New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020nypost.comOVER AND OUT:
Everywhere you looked
Thursday there were
signs of sports shutting
down, from the Big East
Tournament at Madison
Square Garden to
baseball spring training
sites to hockey games
and the NCAA calling
off March Madness.
AP (4); Getty Images (2)In a wild span of 48 hours of precautions
and reactions to the spread of coronavirus,
the sports landscape went from conducting
business as usual to preparing for fan-less
venues to near-total shutdown.
The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy takes a look
at everything that happened, including
the indefinite suspension or delayed start
of three major professional leagues and
the abrupt end of the college basketball
season, without March Madness:TUESDAY
11:21 a.m. The Ivy League
becomes first conference to
cancel men’s and women’s
basketball tournaments,
declaring regular-season
champions as NCAA
Tournament automatic-
berth recipients.WEDNESDAY
12:42 p.m. College Basketball
Invitational canceled.
1:16 p.m. MLB reportedly considering
alternate sites for games.
2:10 p.m. Warriors announce
Thursday game against the Nets
will be played without fans in
compliance with San Francisco
government orders.
2:44 p.m. Ohio governor announces
Tuesday’s NCAA Tournament First
Four in Dayton will be closed to fans.
3 p.m. Ivy League cancels all
practices and competitions
through the remainder of the
academic year.
4:15 p.m. NCAA panel advises
against allowing fans into sporting
events.
4:30 p.m. NCAA announces men’s
basketball tournament will be held as
scheduled but closed to fans.
5:24 p.m. University of Michigan cancels
spring football game.
6 p.m. Juventus soccer player Daniele
Rugani becomes first known professional
athlete to test positive for
coronavirus.
6:38 p.m. Big Ten closes
men’s basketball
tournament and all spring
sports competition to fans.
7:58 p.m. ACC closes men’s
basketball tournament to
fans.
8:40 p.m. Jazz-Thunder NBA
game in Oklahoma City
postponed with players on
court for warm-ups.
8:53 p.m. Pac-12 closes men’s
basketball tournament to fans.
9:11 p.m. SEC closes men’s basketball
tournament to fans.
9:27 p.m. Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert
reportedly tests positive for coronavirus.
9:32 p.m. NBA announces season is
suspended indefinitely but underway
games are played to completion.
10:40 p.m. Nebraska men’s basketball
coach Fred Hoiberg leaves Big Ten
Tournament game and is taken to hospital,
where he is later diagnosed with influenza.
10:44 p.m. Big East closes men’s
basketball tournament to fans.THURSDAY
12:34 a.m. NBA G-League suspends
season indefinitely.10:32 a.m. ATP suspends men’s
professional tennis tour for six weeks.
10:49 a.m. Donovan Mitchell — Gobert’s
Jazz teammate — tests positive for
coronavirus. ESPN reports Gobert was
“careless in the locker room, touching
other players and their belongings.”
11:25 a.m. Redskins suspend travel for all
coaches and scouts, and other NFL teams
follow suit, including Giants and Jets.
11:33 a.m. NFL informs all staff to work
from home until further
notice.
11:42 a.m. MLS suspends
season for 30 days.
11:49 a.m. Big Ten cancels
men’s basketball
tournament, with Rutgers
and Michigan warming up
for their noon game.
11:54 a.m. U.S. Soccer
cancels all matches in
March and April for men’s
and women’s senior teams.
11:59 a.m. NHL suspends season.
Noon: Big East Tournament game
between St. John’s and Creighton tips off
at Madison Square Garden.
12:06 p.m. SEC cancels men’s basketball
tournament.
12:15 p.m. ACC cancels men’s basketball
tournament and later suspends all
recruiting, practices and games.
12:17 p.m. Pac-12 cancels men’s basketball
tournament and all other competitions.
12:25 p.m. NFL reportedly plans to move
forward with collective bargaining
agreement vote closing Saturday and
free agency opening Monday.
12:40 p.m. Big XII cancels men’s
basketball tournament.
