The fight to assign blame and face UCLA football’s withdrawal from the Holiday Bowl

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The fallout from Tuesday’s chaos hit hard and quickly.

It didn’t take long for things to turn into chaos once it emerged that UCLA football (8-4, 6-3) would pull out of the Holiday Bowl against No.18 NC State ( 9-3, 6-2 ACC). The decision was made public just hours before the scheduled kick-off, and fans had to speculate, hurl insults and accusations and try to make sense of the complicated situation at all times.

Understandably, a lot was said by teams, members of the media, executives and more, and as you might expect, not everything was aligned.

Watching NC State coach Dave Doeren try to act like he has no idea it ever was a possibility is partly funny and partly frustrating. Either he really had no idea that Qwuantrezz Knight, Jay Toia, Tyler Manoa and others weren’t playing – which would be a comedic failure in scouting and general awareness on his part – or he more likely ignored these cases in order to naughty UCLA and play the victim.

“I didn’t feel like it was handled very well by their university,” Doeren said. “It would have been great to have been warned that this could happen, so maybe two or three days ago we could have come up with a plan B.… I feel a little underrated there. “

The point is, Doeren might not have been completely wrong, based on the way the Bruins had operated before the game. But acting like there are no casualties on the UCLA side only pushes the false narratives further, and he clearly let his true colors shine through in this moment of great emotion.

To be frank, UCLA was either woefully ignorant or willfully misleading in its handling of COVID-19. All the players who turned out to have the virus announced it themselves, or their parents did – never the team or the school.

Things were also painted in a way that made people think all COVID positives had been left at their homes in Westwood, which also turned out to be wrong. And to add to that, leaving players who tested positive behind and thinking they couldn’t have impacted their teammates they were with in the days leading up to this test shows a deliberate misunderstanding of COVID-19, even two years after the start of the pandemic.

Outbreaks can occur, and with the extreme contagiousness of the omicron variant, it becomes more and more likely. To think it’s in the rearview mirror just because those who tested positive weren’t there at the exact moment is clearly flawed logic.

So, knowing that there was a possibility that COVID could spread across the team, the trip to San Diego went off without a hitch nonetheless. They went to Sea World, they rode a roller coaster, and they went around town, often without masks.

If the players are young adults who can think for themselves, they weren’t the ones who organized all the trips and special events. The school and the folks at the Holiday Bowl were responsible for this, and no one thought about changing those plans and rolling things up when it looked like the game could be in danger. Letting business continue as usual gave the players a pass to let their guard down, all because of the poor leadership of the adults in charge.

It’s simply a byproduct of the college football format, with vacations and gifts offered by balls used as justification to keep student-athletes as amateurs. It’s partly a tradition and partly a compensation, and giving up both was clearly not seen as worth it by whoever was in command, whether it was coach Chip Kelly, athletic director Martin Jarmond, or someone from the top. ‘other.

As several have confirmed, the Bruins were able to play Monday night and Tuesday morning, and stayed that way until the final round of testing results returned later Tuesday. But COVID outbreaks aren’t binary – it’s not like things are 100% okay until they aren’t. There must be an accumulation of cases that grows over time.

Just because these cases weren’t enough to quash the game at the time, doesn’t mean they should have been ignored in the days leading up to the contest. UCLA let things reach the literal point of no return before stepping out and walking away from the bowl, when there was clearly a build-up they had no interest in revealing. Jarmond informed fans and UCLA donors of the decision to back out of the bowl amid a $ 75 brunch, which was long after most people on both sides had already made it to San Diego. , rather than giving a warning just in advance to pay fans and students that it was a possibility.

Following the string of cases throughout the week, those watching the situation closely could have told you that there was a chance this could happen. But by keeping its mouth shut and not legitimizing these conversations, UCLA chose not to endorse these previous concerns and instead sell the idea that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about.

So no, the players didn’t vote to withdraw from the game – when NC State wide receiver Thayer Thomas brought that up, everyone from quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to defensive lineman Martin Andrus Jr. l ‘applauded, and rightly so. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, it was the school’s medical staff who made the final call on the Bruins’ ability to compete, in accordance with Pac-12 policies.

However, what allowed Thomas’ conspiracy theory and other lies and misconceptions to gain momentum was UCLA’s lack of communication and accountability throughout the week and all. throughout the season as a whole.

UCLA Athletics provided the media with weekly statistics on COVID-19 test results throughout the 2020-2021 school year, disclosing everything from the number of PCR tests and antigens to the number of positives and which teams were from these positives.

The policy was revoked in the summer of 2021, and that veil of mystery only thickened when Kelly made it clear that it was going to be as difficult and vague as possible throughout the season in this regard. which concerns the unavailability of players. Whether it was a positive COVID test, an ACL tear, already confirmed wrist surgery, or academic ineligibility, Kelly would answer every question with the same answer – any player who didn’t. was not there was simply “unavailable”.

Kelly training with the media has often been overlooked by fans as drivel and pointless bickering, but that’s where it can lead. Instead of being open about who is in training and who is not in training and who is battling an infectious disease that could put the whole team at risk, he has chosen to keep everything behind. closed, and the sports department took the same position, either by choice or by proxy.

One of the hazards UCLA Athletics has worked with this year has been to categorize all COVID-19 issues the same, announcing that teams are dealing with protocols rather than confirming positive tests like they did in the past. As a result, when ESPN contacted Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli about the Holiday Bowl situation, they were left to make their own inference from the statement released by the team.

“The UCLA statement makes it very clear that their inability to play was due to the protocols in place and not the virus itself,” Carparelli sent in a text message. “I feel bad for both teams and for the great people at the Holiday Bowl who have worked so hard all year for today. This continues to be a very sad and frustrating situation.”

As someone unfamiliar with the way the team handled things throughout the year, Carparelli mistakenly believed that the “protocols” and “the virus itself” were mutually exclusive. Carparelli is someone in a position of power who has a lot of influence and attraction, just like ESPN, so when someone in this place slips and blames UCLA’s health and safety policies, it’s going to stick. .

It’s not just NC State fans who are mad at UCLA – many Bruin fans have turned their anger on their own agenda, and the whole national conversation centers on whether UCLA is cowardly, weak, or devious. While these exact accusations are incorrect, the point is that UCLA is demolishing itself in the battle of public perception.

Blame the sports department, blame the NCAA, blame the college amateur model, or blame the staff for cultivating an environment in which speech seemed destined to break that way.

Don’t blame the athletes, young men and their families who have undoubtedly given their all and sacrificed a lot over the past few months to get to this place to begin with. If it were up to them, as they have said time and time again, they would have played.

However, the global pandemic is still burning hot and not everyone is treating it like it is. Cases are cases, and with the way some variations are spreading, the cancellation itself may have been inevitable.

But with the way things have been handled on many different levels, things got ugly quickly, and Tuesday’s debacle will be seen as a stain on several people’s records until more information is revealed. prove otherwise.

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