It was expected, and now it is official: The Big Ten — along with the AAC and SEC — has canceled its conference tournament.
The Big Ten and the AAC have both cancelled their tournaments, according to statements put out by the leagues.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) March 12, 2020
The dominoes have been falling rapidly, and when it was reported on Thursday morning that Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell tested positive for coronavirus — as a probable and/or partial result of teammate Rudy Gobert’s appallingly irresponsible behavior in touching various objects in settings used by all Utah Jazz players — it seemed like a foregone conclusion that all the college basketball conference tournaments would be canceled. It was just a matter of time.
The ACC and league commissioner John Swofford held a press conference roughly an hour and a half before the scheduled start of ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, in which they still claimed that games would go on as scheduled, but the Big Ten, AAC and SEC put a halt to their tournaments before the first games of the day.
You can call this an overreaction, and I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong if you do. However, what I can say — and what is important to note — is that if you ask doctors, hospitals, or other medical facilities in your locality, the chances are very good that one of two things exists right now:
- The doctor/hospital/facility does not know what exactly it should be doing, relative to various federal or state guidelines, through a chain of command involving input from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Even if the doctor/hospital/facility DOES know what it should be doing, it doesn’t have the resources or materials to provide full coronavirus testing to all people who might have the virus, and it doesn’t have the capacity in terms of beds and other bulk items needed to sufficiently quarantine patients and provide large-scale logistical layouts which can balance treatment of the virus with social distancing practices in the workplace.
In other words, this is not entirely a verdict about the severity of coronavirus on all members of the population. This is also a response to the reality that national and regional health systems and organizations are scrambling to figure out how to resolve the problem. The UNCERTAINTY which is so pervasive in this larger situation is the true reason for canceling large gatherings and taking this extended break from sporting events.
If we are in a much better place with coronavirus management in three weeks, we can revisit all of these issues. For now, the entire sports world — tennis, soccer, the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball, and the NFL — is being cautious and protective.
As much as it does indeed suck that we can’t watch tons of tournament games today or next week, it’s much better to not have to live through uncertainty wondering if we’re doing the right thing or not.
Sports leagues and college basketball are doing the right thing. Let’s see where we are in three weeks. No one will get hurt… hopefully.