OLYMPICS: the flame for the tokyo Games is lit in Greece without spectators. D2 SOCCER: carlos cordeiro, the embattled UssF president, is stepping down. D3

End of baseball: nats, Yankees p lay a

final, surreal spring training game. D7

So much for the PGA: tour cancels

players championship one round in. D8

Muted March: one of the busiest

sports months g oes eerily quiet. A1

Sally Jenkins: in a stunner, the ncaa

comes around to the right call. D3

KLMNO

SPORTS

friday, march 13 , 2020. section d M2

BY BEN GOLLIVER

LOS ANGELES — Before Adam silver could

announce to the public the nBA’s response to

the coronavirus, which was to suspend the

2019 -20 season, the league commissioner faced

a more immediate challenge: communicating

the severity of the growing pandemic to team

owners, executives and p layers.

High-ranking executives from multiple

teams generally praised silver’s response to the

spread of covid-19 across the country over the

past two weeks, painting it proactive, thorough

and timely. But those executives said in inter-

views that the league’s consensus plan, which

was to play games without fans present, was

initially met with skepticism and led to a divid-

ed conference call Wednesday that concluded

without a formal policy a nnouncement.

Those who discussed the matter with The

Washington Post spoke on the condition of

anonymity so as to freely discuss the sensitive

situation.

“I was shocked by the number of teams that

were clueless at the size that [the coronavirus]

would get to,” s aid one high-ranking executive

privy to leaguewide conversations. “ some teams

see nba on D5

Gobert’s positive test changed everything for NBA

It finally feels real now, huh?

It feels scary, too. And

awkward. Unprecedented.

Historic. Dire. The

coronavirus, which felt distant

and overblown and annoying

to many, penetrated our sports

bubble during a wild and

unforgettable couple of days.

It paralyzed the sports world, suspending

the nBA season, taking the thrill out of March

Madness and forcing just about every league to

go dark. It should be understood now that this

isn’t some invisible covid-19 disease affecting

faceless humans. Famous people can get it, too.

Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz’s all-star center

and defensive whiz with a 7-foot-9 wingspan,

tested positive for the virus, which shut down

the nBA “until further notice” a nd provided a

powerful anecdote to combat the notion that

all this fuss is alarmist nonsense. Gobert was

last seen making light of the global pandemic

by touching microphones and playfully

spreading his germs after a media session.

That’s his personality. He was just trying to

lighten the mood. Right now, however, he has

become an example of the dangers of the

arrogance and nonchalance still too prevalent

in society.

see brewer on D4

Sports provide a refuge, but they

blurred our vision on coronavirus

Jerry

Brewer

BY CHUCK CULPEPPER

AND AVA WALLACE

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in

82 years, the country will spend a

March absent one of the more ani-

mating links of its fabric. The nCAA,

citing mounting concerns over the

spread of the global coronavirus pan-

demic, canceled its men’s and wom-

en’s basketball tournaments Thurs-

day afternoon.

The nCAA also canceled all other

winter and spring championships.

“This decision is based on the

evolving CoVID-19 public health

threat, our ability to ensure the events

do not contribute to the spread of the

pandemic, and the impracticality of

hosting such events at any time dur-

ing the academic year given ongoing

decisions by other entities,” t he nCAA

said in its statement.

The spectacle known as March

Madness, which was scheduled to

begin next week, had been held every

year since 1939 for men’s college

teams and 1982 for women’s teams.

see ncaa on D4

NCAA cancels

March Madness

amid pandemic

BY DAVE SHEININ

Major League Baseball announced

Thursday it would cancel the rest of

spring training and delay its opening

Day by at least two weeks as the

ongoing coronavirus pandemic,

which has increasingly upended daily

life across the nation, claimed its

most daily of sports.

The decision, which began to take

on an air of inevitability by Thursday

morning, follows similar actions

from the nBA and nHL. Baseball’s

opening Day was to have been March

26, with all 30 teams in action.

“A ll the players, we understand...

the severity of what we’re dealing

with here,” Washington nationals

pitcher Max scherzer said. “A nd we

understand why such preventive

measures have to be taken for the

public health to try to keep this from

really being a doomsday scenario.”

It will be the first time since 1995

that the start of the baseball season

has been delayed. That y ear, it was the

players’ strike of 1994-95 that pushed

see mlb on D6

MLB halts spring,

delays Opening Day

at least two weeks

Full stop.

Ben Mckeown/associated press

a solitary fan sits in an empty Greensboro (n.c.) coliseum after the acc canceled its men’s basketball tournament. later Thursday, the ncaa announced it was canceling its men’s and women’s tournaments.

March sadness: A timeline in a span of about 30 hours, all major U.s. sports hit pause amid concern about the coronavirus. some went tentatively at first, and others went all in.

Wed., 4:31 p.m. Wed., 9: 46 p.m. Thurs., 10 :32 a.m. Thurs., 11:42 a.m. Thurs., 1:36 p.m. Thurs., 3:10 p.m. Thurs., 3:31 p.m. Thurs., 4:16 p.m. Thurs., 9:59 p.m.

the ncaa tweets it will

hold its basketball

tournaments

without fans.

the nBa tweets a Jazz

player tested positive

and the season is

suspended.

the atp tour

announces a six-week

suspension of its pro

tennis events.

Major League soccer

tweets that all

matches are

suspended 30 days.

the nHL suspends

play, aims to resume

when “appropriate

and prudent.”

MLB tweets all spring

training games are off,

delays opening day at

least two weeks.

wta cancels next two

events, says decision

is coming on clay-

court season.

ncaa cancels winter,

spring tournaments —

including men’s and

women’s basketball.

pGa to ur cancels all

events, including the

players championship,

until first week of april.

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