In the end we could be making a pretty big deal out of Livers just speaking his mind.
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Why should we believe that Dan Dakich has a better handle on the sentiment of Big Ten players than Isaiah Livers?
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So, good thing the B1G dominated Tuesday because it was a clean sweep yesterday. Final record: 6-5
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Would have been a pretty interesting finish if the three Covid games were played. All would have been interesting match-ups and you figure a likely 2-1 or 1-2 outcome.
I would just note that opting into the season does not then remove any playerâs right to be scared, concerned, or unhappy about what is occurring. They exist in a world where over 270k people have died domestically, and weâre setting new daily records as of yesterday. They can both be scared and still want to play. Expecting them to be automatons seems a bit much.
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Sure. But at least theyâre being paid to be there.
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Having rapid testing available was a big breakthrough that made playing the season more viable. If things had stayed the exact same and then they ended up playing you would have a point.
Also this.
I mean, okay, but thatâs still just Dakich saying someone said something. Heâs not exactly a beacon of honesty and I havenât seen that Underwood said that anywhere and it doesnât make any sense that the players would want to play on Christmas.
Also, Underwoodâs team isnât playing on Christmas. 
I assume the quote means over the Christmas holiday period in general but still.
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We have a 12-day break. I think itâs tough to argue that playing specifically on 12/25 was required to âget games inâ.
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Underwood said it on Dakichâs show yesterday. So maybe Dakich did get it right???
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I imagine so I still think itâs splitting hairs as Illinois for instance plays on the 23rd and 26th. If the talk is true Michigan football had their breakout of covid due to meeting family and friends during thanksgiving. I think right there would be evidence that even if you could see your family during Christmas it might not be the best idea. I would also say having a 12 day break before playing on Dec 25th isnât horrible. I think with a lot of teams there was a trade off.
Definitely not the best idea to see family and friends over the holidays. Itâs yet another sacrifice that all of these kids are making.
I just donât really see playing on the 23rd and 26th at all comparable to only playing one game in an almost three-week period that happens to be on Christmas. Why is U-M playing on the 13th, 25th and 31st? Itâs just strange.
Playing on the 23rd and 26th is much closer to a normal college hoops season where youâll usually go up til the 22nd or so and then come back for a game around the 28th.
Itâs just bizarre scheduling all around IMO. And just because Brad Underwood said it was player led doesnât really mean much, we are talking about how Isaiah Livers, Michigan player, feels about it.
I donât know why it is controversial to point out that the situation really sucks for the student athletes. Yes, they want to play because the alternative sucks too. Yes, there are plenty of people with worse situations due to COVID. It still is not an easy thing to navigate for a 19 or 20-something kid.
Sports give us an outlet which is why we value them sometimes, but people sometimes forget about the actual experience of the people playing a game (for free â I saw a couple scheduling work metaphors in here, which donât quite hold up 
).
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This kind of sounds like âwe are eyeing Christmas day ratings without wanting to admit so and weâre not going to do a good job executing our idea anywaysâ
Yeah, I think if you wanted to maximize Christmas Day ratings you put all big time matchups on the slate⌠That doesnât include Nebraska, Minnesota and Maryland. If they had put together schedule that includes the best teams or at least rivalries, maybe there would be something there as far as ratings go. As it is, I canât imagine many non-Michigan/Nebraska fans will be turning into that game.
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Yeah, I think the big thing here is that âthe playersâ arenât a monolith, so even if Brad Underwood is 100% right (I havenât heard that reported prior, but lets just assume heâs not telling a bald-faced lie) it doesnât mean Isaiah Livers, or even a majority of Wolverines, like it. It also could simply mean they said âif we need to play over Christmas to have the season occur, weâll do itâ - which isnât the same thing as being excited to do so - more of a necessary evil.
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Yeah, thatâs not why they returned to play.
I would expect a number of teams to opt out of bowl games. Makes complete sense given how much of the enjoyable part of playing in a bowl is everything else. What exactly is the point without all that other than another football game on TV that people can bet on?
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