You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Michigan State has put football season ticket sales on hold and has done the fair thing for those who have already bought season tickets.

MSU is giving those who already paid for season tickets three options: opt out and convert their payments to donations to the Spartan Fund; roll over their payments for 2021 and not attend this fall or receive full refunds for the upcoming season.

‪Also, the option still exists for those who paid and do want tickets or have paid a deposit to proceed as planned and wait for revised procedures. No action is required.

As far as being fan friendly goes, that’s the gold standard.  Let’s see how many schools eventually wind up falling short of that.

Assumption of risk, ctd.

To be fair, I did look for the specific waiver language that was the subject of my last post.  I couldn’t find anything until last night, and what I found isn’t a scholarship waiver.

The waiver states “any failure to comply with my Buckeye Pledge above may lead to immediate removal of athletic participation privileges (not my athletics scholarship) and/or the inability to use athletics facilities.”

Every football player has signed the waiver, according to a school spokesman who also said the university is not sharing cumulative testing information publicly.

Smith said the waiver is intended more for educational purposes than it is for liability.

“That’s why we call it a pledge,” he said. “We don’t look at that as a legal document. It’s a Buckeye pledge. Allow us to help you so that if we face a situation, our trainers, our strength coaches, our coaches or any athletic administrator sees a student-athlete not wearing a mask or not social distancing, we can say, ‘Hey, you made a commitment. You signed a pledge. Your parents signed a pledge. Your parents are a part of this.'”

There isn’t much there, there, which, I suspect, is what Ohio State’s attorneys advised Gene Smith.  As a means of getting kids focused on proper procedure, hard to see a problem with it.

I guess if somebody’s gonna push the liability envelope with college athletes, it’ll be elsewhere.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE:

 

Here is the form the student-athletes signed pic.twitter.com/0njsF1Ok4O

— billlandis25 (@BillLandis25) June 15, 2020

There is one paragraph in there that isn’t simply a pledge.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE #2:  We have a winner!

SMU athletics is requiring student-athletes to sign a liability waiver prior to returning to campus for voluntary workouts.

The document was developed by SMU’s Office of Legal Counsel, and requires student-athletes to agree that they cannot hold the school liable for anything related to COVID-19. It waives the students’ right to litigation.

Assumption of risk

Ohio State implements a different kind of pay to play.

When Ohio State football players returned to campus for voluntary workouts last week following the coronavirus shutdown, they were required to sign an acknowledgment of risk waiver before their participation.

The two-page document, obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request, outlines the health risks involved with workouts and other athletic activities, and calls for the athletes to follow strict health and safety protocols implemented by the school.

Referred to as a so-called Buckeye Pledge, it asks players to “pledge to take responsibility for my own health and help stop the spread of the COVID-19.”

The document goes on to warn athletes that “although the university is following the coronavirus guidelines issued by the CDC and other experts to reduce the spread of infection, I can never be completely shielded from all risk of illness caused by COVID-19 or other infections.”

Hey, that seems fair.  After all, the school is taking responsibility for its own financial health.

“That’s a fair question.”

I don’t know if you heard about or read the accusations leveled against the Iowa football program that emerged this past weekend.  The most telling part of the story isn’t the accusations themselves.  It’s what head coach Kirk Ferentz said in response to being asked about them.

“I don’t want to say I was blind-sided,” Ferentz said during a Sunday call with media, “… but the bottom line is we don’t want anybody to leave this place not feeling like this was a good experience.”

… Most coaches know the line between demanding and demeaning. Ferentz has called for a “cultural shift” in the program. Asked what that culture was before the past week, he said, “you could argue, in my mind, it’s been healthy.”

Ferentz added: “[But] in the last 48 hours, I learned of things that needed more attention. However you want to break it down, I’m the one who is responsible.”

… Asked whether he feared for his job, Ferentz said, “That’s really not my frame of work. But I did ask multiple players if they feel like I’m part of the problem or if they feel like we can’t move forward with me here, I’d appreciate that feedback. That’s not what I’ve heard thus far.”

I don’t doubt that Ferentz was being sincere when he said those things yesterday.  But here’s a guy who’s been in the business of coaching young men seemingly forever — Ferentz is 65 and has been Iowa’s head coach for more than two decades — who claims he wasn’t ready for the outbreak of emotion and frustration that has enveloped his program.

Coaches, especially ones who have coached as long as Ferentz has, are notorious control freaks.  How does something like this go unnoticed and unchecked as long as it has without the head coaching knowing about it, without the ignorance being at least somewhat wilful?  Beats me.

“We’d like this to be resolved by the court, not in the press.”

Good luck with that, Michigan State.

A photograph and affidavit filed in federal court Tuesday purport to show former Michigan State recruiting coordinator Curtis Blackwell and then-head football coach Mark Dantonio in the home of a top recruit in 2015, evidence that contradicts Dantonio’s sworn testimony and is an apparent violation of NCAA rules…

The filing came hours after MSU officials acknowledged for the first time the university is investigating allegations of misconduct and is in contact with the NCAA and Big Ten conference.

How fortunate for him that Dantonio’s already pocketed that big bonus.

Mistakes were made.

One of the Big Ten refs who called the UGA-Alabama national title game isn’t impressed with Georgia fans.

You know, you were talking about the Michigan fan base. Well, they’re pikers compared to the Georgia fan base. I was getting emails, texts. It was ugly, vile. Something gets out on the internet that I somehow worked for the University of Alabama, and it becomes gospel truth.

At least he admits Tyler Simmons was onsides, though.

Dreams

Shot.

To all Spartans: Thank you for everything. You have truly helped my dreams come true. pic.twitter.com/uKkubvp1cW

— Mark Dantonio (@DantonioMark) February 4, 2020

(Yes, that’s the day before national signing day.)

Chaser.

Per his contract, Dantonio qualified for a $4.3 million, one-time longevity payment for being Michigan State's head coach on Jan. 15. https://t.co/qb5KW6kTsb

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) February 4, 2020

Leave the bottle on the bar and go.

Late Monday night, lawyers for Curtis Blackwell detailed allegations of two NCAA violations they say Mark Dantonio may have committed.

Hours later, Dantonio retired.https://t.co/nQlsOG9DEq

— Tony Paul (@TonyPaul1984) February 4, 2020

It’s personal.

Shot.

The Big Ten is proposing a new rule that coaches must make recruiting calls and do all electronic correspondence on a school-issued and purchased device.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) January 23, 2020

Chaser.

“This is not about a money grab. It may be about too much money.”

In case you’re wondering, Jim Delany is still an asshole.

Come for the “the NCAA is gonna sue everybody to keep states from legislating NIL rights as long as possible” dickishness, but stay for the “we need an antitrust exemption so we can cap coaches’ salaries” bonus.

At least we’ll always have Rutgers in the Big Ten as his legacy.

A tradition unlike any other

Remember this?

Update to last night.

Ohio State’s postgame meal is Papa John’s pic.twitter.com/aTBz5dMZ1A

— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) December 29, 2019

I guess it’s the Columbus version of the loser getting beanie weenies.

I hope they saved a piece for Corch.