On March 12, 2020, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team was warming up for a Southeastern Conference tournament game against Alabama at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena when the entire tourney was abruptly canceled over the coronavirus pandemic.
On Saturday morning, less than 70 minutes before the Volunteers were to take that same Bridgestone court against Memphis for a nationally televised game, the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols for the Tigers.
So 21 months removed from no SEC or NCAA tournaments, and less than a year removed from a convoluted college hoops season marred by canceled games, limited crowds and an NCAA tourney basically played in an Indianapolis bubble, are we really, as we had all hoped, anywhere near the end of this pandemic and all its restrictions?
Or are we instead racing headlong into another winter of sports discontent, along with everything else in our lives?
Let’s be clear. This unfortunate round of schedule changes was in no way confined to the Volunteer State. Ohio State canceled its CBS Sports Classic showdown against Kentucky in Las Vegas because of coronavirus issues. The NFL moved dates and times on three of its games this weekend for the same reason. The NBA has been forced to postpone games and attempt to play on as much as possible with vastly depleted rosters.