ASU Football: College Football is on Pause- Speak of the Devils Host Brad Denny Discusses the Decision
By now, the news of the Pac-12 postponing their season has made it from coast to coast and probably country to county. With it all said done, there are still so many questions that remain to be answered. Answers I am sure we won't get for a long time, but also ones I am sure not even the high ups know yet.
According to Brad Denny host of the Speak of the Devils podcast when the news came down the line he wasn't too surprised but that didn't make it sting any less, "The way things have been going for the last couple of months, it just seemed the prospect of a fall football season would have been a real tough go, real dangerous."
This virus is unlike anything any of us have seen before, and we are learning something new every day. A few hours after the news broke about the postponed season, ASU Athletics set up a Zoom call for the media to be able to learn more. On the call was Ray Anderson, Vice President for University Athletics Herm Edwards, Head Football Coach and Dr. Aaron Krasnow, Ph.D., Associate Vice President, ASU Health Services & ASU Counseling Services.
"Right now they are firm in their belief that they made the right course of action. Ray Anderson and Herm Edwards especially have been really adamant that they are putting players' safety first and foremost." Denny told AllSunDevils.
One of the biggest reasons for canceling the season was the finding of how the corona virus affects the heart and causes Myocarditis. According to ESPN, "Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences, according to two sources with knowledge of athletes' medical care."
Having seen someone fight COVID-19 every day for over a month, I saw first hand what the Drs were dealing with. I talked with the doctor almost every day, and every time they told me the virus had started to affect the heart and that it was a juggling act trying to get the virus controlled in the lungs and the heart and keep the patient from going into multi-organ failure. This virus is unpredictable and presents itself differently in every person.
Ray Anderson, at the end of the call, shared something very personal to him, and that is how his father passed away from cardiac arrest caused by the hardening of his arteries, which lead to a sudden heart attack. When Anderson heard about the complications with the heart he knew he even more so they were doing the right thing,
"Myocarditis, the inflammation of the heart disease, that can do the equivalent of hardening your arteries and put you at risk ... just the thought of 6,7 or 8 years from now our student-athletes would fall over like that ... while under our care we didn't do everything we could to prevent him or her from being in that situation that affected me ... This stuff is real." Anderson told the media.
The virus isn't going away, we are learning to bob and weave with it. The season is postponed, and in the meantime, the athletes continue to practice, get guidance and everything else they would be allowed to do within the 20 hour NCAA rule. As we get closer to the season, we will see more athletes figure out what their next step is, and one of these is going to be the upperclassmen and whether or not they should sit out the season to prepare for the NFL draft or play and increase their stock value.
So many turns on this new journey while we navigate through the pandemic. More stop and yield signs are guaranteed to come up. Until then, brace yourself and hold on.