By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The world of sports came to a sudden halt in response to the
tragic events that took place on the East Coast Tuesday
morning.
The Pacific-10 conference announced later that afternoon the
postponement of all conference games through the weekend, including
UCLA’s football home opener on Saturday against Arizona
State.
The football game has been tentatively rescheduled for Dec.
1.
In the professional ranks, Major League Baseball games were
postponed for the first time since D-Day in 1944.
The National Football League will make a decision on its games
in the coming days, hoping to avoid a repeat of the decision to
play NFL games the day after the John F. Kennedy assassination,
when the country was still mourning.
UCLA men’s soccer, women’s volleyball and
men’s water polo games were also postponed. A decision on
rescheduling these games will be made at a later date.
“We feel this is the correct decision to make,” UCLA
athletic director Peter T. Dalis said in a statement. “Our
country has suffered a great tragedy.”
The unanimous vote was reached during a 45-minute conference
call meeting of the Pac-10 athletic directors. Decisions on future
games will depend largely on what transpires in the next 24 to 48
hours, according to Jim Muldoon, assistant commissioner of public
relations for the Pac-10.
“What we need to do here is to continue to monitor
national events and any other directives the federal government
might have,” Muldoon said.
Muldoon added that Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen was urged at
the meeting to take a leadership role in advocating the
postponement of all collegiate competition through the weekend
during a national conference call today at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard
Time.
Representatives from the 11 Division I-A conferences will
participate in today’s meeting. The NCAA voiced its thoughts
and concerns in a statement on Tuesday.
“The games themselves are insignificant in the face of
what has happened today,” NCAA president Cedric Dempsey
said.
A UCLA senior on campus Tuesday agreed with the Pac-10’s
decision.
“In light of what has happened and the tragedy in New
York, it really doesn’t make sense for them to play the game
a few days afterwards,” said Marcus Frampton, a
business-economics student.
Practices for many UCLA sports were cancelled on Tuesday,
including women’s volleyball and women’s soccer. UCLA
women’s volleyball head coach Andy Banachowski said the team
was “visibly shaken” at a meeting before practice.
“It’s appropriate for us to not play this weekend as
the nation kind of takes in the impact of what has occurred,”
he said.
Sophomore Nelson Akwari, a defender for the UCLA men’s
soccer team, found out about the terrorist attacks when he woke up
and turned the TV on at 7:45 am.
“I’m not really worried about sports right
now,” Akwari said. “I’m more concerned about the
families that have been affected by the bombings.”
MLB’s Anaheim Angels vice president of communications Tim
Mead said both the Angels and the baseball industry understand the
priorities at a time like this.
Mead added that the work stoppage will be dealt with on a daily
basis, and further decisions will be made with the utmost attention
to the crisis on the East Coast.
“Everything that is going on in our country is being
played by ear and we’re just part of that right now,”
Mead said.
With reports from Andrew Borders, Daily Bruin Reporter.