VCU Covid

[spider23]

Crazy stuff, the protocol does not make sense though I understand the goal, which is to somehow complete the tournament. But lets say 2 players tested positive . The have been practicing and in close contact with their teammates for two weeks. So as soon as they played Oregon, and Oregon the next opponent you have quite a situation.

And when the NCAA official was asked about just needing 5 to play he gave the biggest BS no answer answer possible. Basically the protocol is, if we get the final 4 and Baylor and Gonzaga have some positives, we are playing the game come hell or high water.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Calling it now. VCU was the start of a super spreader event that will eventually lead to the cancellation of the rest of the NCAAs. Meanwhile NIT proceeds and Spiders capture first NIT title with Matt Grace being the tournament MVP.

 

[GreenDevil12]

Still a better outcome than having Chris Mooney as your coach. Covid will be gone next season. Chris, like a scorching case of herpes, won't.

 

[Eight Legger]

I like the way you think. The whole nation will be glued to the TV watching us battle Colorado State for the NIT title when it's the only game in town. And we'll get to play the A10-MWC challenge game we were supposed to play this season.

 

[spider23]

I like the way you think. The whole nation will be glued to the TV watching us battle Colorado State for the NIT title when it's the only game in town. And we'll get to play the A10-MWC challenge game we were supposed to play this season.

Now that would be funny. MW -A10 challenge delayed.

 

[GreenDevil12]

I like the way you think. The whole nation will be glued to the TV watching us battle Colorado State for the NIT title when it's the only game in town. And we'll get to play the A10-MWC challenge game we were supposed to play this season.

What do you think would be less interesting? That game or Ronald Crutcher's book?

 

[KE Spider]

Bending back to the topic, VCU will receive multiple times more press than if they had played and won. Beyond that, the national sympathy meter for them will be off the charts. Why some here are gleeful at their misfortune escapes me. Doesn't inure to our benefit.

 

[SpiderAlways]

Like they say on their board all the time.....fvcu

 

[712_VT]

I’ve seen a lot of people laughing at vcu over this situation. I hate vcu as much as anyone but I don’t wanna see anyone have to have their season end like this. I don’t think vcu would have won over Oregon but they should at least get to play the game. We can’t poke any fun at vcu because they have gotten it done consistently and we haven’t. At the end of the day they still get to hang yet another ncaa banner and we don’t get sh*t.

 

[plydogg]

I’ve seen a lot of people laughing at vcu over this situation. I hate vcu as much as anyone but I don’t wanna see anyone have to have their season end like this. I don’t think vcu would have won over Oregon but they should at least get to play the game. We can’t poke any fun at vcu because they have gotten it done consistently and we haven’t. At the end of the day they still get to hang yet another ncaa banner and we don’t get sh*t.

That’s true. They get another first round exit banner. They’re racking those up.

 

[712_VT]

That’s true. They get another first round exit banner. They’re racking those up.

Dude I would take 10 of those over missing the tournament for 10 straight years in a heartbeat. I may be mistaken but I think you said that since you have been a UR fan you have never seen them in the tournament. Let me tell you it is an amazing feeling to just be in it. Being a Tech fan it was so cool to take a long lunch break from work Friday to watch our first round game, ya we may have lost but us just making the tournament in a year we weren’t supposed to felt great. You have never experienced that with UR and I hope someday soon you get to. Your attitude about this is just way off sorry.

 

[Eight Legger]

I have been perfectly content hating VCU and routing against them in an everything AND despising Mooney and wanting him gone. The two live very peacefully and in harmony in my mind.

 

[SpiderK]

Shaka is gone too

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Hey guys we agree on despising our arch rival RPI, but let’s show some class on
the situation. At least they showed more class with their admin discussing this
then our AD did with the SLU fiasco. Rams players have to be devastated and
i did not want to see anyone eliminated this way.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Exactly. I'm sure it's fun to dunk on VCU.

Compare and contrast Rhoades' statement to "Duh, I don't know why [SLU] left," hiding from the media, and getting scooped by a student reporter.

 

[Eight Legger]

I feel bad for their players, but no one knows how multiple of their players got covid, either. They're the only team in the tournament with that outcome, so it's fair to wonder, just as their fans insinuated we were a bunch of bumbling idiots who couldn't protect ourselves when our guys got it. The narrative can't be "Look at the Spiders, they can't even keep themselves safe" while at the same time being "Poor Rams, they did nothing wrong but somehow ended up with multiple cases."

 

[GKiller]

Exactly. I'm sure it's fun to dunk on VCU.

Compare and contrast Rhoades' statement to "Duh, I don't know why [SLU] left," hiding from the media, and getting scooped by a student reporter.

Rhoades handled with class and leadership. Quite a contrast from Mooney.

 

[Gallipoli]

Did the NCAA require 1 positive test within 7 days to disqualify VCU?

 

[ur2K]

You have to feel awful for their players and Rhodes who seems like a good guy.

You can crack a smile b/c of a good portion of their fan base, the ones who make a spectacle of themselves every chance they get and bask in our athletic misfortune every chance they get.

