Stanford May have a Problem Hosting

[ochoopsfan]

Santa Clara County just banded gatherings of 1000 people or more
Stanford is in Santa Clara County
Will they host with a crowd of under 1K or move

County ban of large gatherings could impact Sharks, Stanford

The status of three San Jose Sharks hockey games, the NCAA women's basketball tournament at Stanford and one MLS game are in doubt after Santa Clara County announced a ban of all large gatherings of at least 1,000 people for the rest of the month in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Six...

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Plebe]

Whoa.

Gotta think the NCAA will still allow them to host, under the circumstances.

I have to say, this type of measure is a bad sign for the NCAA tournament. This type of prohibition is gathering momentum and others will feel pressure to follow suit.

I just heard this evening that Italy and Slovakia are taking drastic measures in canceling sporting events. Dominoes are falling quickly.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I've been warning my friends to be mentally ready for an NCAAT with no fans. My brother is a Med School professor and he thinks this is a big problem.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Whoa.

Gotta think the NCAA will still allow them to host, under the circumstances.

I have to say, this type of measure is a bad sign for the NCAA tournament. This type of prohibition is gathering momentum and others will feel pressure to follow suit.

I just heard this evening that Italy and Slovakia are taking drastic measures in canceling sporting events. Dominoes are falling quickly.

Haha, a bit behind the times, eh, Plebe? The entire country of Italy is on lockdown - no sports events for the next month.

Stanford fans have been pretty anxious about COVID-19 - there's a whole thread dedicated to it that's already 15 pages long. (The nature of a fan base with a lot of science Ph.D.s and M.D.s in the mix.)

For about a week+ now I've been predicting that NCAAs are either done or will be held without fans. I'm 50/50 on whether the Stanford women will have ended their season with that thrashing at the hands of Ionescu et al. I really don't think people realize how bad this will be in a week, given Italy's experience and our seeming unpreparedness. I don't want to be Debbie Downer (who, apropos of the times, made her return to SNL last weekend for the first time in over a decade), so I haven't brought it up here, but I think the sports world is about to change significantly for the foreseeable future.

And if you think this problem will be limited to Stanford, I recommend you start reading the news.

 

[Plebe]

Haha, a bit behind the times, eh, Plebe? The entire country of Italy is on lockdown - no sports events for the next month.

I was at the Pac-12 tournament for four days. Staying abreast of a fast-developing epidemic of potentially historic proportions can't possibly be more important than basketball, can it?

 

[triaddukefan]

Greensboro is an opening round site for the Men's tournament. For selfish and civic reasons... I sure hope the NCAA doesnt do anything drastic like cancelling or barring fans. It wouldnt be March Madness with no fans in the stands.

The men's final four is in Atlanta.... and they are cancelling school today in Fulton County because a teacher tested positive for the virus.... and one sports writer suggested that this might lead to cancelling the Final 4....

 

[ochoopsfan]

.Didn't want to start a new topic but Ivy Leagues have cancelled tournies.

 

[WestCoast]

Unfortunately, the trend related to dealing with COVID-19 in our country is indicating that sporting events and other group gatherings will need to be cancelled or at least signficantly curtailed at about the time the NCAA WBB tournament is scheduled to tip off.

Spring high school sports in my local school district have cancelled all competitions through at least the next month.

I'm realistic in recognizing that all things related to the virus will get worse before they get better. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing for dealing with change in the sports world for the next three months or more.

 

[Floridaduck]

Unfortunately, the trend related to dealing with COVID-19 in our country is indicating that sporting events and other group gatherings will need to be cancelled or at least signficantly curtailed at about the time the NCAA WBB tournament is scheduled to tip off.

This is going only one way. Tournament cancellation.Basically it looks like the Oregon Ducks magnificent, generational team may not get a tournament to play in or a National Championship to strive for after all. And the same can be said for all the contenders as well as the March Madness surprise teams, the newbies, Mid Major champs... every player and coach really. Lot of work to get here. I am heartbroken.

