No fans allowed - NCAA Tourneys

I can't believe this. Completely ridiculous in my opinion. This is going to be stupid.

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/sto...s-tournament-go-fans

Really? Your post looks like something the IMPOTUS would write. When you think about how much $$$$ the NCAA stands to lose by this move, I think reasonable people would conclude that they must have studied this situation from every possible angle and have concluded this step is necessary to avert a potential disaster. Like it or not, the threat posed by this virus is REAL.

The threat posed by any virus is real. This is no different. It's a bunch of people freaking out. Hundreds of thousands of people get the flu every year. This is beyond me...

(nfm)

My bad...no harm no foul DocBlues or anyone else. Rock Chalk for life. Sorry.

So disappointing. One of the great aspects of March Madness is the atmosphere created by the fans in arenas and how it can affect the momentum swings in games, especially with some of the lesser known conference teams. My initial opinion is that it seem like watching a glorified scrimmage. Hopefully, I will be wrong. Maybe, the networks will add audience noise tracks (only cheapen the situation more).

Yesterday when I heard the news about the cancelling of major sporting events, I realized that this is the coming trend. We Americans have major adjustments to make in our thinking and actions. Let us hope that these precautions help prevent the spread of this disease and ultimately bring us back to all the freedoms we once had.

I think this is the best of the bad options available. Unfortunately, regardless about how you feel about the actual danger this virus poses, it would be irresponsible to go on with large crowds. Even if 99% of the people who get it recover fully, the NCAA would be crushed in the court of public opinion if they allowed or encouraged tens of thousands of fans to gather.

What are the other options?

>Cancel outright: I don't know a single KU fan who would want that the way this team is playing right now.

>Postpone for a month and hope things get better: Too disruptive. Would they even be able to get the venues lined up? Worse (particularly for KU fans) how does taking a month off effect a team's mojo? Not good.

So playing in empty gyms it is. Not ideal, but if we win it all, we'll go down in history as the team that won the year that nobody came to watch.

Also, some of you may have seen this, but Self was quoted saying that it'll be weird hearing the coaches and players talking. Normally the crowd noise covers things (sometimes PG-13-rated things) that are said between coaches and players, coaches and refs, and between players. Might be kind of fun to see what exactly Self is saying when his face turns beet red, lol.

I am truly hoping the NCAA will be able to carry this through. I am thinking that if a player is diagnosed with COVID-19, things could get shut down in a hurry, a la the NBA.