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My Two Cents: Be Prepared, Because Tonight It's 'Hoosier' Without the 'Hysteria'

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things, and the annual "Hoosier Hysteria'' event to tip off the Indiana basketball season is no different. All the hype and drama and fun will take a back seat this to a recorded Facebook post on Wednesday night.
Tom Brew|
My Two Cents: Be Prepared, Because Tonight It's 'Hoosier' Without the 'Hysteria'
My Two Cents: Be Prepared, Because Tonight It's 'Hoosier' Without the 'Hysteria'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's usually so much fun. After eight months – or seven if we're lucky — of no basketball, Hoosier Hysteria is always the fans' chance to stroll back into Assembly Hall, smile a big smile, and collectively say "Welcome Back!''

But then COVID-19 hit, and it knows no bounds. It canceled the Big Ten tournament last year, and the NCAA Tournament, too. It's still around and, dare we say, not going away, at least not any time soon. So instead of a mostly full Assembly Hall for Hoosier Hysteria last month, it has been replaced by a pre-recorded 15-minute video that's going to be played on Facebook Live Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET. 

All the usual frivolity will be stripped away, and all you will see tonight is something of a quick introduction to this 2020-21 Indiana basketball team. It will be short and sweet, and it will be over in 15 minutes. There will be no long, drawn-out dunk contest or funny introductions. Just 15 minutes of hello ... and then goodbye. 

Here's the link to watch it live on Facebook: CLICK HERE

I suppose this is only appropriate because it's a snapshot of what the basketball season is going to be like, too. It was supposed to have started a week ago, but that got pushed back. Now the season will open next Wednesday – on Nov. 25, my birthday – with a home game against Tennessee Tech at Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall.

It will seem very weird, because it will be played without fans. They're playing, which is great, but fans will have to settle to watch on TV. What a crazy year  this is, and it hasn't even started yet. 

We're a week away from the season starting, and we don't even have a schedule yet. We know the seven nonconference games, but that's it. The Big Ten is still twiddling its collective thumbs on a conference schedule, something they're getting very good at through this pandemic, with every sport.

So enjoy tonight. It's a start. Not much of one, but it's something. We have our beginning.

And let's keep our fingers crossed for a middle and an end.

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew has been the publisher of “Indiana Hoosiers on SI’’ since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as an award-winning reporter and editor for more than four decades, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He operates seven sites on the “On SI’’ network. Follow Tom on Twitter @tombrewsports.

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