 

[WestCoast]

This is going only one way. Tournament cancellation.Basically it looks like the Oregon Ducks magnificent, generational team may not get a tournament to play in or a National Championship to strive for after all. And the same can be said for all the contenders as well as a couple March Madness surprises. I am heartbroken.

Hope that you are wrong, but all signs are pointing in that direction. Just a shame for all those impacted physically by the virus and for the athletes who have trained for these moments for the majority of their lives.

 

[Floridaduck]

Reminds me of the Olympic Games boycotts in 1980 and 1984 over global politics. Yucchhh...
Olympic athletes after years of training and at the peak of their powers... get to stay home and twiddle their thumbs.
"Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games – the smallest number since 1956. Led by the United States, 66 countries boycotted the games entirely because of the Soviet–Afghan War."
"The 1984 Games were boycotted by a total of fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union and East Germany, in response to the American-led boycott of the previous 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan"

 

[LETTERL]

This is going only one way. Tournament cancellation.Basically it looks like the Oregon Ducks magnificent, generational team may not get a tournament to play in or a National Championship to strive for after all. And the same can be said for all the contenders as well as a couple March Madness surprises. I am heartbroken.

I agree. It figures...NC State fans wait 30 years to finally have a dog in the fight and a real contender for a long tournament run...and now THIS. Oh well...nothing I can do or say will change things but bitching about it to anybody who will listen will make me feel better.

 

[Figurehead]

Funny thing local home shows still going on. Kids soccer clubs and mega church worship services going on. So one billion dollars in lost revenue on tournaments. if that occurs.

Funny thing if crowd sizes are limited be rest assured big money donors and local politicians will still be able to attend. In other words some of the elitists get there way.

 

[Figurehead]

We had a bad flu outbreak last year. I can see in the future cancellations will now be the norm for the flu season too from October thru May since it woke people up about that too. Many Easter Celebrations will go by the wayside this year too. Even if they have to force churches to close. No Easter, that is sad.

 

[TheFarmFan]

We had a bad flu outbreak last year. I can see in the future cancellations will now be the norm for the flu season too from October thru May since it woke people up about that too. Many Easter Celebrations will go by the wayside this year too. Even if they have to force churches to close. No Easter, that is sad.

Conservative estimate is that it's 5 times deadlier than the flu. I'm not sure if you know much about American hospital administration, but many U.S. hospitals come close to capacity in a bad flu season. And remember - this is on top of the flu. Two separate flu-like viruses hitting at once would put most U.S. hospitals well beyond their carrying capacity for intensive care patients, let alone something 5-35 times worse.

 

[triaddukefan]

The ACC Men's tournament started today here in Greensboro... just as the State of NC declared a state of emergency. Basically they said... yes we are still having the tournament... but discouraged the elderly (65+) from attending.

 

[MSUFan2003]

Conservative estimate is that it's 5 times deadlier than the flu. I'm not sure if you know much about American hospital administration, but many U.S. hospitals come close to capacity in a bad flu season. And remember - this is on top of the flu. Two separate flu-like viruses hitting at once would put most U.S. hospitals well beyond their carrying capacity for intensive care patients, let alone something 5-35 times worse.

I work at one of the major hospitals in the state of Mississippi, and we barely have enough ICU beds to accommodate patients on a daily basis right now. It's the same thing with other hospitals in the area. We also generally don't have enough staff to open all of our beds on the weekends. A lot of nurses are running away from the bedside and simply don't want to work in hospitals anymore. It's become a real problem.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I work at one of the major hospitals in the state of Mississippi, and we barely have enough ICU beds to accommodate patients on a daily basis right now. It's the same thing with other hospitals in the area. We also generally don't have enough staff to open all of our beds on the weekends. A lot of nurses are running away from the bedside and simply don't want to work in hospitals anymore. It's become a real problem.

Stay safe MSU, and thanks for your contribution to our public health!

 

[WestCoast]

It was noted on the OSU board that UCLA has announced a ban on fans attending sporting events on campus through April 10. UCLA is scheduled to host two rounds of the WBB NCAA tourney with few observers at Pauley.

