The Cooldown- Week 29
DFW - Week 29
What should have been a weekend of fulfilled dreams quickly turned in to a weekend of nightmares for the UIL and teams across the state. The COVID-19 Virus caused the UIL to cancel the Final Four on Thursday afternoon after the 1A and 3A semifinals had concluded. It is unclear if the other semifinals and championship games will ever be played.
What Does This Mean?
Teams across the state were either in San Antonio or en route to the Final Four when the news broke that the tournament would be postponed. That left teams to pack up and head home to self-quarantine with their families. Social distancing is the only way this tournament will be resumed at some time, and it’s going to take a commitment from everyone to heed the warnings of health officials.
Social distancing is the easiest and fastest way to flatten the curve of the virus so that less people are at risk of contracting the virus and we are able to return to more of a state of normalcy. Many Americans didn’t begin to understand the severity of the pandemic until the sports world came to a grinding halt after Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the CornonaVirus last Wednesday.
The tournament could be played without fans, but the UIL may need to explore finding a new venue. The NBA’s owners are beginning to believe that a best-case scenario for a return to play involves resuming its regular season without fans in attendance in June. If that is the case, this tournament may never be played. Many of the student-athletes who would have competed this weekend will be using the summer to prepare to head off to college. If this tournament does get played, it will likely be without fans in attendance and at a different venue before the 2019-20 school year ends. Despite best efforts, it seems increasingly likely that the tournament won’t be played along with all of the UIL’s spring sports.
Madison Advances to Championship Game
The 1A and 3A championship games were set before the UIL called off the rest of the tournament. Dallas Madison defeated Coldspring- Oakhurst 90-73 to advance to the championship game. The Madison bench was a huge help in the win, outscoring the Coldspring-Oakhurst bench 41-8 in the win. If the 3A championship game is played, Madison would face San Antonio Cole, who defeated Peaster 58-44. Regardless, if the state tournament ever resumes, everyone should be practicing social distancing to an extent to hamper the threat of a virus and allow Americans to begin rebuilding over the summer.