[ad_1]
Some believe the Pac-12 acted too soon in postponing football and too late in bringing in back.
But for Arizona State President Michael Crow, among those charged with making such decisions as part of the Pac-12 CEO Group, the timing was appropriate in both cases even though it differed from other Power 5 conferences.
On Aug. 11, the Pac-12 postponed all fall sports competition through the end of the calendar year. It announced a partnership with Quidel Corporation to provide daily coronavirus testing with rapid results (within 15 minutes) on Sept. 3 with testing equipment to be in place across the conference by the end of September.
Against that backdrop followed by Big Ten announcing Sept. 16 that it would play football games starting Oct. 24, the Pac-12 CEO Group voted Thursday to play a seven-game season instead of waiting until 2021 for a spring season.
“You needed to make a decision (Aug. 11) because we had to decide if we could roll out anywhere near to being on schedule,” Crow said Friday. “Then we didn’t have enough confidence we could make it work and now we have sufficient confidence we can make it work.
“We’re not driven by emotions. We’re not driven by finances. We’re driven by how do you manage a packet of RNA (COVID-19) in a way where you can play college football.”
Being in what Crow calls “full COVID management mode” for all facets of the university, not just athletics, requires opting for safety when there’s not enough information like in August, then waiting until sufficient information allows for a change.
“When we looked at this before, we didn’t know about the COVID heart problem issue (risk of myocarditis). We needed to get that resolved. We needed to get everybody up to speed on testing. We needed to make sure universities could operate. We know all of those now so this is the earliest we could make a decision you could play football, start basketball and other sports and have a high probability of success of making it work. We’ve been very judicious and careful about how we manage our way through this virus.”
Crow told The Republic in August that the fall sports postponement was good for “buying knowledge” and believes that will continue to be the case for a virus that is going to be a long-term issue.
This week, Crow announced a $6-million project to create a point-of-need test to quickly detect COVID-19 from a saliva sample on a computer chip. This expands on saliva-based COVID test produced by ASU’s Biodesign Institute in May.
“We’ll figure out how to play (football) this fall, learn from that,” Crow said. “Figure out how to do spring sports, learn from that. The virus will still be a factor next fall, which is why we just launched a major project to build an ultra advanced, Star Trek level virus checker that can talk to your cellphone and give you the green light to go on into the basketball game.
“Because we’re going to need that. The vaccine is just a tool. It’s just one mechanism to help you manage the virus. The virus will be with human infinitely into the future.”
Completing a football season before the end of the year will at least allow for the possibility of a more traditional 2021 calendar with spring practice followed by a 12-game regular season. It also will provide needed athletic revenue from television and the College Football Playoff even though Pac-12 games will be played without fans in attendance.
“Our (financial) losses will be substantial,” said Crow, who optimistically believes ASU has potential for a 7-0 season. “We lose an entire arena and we’re only playing half the games.
“Culturally, socially and psychologically, it’s a huge advantage (to play in the fall). These are world-class athletes and people love this sport and all it represents. So now in a highly modified way, we’re going to be able to make it work.”
To date, ASU athletics has not furloughed or laid off employees, cut sports or implemented salary reductions. “We’ll have to manage some resource issues, but we’ve decided to treat athletics like the rest of the university,” in preserving jobs through the pandemic, Crow said.
Crow said he remains supportive of Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott as he has since Scott was hired in 2009. Scott, though, has taken a barrage of criticism in recent years that could impact his future when his contract expires in spring 2022.
Crow, hired in 2002, and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, in 2007, are the longest-tenured Pac-12 CEOs. Scott’s support among newer conference chief executives is less certain.
“We’re going to go through a review for Larry,” Crow said. “When you’re coming up on contract renewal, it’s all zero base. You evaluate whether this is the person that can take you to the next level or not. (Say) thank you for all you’ve done then we look at where we are going forward. That’s what’s going to happen relative to this contract renewal.”
Of what it’s like to be in the Pac-12 decision-making room and come out with what was announced as an unanimous decision, Crow took a dive into antiquity: “I’m probably the only mortal among the 12 presidents. The others are all demigods like Zeus battling with Neptune.
“I’m sort of of the view we’ve got to come to consensus. Great arguments were made, significant discussions were had. We agreed to delay and wait until spring then we agreed with new information to come back together. There are consensus, all-unanimous (decisions). I’m the mere mortal just watching everyone.”
More: Pac-12 football set to return on weekend of Nov. 6 with seven-game schedule
More: Pac-12 partnership for rapid COVID-19 testing could speed up return of sports
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
[ad_2]
Source link