MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

I saw the cancellation and assumed it was weather.  Then read and saw COVID protocols.

https://www.iwusports.com/news/2021/1/25/mens-basketball-monday-nights-basketball-games-postponed.aspx

[WUPHF]

I am not a fan of the systems. I know some people have found them okay. In my experience in broadcasting, they can be a pain in the ass and sometimes don't follow the action all that well.

To each their own. I appreciate the reasons why some go with it, but ...

Interesting and I have to say I agree.

I prefer to find more opportunities to work on-campus rather than to find ways to outsource them to technology.

Also, I swear, the angle looked wider than usual.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I am not a fan of the systems. I know some people have found them okay. In my experience in broadcasting, they can be a pain in the ass and sometimes don't follow the action all that well.

To each their own. I appreciate the reasons why some go with it, but ...

Interesting and I have to say I agree.

I prefer to find more opportunities to work on-campus rather than to find ways to outsource them to technology.

Also, I swear, the angle looked wider than usual.

I agree about work on-campus as well - teaching opportunities to boot (though, I realize there is covid and stuff...)

And yes, they are going to be wider angled to make it easier for the software to try and track. Most systems the camera doesn't move as much as there are multiple cameras laced together and the system just shows you the region the ball is.

I am very familiar with a system that was at the Washington Capitals practice facility. I have called a LOT of hockey games there are high school/teen youth leagues. It was okay for hockey, but not great. The Caps eventually removed the system and I can guess the reasons why.

[Titan Q]

How about Carroll using a "robot" camera operator on Saturday?

At first I thought they were joking.

I'll say this - I don't think it lost the ball one time. 

IWU had a play late where a Titan player stole the ball near the top of key on Carroll's end and sprinted down the other way for a basket...never lost the ball, even with that kind of quick change.

[Titan Q]

With this IWU/Carroll COVID postponement...

I assume someone developed symptoms between Saturday's game and today?  And then that person(s) got tested and was positive?

Because I don't think the two teams were scheduled to test in between games...correct?  That was sort of the benefit of playing the same team back-to-back...you didn't have to test in between.

Similar thing happened in the OAC over the weekend I think...can't remember the teams.

Quite an interesting season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

With this IWU/Carroll COVID postponement...

I assume someone developed symptoms between Saturday's game and today?  And then that person(s) got tested and was positive?

Because I don't think the two teams were scheduled to test in between games...correct?  That was sort of the benefit of playing the same team back-to-back...you didn't have to test in between.

Similar thing happened in the OAC over the weekend I think...can't remember the teams.

Quite an interesting season.

There could be contact tracing done for someone outside the team, too.  If a player ended up in contact with someone who tested positive.  There's a lot of options.

[Titan Q]

Here is what I have learned about the IWU MBB/WBB COVID cancellations today.  This info did not come from any IWU coach, administrator, or employee of the university.  And I cannot confirm it...but the info is solid.

MBB and WBB tested this morning.  Both returned a positive test.  At that point COVID protocols kick in:

* Student-athletes (SAs) who are positive are shut down for 10 days.

* SAs who are "close contact negative" (example - roommate) are out 14 days.  (Essentially, as I understand it, they are presumed positive.)

So, some SAs on both teams are out.

But, the teams can continue practicing and playing...with the quarantined positive and "close contact negative" SAs out. MBB and WBB hope to play later this week.

I share this to help everyone understand how this works, and to create better appreciation for how difficult all of this is on everyone associated with college sports team. 

And as I said in my podcast with Ron Rose one week ago, I truly sympathize with student-athletes and coaches who are trying to navigate through all of this.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 83
North Park 60

Jordan Boyd: 16 pts, 7 rebs
Mike Osborne: 11 pts
Adam Bulwa: 9 rebs

Blaise Meredith: 21 pts, 11 rebs, 5:1 a:to
Mike Pollack: 15 pts, 4:0 a:to
Matt Helwig: 15 pts, 3:0 a:to
Shea Cupples: 11 rebs, 5:0 a:to

It was not as close as the final score made it appear.

[markerickson]

North Park shot 19-64 from inside the arc, 6-32 from beyond, and 16-32 on FTs.  So many of the trey attempts were just chucked up there for ugly shots.

The refs called a very tight 10 minutes against the Vikes.  Marek (3) and Sanders (3) each sat b/c fouls accumulated far too early. After Marek's third, he just stared down the ref and the AC had to escort the disgruntled player to a seat. Gabriel may have gotten to the charity strip 10 times in the first half.

