{"id":72124,"date":"2023-02-20T04:50:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=72124"},"modified":"2023-02-20T04:50:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:50:49","slug":"yeshiva-u-basketball-team-forfeits-crucial-game-citing-inadequate-warmup-time-after-shabbat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/yeshiva-u-basketball-team-forfeits-crucial-game-citing-inadequate-warmup-time-after-shabbat\/","title":{"rendered":"Yeshiva U. basketball team forfeits crucial game, citing inadequate warmup time after Shabbat"},"content":{"rendered":"

By PHILISSA CRAMER<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 If Yeshiva University\u2019s men\u2019s basketball team had won its game Saturday night, it would have gone into the postseason ranked No. 1 in its division yet again. But it didn\u2019t even play.<\/p>\n

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In a statement issued late Saturday, the athletic director, Greg Fox, said a promise to allow \u201cadequate warmup time\u201d after the Y.U. team traveled from its home in Washington Heights to Farmingdale State\u2019s Long Island campus had been broken.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is sad for me to report that we chose to cancel tonight\u2019s men\u2019s basketball game against Farmingdale State College,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWhen we arrived at the game, as early as possible after Shabbat, we were not provided with sufficient time to warm up. In the interest of safety, we could not allow our student-athletes to proceed. Farmingdale had made a prior commitment to provide adequate warmup time, which was not honored.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stakes of the game were high: The winner would get the top ranking in the Skyline Conference and would get to play all of the postseason games at home.<\/p>\n

The game was set for 8:30 p.m. But that time came and went without a starting whistle. Instead, the student broadcaster who has streamed Y.U.\u2019s games since before the team\u2019s improbable NCAA tournament run last year tweeted that the game would start closer to 9 p.m. Two minutes before that, he tweeted again: \u201cThe game has been canceled.\u201d Fox\u2019s explanation came hours later.<\/p>\n

The incident marks a rare public collision in Y.U.\u2019s unusual status as the only Modern Orthodox school in the NCAA. Last year, as the team extended its winning streak past league records, ultimately ending at 50 games, national news coverage focused on how players were able to balance religious observance and athletic commitments, and how their conference devised a schedule that would not require the team to play on Shabbat.<\/p>\n

Saturday night\u2019s schedule was tight. Shabbat, when travel is prohibited,  ended at 6:15 p.m. at Y.U.\u2019s campus in Washington Heights. Farmingdale State\u2019s Long Island campus is just under 40 miles away, and travel by car or bus typically takes just under hour, suggesting that an hourlong warmup would not fit before the officially scheduled start time.<\/p>\n

The two teams last faced off in November, during a Saturday night game at Y.U. Farmingdale State won that matchup 80-69, meaning that even though the two teams each had a 12-3 record during the regular season after Saturday\u2019s cancelation, Farmingdale State will have the top seed in the postseason competition that begins on Tuesday. Y.U. is ranked No. 3 and will play Saint Joseph\u2019s University-Long Island at home that night.<\/p>\n

The championship game is also scheduled for next Saturday night. According to the Skyline Conference\u2019s website, \u201cThe championship final will take place Feb. 25 (note: accommodations will be made for religious observances).\u201d<\/p>\n

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