NCAA Tournament & COVID-19

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RamblinRed

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Article from Pat Forde on the NCAA's decision to not have fans and how they arrived at it. Includes quotes from interview with Mark Emmert

https://www.si.com/college/2020/03/11/ncaa-tournament-no-fans-coronavirus-mark-emmert-interview

Couple of nuggets
“The one thing we have to make sure of is that these young men and women get to compete in a championship,” the NCAA president said in an exclusive sit-down interview with Sports Illustrated and The Athletic. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for them, and many of them will only get one crack at this. So if we can do the games without fans, it’s hardly ideal. But it’s way better than not having the championship games.”

Final Four venue. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the massive NFL stadium where the final weekend of the men’s tournament was to be played, is almost certainly out. “Mercedes-Benz, with 250 people in it, is pretty cavernous,” Emmert said. ”Even an NBA arena would be a pretty big venue for a small amount of folks.” There are a number of smaller options in the Atlanta area, with Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600) perhaps being the most ideal.

  • What constitutes “essential staff.” That will include the number of people necessary to open and maintain a venue, run a scorer’s table and a scoreboard, medical personnel and at least a minimal level of security. But who else? Clearly, broadcast partners CBS and Turner Sports will have court-side seats to broadcast the games — and now those broadcasts will be more important than ever, since very few people will be watching games live and in person. As for other media representation, Emmert said, “We have to have media there.” But how many media members and from which outlets is still under discussion, he added.
  • What constitutes “limited family.” Emmert said this also is still being worked out. He was adamant about mothers and fathers being able to see their children compete, but quantifying the definition of “family” is a front-burner task that will be finalized by Selection Sunday, Emmert said.
  • Tickets that already have been purchased will be refunded.
 

TheSilasSonRising

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RamblinRed said:
Article from Pat Forde on the NCAA's decision to not have fans and how they arrived at it. Includes quotes from interview with Mark Emmert

https://www.si.com/college/2020/03/11/ncaa-tournament-no-fans-coronavirus-mark-emmert-interview

Couple of nuggets
“The one thing we have to make sure of is that these young men and women get to compete in a championship,” the NCAA president said in an exclusive sit-down interview with Sports Illustrated and The Athletic. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for them, and many of them will only get one crack at this. So if we can do the games without fans, it’s hardly ideal. But it’s way better than not having the championship games.”

Final Four venue. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the massive NFL stadium where the final weekend of the men’s tournament was to be played, is almost certainly out. “Mercedes-Benz, with 250 people in it, is pretty cavernous,” Emmert said. ”Even an NBA arena would be a pretty big venue for a small amount of folks.” There are a number of smaller options in the Atlanta area, with Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600) perhaps being the most ideal.

  • What constitutes “essential staff.” That will include the number of people necessary to open and maintain a venue, run a scorer’s table and a scoreboard, medical personnel and at least a minimal level of security. But who else? Clearly, broadcast partners CBS and Turner Sports will have court-side seats to broadcast the games — and now those broadcasts will be more important than ever, since very few people will be watching games live and in person. As for other media representation, Emmert said, “We have to have media there.” But how many media members and from which outlets is still under discussion, he added.
  • What constitutes “limited family.” Emmert said this also is still being worked out. He was adamant about mothers and fathers being able to see their children compete, but quantifying the definition of “family” is a front-burner task that will be finalized by Selection Sunday, Emmert said.
  • Tickets that already have been purchased will be refunded.
Click to expand...

The very only way GT should cooperate with this is if the NCAA contributes enough to fully finish funding of AI2020.
 
orientalnc

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I am hearing a rumor in NC that the NCAA is still trying to get a handle on the issues with the tournament. What do you do if a player tests positive? Or a coach? Clearly the rest of that team is exposed. Can they still play?
 
chris975d

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orientalnc said:
I am hearing a rumor in NC that the NCAA is still trying to get a handle on the issues with the tournament. What do you do if a player tests positive? Or a coach? Clearly the rest of that team is exposed. Can they still play?
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that it’s things like that that will lead them to cancel the tournament in the next few days. I don’t think they can take that risk. Especially not with the NBA players testing positive and the game last night being called just before tip off.
 

YlJacket

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Only Emert could make this decision to not have fans at a tournament a week away in such a way that he left his conference partners and their conference tournaments hanging out to dry with games going on with fans in attendance - then having to scramble to shut down fans tomorrow. Little co-ordination would go a long way.
 
GTJake

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Crazy-Crazy goings-on ... but if played as is, they still have the TV revenue, which is huge.
I'm selfish and shallow, I just want it played so that we have no question that our post-season ban is removed for next year ...
 

RamblinRed

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Gtbowhunter90 said:
I was also supposed to be in North Carolina tomorrow for the Southeastern Wildlife Conclave. It was going to be a great opportunity for me to hand out resumes and compete for my school. It's been cancelled after months of preparation. Upset is an understatement. I have to wait another calendar year to compete now.
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I feel for you.
My son's Robotics team qualified for the World Championships that are supposed to take place in Houston in April. Hasn't been cancelled yet, but I am expecting it to be at some point. Supposed to be over 700 teams from over 40 countries.
 
crut

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YlJacket said:
Only Emert could make this decision to not have fans at a tournament a week away in such a way that he left his conference partners and their conference tournaments hanging out to dry with games going on with fans in attendance - then having to scramble to shut down fans tomorrow. Little co-ordination would go a long way.
Click to expand...

Lol what? This is a a poor attempt to take a dig at someone. Yesterday was the first day anything major was getting cancelled/limited. It wasn't like Emmert was the slacker that decided after everyone else. He actually was out in front of organizations like the NBA, who probably overreacted. Its just unlucky.
 

YlJacket

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crut said:
Lol what? This is a a poor attempt to take a dig at someone. Yesterday was the first day anything major was getting cancelled/limited. It wasn't like Emmert was the slacker that decided after everyone else. He actually was out in front of organizations like the NBA, who probably overreacted. Its just unlucky.
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How hard is it to let the conferences know what you are going to do so you do it in concert?
 
crut

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YlJacket said:
How hard is it to let the conferences know what you are going to do so you do it in concert?
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Well the NCAA doesn't have jurisdiction over the conference tourneys... maybe they wanted to leave it up to the conferences to make their own call. NCAA's responsibility right now is the NCAA tournament, and the conferences their conference tournaments. I don't see why it matters that they announced at different times, especially since none of the announcements came before the start of the conference tourneys.
 
Gtbowhunter90

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RamblinRed said:
I feel for you.
My son's Robotics team qualified for the World Championships that are supposed to take place in Houston in April. Hasn't been cancelled yet, but I am expecting it to be at some point. Supposed to be over 700 teams from over 40 countries.
Click to expand...
Oof.. thats really unfortunate
 
Gtbowhunter90

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melloace said:
Big 10, SEC, AAC tourny all canceled within 5 minutes of each other. Might be the end of March Madness for the year. MVP CJP and ATS for making the call to take the off season ban this year.
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How crazy is that really...... I mean if they cancel the thing, welp Ban served boys!!!!
 

lauraee

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melloace said:
Big 10, SEC, AAC tourny all canceled within 5 minutes of each other. Might be the end of March Madness for the year. MVP CJP and ATS for making the call to take the off season ban this year.
Click to expand...

Not to make light of covid19, but as far as the post season is concerned & the ncaa karma is a *****.
 
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