When you use just a tad bit of common sense and listen to the true experts on the matter, you should easily understand what’s happening around us.
In my case –– and in your case if you’re reading this –– the ongoing health concerns of the country caused by the coronavirus outbreak is a wee bit more important than high school basketball.
But even with common sense and practical measures being taken, which the IHSA is prudently using in closing off the public from sectional, super-sectional and State Final games over the next 10 days, it’s impossible not to feel unbelievably bad for these school, coaches and, especially, the players who are in the midst of these once-in-a-lifetime state runs.
The NBA suspending its season? Sure, it’s a huge deal and an eye-popping “Wow!” in the sports world. However, each and every one of those players has played for years and have experienced virtually every thing there is to experience in basketball and have been exposed to athletic opportunities others can only dream of.
But those players at Young, Loyola, Morgan Park, Joliet West, Aurora Christian and Thornton? And, yes, all the others who have dreamed about this very moment of their season all year long? And in some cases these players have carried, for years, a mental vision of what this would all be like.
Those students and fan bases in the cheering sections at Hinsdale South, Notre Dame, St. Charles North and Fenwick? The ones who have been having so much fun following their teams and providing endless energy in gyms as the stakes are raised each week?
And those communities across the state like Cary-Grove, Goreville, Roanoke-Benson, Kankakee, Evanston, Mundelein and others who have been so proud talking about their teams, reading about and following their success and living in anticipation of the next game?
And those coaches who have poured their heart and soul into all of this –– from the summer camps and shootouts, to the offseason lifting and open gyms, to the scouting work and practice plans and putting everything they have into the development of a team and young men?
It’s a tough pill to swallow to those coaches who have been doing it –– and enjoying it –– year after year after year and, in some cases, coaches who have been gearing up for a dream season that’s right here in front of them.
It’s perilously close to being all snatched away as the circumstances change by the hour.
We were going ahead as planned and scheduled just 24 hours ago. Then it changed to 60 fans per school with everyone wondering if the games will even be played when it’s all said and done.
What comes next does matter –– maybe it will all be played out and state trophies will be handed out over the next two weekends. But it’s all still so fluid. As more information becomes available, circumstances change and potential school closings exist, there is that possibility it’s pulled out from under all those players, coaches and fans.
At the very least, the experiences have been altered and will be nothing like any of the previous state tournaments since the state began awarding championships in 1908.
This is a proud, tradition-rich state when it comes to its high school basketball. It’s the Original March Madness, after all.
The sport, particularly at the high school level, is recognized nationally for its talent, fan-driven interest and media coverage. This sport and the event that wraps up each season is cherished by so many in this state. It’s simply the most recognizable sport that’s played at the amateur level in Illinois.
But not only is it part of the fabric and history of this state, it’s about living in the present and getting wrapped up in it and all that it brings to those aformentioned people and participants.
The drama unfolding in sold out gyms with upsets, overtimes and buzzer-beaters. The scramble for tickets. The roar of student sections. The opportunity to play on television all across the state.
The scoreboard watching on those Tuesday and Wednesday nights of sectional play. The feel in the schools during the week leading up to sectional title games, super-sectional showdowns and missing school on that Friday of the State Finals.
The unique storylines that develop and, if we’re lucky enough, ones that take on a life of their own, live in infamy and take on historical significance. The stars that shine who we go on to watch in college and the NBA.
Now? Sectional championships and super-sectional games in empty gyms? Running out of Carver Arena for the biggest moment of their athletic life to the sound of nothing but parents clapping? The overall feel and interest across the state being completely zapped?
Again, the IHSA must do what it has to do in these unprecedented times, just as it has said in their comments and releases over the past 24 hours.
Nonetheless, when knowing and understanding all that goes into one of these dream seasons –– internally and externally –– you can’t help but feel deeply for those who are going to miss out on the memories and experiences of a lifetime.
