Raymond V. Mariano: Notre Dame, Clemson football coaches examples of selfishness, privilege
If it wasn’t so serious, it would be a joke. Coaches from Notre Dame and Clemson’s football teams threatened to boycott the Rose Bowl game, should they be selected, if player’s families were not allowed to attend the game in person.
The Rose Bowl game, played in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day, is arguably the most prestigious of all the bowl games. This year it is also a college football playoff semifinal game. For most teams and college football athletes, the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl is the thrill of a lifetime. But Notre Dame and Clemson are among college football’s elite programs so the privilege of playing in such a storied game might feel like an entitlement.
Even so, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Clemson Tigers prepared to play for the ACC Championship on Dec. 19, it was a bit surprising when coaches for both teams stomped their feet and whined like spoiled little children who couldn’t get their way. It didn’t matter that some high school and college teams had their seasons cancelled because of the virus.
It didn’t matter that the virus caused some sports to be eliminated from college campuses altogether. And it didn’t even matter that many professional sports teams had to play their games in front of seats filled only with cardboard cutouts of make-believe fans. These privileged programs were going to bully those making the decision so they could get their way.
Since California had imposed strict rules to fight the coronavirus, the coaches argued that the site for the Rose Bowl should be moved to another stadium in a state where the rules were less stringent. I guess they think that places like North Dakota or Florida, where the rules are lax, don’t have an exploding number of COVID cases. They obviously don’t follow the news or, more likely, just don’t care because the rules surely don’t apply to the men in these privileged programs.
Notre Dame’s coach Brian Kelly, speaking for his players, said, “It’s about their family…and (the players are) concerned.” Really? Even though their families could watch the game safely at home on a large-screen TV with slow-motion replay and zoom-in shots so they can see the faces of the players on the field, Kelly would rather risk grampa’s health by flying him all the way across the country, putting him in a hotel room, and then into the stands of a stadium so far from the field that he can barely see the numbers on the player’s jerseys all the while risking the chances that grampa might get sick or worse. It doesn’t make any sense.
But then I remembered that, a few weeks ago, while most of us were struggling with the restrictions imposed to combat the virus, thousands of Notre Dame fans jammed into their stadium then stormed onto the field in celebration after a double-overtime victory all the while threatening the health of thousands who were at home waiting for them to return.
Ultimately, even after getting clobbered by Clemson in the ACC Championship, Notre Dame was selected to play in the Rose Bowl. Oh, and the game was moved to Arlington, Texas — even though Texas virus rates are at least as bad, if not worse, than those experienced in California. But, because the rules in Texas are less restrictive, the Irish get to put fans in the stadium.
So why should we expect average citizens to follow the rules when the privileged and powerful do whatever they want — including our political leaders.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has imposed some of the toughest restrictions in the country on his citizens and insisted that everyone stay at home, was caught in defiance of his own rules dining at an exclusive French restaurant attending a dinner party for a well-known lobbyist.
President Trump, Ben Carson, and Chris Christie all flaunted the rules. They attended parties and rallies with hundreds and thousands of total strangers and then they got sick. But, they also got advanced medical therapies that aren’t available to the average citizen so they recovered quickly. No commoner ventilators for them.
So let me get this straight. We can’t hug our grandchildren on Christmas morning — even if we all wear masks — but it’s okay for sweaty football players, from elite programs, to run off the field into the waiting arms of their parents and grandparents.
We are not allowed to have our annual Christmas gatherings for family and friends and embrace loved ones that we have seen only on Facetime or Zoom calls. But a governor or a president, someone who holds high public office, can sip champagne with hundreds of people they don’t even know.
And we can’t travel a few miles to visit our loved ones in assisted living communities and nursing homes but officials in Washington, about to leave office, can travel around the world on taxpayer funded junkets just to see the sights.
Is it any wonder why we have some of the highest virus rates in the world?
In 1961, in his inaugural address to the nation, President John F. Kennedy told the world that in facing the great struggles of war or disease, Americans would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship…”
I guess some of us didn’t get the message. Or maybe the message only applies to everyone else.
Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram.