The Wall Street Journal - 19.03.2020

A16| Thursday, March 19, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

ident of basketball Dan Gavitt wrote

“there is not an authentic way to

produce tournament fields and

brackets at this point without spec-

ulating and that isn’t fair to the

teams that would be positively or

negatively impacted by manufactur-

IT’S BECOME A NATIONALcus-

tom to spend this week every year

being the worst possible employee

in the world. You use the office

printer to make copies of the NCAA

tournament bracket. You research

another sleeper every time your

boss blinks. By Thursday, you don’t

even bother coming to work so you

can watch the games. And if you’re

good enough at being a horrible

employee, you win the office pool

and then everyone pays you even

more money.

But the NCAA tournament isn’t

happening this year thanks to the

coronavirus pandemic. For the first

time since 1938, there will be no

college men’s basketball champion.

March will have no Cinderellas, no

buzzer beaters and not one shining

moment.

Pressure to Delay Games Intensifies

The IOC has insisted that the Olympics are set for July, but the organization is facing criticism from its own constituents

Weather

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W City Hi LoW Hi LoW

Today Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Anchorage 34 26 c 38 27 sf

Atlanta 81 63 pc 78 59 t

Austin 81 61 t 64 46 r

Baltimore 74 61 c 81 48 t

Boise 56 34 pc 58 34 pc

Boston 45 42 r 68 43 c

Burlington 52 45 c 66 25 r

Charlotte 78 66 pc 83 61 pc

Chicago 63 44 r 44 26 pc

Cleveland 63 58 r 68 27 r

Dallas 80 53 t 55 40 c

Denver 40 16 r 33 20 pc

Detroit 58 52 r 61 23 r

Honolulu 79 70 r 81 71 r

Houston 84 69 t 75 57 t

Indianapolis 68 59 r 63 25 sh

Kansas City 74 27 t 38 21 s

Las Vegas 58 45 pc 60 49 pc

Little Rock 76 62 t 66 38 r

Los Angeles 60 48 sh 63 49 pc

Miami 84 74 pc 84 73 pc

Milwaukee 54 39 r 39 25 c

Minneapolis 45 18 r 29 14 pc

Nashville 76 65 t 70 41 r

New Orleans 86 73 c 86 69 t

New York City 50 48 r 75 46 c

Oklahoma City 75 33 pc 49 27 pc

Omaha 66 17 t 30 18 s

Orlando 88 64 s 89 66 s

Philadelphia 62 53 r 78 48 t

Phoenix 63 49 sh 68 52 s

Pittsburgh 67 61 r 69 29 t

Portland, Maine 45 40 r 61 39 sh

Portland, Ore. 63 39 pc 66 40 c

Sacramento 62 40 pc 65 41 pc

St. Louis 72 51 r 52 29 pc

Salt Lake City 48 36 sh 50 36 sh

San Francisco 59 46 pc 63 48 c

SantaFe 4925pc 5031pc

Seattle 60 41 c 60 41 c

Sioux Falls 44 11 r 25 9 pc

Wash., D.C. 76 64 c 81 50 t

Amsterdam 49 40 c 48 35 c

Athens 60 44 pc 65 47 s

Baghdad 69 51 pc 73 50 pc

Bangkok 93 81 pc 93 79 sh

Beijing 64 39 s 75 45 s

Berlin 55 40 r 49 34 r

Brussels 58 44 r 48 37 c

Buenos Aires 74 62 pc 77 65 s

Dubai 86 74 pc 88 76 pc

Dublin 47 31 pc 46 36 c

Edinburgh 49 30 pc 46 31 pc

Frankfurt 64 44 pc 61 41 c

Geneva 66 44 t 62 44 pc

Havana 90 62 s 90 63 s

Hong Kong 79 70 pc 77 71 c

Istanbul 52 40 c 54 41 s

Jakarta 88 76 t 88 76 r

Jerusalem 51 42 pc 46 38 pc

Johannesburg 79 60 pc 77 60 pc

London 49 41 sh 49 39 sh

Madrid 67 43 pc 65 42 c

Manila 93 76 pc 92 78 pc

Melbourne 85 60 c 73 55 pc

Mexico City 80 55 pc 80 54 pc

Milan 70 43 s 66 43 sh

Moscow 51 33 r 41 28 c

Mumbai 91 75 pc 89 76 pc

Paris 66 47 t 62 44 c

Rio de Janeiro 87 78 s 87 75 t

Riyadh 88 62 pc 85 63 pc

Rome 64 44 s 63 44 pc

San Juan 82 73 sh 82 73 pc

Seoul 51 39 pc 57 41 s

Shanghai 67 46 c 68 55 pc

Singapore 92 76 pc 92 79 pc

Sydney 8564pc 9265s

Taipei City 72 65 r 75 66 c

Tokyo 66 56 s 64 49 s

Toronto 5045pc 6521r

Vancouver 52 36 pc 52 37 s

Warsaw 59 39 c 50 35 c

Zurich 67 41 pc 66 46 r

Today Tomorrow

U.S. Forecasts

International

City Hi LoW Hi LoW

s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;

t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice

Today Tomorrow

Warm

Cold

Stationary

Showers

Rain

T-storms

Snow

Flurries

Ice

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Los Angeles

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DOUBLE TAXED| By David Alfred Bywaters

Across

1 Page containing

a legend

4 Gifts that aren’t

really gifts

10 Freight carrier

14 Mimicking

15 Small

16 Make smaller

17 Boxer’s bill?

19 Europe’s

third-longest

river

20 Aboard

21 Dict. entry

22 Dunderheads

24 Arboreal

abodes

26 Symptom that

might call for a

tree surgeon?

28 Angel on

one’s shoulder,

say

30 Powerful

people

31 Liability for a

musician

34 Pioneering

British music

magazine

36 TV’s Longoria

39 Prop in a campy

production of

“Othello”?

41 What a

completist’s pub

must carry?

44 Country business

45 Cube root of

ocho

47 Financier’s

failures

48 Included in an

email, briefly

51 Joined the

insurrection

53 Jewish leader of

equal stature?

56 Banks

60 Never not

61 Historian’s

subject

63 Harvest

64 Serengeti

stalker

65 Burlesque act, or

read phonetically,

how to make

phrases like five

in this puzzle

68 Start of le

monologue

d’Hamlet

69 Nonetheless

TheWSJDailyCrossword|Edited by Mike Shenk

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60 61 62 63

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Previous Puzzle’s Solution

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Solve this puzzle online and discuss it atWSJ.com/Puzzles.

TODD LACY ACHED

OP I E ALOE SLAVE

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PATER CHEX BEER

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Bureau of

Consumer

Protection

71 Pinot noir and

petite sirah

72 Toxophilite’s tool

73 “That’s right!”

Down

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trowel

2 Singly

3 Accords

4 Obesity meas.

5 Outer covering

6 Consume

7 Goofball

8 Printemps

follower

9 Terse summons

10 Encourage

11 They may have

a lot of baggage

12 Sumatran

primate, for

short

13 Cymraeg, in

English

18 High school

teacher of

1970s TV

23 Kimono fastener

25 Bygone Swedish

auto

27 Tomato variety

29 Took steps

31 “Ugh, why did

you share that

with me?”

32 Particle physics

particle

33 “Chortle,”

originally

35 Fanning of

“Maleficent”

37 Migratory

formation

38 Dunderhead

40 Simple choice

42 Oaf

43 Have high hopes

46 Less intoxicated

49 Beam lifters

50 Thirsty

52 Stud finder’s goal

53 More ashen

54 Beau monde

55 Good thing to

have

57 Like autumnal

sidewalks, often

58 Discrimination

59 Blueprint details

62 Church recess

66 New Deal elec.

provider

67 Huggies wearer

IOC officials didn’t directly answer questions about postponement or cancellation of the Games during a conference call.

SPORTS

of any potential health impact,”to

athletes or the wider public.

Jeff Porter, chairman of the USA

Track and Field athletes’ council,

also was on the call.

“When folks had asked if they

had any backup plans or contingen-

cies, the only thing they did mention

is that there is a plan,”but IOC offi-

cials refused to say what it was, Por-

ter said.

The IOC responded with a video

in which Bach described the call as

“very constructive.”He added: “We

will keep acting in a responsible way

in the interest of the athletes.

Athletes’ discontent rose ahead of

the call, which was part of a round

of “stakeholder”conferences the IOC

had embarked on this week as it be-

gan to acknowledge the prospect

that the Games schedule was under

threat.

“This crisis is bigger than the

Olympics,”four-time Canadian

Olympian and IOC member Hayley

Wickenheiser wrote on Twitter

Tuesday. “Athletes can’t train. At-

tendees can’t travel plan. Sponsors

and marketers can’t market with

any degree of sensitivity. I think the

IOC insisting this will move ahead,

with such conviction, is insensitive

and irresponsible given the state of

humanity.”

Also on Tuesday, the head of

Spain’s Olympic Committee, Ale-

jandro Blanco, said he would prefer

the Games to be postponed. Because

many athletes are struggling to find

places to train, going forward with

the Olympics on schedule would re-

sult in “unequal conditions,”he told

Reuters.

The IOC responded Wednesday,

acknowledging for the first time

that adjustments would have to be

made to ensure equal competition

and access to the Games.

“This is an exceptional situation

which requires exceptional solu-

tions,”an IOC spokesperson said.

