Starting Tomorrow No Fans AT Big Ten Tournament
Why play any games in any sport? So the players safety doesn't count. Can't wait for the look back when then this is over in a few weeks. Although the media won't report accurately so I will lean to the medical community for balance and facts.
I hate to break it to you, but the medical community is not predicting this will be over in a few weeks.
Medical school professor here. Start thinking on the scale of a few months, not a few weeks.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^
You, uh, know that there are medical doctors working for these teams, right?
March 11th, 2020 at 11:11 PM ^
The point is not to quarantine everybody, just minimize the opportunity for rapid spread through big crowds. The games themselves can be relatively safe.
I feel for the athletes who have prepped for this moment and will have a very different experience. It's still about the W, and I guess we'll see who is internally motivated.
I can't fault the decision given the current information. There are some things that are more important in the macro picture, and it's a good lesson in how to act as a responsible member of society.
I'd love to go, but don't really want to put my elderly family members at risk by being a potential disease vector. I'll take a few more years of Mom and Dad over a sparse March Madness this year.
TV rating will be through the roof! Advertisers knows what’s up.
not sure that 15,000 extra fans watching at home is going to move the needle in the early rounds.
So it's gonna feel like the women's tournament OH JAMES THAT WAS NOT NICE AT ALL :(
Tom Hanks and his wife tested positive. So did Rudy Gobert.
I think what we're seeing right now with no fans in stands sorta proves the "boycott the Lions by not going to the game so the Fords will sell" won't work as TV contracts is where the money is at.
How odd would this be if it happened during football season? Imagine no fans in the big house for a Michigan game.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
Just wait, COVID 20 will be out then and it will shut down America again! Setting an awful precedent here with this ridiculous mass hysteria! Seriously, we’ve been through SARS, H1N1, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc and we never reacted this way. We’re going to destroy the economy for what would be a common cold to 95% of the people that get it!
March 11th, 2020 at 11:20 PM ^
This is an accurate take. Look at the science of this virus compared to others. It is such a hoax compared to SARS which killed way more normal healthy people. This virus is killing the same folks as the flu. Sad anyone gets this virus but PLEASE STOP THIS INSANITY AND PARANOIA!
The issue is that COVID is very highly contagious and you are infectious before you start showing symptoms, which means that it can spread to lots of people easily if you have big crowds of highly concentrated people. The worry is not about the people who get it and are going to be sick for a week, it's because they may be interacting with people who are older, immuno-compromised, or what have you. If it starts spreading at a wild pace, we could end up in a place like Italy (where the whole country is shut down), rather than just canceling basketball games, which is why those games (or at least the crowds who will be there) are being cancelled.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:35 PM ^
Fred Hoiberg left the Nebraska/IU game due to being visably sick on the bench. No media access to Nebraska team after the game. Hopefully just the flu but something to monitor.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:54 PM ^
You will hear a lot of squeaking sneakers and loud ball thump dribble echos on the floor, may be even be able to hear rim rattles.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:00 PM ^
The B10 Tournament will be canceled before Michigan tips-off tomorrow. The NCAA Tournament will be canceled before the end of the day tomorrow.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:14 PM ^
NBA is suspended. NCAA continues to exploit students athletes. Fanless games doesn't really protect the players. Maybe the B1G tournament is OK but March Madness will not be safe with all that travel. It appears this virus loves to fly on an airplane.
The problem is, I guarantee some player on a major team is already sick or will become sick soon. And once they find out, they will have to quarantine the entire team.
So what do you do if you have to quarantine a #1 seed team mid-tournament, either due to them having a sick player, or one of their opponents turning out to have had a sick player? Just have them forfeit? That will be ridiculous.
I don't see how the NCAA Tournament will go on. It will be postponed, then cancelled. Sucks, but unless we have the amazing luck of having 68 teams with NO players getting sick for the next several weeks, this whole thing is a ticking time bomb.