How Tennessee teams are dealing with coronavirus
Among the ways sports teams across Tennessee are combating COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus: fist bumps.
Or forearm bumps. Or elbow bumps. Just not pre- and post-game handshakes, a staple at basketball games that, for the time being, has taken a backseat to hygiene.
The Memphis Tigers and Grizzlies have been advised to end handshakes and high-fives by their conference and league, respectively. MTSU is doing the same. A Predators player politely declined an offered handshake from a reporter and opted for a fist-bump instead.
The coronavirus has impacted sports around the globe.
In Italy, where the spread has been especially rampant, all sporting events will go on without fans in attendance until April. The NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel issued a statement Friday recommending against canceling events.
In the United States, Division I basketball programs Chicago State and Missouri Kansas City cancelled road games at Seattle University; 10 people have died in Washington state due to the virus.
In Baltimore, spectators were banned from attending Division III basketball tournament games at Johns Hopkins in a preventative measure.
So far, sports entities in Tennessee have had no cancellations or postponements related to the disease, and have experienced no travel bans. But now that the virus has arrived in the Volunteer State – Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday morning that the first case had been detected in the state – what measures are they taking in preparing for COVID-19?
Here’s a rundown:
Predators working closely with officials, NHL
The Predators, in the midst of their playoff push, will head out on a five-game road trip after Thursday’s home game against the Dallas Stars.
In a statement, the team said, “Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators’ primary concern is for the health and safety of our entire community including our players, performers, employees, guests and partners. As with any security or health concern, we are working closely with federal, state and local officials and specialists, along with the National Hockey League, Southeastern Conference and other event producers, to ensure the well-being of anyone and everyone that enters our building for a game, show or event. We encourage everyone to follow the everyday preventative measures outlined by the Center for Disease Control at Cdc.gov.”
Nashville SC gets directive from MLS
Nashville SC made its MLS debut last weekend in front of 59,069 fans at Nissan Stadium.
The league has since reached out to Nashville SC and other league teams about coronavirus precaution.
“Major League Soccer has formed a task force to manage the response of the league and its clubs to COVID-19,” the league said in a statement received by Nashville SC.
“The task force is comprised of executives responsible for the principal league functions and includes MLS’ Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Margot Putukian . ... The task force has been monitoring the most recent developments and communicating with MLS clubs regarding appropriate measures to take as the situation continues to evolve.”
MTSU paying attention to how situation is being handled
MTSU Athletics Director Chris Massaro said the school plans to follow best practices from other entities and directives from its conference.
“Most of it’s observation and taking cues from our leadership and also state leadership to have access to more information than athletic directors do at this point in time,” Massaro said. “We’re doing what everyone has been telling us to do with encouraging people to keep their hands washed. We put out more hand sanitizer and we’re encouraging fist bumps instead of handshakes as well.
“At the C-USA basketball tournament, they eliminated the pregame handshake after the national anthem and they’re encouraging people postgame to bump forearms as they walk down the line instead of shaking hands.”
The next step may be an assessment of road contests across all sports.
“Right now it’s really focused on hygiene but we’re also obviously looking at travel and schedules and those kinds of things if the situation deteriorates so that we can be in a position to act,” Massaro said.
No changes to SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament
The SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament comes to Bridgestone Arena next week, beginning March 11 and ending March 15.
As of Thursday, the tournament is set to be played without any changes.
“The SEC office remains in communication with our members as we all monitor the latest information from public health officials,” the league said in a statement. “At this time, the Conference has not modified any scheduled events while reminding everyone to be attentive to everyday preventive actions identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
The NCAA’S COVID-19 advisory panel’s statement said the situation is fluid and that there is a need to better understand the disease. It emphasized that athletes and others should “practice risk mitigation at all events.”
“At present the panel is not recommending cancellation or public spacing of athletic and related events scheduled to occur in public spaces across the United States,” the statement concluded.
TSSAA going forward with basketball tournaments
The TSSAA is going forward with its statewide high school basketball postseason tournaments. It reached out to the state health department for advice.
“The Tennessee Department of Health is not currently recommending event cancellations,” the TSSAA said in a statement. “While the risk to the general population remains low, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide any updates as they become available.”
All schools were updated by letter from the state prep athletics regulatory office.
Bernard Childress, the executive director of the TSSAA, has reached out to other executive directors in other states about how they are handling the virus in regard to sports events.
“They are doing basically the same thing we are doing,” he said.
Vanderbilt not modifying schedule
In January, Vanderbilt created a website to address concerns about the coronavirus, and it updates it regularly – it was updated Thursday with the announcement of the first case in Tennessee.
In terms of Vanderbilt athletics specifically, the university said in a statement Thursday, “At this time, (it) has not modified any scheduled events or domestic travel.”
The Vanderbilt baseball team is in Los Angeles on Thursday to prepare for this weekend’s games against UCLA Friday, USC Saturday and TCU Sunday.
The only international road trip coming up is the Vanderbilt women’s golf team traveling to Ireland in July. As of Thursday, that trip is still on.
Grizzles favor fist and elbow bumps
Memphis’ NBA franchise has passed along advice to players, including practices favored by the league as issued to all teams. The Grizzlies public relations team responded to questions about how the organization is handling the situation.
“We are paying close attention to developments regarding the Coronavirus and have taken/are taking steps to educate employees and fans to focus on preventative measures, as the health and safety of our employees, players and fans are of the utmost importance,” the team responded. “Specific to this instance, we have also shared preventative measures with the players, such as first bumps or elbow bumps vs. high fives.”
University of Memphis names committee
Memphis assistant athletic director Tammy Degroff said in an email that Tigers athletics is working within university guidelines on preparation for virus prevention.
In an email addressed to the Memphis campus community, university president M. David Rudd named a public health preparedness committee. The school is directing people to Memphis.edu/coronavirusupdates.
The AAC, of which Memphis is a member, issued a statement Thursday in which the conference said it will eliminate the requirement of a pre- and post-game staple.
“Before the game, teams are encouraged to discuss a pre and post-game procedure that would limit personal contact,” the league statement said. “It is understood that this is a disruption to a long standing tradition but The American is confident in the sportsmanship of our members and looks forward to successful Men’s and Women’s Championships.”
UT chancellor updates campus community
A spokesperson for the Vols athletic department said UT’S response to COVID-19 is a university subject, not an athletics subject, and referred to a statement from Donde Plowman addressed to the campus community.
Plowman wrote that all outgoing university-related international travel has been suspended by the university and urged students to be mindful of domestic travel and bringing visitors to campus.
UT has consolidated all information related to the university’s response to COVID-19 at utk.edu/coronavirus, which will be continually updated.