Another question was raised in that forum: If a player on a tournament-bound team is confirmed to have the virus, would her entire team need to be quarantined for two weeks and therefore end the team's season?

Don't be surprised if officials are soon faced with that unfortunate possibility.

 

[j66kicker]

Reminds me of the Olympic Games boycotts in 1980 and 1984 over global politics. Yucchhh...
Olympic athletes after years of training and at the peak of their powers... get to stay home and twiddle their thumbs.
"Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games – the smallest number since 1956. Led by the United States, 66 countries boycotted the games entirely because of the Soviet–Afghan War."
"The 1984 Games were boycotted by a total of fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union and East Germany, in response to the American-led boycott of the previous 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan"

That was my exact thought. So Sabrina foregoes her WNBA and overseas pro basketball salaries to come back and be an amateur athlete and "finish her business", and this is what she gets.

NCAA and the TV people need to figure out a common sense way to hold the tournament with no fans, and cover it in a way to keep it exciting (Mic all the players up? Satou head-cam?). The TV audience would at least increase by the number of locked-out in-person spectators.

 

[UcMiami]

I work at one of the major hospitals in the state of Mississippi, and we barely have enough ICU beds to accommodate patients on a daily basis right now. It's the same thing with other hospitals in the area. We also generally don't have enough staff to open all of our beds on the weekends. A lot of nurses are running away from the bedside and simply don't want to work in hospitals anymore. It's become a real problem.

Quick question - do you know how many covid 19 test kits you have in your hospital (if any) and how long it takes to get a result after the test?

VT had few and it took 2-3 days for results because there are so few labs set up to run the test as of Sunday. The total tests administered in the US at this moment is under 10,000 - an average of under 200 per state. South Korea for example has already administered over 200,000.

While the number of 'confirmed' cases in the US is pretty small at the moment, the availability of the tests has a lot to do with that I suspect.

NB - hospitals are still scrambling to come up with treatment protocols for covid 19 patients - this is still new and the best data is coming out of China, but the information and data is still in flux.

 

[WestCoast]

That was my exact thought. So Sabrina foregoes her WNBA and overseas pro basketball salaries to come back and be an amateur athlete and "finish her business", and this is what she gets.

NCAA and the TV people need to figure out a common sense way to hold the tournament with no fans, and cover it in a way to keep it exciting (Mic all the players up? Satou head-cam?). The TV audience would at least increase by the number of locked-out in-person spectators.

The impact to Sabrina Ionescu is at the bottom of what we should be caring about.

 

[Floridaduck]

The impact to Sabrina Ionescu is at the bottom of what we should be caring about.

Well this is a WBB site. Impact on the NCAA tournament and all its players would be, I'd think, a legitimate topic.
But if we need to forget discussing NCAA WBB and broaden our concern to only global health concerns, tragic deaths, economic meltdowns, medical staffing, rumors and theories, and the like... well I did not think this was the venue for that.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Back to the topic of this thread: Stanford has announced it is closing all athletic contests to the public - only a limited number of family members will be allowed in. They are looking to enhance live streams for non-revenue sports that don't always show up on TV. I suspect this will be a trend that will be followed by almost everywhere imminently.

 

[UcMiami]

Haha, a bit behind the times, eh, Plebe? The entire country of Italy is on lockdown - no sports events for the next month.

Stanford fans have been pretty anxious about COVID-19 - there's a whole thread dedicated to it that's already 15 pages long. (The nature of a fan base with a lot of science Ph.D.s and M.D.s in the mix.)

For about a week+ now I've been predicting that NCAAs are either done or will be held without fans. I'm 50/50 on whether the Stanford women will have ended their season with that thrashing at the hands of Ionescu et al. I really don't think people realize how bad this will be in a week, given Italy's experience and our seeming unpreparedness. I don't want to be Debbie Downer (who, apropos of the times, made her return to SNL last weekend for the first time in over a decade), so I haven't brought it up here, but I think the sports world is about to change significantly for the foreseeable future.

And if you think this problem will be limited to Stanford, I recommend you start reading the news.

