Coronavirus Sports Coverage
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Thousands of soccer fans return to see NC Courage
Thousands of NC Courage fans returned to Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday night for the league's regular season home opener. -
ACC announces increased capacity for baseball championship
The ACC announced Tuesday that it would increase its capacity limits for the ACC Baseball Tournament in accordance with North Carolina lifting its own restrictions on mass gatherings. -
The one element the Canes couldn't prepare for? A packed house
The Carolina Hurricanes haven't played in front of a crowd this large since late February 2020. It's the only thing about his team that head coach Rod Brind'Amour isn't sure how they'll handle mentally. But the Playoffs are here, and the Caniacs will be too as the Hurricanes take on the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their opening-round series tonight in PNC Arena. -
Brind'Amour: That emotion is what's been missing in hockey - in all sports - and man, it's a big deal
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour met remotely with the media Monday on the day his team opens up the Playoffs at home against Nashville. He talked about his goalie rotation, why he doesn't approach the Playoffs differently and what the impact of a much fuller crowd could have. -
Pesce: Definitely not going to take (the Playoffs) for granted this time
Carolina Hurricanes' defenseman Brett Pesce met remotely with the media to talk about how ready the Canes are for Round 1 of the Playoffs to begin Monday night and how ready he personally is after missing last year's run with an injury. -
Staal: There's no better building when the Caniacs are going ... I'm very excited about it
Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal met remotely with the media Monday ahead of the start of the Canes' first Playoff series against Nashville Monday night and talked about the team's readiness for the Playoffs, the goalie rotation and what he thinks about the increase in attendance. -
Hurricanes hope for '10,000 to 12,000' fans for playoff games at PNC Arena
The Carolina Hurricanes will allow for increased capacity at PNC Arena for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, generally the time where the team's fans have been at their most passionate. -
Johnson: As (Naomi Osaka) gets more comfortable as an owner, the sky's the limit in terms of what we can do
NC Courage head coach Paul Riley, GM Curt Johnson and players met remotely with the media on Thursday ahead of the start of their season, where they will welcome back fans for the first time since 2019. -
ECU pauses all spring football activities after COVID cluster
ECU announced Wednesday that it has paused all spring football activities after a cluster of COVID-19 cases within the program. -
Doeren: Being (here) as long as I have says a lot about NC State's commitment to me and also my commitment back
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met remotely with the media Monday to talk about his team's progress during spring football, where his quarterbacks are, entering his ninth season at NC State and more. -
Our TakeBrownlow: The 2021 Tar Heel roller-coaster ride of a season didn't make Roy Williams love them, or basketball, any less
Even some of the people closest to UNC's program might have assumed that Roy Williams spent 2021 endlessly frustrated at how close his team was to being a typical March UNC team before it would inexplicably take a step or five backwards. But the end of the season press conference for Williams showed that playing this season during the pandemic put it all in a new light for the veteran head coach. -
Williams: When you lose it's like somebody reaches in and grabs your heart and shakes it right in front of you
An emotional UNC head coach Roy Williams wrapped up UNC's 2020-21 season after the 85-63 loss to Wisconsin by talking about his team pushing through COVID and how he felt as if he couldn't reach his team to get it to make the kind of progress he wanted it to. -
Keatts: I just want them to grow from even what they did at the one game we played in the ACC Tournament
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met remotely with the media from the Texas NIT bubble to preview the Wolfpack's first-round matchup with Davidson. -
Williams: if you continue to look down the road, that's where you're going: down the road back home
UNC head coach Roy Williams, senior forward Garrison Brooks and sophomore center Armando Bacot met remotely with the media from their Indianapolis hotel to talk life in quarantine, preparing for their first-round matchup with Wisconsin and more. -
Shot of Joe to Go: What we learned after one year of COVID
Joe Giglio reflects on the valuable lessons learned in the last year since coronavirus took fans from sporting events and how true teamwork is required for the country to recover from the pandemic. -
Our TakeBrownlow: ACC Tournament did its best, but even sports can't allow an escape from a virus that is unrelenting
Going to sporting events during a time of COVID is a wholly different experience, writes Lauren Brownlow, who covered her first game in nearly a calendar year during this year's ACC Tournament. But COVID has also changed the way that we all experience sports both as television viewers and as spectators. -
Conferences, NCAA forge on with postseason basketball even as teams have to withdraw
Positive COVID-9 tests put Virginia and Kansas on the bench Friday, forcing their respective conference tournaments to adjust. WRAL's Lauren Brownlow explains. -
Top seed Virginia forced out of ACC Tournament by positive test
The Virginia Cavaliers, regular season ACC champions and the top seed in this week's ACC Tournament, will take a break for COVID-19 quarantining and contact tracing after a positive test linked to the program ended their run in Greensboro. -
Loyal Duke fans share pain of forfeited game
Duke fans were disappointed to learn that after two wins in the ACC Tournament, their team would end that run with a positive COVID test. -
Duke out of ACC Tournament after positive COVID-19 test
Duke is out of the ACC Tournament after a positive COVID-19 test result among its Tier 1 personnel, which consists of players, coaches and staff that work directly with the team, according to multiple reports. Duke's season is likely over as contact tracing will keep multiple Blue Devils out of action for 10 days.