Chances NCAA Tournament Gets Cancelled?

[muguru]

Dan Wetzel
@DanWetzel
·
14m
From the NCAA on if the NCAA Tourney is cancelled: "The NCAA has a business-interruption insurance policy and reserves that would partially cover losses." Can assure no one in college athletics wants this cancelled.

[MUBurrow]

Since everyone thinks I'm being over the top with this...Now THIS I 100% agree with. Why?? because someone(a player) tested positive for it. This makes all the sense . the world to do under those circumstances. That's why I'm a little perplexed by the decision to possibly cancel the tournament. If a player or Coach or someone associated with it has or does test positive, then 100% agree with the decision. But right now we are "well but what if". NO ONE that has already tested positive for Corona would be in any of the arenas, I can guarantee you that. It's being cautious, but it's also a lot of running scared right now, NO ONE can deny that.

This will happen like, tomorrow. No need to wait.  No reason to put kids in harm's way for this thing.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Hoiberg to the hospital.

Seriously. 

[Johnny B]

How far does this go??? Nba mlb any concert delayed? Schools shut down. Full fledged quarintine in 72 hours?? Place your bets. Jesus the speed of this is just whacko

[GB Warrior]

Dan Wetzel
@DanWetzel
·
14m
From the NCAA on if the NCAA Tourney is cancelled: "The NCAA has a business-interruption insurance policy and reserves that would partially cover losses." Can assure no one in college athletics wants this cancelled.

What about the student-athletes?

[BM1090]

Hoiberg to the hospital.

Seriously.

Yeah. It's gonna be called off. Hope I'm wrong.

[Cfollow]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw

Feel free to educate yourself. This virus is no joke pay particular attention to the fact that breathing air of infected individuals is the primary source of transmission along with the anecdotal evidence from Italy that this is NOT primarily an old persons disease. I'll suffer fools when it comes to basketball knowledge but not when it comes to public health. Ant-vaccers log off now!

[muguru]

Hoiberg to the hospital.

Seriously.

I have a very simple solution for this IF he has corona virus...don't allow any B10 teams in the NCAA tournament since they would be the one's that could be exposed having played nebraska. problem solved. 

[MUCam]

The comparison to the seasonal flu using absolute numbers is way too simplistic. It really comes down to two variables: mortality rate times number of people infected. In light of the lack of effective treatments at this point (unlike the seasonal flu), they cannot control the mortality rate. As of last week, the mortality rate (deaths divided by known infection) was 3.4%. Many people rightly argue that this morbidity rate is inflated, as the death figure is accurate while the infection rate is underreported. However, there is a counterargument that is often ignored. This mortality rate is effective when discussing a seasoned illness, but it is less effective when evaluating a relatively new virus. Why? Because the number of infected cases includes a significant number of people that are still a "work in process." A more accurate assessment compares the number of deaths to the number of individuals who have "exited" the virus, either via death or a healthy diagnosis. This rate is well above 5%. This compares to a seasonal flu death rate of 0.1% last year.

If you can't control the mortality rate at this point (and it is considerably higher than the seasonal flu), there is only one variable that you can influence: the infection rate. Are we going to stop the spread of the disease? No. It will be in every major city by the time we all return from Easter break. But we are able to slow the spread of the disease. The simplest way to slow the spread of the disease is by taking the normal steps that everyone talks about: wash your hands, don't touch your face and stay home from work if you are sick. But there clearly are other ways to slow the progression. One of those ways is to limit situations where people are traveling throughout the country to congregate in one common place, potentially returning to their communities with the virus. Is the cancellation of a basketball tournament (or simply fans at a basketball tournament) overkill? Possibly. But this example shows how quickly things can turn.

I had the decision to attend one of two conferences last week. I was very lucky in my choice. If I had attended the other conference, I know exactly which management teams I would have met with. For one of those management teams, one of the three individuals in attendance now has a confirmed case of COVID-19. Last week, people still weren't taking the virus seriously. At the conference I did attend, there were a couple people not shaking hands, but most of us were shrugging it off. I would have shaken hands with the infected individual in my small group meeting. Fast forward to the weekend. I was back home, coaching my son's basketball team, standing in the high five line after the game. Since the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (unlike Green Bay) has not removed the Sign of Peace, I was shaking hands with everyone around me, include my son with mild asthma and the elderly couple in front of me. To the point someone made about those impacted - yes, I would have probably been fine, though I did fall into the obese category (another risk factor less frequently discussed because the virus is new to the United States) in my wellness check. But I can't necessarily say the same thing about my son or the elderly couple in front of me. I can't imagine how guilty I would have felt if I was the one who brought it to my community, particularly the basketball team, my son or that elderly couple...or the kid at my son's school who is battling cancer. It's not about me or you, it's about the people around us and our parents. My dad is in his upper 70s with metastatic cancer - this virus is not his friend.