Thanks for posting that link - it is a very good, generally pretty 'low heat' informative discussion that stays out of the political/blame game.

Floridaduck - yes it is a WCBB board and we are all concerned for what happens to the various tournaments scheduled. And a cancellation would be very unfortunate for all the athletes involved, just as the cancellation of classes by many schools is really tough for all students, and the economic and social impact is going to be very painful. But, the fact remains that when issues of health and life/death are on the table, the impact on the career of a single athlete becomes less important in the general scheme of things.

Leagues at various levels are canceling tournaments already and the NCAA itself does not have a great reputation of selfless conduct - the men's/women's tournament generates 75% of it's annual income and I might question whether it was making decisions based on self interest or public safety.

Just saw where 3 TSA screeners at San Jose airport tested positive for the virus, so limiting attendees at a sporting venue doesn't necessarily stop exposure for teams that are traveling.

 

[TheFarmFan]

SF has now banned large gatherings for two weeks, including Warriors games. I know I've been chicken littling, but this will be all sports soon. It's inevitable. So the question is how the NCAA can safely operate March Madness without crowds, since that is the BEST case scenario at this point.

I'm not sure it's even possible to go forward at this point, but if I were involved in mitigation planning, I'd be reconfiguring the way to host to limit the number of sites and accelerate the tournament calendar. It doesn't make any sense to spread it over 2.5 weeks since the longer this goes, the worse it will get. Fewer host sites, regionally-based placements, and accelerated calendar seem necessary if they can pull it off at all.

 

[Plebe]

SF has now banned large gatherings for two weeks, including Warriors games. I know I've been chicken littling, but this will be all sports soon. It's inevitable. So the question is how the NCAA can safely operate March Madness without crowds, since that is the BEST case scenario at this point.

I'm not sure it's even possible to go forward at this point, but if I were involved in mitigation planning, I'd be reconfiguring the way to host to limit the number of sites and accelerate the tournament calendar. It doesn't make any sense to spread it over 2.5 weeks since the longer this goes, the worse it will get. Fewer host sites, regionally-based placements, and accelerated calendar seem necessary if they can pull it off at all.

We know the talks among the decision-makers are hot and heavy as we speak.

I'll be surprised if they rush to a decision today or tomorrow. The whole situation seems to be evolving by the hour. Once they do pull the trigger in whichever direction, they'll have to live with it.

 

[UcMiami]

We know the talks among the decision-makers are hot and heavy as we speak.

I'll be surprised if they rush to a decision today or tomorrow. The whole situation seems to be evolving by the hour. Once they do pull the trigger in whichever direction, they'll have to live with it.

If they keep the same schedule, they might be able to do incremental adjustments. It seems to me the following would make sense:
1. Form the brackets based on geography more than seeding trying to limit all travel to at worst geographic regions for rounds 1+2 the first weekend and if possible avoiding current hot-spot locations (eg Portand rather than Seattle) with zero public attendance.

2. Determine status after the first weekend, and if green lighted determine available locations for 3 and 4 round games based again on avoiding hot spots and limiting travel locally/regionally.

3. Determine status again after the second weekend and determine location and timing for the final two rounds.

Problems with arena availability, local/state travel restrictions all play into this as well as screening for teams/coaches/support staff/facilities staff - elevated temperature is a crude method, but one South Korea used to screen access to public buildings and that Amherst College is planning to use for DIII tournament games it is hosting for essential staff and participants while banning the public.

 

[Floridaduck]

the impact on the career of a single athlete becomes less important

I completely agree that the effect on one single athlete is of minimal importance in the larger scheme of things. I never named any one player but the poster who did may have just wanted to put a human face on the overall crisis. I just thought that:

The impact to Sabrina Ionescu is at the bottom of what we should be caring about.

was kind of a cheap shot. Jeepers she and Lauren Cox and Chennedy and Megan and Ruthy and everybody else is going to be fine even if the tournament is canceled. Lots more mountains to climb. But it does make ME sad...

 

[Plebe]

Another big domino falls.