he is trying to buy some time hoping that the pandemic slows way way down . you really are a conspiracy nutjob , dont feel bad you are not alone .
 
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I dont get why Warren is getting all the heat for the Presidents decision.

There is literally no win here for anyone. I get it, no one is happy, but scapegoating Warren wont help.
 
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No, not really. The lunacy is believing that protecting against a worldwide pandemic is some sort of political move against Trump. It's not and there is no evidence of it being so. So, stop with the made up drama.

Actually, the lunacy is being dumb enough to imagine totalitarians protect you from a virus. H.L Mencken must have had you in mind when he famously observed:

"The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it. Power is what all messiahs really seek."
 
I dont get why Warren is getting all the heat for the Presidents decision.

There is literally no win here for anyone. I get it, no one is happy, but scapegoating Warren wont help.
Because there was no reason to cancel the season when he did. He actively campaigned for school presidents to vote to close even though every AD in the B1G wanted to at least give it more time. He failed to coordinate with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 and now has the B1G and their athletes isolated and disadvantaged vs athletes at other schools and B1G athletic departments are disadvantaged vs those in other conferences. He has failed to articulate his reasons for the shutdown in a way that makes any sense, in fact his remaining in hiding has fueled speculation that has further damaged the B1G.

There is probably more but I need to get to work...
 
Just to be clear, I’m not defending Warren, I just think it’s odd for some to think this is all political. If you continue down this path of thinking, you will get paranoid and everything will be political in your mind. Now would be a good time to stop the cycle.
I would like to agree, but please provide a coherent explanation for cancelling a season in the fall outside and then in the same breath saying we would like to play in the middle of winter indoors. What will have changed? Nobody in their right mind believes there will be a cure or vacine given to healthty young men by January. Then the same commish that called off the season goes on a lefty rant about voting, and woke talking points. I'm sorry it appears political to me.
 
No, it's incompetence based. Only you and sb refer to it as a conspiracy.

Just curious, do you believe any of the other conspiracies that trump likes to promote, like the virus was political? The CDC is holding things up for political reasons?

When you follow a person who opening promotes conspiracies theories (almost daily) then you yourself have no choice but to start believing in conspiracies. And now you're seeing them everywhere you look.
 
Just to be clear, I’m not defending Warren, I just think it’s odd for some to think this is all political. If you continue down this path of thinking, you will get paranoid and everything will be political in your mind. Now would be a good time to stop the cycle.
I think none of us can say for sure exactly what Warren was thinking, which is part of the problem. Personally, do I think this is all politically motivated? Probably not. BUT he is trying to push his liberal political agenda as part of all this, which annoys people, because we just want sports, I don't care what his politics are. I think it's more likely that politics had more of an influence in his decision than even he realizes though. It seems those on the liberal side of the fence are eager to blame Trump for all of this and fully buy into all of the media hype and fear mongering. If you watch CNN and MSNBC all day, you are going to make decisions based on some of the garbage they are spewing. And the same can be said if he were watching Fox News all day.
I think we have enough data, and proof from other sports that we should be playing football. Or at least try. Others are going to try. It's going to set the Big 10 back for a long time if they are successful. So we as fans are understandably upset.
 
Just curious, do you believe any of the other conspiracies that trump likes to promote, like the virus was political? The CDC is holding things up for political reasons?

When you follow a person who opening promotes conspiracies theories (almost daily) then you yourself have no choice but to start believing in conspiracies. And now you're seeing them everywhere you look.


I'm a liberal. When you don't know the meaning of liberalism, you cartoonishly imagine liberals follow Trump. That might help explain why you accuse others of adhering to conspiracy theories while you alone promote conspiracies.
 
I would like to agree, but please provide a coherent explanation for cancelling a season in the fall outside and then in the same breath saying we would like to play in the middle of winter indoors. What will have changed? Nobody in their right mind believes there will be a cure or vacine given to healthty young men by January. Then the same commish that called off the season goes on a lefty rant about voting, and woke talking points. I'm sorry it appears political to me.

