It's Over

The MAC has officially canceled its basketball tournaments.

— Nick Piotrowicz (@NickPBlade) March 12, 2020

And that, as they say, is that.

Hard to put what I am feeling into words.  I've not been this disappointed in a long time.  Don't get me wrong, I understand and support what is being done.  When you are trying to slow the spread of the virus, eliminating mass gatherings of thousands of people is a pretty obvious first step.  Even playing in front of empty stadiums is tough to justify when you can be pretty sure at least one of the players in the tournament (any tournament) is infected.

Even in perspective, this is so disappointing.  I feel so badly for our players and coaches.  Fans are one thing, but these men and women (including our staff) have woken up every morning for a year with a singular focus on getting to tonight.  They worked out early in the morning, lifted weights, pushed tractor tires, god knows what else.  They dealt with the pressure and the games and the travel and the losses and the setbacks.  All with the goal to win three games this week.

And it isn't like they failed.  They never found out.  It might be 10x worse.

I thank our team.  It was a great season.  They did a great job.  It's unbelievable to be here.

And for our quest to make an NCAA tournament...our first real shot in 18 years...and then there's no MAC tournament and almost for sure no NCAA tournament anyway.  Of all the ways to not make it.  I just cannot believe I am typing these words.  I feel like my heart's been ripped out of my chest.

The good news is, the sweep over UT stayed intact.

He says with dark humor.

The sun will come up tomorrow.