friday, march 13 , 2020. the washington post eZ m2 D3
Even the NCAA could not avoid this
Organization tried to delay the inevitable before making what should have been an obvious choice to cancel tournament
You might h ave to read a book.
You will have to do without the
annual fix of adrenaline jolts,
mood swings and e scapism
that is March Madness. You’re
going to have to learn w hat real
attention is again.
It w as impossible to see how
the N CAA men’s b asketball
tournament c ould go o n, even in empty
arenas. Two stark scenes Wednesday n ight
were the r eality c heck: first the s trange,
suppressed t ension when the O klahoma City
Thunder and Utah Jazz were cleared from the
floor and the cleaning s quad in blue antiseptic
gloves c ame out. Then that awful w axiness on
Nebraska Cornhuskers Coach Fred Hoiberg’s
face on t he b ench i n the Big Te n tournament
before he was whisked away t o the hospital. It
was apparently j ust the f lu, t hankfully. B ut
how many people could he have endangered?
It c ould never have worked. Entire teams
would h ave forfeited b ecause t hey were in
quarantine. That’s n ot the kind o f bracket
buster anyone needs or wants to see.
I love the NCAA t ournament, the ritualism
and m onth-long unconscious obsession,
better t han almost any event. My mind goes
blank in March, and I reawaken in A pril t o
find I missed the tulips. B ut this y ear it would
have been an unjustifiable indulgence — and a
potentially lethal o ne.
It w as typical of the NCAA to foot-drag and
hem o ver the o fficial announcement.
Presumably the s ubcommittee of t he
subcommittee had t o meet with t he standing
committee of the s ubcommittee to discuss t he
fiscal impact. Not until h ours after Duke and
Kansas announced they had no intention o f
playing a postseason in t he midst o f a
pandemic did t he N CAA B oard of Governors
announce t hat it was canceling the
championships for a ll winter a nd spring
sports.
This was an unavoidable decision, a s well as
a common s ense one. A n official who w orked
the C olonial Athletic A ssociation tournament
tested positive f or the v irus. There w ould have
been others. C ount o n it.
The time it took the NCAA to arrive a t the
inescapable c onclusion — trailing behind the
NBA, t he NHL and Major League Baseball a s it
sought half measures that might a llow the
tournament t o be held — was long enough to
reinforce t he worst perceptions of t he
organization a gain, the deep s uspicion that
the w ell-being of athletes c omes l ast, not first.
The NCAA h as a different predicament than
any pro s ports l eague because it insists o n the
fallacy of amateurism, and that fallacy was
exposed like n ever b efore by t he coronavirus.
Every other college student i n the country i s
being told by university authorities to stay
away f rom classrooms a nd lecture h alls, not to
congregate, in the name of c ontainment and
the w elfare of all. Dorms are shut down,
classes suspended or moved online.
Ye t somehow the NCAA a ctually
contemplated holding a tournament, as if
college ballplayers h ad a special d ispensation
of immunity. Into Thursday morning, t hey
allowed players t o sweat and breathe o n each
other on the court, to practice and c ongregate
in humid locker rooms and on buses,
continuing to prepare f or the p ostseason, to
play for berths and seedings. The
disingenuous excuse offered by NCAA
President Mark E mmert f or not canceling was
that the tournament was “the experience of a
lifetime.”
But the r eal dispensation, the i noculation,
was called a billion-dollar TV c ontract.Sally
Jenkinstheir health a nd futures?
How many jellynecks w ould agree to that?
The only reason t he N CAA h esitated a s long
as it did w as the f inancial stakes. And those
were certainly worth grave consideration: all
kinds o f parties will s uffer from t he
cancellations, from stadium w orkers to local
tavern o wners to nonrevenue athletes. But
irrational sums s houldn’t lead to irrational
decisions. Duke and Kansas officials s howed
real leadership in making their unilateral
moves, and i t’s the sort that you wish the
NCAA h ad more of. A cancellation is not the
worst outcome here — the worst outcome is a
major outbreak t hat sickens and p erhaps kills.
The American sports p ublic can d o with a
thoughtful pause. And in the q uiet interim, i t
should c ontemplate just what a separate and
extra-burdened class the NCAA h as made of
the c ollege ballplayers we watch so avidly a nd
so mindlessly.
[email protected]For more by sally Jenkins, visit
washingtonpost.com/jenkins.virus is c utting a wide swath through that
arrogance. Several NBA teams were advised t o
self-quarantine because they had direct o r
indirect c ontact w ith t he Utah Jazz within the
past 10 d ays, all because Rudy Gobert thought
he was immune.
Understand this about the c oronavirus: It’s
not only hugely c ontagious a nd 10 times more
dangerous t han t he flu. It h as a stunning
ability t o inflict l asting lung damage. Which
means it has t he potential to compromise a
star college player’s future e arning a bility
should h e contract a bad case of i t while
playing f or nothing except Emmert’s
experience of a lifetime.
Ask yourself what would happen if w e
reversed the circumstances a nd a sked the
NCAA jellynecks t o sweat free, while t he
players g ot paid to watch.
Imagine it. Let’s s ay K ansas’s Devon D otson
got to sit in a padded c hair and push p aper f or
his cut of $1 b illion, w hile he suggested that
Emmert and ACC Commissioner John
Swofford should jiggle u p and down the c ourt,
swapping potentially viral fluids and riskingThe coronavirus highlighted as nothing else
could t hat college athletes a ssume a ll the risk
while everyone e lse gets paid. Even the half
measure contemplated by the NCAA w as
incredibly r isky. T hink about i t. Sixty-eight
teams traveling t o nine host sites n ext week.
