Put it on hold: Why the IOC should postpone this year's Olympics

If nothing changes between now and July 22, many of the world's best athletes will be calling Tokyo home for a little more than two weeks for this year's Olympics.

This year's edition of the summer sports spectacle is scheduled take place with the opening ceremonies on July 24 with everything set to wrap up by August 9. Competition will begin on July 22.

The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee has now laid out a plan to determine in the next four weeks whether or not the Games of the XXXII Olympiad can take place under the current conditions.

The summer event has been cancelled three times before as a result of World Wars I and II (1916, 1940 and 1944). The winter games have been called off on two occasions because of those same conflicts (1940 and 1944).

Sunday, the Canadian and Australian Olympic Committees announced that because of the conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, they will not be sending their athletes/expressed concerns regarding their ability to assemble a team to compete in the games unless they're postponed to the next year.  

It may not be a necessity to cancel the games, but one thing is for certain: this year's games must be postponed until 2021.

That may be tough for the IOC to handle knowing that they just held the torch lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece recently.

It should be noted that first and foremost in America (and it's possible this is the case around the world, too) that two of the U.S. Olympic Training Facilities are currently closed (Colorado Springs, Colo. and Lake Placid, N.Y.).

If comparable conditions around the planet exist for other olympic training facilities, then that would leave the games set up for a poor quality of competition which would also mean that athletes who may have just one shot at this may not be able to make the most of their chance in the spotlight.

There's no hiding it, if you were an athlete -- let alone an olympic athlete -- you know that as you competed in your sport(s) you were fighting a battle that all of us will lose one day, and that's the aging process. 

Imagine if you were one of those athletes who would now be going through the qualifying process to join the Olympic team in your sport. Would you want to have to go and compete on one of the biggest stages with the world watching without having all of the adequate training time that you need?

It should also be noted that qualifying events have also been postponed including the wrestling trials which were scheduled to be held in the United States next month at Penn State University's Bryce Jordan Center.

Not only would that jeopardize those who have already secured their ticket to compete for gold in Tokyo, but it would also create problems when deciding who should make their way to Tokyo in events that may not have finished the qualifying process yet.

It should also be noted that athletic events will need medical personnel beyond the ones that the teams bring. If Japan is still having issues, why should an athletic event be getting medical providers when someone who is in the hospital could use them to get over this virus?

The Olympics also has several media partners from around the world covering the games and if they're going to go on time, they need to know when it's safe to start bring their equipment into the country.

Those media partners will need to build their sets and make sure that the technology is in communication with their equipment back home to ensure the best quality of broadcasts around the world.

Knowing how many individuals from each of the media partners are coming to the country (whether they're broadcast, print. internet, etc.) along with the other athletes and tourists coming into the country, that may take away needed facilities in the event things do not change between now and the summer.

That includes all hotels and the Olympic Village.

It should also be considered that professional sports leagues such as the NBA, would potentially be getting back to work or wrapping up their season at that point if they choose to finish the 2019-20 campaign.

A large number of current NBA players are currently listed on the USA Basketball website as members of the team including a large number of them are playing for teams as of today that are in playoff positioning under the traditional format.

We also can't ignore the number of stars that are playing for other countries as well who could be needed to play in the NBA Finals, and most importantly the number of COVID-19 cases amongst players.

Do we really want to have an Olympics where the best overall athletes aren't competing in them, not just in sports that rarely ever see the spotlight like they will when these games are held?

There will with no doubt be a lot of difficulty when deciding whether or not these games should be postponed and how a rescheduled Olympics could possibly be held. Those reasons include the upcoming FIFA World Cups in 2022 and 2023 as well as the preparation for the 2024 games which will be held in Paris.

There will be a lot of logistical moves that must be made if a rescheduled games will happen, but there is one thing in this climate that is clear: they can't be held in 2020.