 

[ur2K]

That’s true. They get another first round exit banner. They’re racking those up.

They are also cashing big checks from making the NCAAs that we don’t get.

Do they still get their units for this year? Looks like the value this year is almost $1.7 million.

 

[Eight Legger]

I'm sure they will get the money, because they're VCU and nothing ever goes wrong for them.

 

[SpiderK]

I can only think of the VCU fans sitting behind us in the RC cussing at my 80 year old mother during the game. Screw VCU, their fans got what they deserve.

 

[Gallipoli]

The Wall Street Journal had a good explanation this morning.
March Madness Is Hit With Its First Covid Forfeit https://www.wsj.com/articles/march-madness-covid-forfeit-vcu-ncaa-tournament-11616291101

"Virginia Commonwealth, meanwhile, experienced an entirely new way to lose on Saturday night when a Covid-19 outbreak on its roster forced the team to forfeit its first round game against Oregon....

According to a release from the university, several members of the men’s basketball team tested positive in the 48 hours preceding Saturday evening’s game. VCU did not specify how many members of the team’s 34-person traveling party were identified as close contacts and thus required to quarantine. The NCAA requires a minimum of five health players–the minimum number to make up a starting lineup–to go forward with competition for the 2021 tournament....

Despite the restrictive health protocols, which include single-occupancy hotel rooms and prohibitions on team meals, that’s exactly what happened to VCU. Although the university said that multiple athletes had tested positive since Thursday, the team still held practice on Friday. It is unclear why their game against No. 7 Oregon was not declared a “no contest” until less than three hours before tip off."

And yes, this complies with the WSJ`s policy in sharing excerpts from the paper.

 

[Gallipoli]

Here is even more clarification:

VCU removed from NCAA tournament due to positive COVID tests

"We are devastated for our players and coaches."

richmond.com

VCU encountered in the previous 48 hours multiple positive COVID-19 tests. With the rate that the positives were spreading in the program, it was deemed too risky for the Rams to play the game....
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported Saturday night that the Rams’ first positive test surfaced Wednesday, then two more on Friday.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Hey guys we agree on despising our arch rival RPI, but let’s show some class on
the situation. At least they showed more class with their admin discussing this
then our AD did with the SLU fiasco. Rams players have to be devastated and
i did not want to see anyone eliminated this way.

No shortage of Vcu fans there to rub it in everytime we had a covid pause this season.

Remember several vcu friends laughing at how last season ended and that it was funny it was likely an ncaa season for us and were glad it ended so they didn’t have to see their season conclude with a loss. Remember several fans mentioning to me how professional sports teams were observing how they handled covid and how stupid we looked (they weren’t wrong) about how we handled it. And finally several vcu fans laughing at Dukes situation last week. I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna have fun with their misery when they have no problem doing it to us. Sucks for the players but couldn’t care less how their fans perceive us when they already have little to no respect for us.

And cmon their fans are whining and finger pointing just like everyone else did. We don’t know what happened yet but the truth will come out. They are all blaming a ref whose fighting for his life (real classy)as the reason for the out break with no evidence. They have plenty of reason to be upset but I will not be extending any of my sympathies to a school and fan base that regularly thumbs their nose in our face with glee anytime something happens to us. If they can’t take it then don’t dish it out.

 

[Dr. Spidey]

Well said, Ferrum. +1

 

[712_VT]

Bottom line is we wouldn’t have to worry about how disrespectful and obnoxious their fan base is if we just had a competent athletic department that put any sort of emphasis on actually winning. At the end of the day just beat them but we can’t. Seems like we just have a lot of sore losers on here.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Bottom line is we wouldn’t have to worry about how disrespectful and obnoxious their fan base is if we just had a competent athletic department that put any sort of emphasis on actually winning. At the end of the day just beat them but we can’t. Seems like we just have a lot of sore losers on here.

There’s a little truth to that statement but to be fair I’d be a sore winner too if we ever did overtake them on a consistent basis and can think of several others on here as well that would.

John Beilien loved torturing that school and fan base and I imagine if we ever do return to a point in this series where it’s competitive or we have the upper edge we’ll be as obnoxious as they are. They had that same “sore loser” mentality last year when the season got cut short.

In the mean time, this will have to suffice.

 

[712_VT]

There’s a little truth to that statement but to be fair I’d be a sore winner too if we ever did overtake them on a consistent basis and can think of several others on here as well that would.

John Beilien loved torturing that school and fan base and I imagine if we ever do return to a point in this series where it’s competitive or we have the upper edge we’ll be as obnoxious as they are. They had that same “sore loser” mentality last year when the season got cut short.

In the mean time, this will have to suffice.

That’s what rivalry games are all about in my opinion. Unfortunately we don’t hold up our end of the rivalry. Being a Tech fan I take every chance I get to go at uva fans about how badly we dominate them in football and when we beat them in basketball this year I took a ton of pleasure in upsetting their fans about that. It would be nice for UR to give me that same pride.

 

[SpiderRick]

Can they actually hang a banner if they never "competed" in the NCAA Tournament?

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Can they actually hang a banner if they never "competed" in the NCAA Tournament?