The idea here is to hit the pause button while we scramble to get enough testing kits (we are grossly undersupplied), work on a vaccine (which is further away than we think) and find a somewhat effective treatment. I really don't want to see the games cancelled (or fans not allowed), but let's not be so dismissive of the legitimate rationale for doing so.

Thank you for the long and well-thought out post.

[WarriorHal]

Hoiberg to the hospital.

Seriously.

Rob Dauster
@RobDauster
A source confirmed to
@NBCSports
that Fred Hoiberg has been taken to the hospital. There's concern that the Nebraska team is going to have to be quarantined.

Knowing the severity of what's going on, allowing him to coach tonight was incredibly reckless by everyone at Nebraska.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

All it's going to take is for one player, coach, trainer, etc. for a team to test positive. Then it will likely be cancelled or postponed. There's probably a good chance that won't happen until after the conference tournaments (well, maybe not the B10) so the BET should get done. Fingers crossed.

[CreightonWarrior]

Hoiberg to the hospital.

Seriously.

The jackass was confirmed to have been already sick prior to the start of the game. Then the tough decided to coach anyways. He could've just F'd it for everyone. Someone better be fired over this.

[Dish]

There's near zero chance the tournament ends up being played next week.

[forgetful]

The jackass was confirmed to have been already sick prior to the start of the game. Then the tough decided to coach anyways. He could've just F'd it for everyone. Someone better be fired over this.

Apparently already released from hospital. Does that mean he is negative for coronavirus? Did they even test him?

[BM1090]

Confirmed that Hoiberg does not have COVID-19. He has the flu.

We may get another day of games. I just want to see our guys play one more time, at this point.

[Loose Cannon]

This is exactly right. I'm not saying anyone should panic, but it is serious and it's wise to take precautions. Hand-washing, avoiding large public gatherings, and being especially careful regarding older populations.

I'm not overly worried because my wife and I are generally healthy and this hasn't had an outsized impact on children, who are often a high risk population, but Italy didn't essentially shut down the country for fun. This is real.

This is the classic tale of the guy jumping off a ten stories building and as he passes the 7th floor remarking nothing to see here.

[skianth16]

The jackass was confirmed to have been already sick prior to the start of the game. Then the tough decided to coach anyways. He could%u2019ve just F%u2019d it for everyone. Someone better be fired over this.

Relax. He has the flu. Lots of people with any virus have extremely mild symptoms and don't rush to the doctor at the very first sign. Yes, everyone should be more cautious right now, but there's no need to call for any heads right now.

[Johnny B]

We may have seen the last major b ball event with a crowd folks. Who knows when it will happen again

[MUBurrow]

There's near zero chance the tournament ends up being played next week.

I agree, which is why I'm shocked these conference tournaments haven't just sent everyone home.  It seems they're waiting for someone affiliated with a team or the media to test positive, and then they're gong to swoop into action like the NBA. Why? People are going to test positive, only by then you'll have games in progress, teams in the arena. Put the players' health first and just pull the plug already so we don't have more Hoiberg situations.  The next Hoiberg isn't going to test negative.

[StillAWarrior]

One of the obvious challenges to all of this is that now, with the acute awareness of identifying and responding to any of the symptoms of Coronavirus infection (i.e., cough, fever, shortness of breath),it's hard to see how they will be able to move forward. Honestly, taking this current situation completely out of the picture, on any given March week in any prior year, what are the odds of having a team/staff of 25+ people where nobody is exhibiting any of those symptoms? Somebody is going to have something. If people are even remotely serious about self-isolating when showing any of those symptoms - which are quite common in mid-March even in "normal" years - I'd think most teams would have at least someone out. And if that's the case, wouldn't everyone have to think twice about the rest of the team soldiering on?

[The Sultan]

I agree, which is why I'm shocked these conference tournaments haven't just sent everyone home.  It seems they're waiting for someone affiliated with a team or the media to test positive, and then they're gong to swoop into action like the NBA. Why? People are going to test positive, only by then you'll have games in progress, teams in the arena. Put the players' health first and just pull the plug already so we don't have more Hoiberg situations.  The next Hoiberg isn't going to test negative.

Exactly. There are very likely players already with this virus. The Ivy League was right from the start.

[brewcity77]

I could see them trying to complete the weekend, but definitely don't see games next week. If I were the NCAA, I would move to suspend the tournament with the hopes of holding it in later April or May. You can always cancel later if necessary.

[The Sultan]

I could see them trying to complete the weekend, but definitely don't see games next week. If I were the NCAA, I would move to suspend the tournament with the hopes of holding it in later April or May. You can always cancel later if necessary.

I really think if it is suspended, it is cancelled. You have to worry about locations, hotel rooms, television.

The NBA playoffs will be in full swing and the MLB season would have started.

[Mike Deane's Seat Belt]

is there a chance the NCAA will call in at the last minute and spare MU from the gallows with seton hall?

[Oldgym]

The NBA playoffs will be in full swing and the MLB season would have started.

Not quite sure about either of those things, but point taken.