Three separate Big 10 men’s basketball games have been canceled in recent weeks, with the latest being tonight’s matchup between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Why have they been canceled? Everybody’s favorite reason: COVID outbreaks.
Yup, Minnesota just used the same ridiculous excuse that canceled countless sports games and tournaments for the past several seasons -- three years after the outbreak.
Illinois made the announcement of the game’s cancellation on Monday.
Tomorrow's home game against Minnesota will not be played due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Minnesota program.
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 6, 2023
The two schools will work with the Big Ten on possible rescheduling options.
Read more: https://t.co/JDs0F9tqfT#Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/B9J9tVHuqR
Speculation has arisen that Minnesota -- which sits with a dismal 1-11 conference record -- used Covid as an excuse so as to not face a quality opponent while its roster is depleted by injuries. And since COVID is the be-all-end-all guideline for most matters like this, the validity of these claims hasn’t really been questioned.
Regardless of why the game was canceled, COVID is no longer an acceptable reason for any sporting event to be canceled. We have protocoled and vaccinated ourselves out the wazoo, so schools and conferences have no more excuses to not get their ducks in a row on this issue.
Play ball and stop worrying about a glorified flu.
Follow us on Twitter:
Now even America's skiing team is virtue-signaling over climate change. https://t.co/nE5nivMEqZ
— MRCTV (@mrctv) February 7, 2023