Yes. The NCAA has already made that clear. They earned their way in.

 

[plydogg]

Bottom line is we wouldn’t have to worry about how disrespectful and obnoxious their fan base is if we just had a competent athletic department that put any sort of emphasis on actually winning. At the end of the day just beat them but we can’t. Seems like we just have a lot of sore losers on here.

Right. Like the Time we beat them and they spit on my friend and I and told him if he did anything back he'd be hanging in the tree like his ancestors? Seems like when we beat them they are really classy...

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

I feel bad for their players, but no one knows how multiple of their players got covid, either. They're the only team in the tournament with that outcome, so it's fair to wonder, just as their fans insinuated we were a bunch of bumbling idiots who couldn't protect ourselves when our guys got it. The narrative can't be "Look at the Spiders, they can't even keep themselves safe" while at the same time being "Poor Rams, they did nothing wrong but somehow ended up with multiple cases."

That's not the narrative (although I concede there are surely some obnoxious Ram fans who insinuated that). Their program exhibited nothing but sympathy and class for our situation.

I've never been critical of our program for our players/Tier 1 personnel getting it. Virus gonna virus, and it DGAF about your "protocols."

We're not bumbling idiots for that. For all the other PR and leadership fiascoes surrounding this season....yes, we are.

 

[Rambunctious Rowdy]

I’m coming in peace best I can after reading some of this stuff. Personally I don’t understand taking joy in our misfortune which looks more and more like conference errors (Hotel was hosting another tourney with guests not observing covid guidelines, UD arena hosted games before the final where visitors didn’t follow covid rules to the point UD security mentioned it to the fan bases on Sunday/SBU expressed their concern, and the fact that VCU didn’t have a case all year nor did any teams have any when UR/VCU hosted the A10 tourney,etc). I don’t like UR but if you crashed out in the NCAAs like this and had infected players now heading back via bus heartbroken I don’t think we’d be partying it up calling it a miracle. I won’t deny there was jokes over the fact that you all went on covid pause numerous times but that’s about personal accountability in handling the virus (Which let’s be honest UR tried to throw SLU under the bus point blank this year one time.). Tracing right now suggests the whole Dayton plan was jacked from the start and if not for SBU having covid this year they would be in the same boat right now like us and refs that were sent home. I’m sorry but I expect better even from a rival tbh. I get the hate but I thought there was some level of respect. I’m sure this will be met with who gives a shit or go cry back on your board comments but it needed to be said.

 

[plydogg]

Appreciate your point of view, but the ways I’ve been treated by a large number of VCU fans makes me take great pleasure in knowing how those few are suffering right now. Most of you are fine, but I think about all those people while gloating.

 

[72Spider]

I’m coming in peace best I can after reading some of this stuff. Personally I don’t understand taking joy in our misfortune which looks more and more like conference errors (Hotel was hosting another tourney with guests not observing covid guidelines, UD arena hosted games before the final where visitors didn’t follow covid rules to the point UD security mentioned it to the fan bases on Sunday/SBU expressed their concern, and the fact that VCU didn’t have a case all year nor did any teams have any when UR/VCU hosted the A10 tourney,etc). I don’t like UR but if you crashed out in the NCAAs like this and had infected players now heading back via bus heartbroken I don’t think we’d be partying it up calling it a miracle. I won’t deny there was jokes over the fact that you all went on covid pause numerous times but that’s about personal accountability in handling the virus (Which let’s be honest UR tried to throw SLU under the bus point blank this year one time.). Tracing right now suggests the whole Dayton plan was jacked from the start and if not for SBU having covid this year they would be in the same boat right now like us and refs that were sent home. I’m sorry but I expect better even from a rival tbh. I get the hate but I thought there was some level of respect. I’m sure this will be met with who gives a shit or go cry back on your board comments but it needed to be said.

St. Bonaventure didn't have a problem with the hotel or arena.

 

[whampas]

Way too many FURs over on your board for too many people over here to not take some pleasure in your circumstances. Hope all your players get well soon. We have our own virus over here to deal with that has no apparent vaccine.

 

[Eight Legger]

There was plenty of “Hey look at UR, they can’t even followe the covid rules and keep themselves safe” when we were on pause. No one felt sorry for us then. Maybe we got it despite doing everything right too, as vcu claims now for itself. The bottom line is that vcu is the only team out of 68 that got multiple cases of covid and is done. Sucks that it happened when it did, but that’s life.

Trying to blame it on the official even though Bona came out of it just fine, or on the hotel (was vcu the only team there??) just comes off sounding like sour grapes. Like it couldn’t have just been Vcu’s own fault, there always has to be some other excuse.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Way too many FURs over on your board for too many people over here to not take some pleasure in your circumstances. Hope all your players get well soon. We have our own virus over here to deal with that has no apparent vaccine.

COACH-16

 

[Rambunctious Rowdy]

St. Bonaventure didn't have a problem with the hotel or arena.

SBU‘s entire team had covid earlier this year and was immune. SBU fans pointed this out yesterday. SBU staff member expressed concerns about the arena before the game. That came out yesterday.