The SEC had no choice but to make the call it made on the SEC tournament, which was to move the event from the crippled Georgia Dome to another (smaller) venue and keep all the fans out. It was the kind of logic you see in elementary school, and what worked then works now: If there aren't enough tickets for everyone, then there can't be any tickets for anyone.
And clearly there aren't enough tickets for everyone. Georgia Tech's home court holds 9,000. The Dome holds 26,000.
Fans with tickets and hotel rooms and airfare are ticked off, and how can you blame them? But this was a natural disaster, and in natural disasters, the rules change. People don't always -- can't always -- be taken care of when nature steps in and reminds everybody of its dominance.
Every other option sucked, and you know it:
1. Move the games to various SEC cities: And that works for the fans in Atlanta? They can pick up and move hundreds of miles just like that? What about the ones who flew into town? In theory this sounds nice. In reality, it's dumb. Please.
2. Delay the tournament a day and return to the Dome on Sunday: Who said the Dome will be ready on Sunday? And even if it is, do we really move the entire NCAA Tournament selection process, complete with travel plans for 60-odd schools and their fans, back a day to accomodate one league? Come on, SEC fans. You're not that self-centered are you?
3. Find a way to parcel out game tickets so everyone with a ticket to the Dome can get into Georgia Tech for at least one game: OK. How? There are probably 20,000 Kentucky fans in town. Are the 15,000 who don't get into the UK-Georgia game -- UGA fans get 4,500 of those 9,000 seats too, you know -- really going to be happy watching two non-UK teams play later in the day? Of course not. Even if Kentucky wins and moves on, more than half the 15,000 fans who missed the first UK game would miss the second UK game, too. Do the math. It's not that hard.
This was a no-win situation for the SEC. It's up to SEC fans to show some class, and some understanding.
Stop your bitching.
