Well, this will certainly be an SEC tournament to remember, eh? Friday's severe weather that swept through Atlanta not only forced Kentucky to possibly play two games on Saturday, but also put the SEC in a lose-lose situation.
During the delay Friday night, people in the newsroom were wondering if the SEC would push back the UK game until Saturday. I didn't think that was remotely feasible. With all that is on the line, especially for a team like Georgia who has no at-large possibilities to the NCAA tournament, it would be horrendously unfair to ask a team to play two games in one day. Add in the fact Mississippi State, who would play the winner of the UK/UGA game, is doing nothing but sitting around all day...the situation becomes all the more unfair. But as my mom taught me long ago...life isn't fair.
I assumed the SEC would play that UK/UGA game in the middle of the night Friday, if need, be, just to get it in. Obviously, the damage to the Georgia Dome was extensive enough that just wasn't a possibility. So now, somebody will play two games today. It's unfortunate, but ultimately the SEC had no choice. With the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line, they had to get the finals played by Sunday afternoon. The NCAA tournament selection committee told the SEC they could push the finals back, but the winner wouldn't get the automatic bid. That's all fine and good for Tennessee, but I'm sure Georgia and Arkansas would have other feelings on the matter.
The second half of the SEC's lose-lose equation has to do with the fans. Moving the games from the dome to Georgia Tech meant trying to figure out how to squeeze 35,000 fans into a place that holds 9,100. So the SEC did the only thing they could...they didn't let ANY fans into the building. The only people in there today are the teams, their families, the bands, the cheerleaders, some university administrators and the media. Sitting here watching UK and Georgia play in front of hundreds of people, instead of the customary thousands is quite surreal. I'm sure the fans stuck outside could think of another word for it. But again...it's unfortuante, but the SEC had no choice.
How in the world would you prioritize which fans would get in to watch today's games? Would you make people wait in line? Would there be a stampede trying to get into the arena? And would the whole arena be general admission in terms of seating? It would be, to say the least, a security and logistical nightmare.
I'm sure people are going to be peeved about spending money on hotels that ended up being worthless. I'm also sure the SEC will find a way to refund money for tickets. The SEC may take some heat over this, but if the dome wasn't usable, or most importantly safe, there wasn't much else they could do.
As we've learned so often over the years, when Mother Nature rears her sometimes ugly head, we're all at her mercy. Even when it comes to a basketball game.
As always, the floor is yours.
