Sidelined: So about that football game

I said a couple weeks ago I wouldn't believe that UNC was going to play Syracuse until I saw the kickoff with my own eyes. With less than 48 hours away from UNC's first game, I'm still somewhat in disbelief. 

I'm writing this with a mask on my face, sitting in The Daily Tar Heel office that I had to take a temperature check to enter. The sports desk editors were all in the office together for the first time in weeks last night as we worked to put together our 2020 football preview. 

I don't think it's accurate to say that we've returned to normal. But people more powerful than I have decided that it's important these games are played. And on one level, they aren't wrong: UNC Athletics has already announced budget cuts and a reduction in staff. 

The college sports industry is massive and bloated, but it also employs A LOT of people, people who are suddenly losing their jobs in the middle of a pandemic. It's likely that the schools that aren't playing this season, and missing out on tens of millions of dollars in TV revenue, are going to see even more dramatic cuts. Schools have already started ending some of their D1 teams, and now it looks like men's gymnastics is struggling just to stay alive at the college level. 

So it's important these games are played. It is. I haven't even touched on what the unknown mental health effects of having a season canceled would mean for the UNC players, or what effects it's already had on the people in the Big Ten and Pac-12. I just don't know if all those reasons are enough to outweigh the risks here. Thankfully, it's not my choice to make. 

So about that football game. The DTH won't be there in person, and it's our first home game we haven't had a writer physically at in who knows how long. That was my decision, and I don't know if it's the correct one. I didn't even give my writers the option, because I was scared for my writers, scared that they would get sick or unintentionally infect someone else if they were asymptomatic. Don't worry, we'll still have stories out with the magic of Zoom interviews. 

We'll be there in person next week, when UNC Charlotte comes to town, assuming college football doesn't collapse before then. The staff wants to go, and it's my job to empower them to do theirs, not to baby adults who are capable of making their own decisions about their own health and safety. 

I'm also planning on sending reporters to cover Olympic sports in person as those come back as well, provided the writers feel safe and the precautions taken by UNC are adequate. It's not a decision I feel 100 percent comfortable with, but I don't think it's possible to feel fully at ease with anything right now. We had our opportunity to deal with the pandemic as a country months ago, and we blew it, so now there are hard choices to make. 

All I can do is hope for the best. As long as games are being played though, the DTH will cover them in whatever capacity we can. 

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com