You don't know if there will be a vaccine or not. Trump is saying there might be one by the election. Although I do think that's just normal BS from him.

If I had to defend why the delay in playing, here's one thought I have. What is the one thing that has been talked about for getting sports back, they talk about the "bubble". I thought I had read that for BB they're talking about creating a bubble. The NBA is doing it. If we think the bubble works, then wouldn't it be good if we could create a bubble for the football teams. What's the one thing that could pop your bubble, maybe 25K+ college kids showing up on campus. There's no way to protect the players on a college campus within the first few months. They're going to get it and it's going to spread everywhere. If it get's bad enough then colleges will convert to remote learning. Now if that happens, many of the bubble busters leave town and that's a good thing for college sports. If we take a wait and see attitude then there might be a better time to get the games in. If we at the same time as when school starts, then we're at risk of everyone getting the virus and and impacting FB.

Just another thought about it and if I was the commissioner I would never want to say this out loud, but if we wait until January, then the virus will have gone through the universities by then and so maybe the football team will have close to herd immunity. Chances are there will be less kids with the virus in Jan than in September/October. I have no proof of that but just a guess. Then add the chance there may be a vaccine.
 
I didn't start out that way (politically motivated reasons for cancelling football) but when a vacuum of information exists, conspiracies go from the loony tunes category to the only thing that makes any sense. This week saw the number of people hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms across the U.S. back to the level seen the week of March 21, about 9 days after the cancellation of the Big 10 basketball tournament. At what point does it become "safe" for normal life to continue? There will likely never be a time in the next 1-2 years where the cases and hospitalizations from COVID is ZERO across the country, which seems to be the standard for getting our lives back.

What exactly does "politically motivated reasons" mean in this context? If it means cancelling football because they think it will make Trump look bad, I don't believe that. Furthermore, if I'm wrong and that is the intention, I think it's dumb because it's just as likely (if not more likely) to make people dislike those on the left - cancelling the season isn't changing anyone's views of the virus.

However, if "politically motivated" means that their beliefs generally align with democrats (e.g., the virus is too dangerous) over republicans (e.g., we need to continue normal life), then I'd agree.

The whole thing seems sloppy, and I don't get exactly why they had to postpone this far in advance. I am still skeptical anyone is going to play this fall, but I'm not sure it makes much of a difference if you cancel the fall season two months in advance or a week in advance. Regardless, better transparency would result in less anger about the decision. There's a ton of obstacles for the season, and it would be good to have an open dialogue on what risks we are and aren't willing to take. For example:
  • What is the threshold for positive tests which cause a game to be delayed/cancelled?
    • Baseball has struggled with this, and I'm still not sure there's an exact answer. If there's a zero tolerance policy, then from an administrative stand point, the season just doesn't seem viable. With 85+ players on a team, and another 15-20 supporting staff, times two teams playing each week, the odds of any given game being delayed/cancelled is pretty high.
    • Other options might be 5 or less and the team can play, 10 or less, or maybe we just say treat this as if it were the flu - you can play if you feel healthy enough and the other players can assume the risk to play.
      • I'm not sure we know enough what the long term risks of playing with this virus might be. The mortality rates for 18-22 year olds is very low, and I believe is on par with the flu. But we also hear about long term damage it might do to the lungs, heart, etc. - do we know that players can adequately assume the risk of playing? Does contracting the virus during intense physical exercise make the virus more dangerous? I get that this virus has been around for less than a year, but I'd think that with the brightest minds in medicine studying this for 8+ months that we'd be able to give general assessments and go from there.
      • The potentially larger concern is that even if the players are generally safe, they could spread it to others who might not be safe from the virus. However, this concern contradicts the decision to have students go back to campus and move forward with in-person classes. We're already seeing major breakouts on college campuses as students are not taking social distancing seriously - which was entirely foreseeable.

