Unbelievable! Coronavirus Disease Ends OSU Spring Sports Calendar - The Day Sports Dreams Died
STILLWATER -- Nobody died on March 12 when the NCAA made the decision to do everything possible in connection with major college sports to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, also known as the coronavirus. The organization that runs most of college athletics cancelled the ultra popular NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships, also known as "March Madness." They also cancelled all other winter and spring championships from hockey to wrestling to lacrosse to softball to baseball to the Men's and Women's Division I Tennis Championships to be held in Stillwater at Oklahoma State's Greenwood Tennis Center.
Don McLean in his popular vintage rock and roll song sang of "the day the music died" symbolizing the day American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
Like I said, nobody died on March 12, but a lot of sports dreams across the country met their fate.
"Our players learned about the end of their season from the NCAA on Twitter," Oklahoma State baseball head coach Josh Holliday said. "That's the kind of day it was. There is no playbook for this."
Holliday and his players were literally eight days away from opening up the brand new and absolutely state-of-the-art O'Brate Stadium.
I was sitting in the coaches office at the Cowgirls Softball Stadium with head coach Kenny Gajewski and his staff. The players, who had been scheduled to play a doubleheader with Western Illinois starting at 3:30 p.m. had been sent home when the games were cancelled around one p.m. Gajewski had told them to meet back at six p.m. and he thought they would know more. Like Holliday explained, the softball players, ranked No. 11 in the country, with a team that could play for it all, learned their season was over the same way. They saw it on Twitter, television, or someone text them.
"It's easy for us to, I don't know what the word is, to be selfish and think it is all about us," Gajewski said. "I think as we start to dig into this and get some facts, it's scary. Obviously, I'm worried about 23 players, staff, and support staff. Unfortunately, right now it is not about softball, but about life and preventing this disease."
However, you can't totally get away from the feelings of the players. Gajewski was feeling that almost from the second he heard the announcement and realized their would be no College World Series this season.
Graduate transfer first baseman Alysen Febrey, who is a flat out star with a .385 average and 11 home runs so far this season, came to Oklahoma State from Georgia to play her last season of college softball for a coach that she seriously thought about playing for initially. She told me she was having a blast and on a team that felt like it was special.
"Yeah, I hope that the NCAA will think about eligibility and kids like Aysen Febrey," said Gajewski.
That was a first thought for many of the coaches. Some weren't able to comment. Mike Boynton and his team were driving back from Kansas City, leaving at a time when they were still originally scheduled to be on the Spring Center court playing Kansas. Much of the Oklahoma State athletics administration was making their way back from the cancelled Big 12 Basketball Championships.
"We're going to do the best and love on our student-athletes and work with our administration to have the best academic semester we can have," reinforced Holliday. "That's all we can do is support them. I hope there is some thought in how we can try to make this better for the student-athletes. I know the people making the decision thought this through, but I also hope they will think it through for the kids and make the best decisions for them. Think some about eligibility. I know the leaders will."
Of all the coaches on the Oklahoma State campus, perhaps the one with the most to lose in all these cancellations is women's tennis head coach and assistant athletic director for tennis Chris Young. Young and men's coach Jay Udwadia and their programs were set to host the Big 12 and the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships at the Greenwood Tennis Center at Oklahoma State. A huge honor and huge event for the university and the city of Stillwater.
"It's a sad day on so many levels," Young text me. "Hopefully, something positive can come from such a terrible moment."
I know Young had spent much of his time since the NCAA cancellations trying to get some assurance that Oklahoma State would get another opportunity to host the event. It was something Young and the athletic department had been working on for years.
Mike Gundy's team won't miss any competition, at least we hope not as the football opener is still five and a half months away, but today was just day three of spring football practice. Gundy and his staff were counting on 12 more practices after spring break. Oklahoma State athletics and the Big 12 are on hold for the next two weeks, and really longer than that with students being held of campus and "remote learning" in place for the two weeks after next week's spring break.
"Yes, we knew this might be out last spring practice and we discussed it today in staff meeting," Gundy said. "That is why we went in full pads. We're in a holding pattern until the (March) 29th."
Back at it! 🍊💪🏽#okstate #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/Ly2Wgj27KA
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) March 10, 2020
Like the tweet above says, the Cowboys were back at it, but not for long as the first week will be all the spring football for now.
Gundy's players leave for spring break. They aren't alone as no other schools will be practicing. To be honest, the Cowboys may have made the most of their one week, three practices together on the field. Now, recruiting is impacted to.
Oklahoma State had a pair of prospects on campus with Edmond Santa Fe sophomore receiver Talyn Shettron and his dad, as well as former Oklahoma State offensive tackle David Camacho and his son Matthew. Matthew is a 6-8, 315-pound offensive tackle from Harbor City (Narbonne), Calf.
Those will be the last two prospects on campus for awhile.
"There is no recruiting on campus until March 29th and no off-campus, but football isn't off campus anyway right now. Some other sports are," Gundy lamented. "I'm afraid we won't have any recruiting this spring. Like, I'm thinking our coaches may not be able to go out in May and evaluate. It is going to throw everything off."
Everything is thrown off, sports, recruiting, and for awhile, life as we know it. Come on, did you ever think you'd see a March without madness.
