How can hoops fans handle no NCAA Tournament? Focus on what they CAN do.
With the coronavirus causing the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament and basically all sports, how are we supposed to cope?
Ellen Hinkel Reed, a Lexington native who coaches athletes and non-athletes in maintaining good mental health, quoted John Wooden: “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do.”
In other words, the Big Blue Nation should not dwell on the fact that it cannot watch Kentucky play in the NCAA Tournament.
“Right now, everybody is probably still wrapped up in all the games they can’t watch,” said Reed, who works with Jason Selk, whose book “10-Minute Toughness” was recommended by UK Coach John Calipari to help Nate Sestina move past poor performances. “But, the quicker people can get their minds wrapped around things that they can be doing, the better.”
Spend more time with your children and your spouse, Reed said. Get started on that long-delayed plan to clean out the garage.
Greg Graber, a mental health coach who works with the LSU basketball team, made two startling suggestions on how to move past no sports: Spend time reading (what?! books?!) and unplug your devices (you’re kidding!).
Graber said the average American spends about 12 hours a day looking at a screen. That includes television, computers, Kindles, cell phones, etc.
“It takes us out of a possible interaction that we can have with another human being,” Graber said of this screen time.
To disconnect from the screens can help people increase their attention spans, Graber said. To make that point, he cited a 2000 study by Microsoft that said the average American’s attention span was 12 seconds. Average attention spans decreased to eight seconds in a follow-up study in 2015.
Now, for the kicker: the average attention span of a goldfish is nine seconds, said Graber, who added, “I don’t know how they measured a goldfish’s attention span.”
Graber suggested that silence is indeed golden as a way to process no sports.
“It builds up a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning,” he said.
Of course, sports means a lot to people. Dan Wann, a Murray State psychology professor who specializes in sports fans, said our rooting interests give a sense of belonging and distinctiveness, plus it can give meaning to our lives.
“You take away some of the meaning in their life, you take away a reason they get up in the morning … ,” Wann said. “The first thing they should do is not feel weird or guilty about feeling a loss. They shouldn’t say, ‘This is stupid. It’s just sports.’”
But Wann also suggested that no sports frees up time to, say, work in the yard or prepare a tax return.
‘March Sadness Conference Call’
What was billed as a “March Sadness Conference Call” took place Thursday night. The stated purpose was to give UK fans a way to commiserate about there not being an NCAA Tournament this year.
Ellen Hinkel Reed, a mental training consultant, questioned the effectiveness of such a pity party. She and other mental health professionals advise not dwelling on disappointment.
“It’s a myth that commiserating or venting makes you feel better,” Reed wrote in an email. “It’s quite the opposite. That which you focus on expands. If you focus on or ‘commiserate’ about your problems, you will feel worse about your problems, and they will seem bigger.
“Mentally tough people move much more quickly from problems to solutions. … Now’s the time for fans to employ the mental toughness that we want to see in our athletes: move quickly from setbacks to focus on the next play.”
Another mental health coach, Greg Graber, gave a qualified thumbs up to the “March Sadness Conference Call” if it helps fans to accept no basketball and then focus on something else.
“I think in some ways it’s healthy,” he wrote in an email. “It will let them process their emotions and move on. Possibly put some closure on the season.”
‘A little disconnect’
In his final bracket, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi made Kentucky a two-seed.
“I thought, really, that was going to put me in good stead” with the Big Blue Nation, he said.
What seemed to be an innocent question on a subsequent television interview shattered this belief.
Lunardi said that he was asked what range of seeding Kentucky might receive. He answered anywhere from a two- to a five-seed. With more than a few people having UK as a four-seed going into the conference tournament, he reasoned that a loss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals might drop Kentucky to a five-seed.
“Somehow, that got taken to (mean) I thought they would be a ‘five,’” Lunardi said. “And, ergo, we had a little disconnect.”
When asked how harsh the reaction from Kentucky fans was, Lunardi turned playfully diplomatic. “I would say they were incredibly passionate,” he said. “I found out about relatives that I didn’t know I had.
“But, it’s all good. I’m always mindful that ‘fan’ is short for ‘fanatic.’”
Missing person
Kentucky finished its season in memorable fashion by rallying from an 18-point second-half deficit to win 71-70 at Florida. UK won despite Ashton Hagans, who had been described as the “heartbeat” of the team, not making the trip. And leading scorer Immanuel Quickley fouled out with 9:04 left and UK trailing 61-48.
But, let’s not forget one other missing person in the comeback. A wrist injury limited Florida “big” Kerry Blackshear Jr. to less than two minutes of playing time in the second half.
How big a role did Blackshear play for Florida this season?
“Oh, huge,” Florida Coach Mike White said in Nashville before cancellation of the SEC and NCAA tournaments. “We play through him offensively. Defensively, he directs traffic. He (gets) defensive rebounds. He’s far and away our guy. We’re a different team without him.”
Kansas the champions?
With the expectation that Kansas would finish No. 1 in the final Top 25 poll conducted by The Associated Press, Bill Self was asked on a teleconference if his Jayhawks should be considered national champions.
“Well, this would be the one particular year I’m all for it,” the Kansas coach said. “Without question. But, I don’t even put any wishful thinking into that because that’s not how all of this is intended to be.”
When it was pointed out that for many years college football crowned its national champion based on polling, Self noted one difference: those football champions completed their seasons, while this season’s NCAA Tournament and several conference tournaments were canceled.
The NCAA has said that no season, team nor individual competition that did not reach its conclusion will have a national champion for 2019-20.
Condolences
To the family of former UK player Mark Soderberg. He died on Feb. 9 at the age of 69.
Before coming to Kentucky in 1968, Soderberg was a heralded player for Marina High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. His high school coach was none other than future Hall of Famer Lute Olson.
After two seasons at Kentucky (1969-70 and 1970-71) in which he played in 22 games and scored 79 points, Soderberg transferred to Utah. He averaged 11.1 points and 8.2 rebounds in one season with the Utes.
After college, Soderberg played for pro teams in France, Italy and Switzerland. He became fluent in French and Italian.
He is survived by his wife, Karen Soderberg, three sons and three grandchildren.
Happy birthday
To Cory Sears. He turned 40 on Thursday. … To Pat Riley. He turned 75 on Friday. … To Jerry Hale. He turned 67 on Friday. … To Jimmy Dan Conner. He turned 67 on Friday. … To Darius Miller. He turned 30 on Saturday. … To Troy McKinley. He turned 57 on Saturday. … To Wayne Turner. He turns 44 on Sunday (today). … To Zan Payne. He turns 20 on Monday. … To E.J. Floreal. He turns 27 on Monday. … To South Carolina Coach Frank Martin. He turns 54 on Monday. … To Todd Bearup. He turns 53 on Wednesday. … To Kerry Benson. He turns 31 on Wednesday. … To Georgia Coach Tom Crean. He turns 54 on Wednesday. … To former Alabama coach Avery Johnson. He turns 55 on Wednesday.
This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 11:29 AM.
