MAC Statement Regarding Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament in Cleveland;
Restricted Attendance Policy Due To COVID-19

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Following consultation with Ohio governmental and public health officials, and at the recommendation of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the Mid-American Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be played, however a restricted attendance policy will be implemented at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this week.

The Tournaments will continue as scheduled on Wednesday, March 11th through Saturday, March 14th, however only credentialed institutional personnel, student-athlete family members, credentialed media, television and radio crews, and official team party members will be permitted for attendance for the tournaments. The MAC tournaments will be closed to the general public.

This decision was made in consultation and guidance with local governmental and public health and medical officials to limit large gatherings due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“The safety of all is our greatest concern. Since January, I have stated that any decision would follow the advice of state governmental officials and medical professionals. Following the feedback we received today we have taken this action which is in alignment with the recommendation of Governor DeWine,” said Mid-American Conference Commissioner, Dr. Jon Steinbrecher.

All tickets for the MAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be refunded in the form of a credit towards next year’s tournament or a full refund. All ticketholders will receive an email with further instructions regarding next steps to receiving credit or refund. Beginning Wednesday during regular business hours, fans can contact their respective athletic departments or the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse box office at (216) 420-2200.

I would expect to see more of this, and one wonders what will happen to the NCAA tournament/March Madness.

(03-10-2020 06:15 PM)NILAW Wrote:  I would expect to see more of this, and one wonders what will happen to the NCAA tournament/March Madness.

MAC fell in line with the Governor’s recommendation right away, so Dayton/Cleveland NCAA sites next week will feel the pressure.

Sidenote: it was weird the Governor ambiguously “asked” for it as opposed to mandating it, a lot of people interpreted his original tweet has mandating.

(03-10-2020 06:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 06:15 PM)NILAW Wrote:  I would expect to see more of this, and one wonders what will happen to the NCAA tournament/March Madness.

MAC fell in line with the Governor’s recommendation right away, so Dayton/Cleveland NCAA sites next week will feel the pressure.

Sidenote: it was weird the Governor ambiguously “asked” for it as opposed to mandating it, a lot of people interpreted his original tweet has mandating.

Incredibly irresponsible tweet

If Ohio can’t handle the tournament and doesn’t want it why not move it to another site like Chicago that would welcome it.

(03-10-2020 06:58 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  If Ohio can’t handle the tournament and doesn’t want it why not move it to another site like Chicago that would welcome it.

I wouldn't think it would make a difference. It looks like Ohio only has 3 cases, and 8 new cases were reported in Illinois today bringing the total to 19, the majority of which are in Cook County: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/8-...s/2234427/

We will know about the NCAA tournaments in the next couple of days, based on the latest statement from the NCAA: "The NCAA continues to assess how COVID-19 impacts the conduct of our tournaments and events. We are consulting with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel, who are leading experts in epidemiology and public health, and will make decisions in the coming days."

As I see it, the idea is to prevent the spread, so it's more about the cases we don't know can/will happen. No one knows the level of exposure of the person sitting next to them.

From NBC Chicago: The two cases outside of Cook County may be cases of community spread, health officials said, warning that "we're likely to see additional cases each day forward."
"Neither have a travel history to affected countries or close contact with a known COVID-19 case based on our preliminary investigations, but the investigations are still ongoing," said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

3 stinking cases for something that has a 99.8 survival rate. lmao. I only place 20 percent of the blame on the MAC, the conference leadership has no balls, we already knew that. It was the HIGHLY irresponsible tweet by the Governor which was the eff up.

(03-10-2020 07:38 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  3 stinking cases for something that has a 99.8 survival rate. lmao. I only place 20 percent of the blame on the MAC, the conference leadership has no balls, we already knew that. It was the HIGHLY irresponsible tweet by the Governor which was the eff up.

I blame the media and everyone else blowing this up. States are jumping in on these overreactions to lower their liability should anything happen, in addition to the Federal funding that's going around.

I've seen a lot of Huskie basektball games. Many during the Patton - Monty eras, because of how old I am as a 2011 grad. We finally got a team worth watching, and now we can't cheer them on.

This sucks.

Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

They only reason the number of cases is low is there are no test kits. The scope of this likely to be extremely big and wide spread. As more tests finally are taken these numbers will explode!

(03-10-2020 07:57 PM)dc1 Wrote:  They only reason the number of cases is low is there are no test kits. The scope of this likely to be extremely big and wide spread. As more tests finally are taken these numbers will explode!

So the death toll is currently at 4,000 with at least 113,000 infected. So you are saying if more tests are conducted, the number of infected would go up. Wouldn't that mean that the death ratio would go down as a result of a higher denominator?

(03-10-2020 07:57 PM)dc1 Wrote:  They only reason the number of cases is low is there are no test kits. The scope of this likely to be extremely big and wide spread. As more tests finally are taken these numbers will explode!

Most of the people who have gotten this are recovered. This is just really pisses me off ,not for the tournament, but its a sign that the media and its political motives are now disrupting our lives.

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

West Coast and, obviously, Ivy which has restricted the players also.

(03-10-2020 08:02 PM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

West Coast and, obviously, Ivy which has restricted the players also.

The West Coast? The game is on now in Vegas with humans in the stands.

(03-10-2020 08:16 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 08:02 PM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

West Coast and, obviously, Ivy which has restricted the players also.

The West Coast? The game is on now in Vegas with humans in the stands.

Big West—-my bad.....apologies!

(03-10-2020 08:17 PM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 08:16 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 08:02 PM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

West Coast and, obviously, Ivy which has restricted the players also.

The West Coast? The game is on now in Vegas with humans in the stands.

Big West—-my bad.....apologies!

All good...thanks for the info.

This all smells of yet another big media hoax to me. You can all mock me if you want, I can take it.

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

Big West is doing the same. I'd expect a few more announcements from the smaller conferences that are either still in play or haven't started yet.

(03-10-2020 08:34 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 07:53 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Did anyone else besides the MAC restrict fans?

Big West is doing the same. I'd expect a few more announcements from the smaller conferences that are either still in play or haven't started yet.

I dont get it.

(03-10-2020 08:01 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 07:57 PM)dc1 Wrote:  They only reason the number of cases is low is there are no test kits. The scope of this likely to be extremely big and wide spread. As more tests finally are taken these numbers will explode!

Most of the people who have gotten this are recovered. This is just really pisses me off ,not for the tournament, but its a sign that the media and its political motives are now disrupting our lives.

Are you talking about the Italian media? Chinese? This is a different critter from our past flu outbreaks. These precautions may prevent a pandemic. Then you'll probably come back with it's no big thing.