GREENVILLE, SC — Tom Izzo straightened out his quarter-zip, folded his arms, stared into the crowd and exhaled. It was right before tipoff, a few minutes past 5:15 pm For the next 40 minutes, he would find himself deadlocked in a high-stakes, narrative-filled coaching battle, against a team more talented than his, with a chance to play spoiler. The sweet spot.

These opportunities, on a stage like this, are the ones Izzo lives for. This was the type of matchup basketball fans and sports fans at-large tune in to watch unfold, largely because of the two faces of these programs. Duke versus Michigan State. Izzo versus Mike Krzyzewski, one final time. A storyline only topped by the game that transpired.

It just wasn’t the result Izzo or his Michigan State team were looking for.

“He’s got another game to play, and I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do,” Izzo said of Krzyzewski. “(I’ll) probably be beating myself up for a week because not many times do you get an opportunity to be right there in the threshold of something special, and it slipped away.”

That’s how Izzo will remember this one — Michigan State’s 85-76 loss to Duke and Coach K in the second round. As he answered questions in his postgame news conference, Izzo said his team didn’t do what it needed to in order to pull out a win like this. When he says that, he’s speaking from experience. There’s a good chance he’ll look back at this, perhaps on the flight home, and think about what went wrong. Because for all its wars, this team was right there.

If he were to win this game, with this team, against that coach … well, you can only imagine how satisfying that would’ve been for Izzo. Maybe that’s why he won’t soon forget this one. Because there was a point where it looked like it was meant to be.

The post With Mike Krzyzewski and Duke shifting on, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State program appears to ‘take one other step’ – The Athletic appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

STANFORD (CBS SF) – Track and field officials announced Tuesday that spectators will no longer be allowed to attend indoor events at Stanford University, including home games for the defending women’s basketball team of the National Championship, and outdoor events this winter in the face of the Rising COVID-19 cases need to be socially distanced due to the omicron variant.

Under the new policy announced on Tuesday, participation in indoor sporting events will be limited to the families of student athletes with immediate effect. Meanwhile, spectators at outdoor events are socially distanced and the wearing of masks is mandatory.

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“Cardinal student athletes are fortunate to have tremendous support at our home events. However, after extensive consultation with medical advisors and the university administration, it became very clear that implementing these measures at this point is the right thing to do to protect our community, ”said the university’s sports director, Bernard Muir, in a statement.

Basketball is one of the sports affected, including the women’s basketball team, which currently ranks # 1. 2 in the country. Other sports affected include swimming and diving, gymnastics, and baseball and softball, which are slated to begin in February.

While campus remains open, Stanford is just beginning its quarter of online learning due to concerns about the Omicron variant. Students must also be given a booster vaccination or waiver by the end of the month.

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According to an email from Russell Furr, Associate Vice Provost of Environmental Health & Safety, 146 students were isolated in college dormitories on Monday afternoon after testing positive for COVID after the winter break.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and will keep you informed of any changes to campus protocols that may become necessary,” Furr wrote, according to Stanford Daily.

In-person learning is slated to resume after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

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The university said that sporting events would be resuming full attendance “as soon as possible”.

The post Stanford Restricts Indoor Athletic Occasions To Athletes’ Households Solely; Distancing At Out of doors Occasions – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

PULLMAN, Washington – The lights at Martin Stadium are bright on a Tuesday evening in late October. And it’s nowhere near warm. Gusts of wind whiz through these empty stands as the rain drips from the sky onto the lawn. It’s about 40 degrees and it’s sinking as students in T-shirts and shorts tuck flag ribbons around their waists. It’s a night for intramural football, dammit. The brave onlookers down in the field hop up and down to keep warm. Then they sway, their hands rightly deep in their jacket pockets, while the false assault bombs are scattered across the field.

Down the street straight north on Stadium Way, less than 150 meters from the statue of the 3 meter tall Bronze Cougar, a digital marquee flashes. There’s news for the Washington State student body and the Pullman community about the cancellation of handicrafts fairs this fall, the upcoming basketball season, and various other events due to be held at the Beasley Coliseum. They are hard to see from a distance, but a message that keeps fluttering in capital letters cannot be overlooked.

“GET VACCINATED.”

Every night as students shuffle down the east side of this cozy campus, either home or to a study room or bus stop, when they pass by the Colosseum they will see this important bulletin. That statement put the spotlight on this quaint university town in southeast Washington, tucked tightly between miles of farming communities. Most see it as an ongoing plea. Some say they feel the dismay.

It’s a mix of left and right, blue and red, but Pullman just wants to be called purple and gray again. It will take some time to get back there as it has to close first.

The post Nick Rolovich ‘divided an indivisible fan base’ at Washington State. Now, the Cougars are transferring ahead – The Athletic appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.