[Titan Q]

Heard this. *Can't confirm.*

Elmhurst MBB has been in a 10-day COVID protocol (postponed their Jan 25 opener). They cannot play until Feb 2.

IWU postponed Jan 25 vs Carroll due to COVID protocols.

Heard both IWU/EC games this week are postponed, but I am not clear if that is due to Elmhurst's protocol situation, IWU's, or both.

Again, can't confirm.

Crazy times.

[iwu70]

I think "both," Q.  IWU had positives on both women and men's side.  Not going to be easy to have this season.  Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try.   

'70

[Gregory Sager]

I can only speak to what I've seen and heard, but the student-athletes, coaches, and support staff at North Park are immensely grateful for the opportunities that they've already had to take part in 2021 Vikings athletic contests. NPU has to date played two men's basketball games, two women's basketball games, and one men's volleyball match, and, regardless of the scoreboard outcomes of three wins and two losses, all five contests were victories in a very real sense. A lot of people put a lot of work in to make those contests happen, and, against some pretty strong odds, intercollegiate athletics took place at North Park Gymnasium and at Merner Fieldhouse over the past weekend. The atmosphere wasn't exactly celebratory, taking place as it were in gyms with empty stands, masks on everybody (with certain exceptions in the men's basketball games), spread-out benches, and clouds of spray sanitizer floating everywhere ... but everybody present had the satisfaction of being part of both something that they love to do and something that in all of the important ways was a sliver of the normal life we all knew prior to last March.

I can understand why a fan of a school whose similar attempts have been thwarted thus far by positive Covid-19 tests would throw up his hands and say, "Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try." But in response, I say: Ask a student-athlete from your alma mater how he or she feels about that. Send texts to Charlie Bair and Kendall Sosa that say, "Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try." Be sure to let us know their responses.

All this work that I spoke about that all of these people have put in has not been in vain. When I interviewed the NPU men's volleyball coach on the air after Saturday's match, he was practically in tears when he talked about how much this meant to his players. What CCIW schools, and athletics department personnel in particular, are doing in trying to make these games and matches happen is a good deed -- and good deeds should be encouraged, not dismissed with a wave of the hand because of setbacks here or there or because they're too difficult.

[Titan Q]

I think "both," Q.  IWU had positives on both women and men's side.  Not going to be easy to have this season.  Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try.   

'70

IWU's MBB and WBB players would call you an idiot for saying this.

[Titan Q]

IWU vs Elmhurst MBB/WBB for both Thursday and Saturday postponed due to COVID protocols.

[bbfan44]

I can only speak to what I've seen and heard, but the student-athletes, coaches, and support staff at North Park are immensely grateful for the opportunities that they've already had to take part in 2021 Vikings athletic contests. NPU has to date played two men's basketball games, two women's basketball games, and one men's volleyball match, and, regardless of the scoreboard outcomes of three wins and two losses, all five contests were victories in a very real sense. A lot of people put a lot of work in to make those contests happen, and, against some pretty strong odds, intercollegiate athletics took place at North Park Gymnasium and at Merner Fieldhouse over the past weekend. The atmosphere wasn't exactly celebratory, taking place as it were in gyms with empty stands, masks on everybody (with certain exceptions in the men's basketball games), spread-out benches, and clouds of spray sanitizer floating everywhere ... but everybody present had the satisfaction of being part of both something that they love to do and something that in all of the important ways was a sliver of the normal life we all knew prior to last March.

I can understand why a fan of a school whose similar attempts have been thwarted thus far by positive Covid-19 tests would throw up his hands and say, "Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try." But in response, I say: Ask a student-athlete from your alma mater how he or she feels about that. Send texts to Charlie Bair and Kendall Sosa that say, "Good try, but at this point it is hard to see how this was a good decision to try." Be sure to let us know their responses.

All this work that I spoke about that all of these people have put in has not been in vain. When I interviewed the NPU men's volleyball coach on the air after Saturday's match, he was practically in tears when he talked about how much this meant to his players. What CCIW schools, and athletics department personnel in particular, are doing in trying to make these games and matches happen is a good deed -- and good deeds should be encouraged, not dismissed with a wave of the hand because of setbacks here or there or because they're too difficult.

If this were Facebook, I'd hit like, love, and thumbs up.