12:43 p.m. PGA announces all events across
all Tours are closed to fans beginning
Friday at The Players Championship
through April 5 at the Valero Texas Open.
1:09 p.m. Big East cancels St. John’s-
Creighton game at halftime and calls off
rest of tournament.
1:33 p.m. NASCAR announces upcoming
races in Atlanta and
Miami will be held but
closed to fans.
1:41 p.m. MLB cancels the
rest of spring training,
advises players to stay
near team spring
facilities and medical
staff, and delays Opening
Day by at least two
weeks.
1:45 p.m. Duke suspends
all athletics activity
indefinitely, the first
school to withdraw from the NCAA men’s
basketball tournament if held as
scheduled.
1:54 p.m. Kansas University, the likely No. 1
overall seed, cancels all athletic travel and
suspends home and away games.
2:31 p.m. NFL cancels annual meeting for
owners, general managers, coaches and
media scheduled for March 29-April 1.
4:16 p.m. NCAA cancels all remaining
winter and spring championships,
including men’s and women’s basketball
tournaments.
7:16 p.m. XFL cancels remainder of
inaugural relaunch season.
9:59 p.m. PGA calls off Players
Championship after first round and
cancels events through April 5.night the PGA Tour wiped out its schedule
until the week before the Masters. Major
League Soccer suspended its season. So did
the NHL. Neither was a surprise.
Nor was what became official, at last, just
past 3 o’clock: baseball’s spring training
would be shut down. The start of the season
would be delayed until at least April 8 —
though it was a bit unsettling to hear umpire
Angel Hernandez, passing writers covering
a Yankees-Nationals game in West Palm
Beach, saying, “See you guys in June.”
Hernandez may have been joking. Or he
may be right. Or he may be underestimat-
ing. We have no way of knowing. In the time
of COVID-19, we are making our way a few
minutes at a time, flailing in untamed sea,
because there is no other choice.
Here’s something, though:
Just because we understand sport’s proper
place in our world right now doesn’t mean
we aren’t allowed to feel its loss. Losing
baseball season, for baseball fans, is like los-
ing a lung. There is much regret lying in the
detritus of the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers
fans have waited since 1991 for an invite.
Hofstra fans have gone from sublime high to
crashing low in the space of two days.
“My dreams are shattered,” a friend texted
the other day. He’s a Dayton alum. Dayton
may never again have a team with this legit
a chance to play in a Final Four. If you’ve
ever cared, truly cared, about a sports team,
you certainly understand what he is feeling.
But you also understand why this is neces-
sary. We are a reasonable people. We are a
rational nation. Our games go away now,
and maybe for some time because they
must, because it’s the right thing, because
COVID-19 is the only opponent that matters
right now. Doesn’t make it the easy thing.
We’ll miss the games, and it’s OK to miss
them. I miss them already.
[email protected]Utah’s Rudy Gobertwas reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19 and, as aresult, the NBA has decided to put its season on hiatus.PAGES 64-65THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 http://www.nypost.com®
TheBestSportsInTownONE SILENT MOMENTNo fans allowed at NCAATournament games PAGES 62-63SHUTD WN!
VACCAROPAGE 64
THIS MAY ONLY BE THE BEGINNINGNBA suspends
season afterJazz
star tests positive
for coronavirusUSA TODAY Sportsbe played without spectators. But with the First Four scheduled for Dayton, the NCAA is notThe NCAATournament could begin next week without fans after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked for indoor sporting events in his state to
ready to abideby the request.PAGES 56-57CONFORTO MAY MISS OPENERVACCAROPAGE 56WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
http://www.nypost.com
TheBestSportsInTown®
Ohio govwants to close tourney games
due to virus but NCAA hesitant
PLUS:CORONA POSTPONES KNICKS’ 50THPARTYSPORTS MAY NOT RESCUE US THIS TIMENO TIMELINE FOR RETURN FROM STRAINED OBLIQUE /PAGES 54-55STUN LAKERSDINWIDDIE&NETSPAGE 5148 HOURS OF CHAOS