Fear shouldn't derail Run 4 Roses basketball tournament or city of Louisville

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4 days ago

It happened in Louisville, but the panic caused by the fear of an active shooter really could have happened anywhere in America. In fact, police speculated that it occurred, in part, because of raised sensitivities after the Richmond Road Baptist Church shooting in Lexington earlier Sunday.
Teenage players, their parents who watched from the stands, coaches and event staff all went running for safety on Sunday at the Run 4 Roses Classic girls basketball tournament held at the Kentucky Expo Center after what Louisville police deemed nothing more than a perfect storm for chaos.
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Police on Monday said a ceiling tile that fell and hit a metal chair caused a loud noise, but on Tuesday retracted that statement. ; an unrelated call about a medical emergency; and a faulty duct smoke sensor that tripped an alarm all happened close enough to send thousands of people running from the courts.
In a statement to The Courier Journal, event organizer Tucker Neale explained that noise from the ceiling tile "led to several individuals shouting, 'Shots fired' while fleeing the venue, which led to panic among guests and participants."
That's not a Louisville problem. It's a U.S. problem due to having more mass shootings than any other developed nation in the world. But the city still comes out with a net loss because the reality that no shot was ever fired and no one was seriously injured won't match the perception that it is somehow unsafe.
That's why the games must go on.
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The players were supposed to only be nervous about normal things like being seen by college coaches, some for the first time, and winning games. The Run 4 Roses, which is partnered with Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League, listed on its website more than 2,000 women's college basketball coaches present representing every level, and that included some of the biggest names in the sport including South Carolina's Dawn Staley.
Instead, some were texting loved ones while hunkered down in a bathroom not knowing if they would be hitting send for the last time.
No matter what the police investigation revealed, the reality of the entire incident being caused by fear does not erase the fact that the fear was tangible for however many seconds it took people to reach the exits at the Expo Center.
There were teams that announced in the aftermath that they would not return to complete the tournament as well as college coaches who said they were done.
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The Run 4 Roses resumed play Monday with tighter security in place, including bag checks and handheld metal detectors to scan patrons. That's the right step to calm nerves and ensure everyone feels safe.
When something like this happens, everything needs to be examined and scrutinized from a safety standpoint, starting with the size of the tournament itself.
There is a source of civic pride from a place that loves basketball like we do that comes with saying the biggest girls basketball tournament in the nation is held here. The event generates an estimated $60 million in economic impact for the Louisville economy, which makes it second to only the Kentucky Derby in terms of annual sporting events.
But could it be too big? Would it be better if it scaled back to provide better security? Or does it just need more security to begin with?
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All fair questions, and they should be asked before moving on. But here's the answer.
No one was in danger Sunday.
Perception is a problem for Louisville, and truthfully, the city still hasn't recovered from the Breonna Taylor tragedy. Far too many people, especially on social media, are eager to pounce on that narrative and go viral off bad news.
One online account, which will remain nameless because I don't want to promote their ignorance, was all too ready to dive into the worst-case scenario. Its posting of the news included a stock image of a masked man pointing a gun. And even after users passed on info that police reported no shots were actually fired, the post remained up with the account actively refuting the new information.
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It's no surprise that by the time Monday morning rolled around, the quiet conspiracies from bad-faith actors began to bubble including those alleging a cover-up.
The negative tropes can't overshadow the incredible hospitality we show here.
No city, regardless of size, embraces sporting events like Louisville does. Different iterations of this tournament have been held in other cities including Orlando and Nashville, but Louisville brings the total package for the event that those places just can't.
It's affordable to stay for the tournament in ways that Disney World and the Country Music capital left a long time ago. The Expo Center itself stores and assembles all 88 courts used for the event. And the number of spectators who just attend because they love basketball is second to none.
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The Run 4 Roses tournaments belong here.
And, hopefully, the unfortunate hysteria of Sunday's phantom shooter doesn't change that at all.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at [e-mail], follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Run 4 Roses basketball tournament: Event needs to remain in Louisville