By: Chuck Miller
Albany Patroons, Health

The COVID-19 finally hit home. Ugh.

So I was set for three back-to-back-to-back contests with the Albany Patroons this weekend at the Washington Avenue Armory.

Then I received an e-mail yesterday afternoon.

And my weekend plans just got mangled.

Because of the increased coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, various organizations – colleges, sports leagues, even parades – have been forced to shut down or to minimize crowds.ย  And that includes the TBL, the basketball league in which the Albany Patroons participate.

The TBL announced that due to COVID-19, the league is suspending operations for the 2020 season.ย  The Patroons were at a 6-3 record and fourth place in the twelve-team TBL when the league stopped.ย  The TBL has some other plans for the league – a tournament in Kentucky next week to crown the 2020 TBL champion; a TBL Summer League tournament in Las Vegas, even a TBL touring squad.

But for now, the TBL’s regular season is over.

Ugh.

THE BASKETBALL LEAGUE (TBL), ALBANY PATROONS ANNOUNCES SEASON CANCELLATION DUE TO COVID-19 CONCERNS
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 11, 2020) — The Albany Patroons, the 2019ย TBL champions, and the Washington Avenue Armory has announced that the remaining regular season games for the 2020 season have been cancelled out of an abundance of caution due to the growing COVID-19 outbreak.
The decision follows the announcement from The Basketball League (TBL) to cancel the remaining games this season.
Season ticket holders will be contacted over the next few days. Tickets for single games will be refunded at the point of sale.
In lieu of the season, the TBL will host a four-day all-league tournament with no spectators. The tournament will take place March 19 to 22, 2020 in Owensboro, Ky. at the Owensboro Sports Center. The format will be: fifth to twelfth-seeded teams will be played on Thursday. The winners of Thursday’s games will play the top four-seeded teams.
Consolation games will be played on Saturday, followed by the winners from Friday’s games which will be the final four.
The TBL championship game will be on Sunday, March 22. The times of each of the games will be announced on TBL social media platforms on Thursday, March 12.

 

Look, I get it.ย  I understand.ย  The last thing anybody needs is an infected coronavirus person in a large gathering, whether it’s in the stands of a basketball game or otherwise.ย  And this coronavirus infects with lightning speed – a doctor on MSNBC noted that each infected person can infect as many as two to five people in close proximity, whether through cough or contact.

And I’m in one of those high-risk groups – I’m over 50, I have high blood pressure and diabetes.ย  And I also know people who have comprised immune systems, so even if I get COVID-19 and somehow survive it, they could actually get COVID-19 and it can do some serious damage – serious or possibly fatal.ย  And I could never allow that to happen.ย  I would not be able to live with that if, God forbid, that person came into contact with COVID-19.

And the most important thing – we can wash our hands all day and night.ย  We can cough into our elbows.ย  We can avoid crowds as much as possible.ย  But it’s not just about us.ย  It’s about the slob who DOESN’T wash his hands.ย  The one who doesn’t cover his mouth when he coughs or sneezes.ย  The one who thinks the cure for coronavirus comes from a brown bottle that’s hawked by a failed televangelist.ย  The one who tells that joke, for the tenth time, about the best way to cure coronavirus is to stuff a sliced lime in the bottle’s neck.

We have to be careful.ย  We have to take care of ourselves.ย  And as much as it pains me, if we have to go without the Albany Patroons this spring, as long as I know that we avoided – at least at that juncture – the coronavirus from spreading, I’ll be okay with that.

I’ll be okay with that … but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.