NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships: https://t.co/qzKAS4McEI pic.twitter.com/G6XreZx35E
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 12, 2020
In the words of Jay-Z ‘it was all good just a week ago.’
Seriously, how did it come to this so quickly? What began as a virus on the other side of the world that most Americans were joking about has now completely infiltrated our livelihoods, temporarily suspended entertainment and pop culture entirely and could have major ramifications on our economic structure.
As it pertains to sports, leagues went from ‘monitoring the situation closely’ and considering playing games with no spectators to hitting the nuclear button and canceling entire seasons within one day.
Things have unraveled quickly since Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavius. The first domino to fall was the NBA suspending the season, then the NHL and MLB following suit shortly thereafter.
Today may have topped the craziness as the NCAA took the unprecedented path of canceling the men’s and women’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1937. That was followed by the announcement that the NCAA would cancel the remain winter and spring championships.
The immediate result is that all Division-I spring seasons are immediately over after just four weeks. Division-II and Division-III have not made formal announcements but Adelphi, St. Thomas Aquinas and Molloy are local Division-II teams that have cancelled their Florida trips while Farmingdale just got to Florida yesterday and now will head home tomorrow.
Surgery, rehabbing over a year from TJ. Come back feeling great. Then the NCAA cancels the season.. at a loss of words. This is a horrible feeling being a senior. The @NCAA better give seniors everywhere this year of eligibility that we’re losing.
— Bertooo (@DontSleepOn16) March 12, 2020
Seniors are distraught, as the likelihood is that they have unexpectedly played their final game without their parents in the stands.
There is also no way to measure the experiences the kids will forfeit, the wins, achievements and the escape from the responsibilities of the real world. College sports offers that escape for four years.
My reaction is why pull the plug so soon? Had they opted to suspend the season and re-assess in two weeks there’s at least a chance the social distances greatly curtails the number of positive cases. Not to mention, they could’ve just cancelled the road trips and limited the spectators at the games.
Now all eyes are on the NYSPHSAA which governs high school baseball in New York. Earlier today they made an announcement which apparently only applied to the winter season, only to later go back on that and cancel the Long Island Championship altogether.
In speaking to coaches, there has been no official word yet on how they will proceed with the high school season. I was optimistic earlier in the day that they could proceed with limited/no spectators but I have lost some faith in that as the day has gone on. Additionally, the NSCHSAA has already said all games will be suspended through March 30.
All we know right now is a lot of people are feeling the gamut of emotions from confusion to anger because it seems the decision to cancel the NCAA season too premature. Everyone is now on egg shells at the thought of a 2020 spring season without baseball.
As someone that derives his income from it, you know where my heart lies on this…
