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Wiedmer: N.C. State’s ouster from CWS leaves a lot of explaining to do

AP photo by Rebecca S. Gratz / Vanderbilt's Javier Vaz steals second base ahead of the tag from N.C. State's Carson Falsken in the ninth inning of their game Friday afternoon at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
AP photo by Rebecca S. Gratz / Vanderbilt's Javier Vaz steals second base ahead of the tag from N.C. State's Carson Falsken in the ninth inning of their game Friday afternoon at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. AP photo by Rebecca S. Gratz / Vanderbilt's Javier Vaz steals second base ahead of the tag from N.C. State's Carson Falsken in the ninth inning of their game Friday afternoon at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

By Mark Wiedmer 5 min read

Personal freedom.

We all want that, right? That’s one of the things that makes America great. One of the very biggest things.

But what if your determination to exercise your personal freedom by, for instance, not being vaccinated for COVID-19, wrecks other people’s personal freedom – even your baseball teammates – to go as far in the College World Series as their athletic talents can take them?

Is that fair? Did your coaches and teammates know it going in? Had they voted to let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the coronavirus? In other words, that national championship would be nice, but if you’re really opposed to being vaccinated and the rest of us have to forfeit our dreams one win short of reaching the title series, well, hey, we’re all for you taking a stand at the expense of the rest of us celebrating on the victory stand.

Maybe that’s a far too simplistic account of what got the North Carolina State baseball team tossed from the College World Series in the wee small hours of Saturday morning – around 2:10 a.m. EDT, to be more specific – apparently due to COVID-19 protocols, though the official statement regarding the Wolfpack’s removal was a bit more vague.