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SPORTS
SATURDAy, MARCH 14 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS su D
BY STEVEN GOFFAs a player, Cindy Parlow Cone
was, in the blunt words of her
college coach, “an extraordinary
warrior in the most aggressive
definition of the term” in win-
ning three nCAA titles, two
olympic gold medals and a
World Cup.
As a part-time assistant coach,
she played a key role in an nCAA
championship while her boss
was tending to his ill wife. And as
a pro head coach, she won a title
in her first season.
Active in U.s. soccer Federa-
tion affairs for years, she was, in
grilling presidential candidates
two years ago, “almost a force of
nature,” one hopeful said.
now, as the new president of
the governing body following
Carlos Cordeiro’s abrupt resigna-
tion Thursday night, Parlow
Cone faces her most daunting
challenge: steering the UssF
through tumultuous times amid
a high-profile lawsuit involving
the women’s national team play-ers, as well as several other
administrative and fiscal head-
aches.
Reelected last month as vice
president, she was first in line to
succeed Cordeiro, who served
two years. she is the first woman
to oversee the 107-year-old orga-
nization and the second former
player to do so. (Werner Fricker
had the job from 1984 to 1990.)
The UssF will conduct a spe-
cial election next February to
determine who sees out Cord-
eiro’s term, then will conduct theregularly scheduled election in
2022 for a four-year term.
This week, Parlow Cone, 41,
was critical of the federation’s
legal filings in the women’s na-
tional team case; the language
was widely condemned as misog-
ynistic and demeaning to female
players of all ages.
Following Cordeiro’s resigna-
tion, she said in a written state-
ment, “The passion that has
come to the surface in the past
two days is what inspires me to
look forward, to work hard to-wards mending relationships
and moving the game forward
for all.”
Parlow Cone was not available
for interviews Friday but is ex-
pected to take questions from
reporters early next week.
Her appointment was well re-
ceived by former teammates,
such as superstar Mia Hamm,
who wrote on Twitter: “I have
known Cindy Parlow Cone for
over two decades as both a
teammate and friend. she has
see soccer on D2A woman unfamiliar with defeat takes over troubled U.S. Soccer
Parlow Cone, a former American s tar, replaces Cordeiro and steps right into the maelstrom on the legal and fiscal fronts
OLYMPICS
two-time 800-meter gold
medalist Caster semenya
is switching to the 200 in
bid to qualify for tokyo. D2MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
CAA champ Hofstra
waited 19 years to return
to the nCAA tournament.
then it got canceled. D3BASEBALL
few athletes are bigger
creatures of habit than
baseball players.
Pandemics spit on habit. D5THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAKBY EMILY GIAMBALVOAn nCAA committee Friday
granted another year of eligibility
to thousands of college athletes
whose seasons were abruptly cut
short by concerns about the coro-
navirus pandemic.
The Division I Council Coordi-
nation Committee announced its
“leadership agreed that eligibility
relief is appropriate for all Divi-
sion I student-athletes who par-
ticipated in spring sports,” a day
after the nCAA canceled all win-
ter and spring championship ath-
letic events.
Many leaders within college
athletics viewed the move as the
fair resolution but one that will
involve complications.
“It’s a challenge,” Ryan Bam-
ford, the athletic director at Mas-
sachusetts, said in a telephone
interview Friday morning, speak-
ing of the potential ramifications
of an eligibility waiver before the
nCAA’s decision was announced.
“The concept I think everybody
agrees with. I haven’t gotten a lot
of pushback on the concept, but
the mechanics of it are really,
really sticky.”
spring sports include baseball,
golf, lacrosse, softball, tennis and
outdoor track and field. Most of
those teams had played only a
fraction of their seasons. For in-
stance, the men’s and women’s
lacrosse schedule runs from early
February through the end of May.
see seniors on D5NCAA to give
many athletes
an extra year
of eligibility
They d isbanded
Thursday just as
they were about to
start practice.
They m et Friday
when they should
have been h eading
to lunch, then
naps, then a walk-
through, then a meal, then tip-off.
They l aughed and cried w hen they
should have just competed. They
split up when they should have
been together.
Maryland’s m en’s b asketball
team is just one entity in this mess
and Mark Turgeon just one coach.
But take the emotions they felt
this week and lay them over the
sports world because they apply.
In a ll the specific experiences,
there is so much in common.
There’s c ommonality in the
uncertainty, c ommonality in the
frustration, commonality in the
concern. Commonality in the void.
“It just, it just happened so
fast,” Turgeon said by phone
Friday afternoon. “It’s amazing
how much has happened from
yesterday, getting ready for
practice, to today at 1 o’clock.”
What happened broadly:
American life was altered because
of the spread of the novel
coronavirus, and sports —
beginning with the nBA on
Wednesday n ight — e ssentially
shut down. What happened
see sVrlugA on D3For Terrapins
and Turgeon,
togetherness
eases the pain
Barry
Svrlugawill newton for tHe wAsHington PostBY SIMON DENYERtokyo — President Trump
praised Japan’s preparations for
the 2020 summer olympics and
said there were still “lots of op-
tions” f or holding the Games, o nly
hours after suggesting they might
have to be postponed for a year
because of the novel coronavirus
outbreak.
The shift in the president’s tone
came after a phone call with
J apan’s s hinzo Abe.
“Just had a great conversation
with Prime Minister Abe of
J apan,” Trump tweeted. “I told
him t hat the just completed olym-
pic venue is magnificent. He has
done an incredible job, one that
will make him very proud. Good
things will happen for Japan and
their great Prime Minister. Lots of
options!”
Abe has s taked considerable p o-
litical capital on the Tokyo olym-
pics, which he sees as a way to
bolster national pride and his
prestige.
Japan has repeatedly insisted
that postponing or canceling the
Games is unthinkable and that its
preparations are continuing as
normal — a stance echoed by the
ultimate arbiter, the International
olympic Committee. so it couldn’t
have gone over w ell in Tokyo when
Trump suggested Thursday t he
coronavirus could upend those
see olympics on D4Olympics
have ‘lots
of options,’
Trump says
BY RICK MAESE
AND MATT BONESTEELWhat little remained of the
dwindling spring sports calendar
was wiped nearly clean Friday.
The Masters golf tournament and
Boston Marathon became the lat-
est iconic events to announce
postponements in the wake of the
public health crisis wreaked by
the novel coronavirus.
Virtually every major U.s.
sporting event scheduled for the
coming weeks was either shelved
or canceled, and many leagues
and organizers around the globe
followed suit. european soccer
ground to a halt Friday, and
n AsCAR and IndyCar postponed
upcoming races.
They w ere among the last hold-
outs. The nBA and nHL already
suspended their seasons; Major
League Baseball delayed its
opening Day; and the nCAA can-
celed all of its championship tour-
naments — all happening in a
dizzying 4 8-hour period this
week that was unlike anything
the sports world has experienced.
Augusta national Golf Club
spent the week weighing its op-
tions for hosting the Masters be-
fore announcing Friday morning
that the event, steeped in tradi-
tion and covered in azaleas,
would not start April 9 as
planned. To urnament officials of-
fered no timeline on when it
might be rescheduled but were
see Virus on D2More events
fall, leaving
spring all but
void of sports
stew milne/AssoCiAted Press
A day after the ncAA tournaments were canceled, maryland men’s basketball coach mark Turgeon, top, had an
emotional meeting with his team. in Tokyo, middle, all systems remain go for the summer olympics, but concerns
and questions linger. But there’s no doubt about the Boston marathon, above; it was postponed until sept. 14.CArl Court/AgenCe frAnCe-Presse/getty imAges