NCAA cancels rest of winter, spring seasons
Big East stops tournament after first half of Creighton-St. John’s game
The pause button has been hit on the sports world.
Thursday saw Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer join the National Basketball Association in placing the season in a holding pattern due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, college basketball’s marquee event – the NCAA Tournament – has been canceled along with the remaining winter and spring championships.
The list of casualties also included the men’s college basketball postseason tournaments involving the Big East and Atlantic 10. They joined fellow conferences from around the country in scrapping tournaments in the name of safety.
Unlike the Atlantic 10, the ACC, and SEC, the Big East waited until after one of its tournament games tipped off before pulling the plug on the remaining contests. The first game of Thursday’s anticipated quadruple header at Madison Square Garden – Creighton vs. St. John’s – was at halftime when the cancelation announcement was made.
“It was our view that we didn’t feel like we needed a dramatic, pull-theplayers- off- the- court- in- the- middleof-the-game gesture. Folks were here. We just literally didn’t think that another 15 or 20 minutes of game time was going to make that much of a difference,” said Big East commissioner Val Ackerman in press conference held at the Garden. “That said, we didn’t think it was appropriate to send the athletes back out on to the floor during the halftime. So it was a judgment call that we made. It was just based on an assessment that we made. And, again, we didn’t – we were making calls – once we got this news about the other conferences, I felt it important to confer with the city, and that happened.”
Providence College was originally scheduled to play Butler in a 2:30 p.m. game at MSG, yet reports from New York indicate that neither team left its respective hotel prior to the curtain officially being lowered on this year’s Big East Tournament. With news of no NCAA Tournament, the Friars officially end the 2019-20 season on a six-game winning streak as part of a 19-12 record, 12-6 in the Big East.
“While we are all disappointed by the cancelation of so many great athletic contests over the last 24 hours, we understand the magnitude of the health crisis that is affecting the entire world,” said PC head coach Ed Cooley in a statement. “As we move on, I want everyone to know how proud I am of our team and what they accomplished this season. We have some great memories and our five seniors [Luwane Pipkins, Emmitt Holt, Alpha Diallo, Maliek White, Kalif Young] will always be remembered for their late-season run and how they grew as leaders. Thanks for all your support.”
Major League Baseball’s decision to push back the start of the 2020 season by two weeks and suspend all spring training games means the first pitch of the minor league season will not be taking place as previously scheduled. The Pawtucket Red Sox were slated to play their first game of the final season at McCoy Stadium on Thursday, April 9.
“In light of the current coronavirus outbreak, and after consultation with medical professionals and our partners at Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball will delay the start of the 2020 Championship Season,” said MiLB in a press release. “We will continue to monitor the developments and will announce additional information about the 2020 season at a later date. We will work with Major League Baseball and our community partners to resume play as soon as it is safe to do so. The health and safety of Minor League Baseball fans, players and executives is our top priority, and our thoughts are with those around the world who have been affected by this outbreak.”
Twit