Ken Ralph On UMaine Athletics Pause, Schedule Shuffling

University of Maine Director of Athletics Ken Ralph joined The Drive to discuss the school's 2-week athletics pause which began Monday.

The Black Bears' men's basketball team has been shut down since last Tuesday following two positive COVID-19 tests. They will now be joined by the women's basketball team, as well as men's and women's hockey as UMaine programs won't play games again until February 5th and 6th.

In recent days, the school has also dealt with numerous changes from the America East Conference, as well as Hockey East, which both opted to scrap their composite schedules for the remainder of the season and move to a week-to-week scheduling format.

America East will schedule men's and women's contests in two week blocks, based on schools that have passed all guidelines.

Hockey East will work weekend-to-weekend, with each week's upcoming schedule announced every Tuesday.

Below, you can hear Ralph's full comments on the changes, plus the need for the University to hit pause for the next two weeks.