2019 Ohio State Season Thread

[bayareabadger]

I figured two things, that (1) Georgia would fight it rather than eat the label that they are an unsafe space for minority athletes and (2) that Fields would have to prove his case and that this would be difficult given that (2a) he never saw or met the guy who yelled the epithet at the game and (2b) he is happy for his sister to stay in Athens and apparently she feels safe there too.
Not that those things should/would change the decision, but - especially the second - I expected them to be hard to speed through. As for the first, I'm guess UGa preferred for this to leave the news cycle to fighting the label. May have been smart, though I do wonder if/how other coaches may use it against them in recruiting.

The first is a non-issue because everyone knows what it’s really about. Georgia knows it doesn’t actually matter, but the stink they might make would. 

[bayareabadger]

let's not start the political talk here

Gah, didn’t mean to. The metaphor was borrowed from such a discussion with friends, but had no interest in going over it here. 
All I say is this, having to appeal makes transferring some work. Transferring is already work. So it ensures you have a higher barrier to do it, and most folks tend to be content with things. 

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to have some kind of over arching organization like the NCAA, whatever you call it it would be the same thing.  

I don't think anyone is arguing for no organization (or, for that matter, to keep this organization but call it something else). The common argument is for a major restructuring of issues like enforcement and, perhaps inevitably, an end to amateurism.
And though there was always reason to doubt this could ever be coordinated by so many separate interests, and even though amateurism was among the most controversial agendas in play, that seems to be the one most likely to break the old institution and force a new one. All the recent anti-trust lawsuits are famous enough (and mentioned enough here) that I don't have to repeat them. But another new threat to the NCAA is state legislation:

Skinner, who represents the 9th Senate District, which encompasses the East Bay, will announce plans Tuesday to introduce a new bill that is called the Fair Pay to Play Act. It is designed to allow student-athletes at California colleges to be paid directly for the use of their name, image and likeness. It also would make it illegal for schools or any organization to restrict these rights or punish athletes for exercising them. …
The Fair Pay to Play Act is hoping to spark a movement that forces the hand of the NCAA, a private entity not bound by state laws. The athletes could still be ruled ineligible by the governing body of college sports. But the law seeks to create a standoff between California colleges and their athletes and the NCAA, presuming the NCAA would eventually have to acquiesce instead of, in essence, banning its California schools.

I don't know whether it'll happen this way or another, but if Vegas starts offering bets on whether amateurism will last another two decades in toto, go ahead and bet your house against it.

[Anonymous Coward]

The first is a non-issue because everyone knows what it’s really about. Georgia knows it doesn’t actually matter, but the stink they might make would.

I was saying the same. It was the second issue that offered intrigue, but maybe the NCAA uncritically overlooked those kinds of details.

Although I would correct that UGa is *calculating* that it doesn't matter (rather than "knowing" it) and in this UGa is probably but not certainly correct. Because now they are probably the only P5 university to be labeled in NCAA documents to be an unsafe for minority athletes as recently as 2019. Maybe rival recruiters won't try to capitalize on that, or will try to no avail, but neither is guaranteed.

[MaximumSam]

I was saying the same. It was the second issue that offered intrigue, but maybe the NCAA uncritically overlooked those kinds of details.

Although I would correct that UGa is *calculating* that it doesn't matter (rather than "knowing" it) and in this UGa is probably but not certainly correct. Because now they are probably the only P5 university to be labeled in NCAA documents to be an unsafe for minority athletes as recently as 2019. Maybe rival recruiters won't try to capitalize on that, or will try to no avail, but neither is guaranteed.

Of the two options, trying to publicly argue that black players shouldn't care about being called the n word is likely worse for recruiting efforts.

[Anonymous Coward]

Of the two options, trying to publicly argue that black players shouldn't care about being called the n word is likely worse for recruiting efforts.

"Shouldn't care" is no one's argument. The argument was whether being called that by someone he never saw made him *feel unsafe* and whether going to OSU is a realistic solution. But UGa didn't go there. Which will help bury the story. But now UGa is documented as negatively unique when, sadly, we should probably assume the odds that the same thing will happen by at least one fan one day at Ohio Stadium is 1.0.

[Cincydawg]

This has not seemed to hurt minority recruiting for the Dawgs, and won't.  The "incident" was a one off, the offender was punished, and he was actually calling for Fields to play, not sit.

[Anonymous Coward]

This has not seemed to hurt minority recruiting for the Dawgs, and won't.  The "incident" was a one off, the offender was punished, and he was actually calling for Fields to play, not sit.

I wasn't arguing it will, just specifying we can't guarantee it won't. 

I favor your suspicion, but I (1) also notice that the opposite isn't strictly impossible and (2) am acknowledging that the 2020 class is their first ever while contending with it. So we don't have any evidence either way. 

[MaximumSam]

"Shouldn't care" is no one's argument. The argument was whether being called that by someone he never saw made him *feel unsafe* and whether going to OSU is a realistic solution. But UGa didn't go there. Which will help bury the story. But now UGa is documented as negatively unique when, sadly, we should probably assume the odds that the same thing will happen by at least one fan one day at Ohio Stadium is 1.0.

But it would be their argument, which is why they wisely chose not to argue it.  

[847badgerfan]

yeah no shit. NCAA is a joke. Might as well just get rid of the entire damn NCAA if you ask me.

That would require the member schools, like yours and mine, to stop being members.

[Anonymous Coward]

UGa could have said "While we are barely less horrified because Fields never had an opportunity to see or interact with his accoster, this situation is no less shitty. We are doing everything a university can to diminish hate in our community. Meanwhile, when these are issues of language, it is unrealistic to believe that transferring to any P5 university is a solution with different outcomes."

[MaximumSam]

UGa could have said "While we are less horrified because Fields never had an opportunity to see or interact with his accoster, this situation still sucks. We are doing everything a university can to diminish hate in our community. Meanwhile, whether these are issues of language and/or safety, it is unrealistic to believe that transferring to any P5 university is a solution with different outcomes."

They could try to say whatever they want.  The standard is:
 The transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.

This situation was documented and clearly outside his control.  Therefore, the only argument Georgia would have is to argue that a black player being called the n word publicly during a game could not affect his health, safety, or well-being.  It isn't that they couldn't win, but arguing that is so ugly that it isn't nearly worth the effort (and they probably wouldn't win anyway).

[Anonymous Coward]

I wasn't saying UGa had to fight the NCAA on Fields's eligibility. I was saying they should fight the label with a press release, and that this could have slowed the process.

Just that they could have released an evenhanded statement that supported the verbally accosted while also acknowledging that this is sadly a national problem, implying it can't be fixed at OSU, thus giving the NCAA more to think about than they did.

[Cincydawg]

I suspect black players who grow up in the south have a pretty good idea about what is racism, and what isn't, and what they might encounter at a school like UGA.

UGA doesn't make a stink about player's transferring, white or black.