Photo by: Austin Michaels
Sports and Society Wait To Return To Normalcy As Virus Upends Daily Living
March 13, 2020 01:11 PM | Men's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – And just like that the season is over for the West Virginia University men's basketball team. What began in a steamy gymnasium in Madrid, Spain, back in early August ended abruptly in hotel rooms in Kansas City, Missouri.
However, this sudden ending didn't come on some miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer, or even a few moments afterward when instant replay showed that it happened after the horn sounded, but instead by drips and drabs of information, each nugget more startling than the prior one.
You got an immediate sense this year's Big 12 Tournament was going to be different upon entering the Sprint Center when each person was handed a pink sheet of paper outlining the conference's safety protocol concerning the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Big 12-branded antibacterial wipes were made available in the media room, and the dais where the student-athletes and coaches sat to do interviews was a good distance away from their questioners.
Locker room access was strictly prohibited.
Out on the floor, media members were required to remain away from the court, and the normal time coaches spent visiting with the television people beforehand was done at a distance in a cordoned off area at center court.
West Virginia's short practice session in the arena went off without a hitch, and afterward, instead of hanging around outside the locker room to give interviews, players Jermaine Haley, Chase Harler, Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver were ushered into the media room in a more controlled setting. This method is really limiting because it's much more difficult to get players to be candid when they are sitting in front of microphones with a bunch of cameras pointed at them.
It's the same deal with coaches, although Bob Huggins has done this a time or two during his 38-year coaching career and he knows the drill. He told a funny story about how ESPN announcer Fran Fraschilla jumped up on his chair and began yelling "Hield, Hield, Hield" after Buddy Hield's half-court shot seemingly defeated West Virginia here four years ago.
But Hield's basket was waved off and the next day at practice, the West Virginia players greeted Fraschilla by saying "Hield, Hield, Hield … no good!"
That had everybody laughing when Huggins got up and exited the dais.
Soon after that things began happening.
At 11:30 a.m., Rutgers announced it was closing athletic events to its fans. An hour later, the CBI tournament announced it was cancelling play for this year.
A report posted on the Wall Street Journal's website at 1:16 p.m. indicated Major League Baseball was exploring alternate sites for its games.
Thirty four minutes later, the Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team revealed it was closing its home games to fans. Then it was announced that two Tulsa football players were being quarantined for possible exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
After that came the announcement that the Golden State Warriors were closing home games to fans. Word then came down that Seattle's XFL game against Los Angeles would be played without fans, followed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine confirming NCAA Tournament games played in Ohio would go on without fans.
At 2:58 p.m., the U.S. State Department announced the banning of all non-essential travel. Two minutes later, the Ivy League revealed the cancellation of all spring sporting events.
Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., Penn State and Washington announced the closure of all athletic events to fans, followed by an advisory issued by the NCAA prohibiting fans from attending all sporting events.
Just before 5 p.m. EDT, Italy announced it was shutting down all commercial activity in the country.
In Kansas City, the Big 12 announced, following Wednesday night's two first round games, all remaining contests would be played in the Sprint Center with only family, friends, credentialed media and essential staff permitted in the arena.
WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons issued a statement supporting the Big 12's decision shortly afterward.
A couple hours later, it was announced that the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game in Oklahoma City was being postponed. At 9:27 p.m. EDT it was revealed that Utah center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the Coronavirus and videos of him touching microphones and spreading germs in the media room earlier in the week were becoming available on social media.
Four minutes later, at 9:31 p.m., the NBA announced it was suspending its season and soon afterward, images of an extremely ill Fred Hoiberg sitting on the bench during Nebraska's loss to Indiana in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament were going viral.
When the WVU team woke up on Thursday morning, it was still preparing to play Oklahoma in an empty Sprint Center.
But that soon changed when word began circulating that NCAA was considering canceling the NCAA Tournament and all of its winter and spring championship events. The conferences were the first to take action when all of the Power 5s opted to suspend their basketball tournaments.
The Big East was the only conference to begin play on Thursday morning but it ceased action at halftime of the St. John's-Creighton game at Madison Square Garden.
Then, at 4:21 p.m., the NCAA announced it was cancelling all winter and spring championship events for the 2020 season.
Therefore, the basketballs, uniforms and sneakers are being put away for the year.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed for our team, our staff and all of Mountaineer Nation, particularly in light as to how our team responded so well in recent games and practices after a tough stretch of the season," Huggins said in a prepared statement. "However, this is a very serious matter globally, and the health and safety of all involved is the priority."
Suspensions and cancellations are not unprecedented in WVU history. Hurricanes and natural disasters have forced the postponement of football games, and West Virginia's football game at Maryland in 2001 was postponed two weeks because of 9-11.
A WVU football game against Furman was delayed a week due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and three baseball seasons were canceled during World War II. Also, the football team West Virginia had assembled during World War II was basically a junior varsity squad comprised of freshmen and those who were not yet drafted into military service.
And of course, the outbreak of the Spanish flu in 1918 combined with World War I forced the cancellation of an entire WVU football season. That virus infected 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 to 50 million.
So to avoid anything even remotely like that happening again, large public gatherings throughout the world are being suspended until the health care industry can get a better handle on this contagious and dangerous virus.
Sitting on an airplane with a 100-some-plus people, all of whom had contact with others during their time in Kansas City, drives home the fact that regular, everyday human interaction exponentially increases the chances of being exposed to pathogens.
"While everyone is disappointed, based on the information provided by health care officials, this is the right call," Lyons noted.
It is the right call, even if it took Wednesday's drip, drip, drip of events to reach this conclusion.
When this virus runs its course athletic competitions will once again resume - just as they did way back in 1919.
However, this sudden ending didn't come on some miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer, or even a few moments afterward when instant replay showed that it happened after the horn sounded, but instead by drips and drabs of information, each nugget more startling than the prior one.
You got an immediate sense this year's Big 12 Tournament was going to be different upon entering the Sprint Center when each person was handed a pink sheet of paper outlining the conference's safety protocol concerning the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Big 12-branded antibacterial wipes were made available in the media room, and the dais where the student-athletes and coaches sat to do interviews was a good distance away from their questioners.
Locker room access was strictly prohibited.
Out on the floor, media members were required to remain away from the court, and the normal time coaches spent visiting with the television people beforehand was done at a distance in a cordoned off area at center court.
West Virginia's short practice session in the arena went off without a hitch, and afterward, instead of hanging around outside the locker room to give interviews, players Jermaine Haley, Chase Harler, Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver were ushered into the media room in a more controlled setting. This method is really limiting because it's much more difficult to get players to be candid when they are sitting in front of microphones with a bunch of cameras pointed at them.
It's the same deal with coaches, although Bob Huggins has done this a time or two during his 38-year coaching career and he knows the drill. He told a funny story about how ESPN announcer Fran Fraschilla jumped up on his chair and began yelling "Hield, Hield, Hield" after Buddy Hield's half-court shot seemingly defeated West Virginia here four years ago.
But Hield's basket was waved off and the next day at practice, the West Virginia players greeted Fraschilla by saying "Hield, Hield, Hield … no good!"
That had everybody laughing when Huggins got up and exited the dais.
Soon after that things began happening.
At 11:30 a.m., Rutgers announced it was closing athletic events to its fans. An hour later, the CBI tournament announced it was cancelling play for this year.
A report posted on the Wall Street Journal's website at 1:16 p.m. indicated Major League Baseball was exploring alternate sites for its games.
Thirty four minutes later, the Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team revealed it was closing its home games to fans. Then it was announced that two Tulsa football players were being quarantined for possible exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
After that came the announcement that the Golden State Warriors were closing home games to fans. Word then came down that Seattle's XFL game against Los Angeles would be played without fans, followed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine confirming NCAA Tournament games played in Ohio would go on without fans.
At 2:58 p.m., the U.S. State Department announced the banning of all non-essential travel. Two minutes later, the Ivy League revealed the cancellation of all spring sporting events.
Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., Penn State and Washington announced the closure of all athletic events to fans, followed by an advisory issued by the NCAA prohibiting fans from attending all sporting events.
Just before 5 p.m. EDT, Italy announced it was shutting down all commercial activity in the country.
In Kansas City, the Big 12 announced, following Wednesday night's two first round games, all remaining contests would be played in the Sprint Center with only family, friends, credentialed media and essential staff permitted in the arena.
WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons issued a statement supporting the Big 12's decision shortly afterward.
A couple hours later, it was announced that the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game in Oklahoma City was being postponed. At 9:27 p.m. EDT it was revealed that Utah center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the Coronavirus and videos of him touching microphones and spreading germs in the media room earlier in the week were becoming available on social media.
Four minutes later, at 9:31 p.m., the NBA announced it was suspending its season and soon afterward, images of an extremely ill Fred Hoiberg sitting on the bench during Nebraska's loss to Indiana in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament were going viral.
When the WVU team woke up on Thursday morning, it was still preparing to play Oklahoma in an empty Sprint Center.
But that soon changed when word began circulating that NCAA was considering canceling the NCAA Tournament and all of its winter and spring championship events. The conferences were the first to take action when all of the Power 5s opted to suspend their basketball tournaments.
The Big East was the only conference to begin play on Thursday morning but it ceased action at halftime of the St. John's-Creighton game at Madison Square Garden.
Then, at 4:21 p.m., the NCAA announced it was cancelling all winter and spring championship events for the 2020 season.
Therefore, the basketballs, uniforms and sneakers are being put away for the year.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed for our team, our staff and all of Mountaineer Nation, particularly in light as to how our team responded so well in recent games and practices after a tough stretch of the season," Huggins said in a prepared statement. "However, this is a very serious matter globally, and the health and safety of all involved is the priority."Suspensions and cancellations are not unprecedented in WVU history. Hurricanes and natural disasters have forced the postponement of football games, and West Virginia's football game at Maryland in 2001 was postponed two weeks because of 9-11.
A WVU football game against Furman was delayed a week due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and three baseball seasons were canceled during World War II. Also, the football team West Virginia had assembled during World War II was basically a junior varsity squad comprised of freshmen and those who were not yet drafted into military service.
And of course, the outbreak of the Spanish flu in 1918 combined with World War I forced the cancellation of an entire WVU football season. That virus infected 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 to 50 million.
So to avoid anything even remotely like that happening again, large public gatherings throughout the world are being suspended until the health care industry can get a better handle on this contagious and dangerous virus.
Sitting on an airplane with a 100-some-plus people, all of whom had contact with others during their time in Kansas City, drives home the fact that regular, everyday human interaction exponentially increases the chances of being exposed to pathogens.
"While everyone is disappointed, based on the information provided by health care officials, this is the right call," Lyons noted.
It is the right call, even if it took Wednesday's drip, drip, drip of events to reach this conclusion.
When this virus runs its course athletic competitions will once again resume - just as they did way back in 1919.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballTV Highlights: WVU 74, UCF 67
Saturday, February 14
Ross Hodge | UCF Postgame
Saturday, February 14
United Bank Playbook: UCF Preview
Friday, February 13
Ross Hodge | UCF Preview
Thursday, February 12
