The Week That Was: For Hawkeyes, It Was A Journey Through The Emotions
Think about where we were a week ago.
The Big Ten was on the verge of ending the fall football season before it started.
Players from around the nation, sensing their conference could be next, took to social media with the hashtag #WeWantToPlay
For a while on Monday, and into Tuesday, there was hope that the conferences were listening.
By Tuesday night, the Big Ten season was gone, cast off to an unknown spring because of medical concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. So was the Pac-12's.
Iowa's players left their facility after the news, hurt and angry. It was up to coach Kirk Ferentz to deliver the news, and a couple of hours later Ferentz compared it to losing a game.
There's nothing you can say, he said, to make them feel better.
"Above everything, I’m just really disappointed for our players," Ferentz said. "Players, we talk to them all of the time about how limited their clock is. It’s such a small window of opportunity to play football, be it high school (or) college. If you’re fortunate to play beyond it, it’s even tighter.
"It’s just disappointing. They’ve worked hard, they’ve done everything we could have asked of them, and then some, and they’ve done it in tough circumstances. So that part, it’s hard."
By the end of the week, despair turned to anger. Iowa parents, more than 50 of them, signed a letter that was hand-delivered to the Big Ten offices.
And they want answers.
So do parents at Ohio State, and Penn State. Groups of parents from other schools are planning to do the same. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields started an online petition that by Sunday afternoon had more than 150,000 names on it.
It makes you wonder what this week will bring.
It's unlikely that the Big Ten will be swayed by all of this. The haste in which last week's decision by made, and the evasiveness of commissioner Kevin Warren to questions after the announcement, makes it clear that the conference isn't willing to address this issue further and is already planning for a spring season.
History, of course, will judge whether this is the right decision. The ACC, SEC and Big 12 have decided to go on with their seasons, as have some of the Group of 5 conferences, but it's a long way from now until the season openers.
Iowa's players are still have a difficult time dealing with the decision.
It would help to hear from Warren. Better answers might help.
If anything, though, it's a lesson for the commissioner, and the presidents and chancellors of the conference, to listen more to their athletes. The Big 12 did, and it may be a better lesson for the Big Ten moving into the future.
It's a new week for the Hawkeyes, and the Big Ten. It's hard to tell if the emotions will settle down.
If anything, expect more chaos.
Fans watch the ceremonies before the Iowa-Minnesota game last November. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen for USA Today Sports)
