Friday, January 16, 2009

Why does the NCAA hate baseball?

I was at my real job Thursday night when a story on the NCAA Convention moved on The Associated Press wire. Included was this paragraph about actions by the NCAA Division I Legislative Council:

The council defeated a proposal to decrease the number of scholarships for baseball, but left open for comment proposals that would change the length of the season and reduce the number of games.

I was stunned. I knew the NCAA Division I coaches had proposed an increase in scholarships from 11.7, but figured some administration type must have trumped them with a proposal for a decrease.

I called AP for clarification, and while waiting for an answer tried to get in touch with Furman coach Ron Smith to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

Luckily, I found out moments later it was indeed, a typo. The proposal was to increase scholarships.

I guess the first clue I should have had that it was wrong was that the proposal to "decrease" had failed. When was the last time an NCAA vote went in favor of college baseball?

I've become accustomed to college baseball getting short shrift from its overseer.

Regarding the proposals to change the length of the season and reduce the number of games, I'm guessing when it comes to a vote, baseball will take it in the shins again.

2 comments:

Mike said...

It's a shame that college baseball gets so little respect these days, although things aren't all bad. ESPN has been broadcasting a considerable amount of games in recent seasons, although not enough regular season stuff in my opinion.

We're looking for more bloggers at www.collegefanz.com, the largest college sports site on the net. One of my personal goals is to expand NCAA baseball coverage; as a fan, I feel it doesn't get the attention it deserves and sometimes the information can be hard to come by. We currently have a writer who does NAIA baseball, but NCAA baseball is still lacking representation.

I think your blog could gain a bigger audience there, and could also attract more recognition for the programs you write about. Our blogs offer a national platform for every fan and every program, because they all deserve a voice.

Take a look around the site and let me know if you'd be interested at mgleeson@collegefanz.com

Mike

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