Originally Posted by
ZagDad84
I entirely disagree. I spent this morning listen to the sports pundits totally trash the NCAA for not immediately suspending or canceling the conference tournaments and the subsequent NCAA tournament. Some of them had perfectly valid arguments as to why the tournaments needed to shut down immediately.
Many large state universities have entirely shutdown entire campuses and have gone to online classes impacting tens of thousands of students. Ohio and Pennsylvania have suspended ALL K-12 classes for the immediate future, all in an effort to prevent the expansion of the pandemic virus.
We all know of the two NBA players (so far) who have tested positive. How about the official, refereeing the CAA tournament who just tested positive. You simply can't guarantee the safety of your own team, staff, coaches, etc. let alone three (3) other teams and their staff from all over the country as well as the officials. Between families, classmates, friends, co-workers, people you come into contact with in the happenstance of your job (think teachers, workers in the food industry, delivery people, etc. there will have been tens of thousands of contacts in the couple of weeks before the tournament with people outside of the four teams, coaches, staff, etc. You simply cannot put they teams and staff in a bubble for a couple of weeks, play the games and then put them back in the bubble for another week.
They interviewed Geno Auriemma and he listed many of the same items that Sylean mentioned, however, he said, all he had to do was think if one of his players or staff caught the virus and unknowingly passed it along to a family member with a compromised immune system that passed away from the virus. The guilt that would be associated with that loss would never go away, for the player, the coaching staff or the team. We lost one of our own for a basketball game.
Yes, the seniors who did not get to play this year (some may never have played and now never will play in the NCAA tournament), teams like Portland who finally after 20+ years finally makes it back into the tournament with their lone senior who now will never get to play in the NCAA tournament. How about people like Sabrina Ionesco and Ruthy Hebard who passed up hundreds of thousands of dollars (in salaries and endorsements) to come back to Oregon for the sole purpose of trying to win Oregon's first Wbb national championship and now that chance is taken away. How many people in the food service and hotel industries are going to lose their jobs because the tens of thousands of visitors that are now not coming to the regionals and final fours. This goes way, way beyond mere basketball games, teams, and coaching staffs. Many, many young ladies and men, teams and coaching staffs are going to pay a price for this decision, but in the perspective of life and death, it really is a small price to pay.
Gonzaga itself is really pretty lucky in that their seniors have gotten to play in one or more WCC tournaments and one or more NCAA tournaments. Yes, they did not get to officially host this year, but at least they "earned" the right to host and the team looks to be even stronger next year. It does not help JL and KC with their disappointment, but they have many glorious achievements that they can look back on this year and be very proud of.
I for one, am extremely proud of this year's Lady Zag team and their accomplishments, and this decision does not define this team, the coaching staff and the rest of the athletic department.
Great Job Lady Zags,
We will see you next year.
Zagdad
March Sadness
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