Thought this was pretty interesting. I'm all for anything that helps inform the fans on a weekly basis.
The Big Ten has asked the NCAA to consider developing a national college football injury reporting system in reaction to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows states to legalize sports gambling.
What do ya'll think?
Such a move would alter one of the most ingrained and long-standing traditions in college football -- coaches concealing injuries.
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Man, Justin Fuente is gonna be pissed....
The Hipaa rights of players should always supercede the desires of the gambling public without exception.
says the guy with inside info on player injuries.
this kind of thing is necessary to avoid 'inside betting' situations
There are already plenty of opportunities for "insider" betting situations. It's not as though most injury info doesn't leak anyway.
And honestly how often do injuries (when known beforehand) move the line that much? Or how many times does other leaked info turn out to be consequential with regard to the line or the outcome of the game?
The medical privacy rights of EVERYONE are important, not just the players on a person's favorite team. No one should have their personal medical history released to the public.
But no one is talking about announcing whether a player has a genetic predisposition to colon cancer, or whether someone has had an abortion. This is about whether a player's collarbone injury will be healed in time to play the upcoming week. Coaches will be against this, not because they are worried about their players' privacy, but because they won't want to give up a competitive advantage.
When you play sports for a major college or in the pros, you are choosing to be a public figure. No one makes you do it. That's why coaches and players have to do interviews, and that's why disclosing injuries that are related to your sport is not an invasion of privacy.
Would you say the same thing about Johnny Manziel's bipolar disorder or something like it that caused a kid to miss a game? I might agree with you on real football injuries, but the line can get pretty grey.
couldn't the report just be boiled down to your typical "Out, Questionable, Probable" breakdown? Why even go into the nature of the injury? Of course, if someone is listed as Questionable or Out then they start with no sign of injury, I'm sure the betting public would be pretty pissed.
That's a legitimate point: Where is the line?
But I think common sense can prevail here. I've never seen mental illness in an injury report. Professional sports have been doing injury reports for decades now, and I don't think anyone is too concerned about invasion of privacy.
There using gambling as an excuse. I call bs.
I agree w cold blood.
Is this for the good of the amateur athletes the NCAA is supposed to be protecting? If the NCAA passes this is just more proof they are more interested in profits than what they were put in place to do, and weakens their own standing that it is an amateur organization. Why the hell does the BIG think this is a good idea?
I don't have strong feelings either way but I think it could be done without invading the players' privacy. Couldn't the rule just require that on certain days the must coach disclose the result - i.e. day-to-day, probable, out for one week, etc. - without disclosing the actual injury? That's the potential compromise I see here.
You can easily give out probability of a player being able to play without giving out HIPPA protected information.
It could be interpreted that providing a status is an indication of some sort of injury or illness is against HIPAA rules.
They're changing the time frame for the release of information, not changing the information that's released.
If it's not a HIPAA violation when it's released at game time, it wouldn't be if it were released earlier, either.
What I'm trying to say is I could make the argument that releasing any information, regardless of time frame, about a player's health status, even in the vaguest of terms could be a HIPAA violation. Especially if a player objects to the release of such information.
HIPAA only applies to insurance companies and healthcare providers. VTAD may count as a provider under HIPAA definitions but even then there will be a waiver every player signs (I bet they already sign this type of wavier) before they're allowed on a team.
That makes sense and you're probably right about the waiver.
Anything that a P5 college football conference wants, I don't want.
Particularly if it's the Big 10 or the SEC (conferences with more money and staff members). They clearly feel it will give them an edge.
National championships?
Only means money to the schools
This has nothing to do with the fans. This is all about strategic advantage for the coaches. The teams that will be for this are going to be the ones with more staff who can analyze the information to figure out how to use it to their advantage.
Just make it required on Thursday or Friday after gameplanning and practice is over.
I have thoughts on this....
Concussions keep getting thrown in the secret bin, and players get rushed back to play
Kids play with injuries when they shouldn't, sometimes by their own volition, other times by coaches
Now, I'm sure the parents of the players are aware of injuries, and that should be the only people who know the details
On the flip side, when you have players die in practice from heart conditions, sickle cell, or concussions, it's best to keep a going track of injuries. If there are serious injuries that could lead to a player's death, that should become public if only for the sake of the community keeping said player safe, such as coaches knowing a sickle cell player's tendencies. That may not reach public consumption, but more than a couple of folks should know.
Then there's the public university factor. Are these amateurs? That is a debate for another thread. But if they aren't, then their health may be entitled to FOIA.
This proposal is not about caring for the athletes, it's about informing other teams/the public of injuries, like they do in the pros.
FOIA is about requesting information that the Federal government (i.e., the taxpayer) paid to generate. Also has nothing to do with college sports.
I can see your point about tracking college sports injuries for research, but that could be done without identifying the players and without informing other teams before a game. I'm pretty sure that's not what's driving this initiative, given they even say it's related to the recent legalization of sports betting.
Just go the hockey route and only disclose them as upper/lower body injuries. Still gets the point across without giving away too many specifics.
You don't even have to disclose the type of injury. Only if they're capable of playing due to injury or not.
That has been what Fuente has been releasing anyway.