COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith became a sounding board for outraged Buckeye fans after the Big Ten’s initial decision to cancel the 2020 fall football season. One email arrived early on the morning of Aug. 12 — less than 24 hours after league presidents and chancellors pulled the plug on a fall season due to health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. The writer, a parent of an OSU football player, asked “Why are we not fighting more for these guys?” Smith’s weariness and dejection poured out at 6:58 a.m. “Sleepless nights have a new definition for me, sleep is no longer an element of that scenario … my brain, and heart will not stop,” Smith wrote. “The anger, frustration and pain of where we are takes me to places I do not want to be. “My entire career has focused on one thing — our…
Continue Reading: Ohio State emails and texts reveal reaction to Big Ten football cancellation: Frustration, friction and fanatics
