There might be some consequences to perhaps the most inconsequential aspect of the worst tragedy on American soil:
What happens to University athletics this week?
As of Tuesday afternoon, all upcoming women’s athletics events slated for this week have the green light. Volleyball will travel to Rochester, Minn., for a Wednesday match. Cross country will host the Memorial Oz Run and soccer welcomes Iowa State on Friday and Detroit-Mercy on Sunday. The golf team hosts the Minnesota Invitational this weekend.
“We’ve talked to most teams (Tuesday) and as far as I know we’re proceeding unless told otherwise,” said Chris Voelz, women’s athletics director. “If (Tuesday) was Thursday, we’d have a whole different prognosis.”
The biggest problem on the men’s side is the Gophers-Baylor football game on Saturday night. The Bears have to fly into Minneapolis from Texas. The FAA canceled all flights until Wednesday at noon.
In addition, the men’s cross country team is scheduled to send 13 runners and coaches to Utah this weekend.
“I think I would almost rather stay home in a situation like this,” said cross country coach Steve Plasencia.
Tonya Moten Brown, vice president for student development and athletics, said a teleconference of all Big Ten schools will decide whether to proceed as normal or cancel events and travel. Moten Brown or men’s athletics director Tom Moe will meet with all coaches to discuss the results.
Moe received a small scare when he learned of the New York City attacks. One of his three sons, Michael, lives in San Francisco, but visits New York on business “almost every week. And often he works near the World Trade Center.”
Michael was in Dallas on Tuesday.
Straying from her normal routing of listening to the radio on her way to work Tuesday morning, Moten Brown was in the dark until she arrived on campus.
“First I was shocked, then outraged,” she said. “I thought, `How dare someone do this to us?’ Then I took a step back and thought about how privileged to look through a lens of security in this country. How many people go directly to the sports page, and not the world’s news?”
But by the time she got to work, and through most of the day, Moten Brown and the athletics departments were left to worry about the insignificant:
Sports.
