I had not thought about this: The B1G football conference canceled its season because of Trump Virus. College tackle football is almost a religion in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, etc., all or nearly all exceedingly important states politically. And some people are calling it like it is, the Trump Virus, and Trump’s fault.
From NYT: (This article is a cardinal example of why the New York Times is indispensable.)
In a hotly contested election year, the loss of college football seems almost certain to seep into politics as well. No conference covers as many presidential battleground states as does the Big Ten, the Midwestern behemoth with schools in seven states that are being fought for by both Joe Biden and Mr. Trump.
A 69 year old retiree in Ohio:
“Trump just blew it. He just didn’t handle it. He could have shut things down for five or six weeks and figured out what he was doing, but he never had a plan.”
...
In crucial battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where college football serves as an autumn religion not just on campus but in the rural areas where Mr. Trump’s support runs deepest, losing football may be a political stain that the president is unable to blame on his enemies in the Democratic Party or on the media.
“As great as politics is — it’s a sport that so many people enjoy watching — it’s not as important as college football in Ohio, in Georgia, in Alabama,” said Paul Finebaum, who hosts a nationally syndicated college football radio show for ESPN. “And without it, people will be lost and people will be angry. There are layers of blame to go around, and in the end, this transcends sports.”
Mr. Finebaum predicted that the loss of the college football season would damage Mr. Trump even among his most faithful supporters.
“I’ve always tried desperately to keep politics out of our program, and this summer I’ve failed miserably,” he said. “We don’t have a day that doesn’t pass where someone doesn’t call up and blame the president. Even from the South, I’ve heard more anger directed at the president than I thought.”
[The weird thing about Paul Finebaum's comments is that the SEC and the ACC, who have the entire South covered, are both playing this fall. I have a prediction to make about the ACC: That is a conference with a fair number of schools in the Northeast: Boston, Syracuse, New York, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame in the Midwest. I guarantee you those schools are not happy about the decision to play and when there is an outbreak of Trump Virus among the players and especially among the fans (if there are fans) those schools will simply cancel their seasons on their own. The conference will have little choice but to do likewise.]
...
Danny O’Connor, the Franklin County recorder who in 2018 campaigned for Congress in the Columbus suburbs wearing an Ohio State polo shirt...:
Losing the season means that Mr. Biden will carry the state “because that will be one person’s fault: Donald Trump,” Mr. O’Connor said. Mr. Trump won Ohio by 9 percentage points in 2016.
From NYT: (This article is a cardinal example of why the New York Times is indispensable.)
In a hotly contested election year, the loss of college football seems almost certain to seep into politics as well. No conference covers as many presidential battleground states as does the Big Ten, the Midwestern behemoth with schools in seven states that are being fought for by both Joe Biden and Mr. Trump.
A 69 year old retiree in Ohio:
“Trump just blew it. He just didn’t handle it. He could have shut things down for five or six weeks and figured out what he was doing, but he never had a plan.”
...
In crucial battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where college football serves as an autumn religion not just on campus but in the rural areas where Mr. Trump’s support runs deepest, losing football may be a political stain that the president is unable to blame on his enemies in the Democratic Party or on the media.
“As great as politics is — it’s a sport that so many people enjoy watching — it’s not as important as college football in Ohio, in Georgia, in Alabama,” said Paul Finebaum, who hosts a nationally syndicated college football radio show for ESPN. “And without it, people will be lost and people will be angry. There are layers of blame to go around, and in the end, this transcends sports.”
Mr. Finebaum predicted that the loss of the college football season would damage Mr. Trump even among his most faithful supporters.
“I’ve always tried desperately to keep politics out of our program, and this summer I’ve failed miserably,” he said. “We don’t have a day that doesn’t pass where someone doesn’t call up and blame the president. Even from the South, I’ve heard more anger directed at the president than I thought.”
[The weird thing about Paul Finebaum's comments is that the SEC and the ACC, who have the entire South covered, are both playing this fall. I have a prediction to make about the ACC: That is a conference with a fair number of schools in the Northeast: Boston, Syracuse, New York, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame in the Midwest. I guarantee you those schools are not happy about the decision to play and when there is an outbreak of Trump Virus among the players and especially among the fans (if there are fans) those schools will simply cancel their seasons on their own. The conference will have little choice but to do likewise.]
...
Danny O’Connor, the Franklin County recorder who in 2018 campaigned for Congress in the Columbus suburbs wearing an Ohio State polo shirt...:
Losing the season means that Mr. Biden will carry the state “because that will be one person’s fault: Donald Trump,” Mr. O’Connor said. Mr. Trump won Ohio by 9 percentage points in 2016.