In general, I've been disappointed with the national discussion on the virus. It seems like only polarizing views are being confronted: (1) we must shut down any non-essential activities until we get a vaccine, or (2) this virus really isn't more dangerous than the flu so we should open everything back up. The truth lies somewhere in between. It seems like there should be a way to play college football responsibly this year - that doesn't mean there's zero risk, but instead means that we're taking "reasonable" risks. To me, that generally means:
  • Allowing players a free pass to redshirt (even if they are a redshirt senior, they can get one more year);
  • Allowing those that want to play the opportunity to do so; and
  • Assuming we can test a full team within 24 hours, allowing only those who test negative the Friday before the game to play
 
Just curious, do you believe any of the other conspiracies that trump likes to promote, like the virus was political? The CDC is holding things up for political reasons?

When you follow a person who opening promotes conspiracies theories (almost daily) then you yourself have no choice but to start believing in conspiracies. And now you're seeing them everywhere you look.

The great slayer of political conspiracy theories introduces Trump to explain what none of his straw men could explain despite the topic having nothing to do with Trump, and nobody previously mentioning Trump.

This might be a good time to consider quitting while you're behind.

Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
 
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I think none of us can say for sure exactly what Warren was thinking, which is part of the problem. Personally, do I think this is all politically motivated? Probably not. BUT he is trying to push his liberal political agenda as part of all this, which annoys people, because we just want sports, I don't care what his politics are. I think it's more likely that politics had more of an influence in his decision than even he realizes though. It seems those on the liberal side of the fence are eager to blame Trump for all of this and fully buy into all of the media hype and fear mongering. If you watch CNN and MSNBC all day, you are going to make decisions based on some of the garbage they are spewing. And the same can be said if he were watching Fox News all day.
I think we have enough data, and proof from other sports that we should be playing football. Or at least try. Others are going to try. It's going to set the Big 10 back for a long time if they are successful. So we as fans are understandably upset.

This is a common view. I wish there was a news network I could trust to watch. The best I've found is to watch a little bit of the liberal media (agree with some, get upset with some) and a little bit of the conservative media (agree with some, get upset with some). I wish there was a better option. Fundamental example - I don't really give a damn how much a president golfs. But boy do both sides of the aisle go crazy with how much an opposing president golfs.
 
Because there was no reason to cancel the season when he did. He actively campaigned for school presidents to vote to close even though every AD in the B1G wanted to at least give it more time. He failed to coordinate with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 and now has the B1G and their athletes isolated and disadvantaged vs athletes at other schools and B1G athletic departments are disadvantaged vs those in other conferences. He has failed to articulate his reasons for the shutdown in a way that makes any sense, in fact his remaining in hiding has fueled speculation that has further damaged the B1G.

There is probably more but I need to get to work...

Evidence of this active campaigning?
 
The great slayer of political conspiracy theories introduces Trump to explain what none of his straw men could explain despite the topic having nothign to do with Trump, and nobody previously mentioning Trump.

This might be a good time to consider quitting while you're behind.

Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.

You do know that when people say it's for political reasons, they're referring to trump. You're the one who thinks this is political, not me. Good luck with those thoughts, you've positioned yourself to fit in nicely with trump and his supporters. You're in good company.
 
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This is a common view. I wish there was a news network I could trust to watch. The best I've found is to watch a little bit of the liberal media (agree with some, get upset with some) and a little bit of the conservative media (agree with some, get upset with some). I wish there was a better option. Fundamental example - I don't really give a damn how much a president golfs. But boy do both sides of the aisle go crazy with how much an opposing president golfs.
100% agree. They all seem like opinion shows, with some disputable facts thrown in. What happened to just reporting the news? I guess that doesn't get people fired up and drive ratings up. The more divided we are, the better things like News media and social media do. That means a lot of big money for a lot of people. I get it. It just sucks.
 
You do know that when people say it's for political reasons, they're referring to trump. You're the one who thinks this is political, not me. Good luck with those thoughts, you've positioned yourself to fit in nicely with trump and his supporters. You're in good company.

LMAO

Tin foil hat, much?
 
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