Charles Barkley explains why he doesn't want some teams to play football this fall while others don't
It’s looking more likely with each passing week that the 2020 college football season will start on time.
That’s good news for many, but it still isn’t 100% clear which conferences will be able to play this fall and which (if any) have to wait until spring or cancel their seasons.
On Monday’s episode of “The Paul Finebaum Show,” NBA legend and former Auburn star Charles Barkley said he hopes that the season doesn’t involve some teams playing and others not:
"I don't want certain schools to play, and other schools not to play." Charles Barkley worries about the divide between Haves & Have-Nots in college football as programs work to return to the field: pic.twitter.com/tB0k1mwckY
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 25, 2020
“The one thing I hope they don’t do is separate the teams and play the haves and the have-nots,” he said. “I think that would be awful for the game. I do not want certain schools to play and other schools not to play. I don’t think that’s fair. Obviously, every state is different, but if the big schools play and the other schools are not able to play, I don’t think that’s fair. Just because the big schools are the moneymakers and they’ve got the big TV contracts, I don’t want to see college football where only the Power 5 conferences play.”
There are still 3 months left until Week 1 in college football. Players can start to arrive back on campus for voluntary workouts starting next week. We’ll see soon when practices can start.
He makes no sense here.
Yep, I’d be fine with just the Power 5 playing.
I believe his real fear is the financial impact it would have on the small schools. They rely on playing the Power5 for their budgets. Barkley donates a lot of money to small, traditionally black schools. He knows Auburn doesn’t need his money and his heart is in a good place.
That is fine but the whole system is linked. If anyone can play they should play. If nobody plays the entire system including the local economies are damaged. I love Charles but the point is not logical. We need kids on campus learning and we need to have athletics. The consequences of having neither are far worse than the virus itself. In business it is called risk mitigation and loss prevention along with a business continuity plan.
There isn’t anything stopping schools from playing except fear.
Charles is funny, but not very smart.