University of North Carolina Athletics
ACC Postpones All League Competition Through Saturday
September 12, 2001 | General
Sept. 12, 2001
Make-up Dates Announced
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference has voted unanimously that competition in all sports will be suspended through Saturday, September 15, in light of yesterday's national tragedy, announced Commissioner John Swofford.
Included in the postponements are five ACC football games scheduled for this Saturday.
"It is the opinion of our conference members that this will allow for an appropriate period of reflection and respect for those many people who have been impacted by the tragic events that took place yesterday. A good case can be made for playing or not playing the games this Saturday," said Swofford. "Our schools thoroughly discussed the situation on their own campuses and with each other and voted unanimously to postpone all athletic events through Saturday. We are praying for the safety, health and recovery of all of our fellow Americans."
Three of the five games scheduled for Saturday have been rescheduled -- West Virginia at Maryland has been rescheduled for September 29, Northern Illinois at Wake Forest will be played on November 24, SMU at North Carolina will be played December 1. The Duke at Clemson and Georgia Tech at Florida State games will be rescheduled at a later date.
Carolina's annual Alumni Monogram Day Picnic, which was to be held in conjunction with the Tar Heels' football game, will not be held Saturday. It will be rescheduled for the SMU game which is now on Saturday, Dec. 1.
Previously, the league postponed two Thursday night games. The Ohio University at NC State contest has been rescheduled for November 24 while Penn State at Virginia will be played on December 1.
Competition on Sunday is undetermined at this time. Carolina's women's soccer team will not be traveling to Houston for its games on Friday and Sunday. Field hockey, men's soccer and volleyball competition will be decided by Thursday.
Comments from AD Dick Baddour:
"This is a very difficult situation-I'm referring to the one that the country faces, not the one that we as athletic directors have to face. We've spent much of the day talking about our position, in terms, particularly, of playing football this Saturday. We tried to do a lot of research to understand what other schools and other conferences are doing, to understand what safety issues would or would not be involved on campus or in flight, to find out when the national day of mourning would be.
"Then we had to balance out the issues: This is a time of grief, it's a time for the country to heal, to get focused on the victims and the things that they have to deal with. We have to balance that against moving on and are we going to have some thugs dictate our lifestyle? The way that the conference came out was that this was a time of grief and that we needed to honor that.
"I want to be quick to say that I do not think there's a right answer here. I think it's a matter of people, conferences and schools sorting out what they feel is best. Those are some of the things we wrestled with. The faculty representatives were involved in this. I had at least half a dozen conversations with our chancellor about it. It's been that kind of day and that kind of discussion.
"We understood the delicate nature of this and the necessity to balance it out and hear all sides. We're very supportive of the conference position."
"The football game will be played on Dec. 1st, and SMU was great in all of this. They felt like they could get here-that was an issue early on, could SMU get here? (SMU AD) Jim Copeland felt like it was the host institution's call. He was very agreeable to playing on Dec. 1."
On Sunday's games:
"We've got some games scheduled and we're not certain right now whether they will be played. It will depend on my conversations with the coaches and then with the opposition. Our coaches might want to visit with some of the student-athletes and see how they feel. We have the option, but it's not necessarily the case that we will play on Sunday. Our women's soccer team will not go out to Houston."
Comments following Wednesday's practice from football coach John Bunting:
"It's a decision the ACC has made. I'm a little surprised the NCAA didn't mandate it, but the ACC has decided to do it, so whatever they think is best is what is best. Obviously, I have mixed emotions about playing. You want to play, because you want your kids to play and to keep the continuity and the routine going, but this is a national tragedy.
"We'll practice tomorrow. We'll work on special teams some more - we've worked on it hard this week. We've gotten better this week. I think the players realize from watching the tape just how badly we played (on special teams) and how we really let down the team. Friday we'll have meetings and a short walk-through.
"We said a team prayer yesterday right after practice. Ronald Brewer (cornerback) led us in prayer. We had someone from Student Health over here to talk with our players, making sure they knew where to go if they wanted some assistance. I had two of my very best friends up there in New York. I found out subsequently that they are ok. We tried to do what we could for the players in terms of all the various situations that they're involved in, with family and friends, and trying to help them a little bit to understand this tragedy."
