Nevius: Protesting college football parents haven’t got a clue

Unfortunately, there has been an accident. The meter we use to measure the level of cluelessness in people has broken. Actually, the needle spun around three times and fell right off the dial.

It happened when the parents of Big Ten football players demanded to know why they couldn’t go ahead and have a football season in the midst of a pandemic that is killing 1,000 people a day. Big Ten officials, like the Pac-12 Conference and others, canceled their seasons because of health concerns.

But the parents aren’t having it. There’s a petition, #WeWantToPlay, and it has 280,000 signatures. Their message is ― and I think I have this right ― we demand that you allow us to put the health of our kids in danger. Oh, and also to risk the health of coaches, trainers and support staff.

Now those are parents who are TOO involved in their kids’ sports.

Imagine if it was the other way around. What if the colleges discovered there was a virus on the football field that could cause a fatal illness. But there was no way to remove it. So they told the players they would just have to man up, play the games and hope they didn't get sick.

Those parents would be apoplectic.

It goes along with a time when, somehow, common-sense health measures, like wearing a mask, became political statements. We wait for the day when there is a COVID vaccine ... and some people refuse to take it.

In the meanwhile, we have sports. It was just a few months ago when we were saying, “I’m not sure we can even stage a sports event.” Now we’re playing one game or other every day. And the NFL is in the starting gate.

You’d have to say the results so far have been mixed.

The NBA has proved that the bubble works. The league announced last week that they have not had a single case of the coronavirus since the teams were locked down in a secure compound at Disney World.

The games seem mostly normal, too. One advantage of no fans is that the sidelines are wide open for new camera angles. It’s a good game for TV. Small space, wildly athletic plays and compelling individuals.

The NBA also caught a break with scheduling. When the shutdown happened, the league was well into its season. They could make the case that this was just the conclusion of the regular season, legitimizing the concept of the playoffs, even if they are being played in a bubble.

Meanwhile, baseball has won some and lost some. MLB certainly doesn’t have the credibility of the NBA. Sixty games isn’t a season, and tacking a 16-team tournament on the end of it doesn’t make it one.

Baseball folks opted for the “we’re going to be really careful” approach to the virus and it has blown up in their faces more than once. First, with the Marlins in July, when 20 members of the franchise tested positive.

And then more recently, when the Cardinals had 18 players and staff with positive tests. Because they were quarantined, by last week they’d only played half as many games as other teams.

To make it up, the Cards were put on a forced march of 53 games in 44 days, including 10 doubleheaders. Let us know how the pitching staff likes that.

Now we hear that a player and a coach in the Mets organization have the virus, so this weekend’s games with the Yankees were postponed.

It seems clear that if this pandemic continues and baseball starts another season in the spring, some changes will be needed. Maybe even a baseball bubble.

That leaves football. It’s weird, because the more evidence that piles up that this virus is a real and dangerous thing, the more the footballers want to play.

The Big Ten parents talk optimistically about sudden COVID cures and a too-hasty shutdown. Lawyers have been contacted.

Some of the parents have even said they are willing to sign a liability waiver, so the school would not face legal issues if a player gets sick. Seriously? You want this that badly?

“I know there’s more important things going on in the world right now,” one of the parent leaders said. “But this is important to these kids.”

You’d think that kind of logic would be unconvincing, but look at Georgia. The state is tied with Texas for the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita in the United States.

Yet Georgia Tech, which is in the ACC, has announced it will not only play football, it will allow some 11,000 fans into the stadium. Spectators must wear face masks, but only until they get to their seats. And yes, alcohol will be served.

Now you know that if they are doing that in college, the NFL is going to double down. The owners are going ahead with their schedule, regardless. It is going to take a very dramatic event to get them to consider changes.

As of now, the 49ers’ first game is in four weeks.

Somebody better call Jimmy Garoppolo’s parents to see if they want him to play.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius