BIDEN CHOOSES. BIG TEN DECIDES.

In person or by mail, “Vote Trump Out!” is the battle cry. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

A week for the history books.

America thirsts for signs of normalcy. And we continue to long for smart decision-making from anyone with the title of president. With the naming of his running mate, Joe Biden provided something normal, yet historic.

It is quite perfunctory for presidential nominees to name their running mate prior to their party’s convention. Although there will not be traditional conventions this year, Biden squeezed in his announcement less than a week before the Democrats produce their virtual convention. The obvious historical element of Biden’s announcement is he chose a woman of color, Kamala Harris, as his vice president candidate.

In the Midwest, 14 college presidents gathered to consider the pros and cons of playing sports on their campuses this fall. With no disrespect to fall sports not named football, the primary concern of anyone with a stake in college football (players, coaches, athletic directors, sponsors, media rights holders, alumni donors and fans) was the fate of football. Football delivers roughly 60% of athletic department revenue and attracts lucrative media rights fees.

Demonstrating that some presidents have a brain inside their cranium, the 14 college presidents representing the Big Ten Conference weighed the data – presumably presented by doctors, scientists, accountants, athletic directors, coaches and players – and then did what Trump still fails to do. Surely, emotions ran high. No doubt Big Ten presidents would much rather play football this fall. But Big Ten presidents followed the science and recommendations of experts in the field of epidemiology.

Sports will not be played in the Big Ten in the fall of 2020.

The bottom line has not changed

Back to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, their historic moment reinforces our simple goal: A single-minded pursuit to defeat Donald Trump. If Biden had named Marianne Williamson as his running mate the bottom line would not change. Get out the vote and defeat Trump. Although not a big fan of Kamala as VP, I will vote for Joe Biden. (Kamala is better suited for the position of attorney general.)

By selecting a woman of color Biden created instant enthusiasm ($26 million raised in 24 hours) and may have begun passing the torch. If he wins, at the conclusion of one term, expectations are Biden will step aside. Many of the old guard, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, need to step aside.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg should have retired during President Obama’s first term, when she was 77 years old. Then, Obama could have appointed a younger, progressive replacement. Now we are left holding our breath each time the now 87-year-old Bader-Ginsburg goes to the hospital. Similarly, why was John Lewis still a congressman at the age of 80?

Why are Bill and Hillary Clinton speaking at next week’s virtual convention? Will Democrats ever let go of the albatrosses that are the Clinton’s? It is embarrassing that Democrats hold onto Bill and Hillary like a Linus blanket.

Not much else matters. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

If you are a single-issue voter, e.g. tax cuts or abortion, your single issue in November must be defeating Trump. For this election, not much else matters except electing Joe Biden and removing Trump from office.

Regarding Biden’s choice of Kamala, the best VP candidate was Stacey Abrams. She’s the smartest of those who made Biden’s short list or long list. She’s a top-notch organizer, as evidenced by her national Fair Fight organization which Abrams founded to protect voting rights. Fair Fight’s objective is to end voter suppression and ensure free and fair elections. Abrams connects with essential young protesters who must now be convinced to march to the polls. And she authentically connects with Black voters.

Abrams is a dynamic, serious-minded woman who has earned a place – not down the road, right now – among leadership of the Democratic Party. Christina Greer recently wrote an incisive profile about Stacey Abrams that ran in the Daily Beast. If you are unfamiliar with Abrams, I urge you to Google it and read about a modern Democrat stalwart. Media outlet Axios says Abrams “has the potential to build a broad coalition and turn out voters.” Stacey Abrams is a force.

But Kamala Harris is Biden’s choice, in large measure (according to Biden himself) because of Kamala’s relationship with Biden’s son Beau, who died in 2015. The unavoidable truth is Kamala made the correct calculation that highlighting her political relationship with Beau would tug at Biden’s heartstrings. And it worked, as did Harris’ calculation to “go hard” after Biden in the first debate, regarding his stance on busing and segregation, which catapulted her to near front-runner status.

Another truth is Harris’ support among Black voters was so tepid during the primary she dropped out before South Carolina, a state that a Black candidate should have a strong showing. Hopefully, Rep. (D) Jim Clyburn of South Carolina can do for Kamala what he did for Biden; amp up enthusiasm for Harris among Blacks.

The bottom line? Beat Trump in November.

There are presidents with brains. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Give ‘em extra credit

Presidents of schools in the Big Ten, Pac-12 and MAC are turning away a boatload of money. But they did the right thing, even though football revenue is what keeps collegiate athletic departments out of red ink.

For example, in 2018, LSU’s athletic department reported $145 million in revenue. A whopping $87 million came from football. The LSU athletic department also reported media rights generated $39 million, $12 million attributed to football. It should be noted that without football rights, the media’s interest in rights for other sports is low. Football at LSU contributes at least $100 million.

LSU plays in the Southeastern Conference. It is little wonder the SEC, a conference that often reverses the student-athlete paradigm, steadfastly clings to the notion of playing football this fall, as do the ACC and Big 12.

It is worth mentioning the ACC, which represents states in the Mid-South, the SEC, which is comprised of the southern most states, and the Big 12, which represents Southwestern states, are in areas where far too many citizens still push back against wearing masks. Republican governors of many of these states (like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, Georgia’s Brian Kemp and Texas’ Greg Abbott) have set their constituents up for failure versus COVID-19, just as Trump has done to all of America.

Did schools decide to go with on-campus learning partially because they needed ‘air cover’ to justify playing football? Because all-remote learning begs the question, if it’s not safe for students to be on campus, then how is it safe for student-athletes to be on campus participating in football?

At Indiana University, on-campus classes begin August 24. Will students walk through Sample Gates until Thanksgiving as planned? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

What happens to on-campus learning is still a big question. Will Big Ten, Pac-12 and MAC schools who plan on in-person learning revert to remote-only now that fall sports are cancelled?

Yesterday, DePaul University announced a reversal from previously announced in-person learning. The school will now conduct the “vast majority” of classes remotely this fall. Even though DePaul does not field a football team this is significant. Just weeks from the start of the fall semester and a major university decides in-person is too risky.

Hoops nightmare

It is a matter of time until the gym shoe drops on college basketball and all winter sports. The same considerations that led the MAC, Big Ten and Pac-12 to just say no to fall football will lead to cancelling winter sports as well. In other words, it is unlikely the healthcare experts whom college presidents consulted, before deciding the fate of fall sports, will turn around and give thumbs up to playing winter sports. That means no March Madness/Big Dance…again.

Given they will generate a portion of their usual revenue from football this fall, do not be surprised if presidents of the ACC, SEC and Big-12 flip flop, to save a measure of credibility, and cancel winter sports.

In the eyes of some college presidents greed, as Gordon Gekko said, is good.