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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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College
Notebook No. 7
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
By Denny O'Brien |
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College game needs summer
flavor
©2005 Bonesville.net
Fastballs
weren't made for being fired in February. Neither was the vibrating sting
of an aluminum bat.
But thanks to
the NCAA, both have become synonymous with our national pastime. Almost as
much as peanuts and cracker jacks.
The primary
difference at the college level is the attire required for those concession
stand runs — an overcoat and mittens.
"College baseball needs some
help," East Carolina coach Randy Mazey said not long ago. "It's going in the right
direction as far as the facilities and everything, but that's coming from
within. That's coming from the Universities. That's not coming from the
outside.
"I think somebody needs to take a real serious look at college baseball and
analyze this thing and figure out what's best for the sport. I think what
it's going to take for this to be a revenue sport is for the (NCAA) to make
college baseball a summertime sport."
Why the NCAA hasn't maxed
baseball's monetary potential is perplexing to say the least. Though
college bureaucrats keep one eye firmly on academic standards, the other is
focused like a laser beam on their bank accounts.
Considering the amount of
class time baseball players are forced to miss — along with the help their
sport could use at the gate — you would think the NCAA might step in and
address both issues.
Moving the beginning of the
season to the middle of May would kill both birds with one stone.
Doing so would improve
academic performance across the board. Summer school means lighter
workloads that are more manageable for student-athletes. It also opens the
door for heavier class schedules in the fall and spring, which would further
ease that burden.
Even so, the odds that
academics will dictate a major shift in baseball are as long as the chances
of a roadside
mule taking the Triple Crown. If the NCAA does decide to one day make
baseball a warm weather sport, rest assured that money will be the driving
force.
And if it weren't for all the
roadblocks, there would be plenty available to fill the coffers.
With basketball in full swing
in February and March, college baseball goes largely unnoticed for two
months of the year. The NBA also commands a healthy share of attention in
the headlines, as well as at the gate and on the tube.
Meanwhile, college baseball
flies beneath the radar until the NCAA Tournament in June, a trend that is
unlikely to change in the current environment.
True, baseball has made
strides. ESPN, CSTV, and Fox Sports Net all have increased their live
coverage of games. The popularity of the College World Series has never
been higher and Rosenblatt Stadium is expanded almost annually as a result.
Now the NCAA must take the
next step by improving the season as a whole.
A May start would ensure more
bearable conditions and higher attendance. It also would open the door for
individual conferences to negotiate television contracts.
With Major League baseball
the only major competitor, there would be plenty of time slots available for
college games. And since television dictates much of the monetary
distribution in college athletics, it wouldn't take much arm-twisting of
conference commissioners who have most network executives programmed on
speed dial.
All that said, postponing the
season until late spring wouldn't come without its logistical hitches.
Doing so would position the
Major League draft at the beginning of the season instead of the end. Then
there are the popular developmental summer leagues that give college players
experience with wooden bats and exposure to professional scouts.
Neither would be considered
minor details that are easily solved.
Even so, the potential
benefits of making baseball a summertime sport is worthy of the creative
brainstorming and board room negotiating needed for resolving those issues.
Until then, college baseball
will continue to showcase the 'Boys of Winter.'
Sadly so.
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02/23/2007 01:59:57 AM |