To Play or Not to Play? What the PIAA will need to consider when play can resume

How many of you have seen a tweet like the one from Bellefonte baseball player and Pitt baseball signee C.J. Funk?

https://twitter.com/CJFunk8/status/1238245081011957766

That opinion is shared by Bishop McCort Catholic senior guard and Mount St. Mary's basketball signee Isabella Hunt.

https://twitter.com/isabella_hunt00/status/1238885671529562119

There is a petition going around asking the PIAA to not cancel the remainder of the sports schedule for the 2019-2020 academic year. That petition was started by Frazier High School senior softball player Emi Curcio.

These feelings are likely shared amongst a number of senior high school athletes across the country because of the chance that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may end their careers abruptly. The NCAA had to unfortunately make that heart breaking decision to cancel their winter and spring championships this week. 

Don't forget everyone else that's a junior or younger who will see one of their seasons ended much faster than anyone would've liked, either.

Right now the Pennsylvania high school sports governing body has declared a two-week suspension of play, which has put the 2020 state basketball championships and the class 2A swimming and diving championships on hold due to COVID-19.

Friday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered schools across the state to close for at least 10 business days to help stop the spread of the virus.

There is no arguing that as difficult as theses decisions are, the PIAA and the state really had no other choice. The question remains as to how soon we can get back to normal life, and what must the PIAA consider before deciding when to play is feasible once conditions are safe?

Venues available

The PIAA must work with Hershey Entertainment on viable dates if the Giant Center will be able to host the state basketball championships as well as what other facilities can host the remaining second and subsequent rounds of the tournament. The swimming and diving championships face a similar fate at Bucknell.

The Giant Center is home to the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears and chances are that if the PIAA decides to pursue finishing its sports season, it has to deal with what the AHL requires the Hershey Bears to have available to them to complete the season. 

They have to consider the number of venues available and the stress being put on those who are willing to host these events. The good news is they won't have to consider the winterization of stadiums like the outdoor fall sports championships have to.

Spring sports

Some schools must have multi-sport athletes in order to be competitive on the field in general, while some athletes play a spring sport by choice.

The window did open for boy's tennis with other sports first games to come within the weeks ahead.

Right now, spring sports championship events start May 12 on the state level with boys tennis and conclude June 12 with the baseball and softball championships.

We also have to consider that the districts themselves have to decide on what days their championships can be held in each sport.

If they do decide to play and decide to push back to the spring championships, they have to also consider that Medlar Field at Lubrano Park which hosts the state baseball championships also is home to the New York-Penn League's State College Spikes, and assuming the season starts on time, they will not have many Fridays and Saturdays available.

Let's use this situation for example: the Spikes season starts on Thursday, June 18 and then are on the road until June 23. Following those days, the only viable week where the team is out of town is between July 13-20 if the PIAA wants to hold the games on Thursday and Friday like they usually do.

Both baseball and softball need at least two days to conduct their championship games.

Graduation/college report days/first day of fall practices for 2020-21

The PIAA does not have flexibility like the NCAA does where it can give athletes back the year that they lost because of this outbreak. Seniors are scheduled to graduate at certain times and for those that have committed to going to college regardless of whether or not they're going to play a sport again, they have mandatory reporting days.

It's possible that because of the outbreak that these reporting days might end up being changed because of the circumstances, but this situation can not be ignored.

You also have to be careful because the longer it takes to finish the winter or spring sports season, the closer we will be for reporting days for fall sports athletes.

Basketball success formula 

This will also be the first year where the success formula is applied in basketball as is the case with football. Anyone who finished the last season with 2 points or more under the success formula could be subjected to a review of their transfers this season if they have accumulated 6 points during the 2018-20 enrollment cycle. Not having this done could lead to an inaccurate picture of what teams should be forced to play up because of the rules.

It's not going to be an easy decision for the PIAA Board of Directors, and hopefully they chose to keep things postponed until they can ensure athletes will be safe when games resume.

But remember, there will be a lot of variables that the PIAA will have to consider before they decide to begin competition again, and this decision won't be easy.