“The IOC is committed to finding a

solution with the least negative im-

the 13 teams that had already won

their conference championships by

March 12, and to the 19 others who

finished the regular season with the

best records in their respective

leagues. The remaining 32 spots

went to the teams ranked highest

by KenPom.com with winning re-

cords (sorry, Purdue). Congrats to

this year’s No. 1 seeds: Kansas, Gon-

zaga, Baylor and Dayton.

Bracket fiends had hoped the

NCAA would release a bracket de-

spite the tournament being can-

celed. Teams on track to end historic

tournament droughts, like Rutgers

and Hofstra, would get a dose of clo-

sure. Fans would find relish overan-

alyzing matchups that would never

happen. Coaches would be eligible to

receive bonuses written into their

contracts for making the Big Dance.

But the NCAA didn’t give fans

that fantasy. NCAA senior vice pres-

You would think that would side-

line another rite of spring: The Wall

Street Journal’s annual “Madness

Machine,”which fills out your

bracket for you, based on all of your

preferences. The Madness Machine

considers whether you like offen-

sive teams, defensive teams, big

ones, small ones and so forth. Then

it spits out a winner. How could it

fill out a bracket when the NCAA

didn’t even release one?

Because WSJ Sports did it any-

way. We made the bracket. We

made the machine. The Madness

Machine is now the Sadness Ma-

chine. The NCAA tournament won’t

be happening—but you can find out

how it would have gone by running

your very own simulation. (Go to

WSJ.com/Sports to try out the Sad-

ness Machine.

For the most part we followed

the NCAA’s norms. We gave bids to

BYLAINEHIGGINS ANDANDREWBEATON

The Madness Turns Into Sadness

ing March Madness.”

That’s where the Sadness Ma-

chine comes in. There’s even a but-

ton in the Sadness Machine for the

most important March tradition:

You can let the Sadness Machine

know that you hate Duke. FROM TOP: FABRICE COFFRINI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES; LEE LUTHER JR./ASSOCIATED PRESS

Miss filling out a bracket? Go to WSJ.com/Sports to try the Sadness Machine.

O

pposition to holding the

Olympics on schedule

this July spiked to new

levels on Wednesday

among the people with

some of the loudest voices in sports:

members of the International Olym-

pic Committee and the athletes

themselves.

The crescendo of outcry comes as

entire countries lock down to pre-

vent the spread of the novel corona-

virus, leaving athletes around the

world to stare at empty calendars

and shuttered training facilities.

Though the IOC has repeatedly in-

sisted that the Tokyo Games would

go ahead as planned, the organiza-

tion is now facing intense criticism

from its own constituents.

Han Xiao, chairman of the U.S.

Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s

Athletes’ Advisory Council, said he

was “distraught”during a confer-

ence call Wednesday in which IOC

officials, including president Thomas

Bach, spoke with roughly 200 Olym-

pic-athlete representatives from

around the world.

“You’re waiting for someone to

step up and take leadership, start

being transparent about what the

contingency plans are to protect not

just athletes but the global commu-

nity,”Xiao said. But on the call there

was “very little acknowledgment of

any of that.”

IOC officials didn’t directly an-

swer questions about potential post-

ponement or cancellation of the

Games, or about what the decision-

making process was for ensuring

they would be safe if they did go on,

Xiao said.

“There was this tacit approval of,

‘You do what you need to do to

train,’ which was baffling,”he said.

“There was no real acknowledgment

pact for the athletes, while protect-

ing the integrity of the competition

and the athletes’ health. No solution

will be ideal in this situation, and

this is why we are counting on the

responsibility and solidarity of the

athletes.”

In a general conference updating

members on preparations 24 hours

earlier, the IOC didn’t once mention

the possibility of delaying or cancel-

ing the Games, according to a per-

son on the call. The last time the

Olympics weren’t held in the year

they were scheduled was World War

II, though they have been moved

from previously announced loca-

tions.

In the U.S., athletes’ ability to

train took another hit after the U.S.

Olympic & Paralympic Committee

shuttered the gymnasiums, velo-

drome and pool of its training cen-

ter in Colorado Springs for at least

30 days under state orders. Local

gyms that some prospects for the

men’s gymnastics team had been us-

ing after their colleges closed.

Orsa Moldauer, mother of 2020

hopeful Yul Moldauer, said she was

worried about the impact of a

month or longer off on gymnasts’

performance so close to the sched-

uled date for the games, writing on

Twitter: “I’m not sure that there are

enough days left before July. This is

a recipe for injuries.”

In Great Britain, heptathlete Ka-

tarina Johnson-Thompson said on

Twitter that “The IOC advice ‘en-

courages athletes to continue to pre-

pare for the Olympic Games as best

they can’ with the Olympic Games

only four months away but the gov-

ernment legislation is enforcing iso-

lation at home with tracks, gyms

and public spaces closed. I feel un-

der pressure to train and keep the

same routines which is impossible.”

—Joshua Robinson contributed to

this article.

BYRACHELBACHMAN AND

LOUISERADNOFSKY