Pritzker Not Changing His Mind About Football
But rallies must go on, movement about more than one sport
(Photo Credit: Daily Chronicle)
So we finally heard from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Tuesday.
When asked at a press conference about the return of football in 2020, he said very little. But this comment was a gut punch when told other states are playing football:
Those are states, fine. If they decided to endanger children and families in those states by allowing certain contact sports to take place, that is their decision. It’s not something that is good for the families and the children of Illinois.
Before the governor’s comments, there was optimism about the return of high school football. An article published last week in The Kerr Report questioning why the state of Illinois was so silent on the issue of youth sports, combined with a rally in Wheaton, stimulated activity. Rallies were held, more scheduled for this weekend. But the cheerful buoyancy created was done with no real idea if the governor was listening.
Now we know. There will be no high school football in Illinois in 2020.
I’m not going to use all of the space in this article to bash the Governor’s statements, but allow some indulgence. To slam his imperious stance on youth sports while citing zero data for his conclusions (today he did refer to the ‘positivity rate’ in Illinois as being ‘too high’. It’s 3.6%, by far a lower than every other state in the Midwest that’s playing football). He did have the audacity to say this:
there are people who would like me simply to make a political decision to allow people to endanger themselves.
Actually, JB, you are making a political decision by not allowing sports or severely limiting participation in others. People are not endangering themselves by playing. Rather, they are by not playing. Do you have any idea of the mental health crisis caused by remote learning and no sports?
He either has no idea or doesn’t care because there is no political reason for him to care. Today was another reminder that Pritzker is not interested in what’s best for children. What matters to him most is placating the union membership that elected him in 2018. He is a Boss, not a leader.
So what’s next? As one coach told me:
This is not about football…there’s definitely a movement that has been created.
Weekend rallies must continue. Do not let the Governor’s tone deaf comments Tuesday slow momentum towards #LetUsPlay. Athletes, parents coaches must continue to speak out. The Illinois High School Association works for its member schools and it has been over this past week. All of the dialogue has emboldened the IHSA to act and to engage with the Governor’s office. Give them reason to continue to do so.
Get litigious. File lawsuits. Exercise your right as a citizen in a democratic society.
This is so much bigger than one sport. Upcoming decisions on basketball and wrestling are forthcoming. Will they play on time? Will they play at all? What about football in February? Or any sports in the spring of 2021? Does the positivity rate have to be zero, Gov? We don’t know and who knows when we will.
So get on a train to Chicago Saturday. Or take a road trip to Springfield.
Shout and scream.
Fight for your freedoms.