Four regional venues — one of t hem New York,
which is in the middle of a major, growing
outbreak. C BS had to evacuate i ts broadcast
center in Manhattan on Wednesday after two
employees o n different f loors tested p ositive
for t he c oronavirus. Four teams were
scheduled to come to Manhattan and stay i n
hotels and play ball at Madison S quare
Garden s tarting March 27. In f ront of CBS
crews and techs.
There really w as no other o ption but t o
cancel. Even with just “essential staff and
limited family,” which i s what the N CAA was
proposing, think of the p otential for virus
spreading.
Some will scream that i t was premature or
needless. I t’s the h abit of people i n sports to
think that they are invincible and i nsulated
from the usual problems of the world. But t heJohn mcDonnell/the Washington Post
Virginia players and coaches prepare to travel home after the ACC tournament was canceled. The NCAA tournament was canceled next.BY STEVEN GOFFCarlos Cordeiro, the embattled
president of the U.S. Soccer Feder-
ation, announced his resignation
Thursday night — an abrupt deci-
sion amid mounting criticism of
him and the governing body for
missteps in its legal battle with
the women’s national team.
Vice President Cindy Parlow
Cone, a former U.S. star, will step
into the role, effective immediate-
ly.
“It has become clear to me that
what is best right now is a new
direction,” Cordeiro said in an
open letter. “The arguments and
language contained in this week’s
legal filing caused great offense
and pain, especially to our ex-
traordinary Women’s National
Te am players who deserve better.
It was unacceptable and inexcus-
able.”
In those filings, the USSF said,
“The point is that the job of [a
men’s n ational team] player (com-
peting against senior men’s na-
tional teams) requires a higher
level of skill based on speed and
strength than does the job of [a
women’s national team] player
(competing against senior wom-
en’s national teams).”
It c aused a furor among observ-
ers who felt it belittled the four-
time World Cup champions, and
that in turn prompted high-pro-
file sponsors to issue statements
scolding the USSF.
On Wednesday, Cordeiro apol-
ogized. But criticism of the Chica-
go-based federation inside and
outside the soccer community
continued to grow.
Even Cone expressed her disap-
pointment, writing on Twitter, “I
am hurt and saddened by the brief
USSF filed. This issue means so
much to me, but more broadly to
all men & women and, more im-
portantly, to little girls & boys who
are our future. I disavow the trou-
bling statements and will contin-
ue to work to forge a better path
forward.”
In his resignation letter, Cord-
eiro wrote, “I did not have the
opportunity to fully review the
filing in its entirety before it was
submitted, and I take responsibil-
ity for not doing so.”
Cordeiro was elected in Febru-
ary 2018, succeeding Sunil Gulati,
who did not seek reelection after
the failure of the men’s national
team to qualify for the 2018 WorldCup. Cordeiro was Gulati’s vice
president.
Molly Levinson, spokeswoman
for the female players suing the
federation on gender discrimina-
tion grounds, said: “While it is
gratifying that there has been
such a deafening outcry against
USSF’s blatant misogyny, the sex-
ist culture and policies overseen
by Carlos Cordeiro have been ap-
proved for years by the board of
directors of USSF. This institution
must change and support and pay
women players equally.”
The case, in which the players
are seeking almost $67 million in
damages, is scheduled to go to
trial May 5 in Los Angeles. Each
side has asked the judge to rule in
its favor before the case goes to
trial.
Even before the filing became
public this week, Cordeiro created
a stir Saturday when, on the eve of
the team’s match against Spain in
Harrison, N.J., he accused the
players of, among other things,
“repeatedly declining our invita-
tion” t o negotiate a settlement.
The players denied that and
expressed anger about the timing
of the letter to federation mem-
bers.
Before their subsequent match
Wednesday against Japan in Fris-
co, Te x., the players wore their
warmup jerseys inside out, hidingthe USSF logo.
Former star players, such as
Abby Wambach and Heather
O’Reilly, called for Cordeiro’s res-
ignation.
The federation’s problems run
deeper than the women’s lawsuit.
There are several other legal
challenges, including an antitrust
case.
The chief executive position re-
mains unoccupied following Dan
Flynn’s r etirement last year. Many
head coaching jobs in the youth
ranks were filled only recently.
Many observers criticized the
hiring of men’s national team
coach Gregg Berhalter, whose
brother Jay was, at the time, a
USSF business e xecutive.
Cordeiro, who as president was
not paid by the federation, never
seemed comfortable as the face of
the organization. He d eclined me-
dia training and, in addressing
the crowd at the World Cup cele-
bration in New York last summer,
mispronounced superstar Megan
Rapinoe’s last name.
In his resignation letter, Cord-
eiro said, “A s U.S. Soccer moves
forward with its defense against
the lawsuit by the team, I hope
that our remarkable women’s
players are always treated with
the dignity, respect and admira-
tion that they truly deserve.”
[email protected]Cordeiro resigns as the president of U.S. Soccer
catherine ivill/getty images
Carlos Cordeiro was elected as the president of the U.S. Soccer
Federation two years ago after serving as its v ice president.Criticism was building
over body’s handling of
women’s team’s lawsuitUPLOADED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws