Sunday, March 21, 2021

You're not surprised, are you?

I was going to write my blog about getting my second Pfizer vaccine a couple weeks ago and then eagerly going back to the YMCA feeling fully liberated for the first time in a year. I returned to the Y on Monday.

I was taking a step toward normalcy.

Then the NCAA Tournament happened.

More specifically, 10th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University made big news Saturday when it had to drop out of the West bracket due to Covid-19 protocols. The Rams were out of the tournament before even setting an Air Nike on the court, officially dropping a 1-0 "no contest" decision to No. 7 Oregon while advancing the Ducks to the second round without pulling down a single rebound or drawing a single foul.

As of yesterday, officials were still trying to figure out how to get VCU back to Richmond without spreading the virus.

In the meantime, there's a kind of mantra rolling in the back of my head chanting "I told you so. I told you so."

To me, the fact that a team had to drop out in mid-tournament automatically compromised the integrity of the entire event. Hope you didn't pick VCU as an upset team in your NCAA pool. I'm sure No. 2 Iowa, Oregon's next opponent, is delighted that the Ducks have an extra day of rest before taking to the court on Monday. How is that fair to Iowa?

But the problem here is deeper than a pool, or even the betting lines. Why are we even having a tournament? Why are we bringing hundreds of young athletes to Indianapolis and, despite all the precautions, subjecting them to a potentially deadly virus? Why are we making this a super spreader event?

Actually, we know why. Money. You can take it from there.

What doesn't seem to be getting into people's heads is just how insidious this virus is. The fact that VCU showed no symptoms until just hours before tip-off  and despite days of testing is because the virus apparently can remain in an asymptomatic incubation period before shouting "Gotcha!" By then it's too late. You have to withdraw from the tournament.

Who knows how many other teams are likewise infected? One? Two? All? None? What happens if  undefeated tourney favorite Gonzaga has to withdraw? Who gets the asterisk when a champion is finally named?

If the NCAA is so hellbent on having its silly basketball games (as announcer Charles Barkley remarkably and correctly described them last night), at least take the precaution to have everybody involved vaccinated and then start the tourney a week later. What's the rush?

But even now, as I think about this, the problem isn't so much with the NCAA (although it has a lot to answer for, especially if more teams get sick) as it is with us. We crave normalcy, so we watch this tournament on TV thinking everything is back to normal. And it's not.

Which is probably what is happening in Miami Beach as Spring Break brings us another super spreader event with maskless – and apparently invincible – college students clogging the streets. As if we didn't learn from last year. Which I guess we didn't.

•   •   •

OK, OK. I know what you're thinking. You hypocrite. If Covid is so dangerous, why are you back at the gym?

I'm making a conscious and considered decision after weighing the data. I'm fully vaccinated. I go to the gym early, at 5 a.m., when there are less than 10 people in the fitness center. We all wear masks. Each client is given a bottle of sanitizer to clean whatever workout machine he or she is using, before and after each workout. We social distance. The Y closes for two hours in the afternoon for a mass cleaning. I feel relatively safe. In a life where there are no guarantees, you weigh the odds.

The NCAA Tournament, meanwhile, remains a mass social gathering despite all the precautions and 20 percent fan base. The only real decision an individual makes is the decision whether or not to participate. But college athletes are on scholarships. Some may have lucrative futures in the NBA following their NCAA careers. And money talks. Money makes the decisions for them.


1 comment:

  1. Another good read. BTW - at least it’s a good excuse for the ACC’s down year. BeWell and keep writing. Dave Roberts.

    ReplyDelete