The NCAA has adopted a Big Ten driven initiative to create a uniform start date for all college baseball programs. This is good news for all the teams in the less than ideal baseball climates. It helps level the playing field, albeit only slightly.
I'm still baffled as to how the member institutions believe schools in the north can actual compete with programs in the south. Maine, for one example, is going to play its first twenty-six games away from home this year. That's 26 consecutive road games to start the season. It's absurd to think that a university can sustain a baseball program, or interest in a baseball program, when the first month's worth of contest occur elsewhere.
I readily admit to being a fan of baseball in the snowbelt, but at a time when equity is the buzzword around college athletics, I'm confused as to how anyone views college baseball's caste system as equal?
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3 comments:
Regarding the caste system comment:
Either college sports are about college athletes or they're not. If you push baseball too far back, you either need to cut the season short or make the students play during the summer. If they play during the summer, they can't get time in summer leagues or take summer jobs. And, how do their institutions take care of them as students during the summer? Do the institutions keep special dorms open to house them? That would certainly cause problems with scholarship limitations. And, the players most likely wouldn't be taking classes so would they really be students in the traditional sense at that point? The only real solution would be to shorten the season. Which would suck.
By the way, I posted a bit on this on my blog. I hadn't seen that the NCAA had ruled on the issue so thanks for the pointer.
I would probably rephrase the question to ask "Are college sports about college or athletics?"
I guess I've just got issues with the NCAA playing both sides of the academics vs. athletics battle. When it creates huge money (in football and hoops), the NCAA doesn't seem to mind whatever inconveniences the student/athlete has to endure.
When it comes to non-revenue sports, academics are suddenly front and center. Either it's about athletics and their revenue or it's about academics. I'd like to think it's about both, but I'd be kidding myself.
Regardless, I understand the dilemma created by potential making the schedule more favorable for nothern schools.
I don't desire a shortened season, either, but it's frustrating to see such a great sport as college baseball get ignored in the major northern markets.
Thanks for stopping in Joanna. Keep up the good work and congrats on that football crown.
I started to post a very long comment here and then realized that I should probably just post it on my site so I did. Link.
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