DI Proposal: Banning Hotel Stays Before Home Game

[TexasTerror]

Great move, Div I - if you can pull it out. While the reason for doing so is valid, the NCAA needs to enact things that trim budgets that make sense. This makes sense, especially when schools have to pay a per diem when doing this, when the schools are already putting money in on-campus housing and food...


The Pacific-10 Conference has introduced a proposal that would ban institutions from housing their football teams in hotel rooms the night before a home game.

The Division I Legislative Council will vote on that proposal and several others pertaining to financial aid, awards and benefits at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta.

The Pac-10 cited cost containment as the primary reason for sponsoring the proposal (No. 2009-73). Schools can spend thousands of dollars for one night in a hotel, adding up to tens of thousands over a season’s six or seven home games. The change would also help integrate student-athletes more fully with the general student body, the conference said.

Those favoring the status quo believe that sequestering football players in a hotel the night before a game helps them stay away from potential trouble and focus on the game.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/division+i/di+proposal+would+ban+hotel+stays+before+home+foot ball+games_08_19_09_ncaa_news

[GannonFan]

IMO, this is kind of silly. If the move is really for cost containment, it's like dropping a tiny droplet of water into a really big hole in the ground and hoping that fills the hole. Schools that can and want to spend ridiculous amounts on sports will continue to do so and trying to ban one tiny portion of that expenditure will not create an even playing field in those regards. So now instead of a hotel stay before a home game a behometh (financially speaking) like Ohio St or USC will just build enough rooms onto one of their multiple athletic support buildings and just house the guys there for the night. Little guys still can't do that anymore than they could afford to pay for hotel rooms the night before. A pretty meaningless rule, if you ask me.

[WMTribe90]

The WM football team stays in a differnet local hotel the night before each home game. I believe the hotel rooms are either donated, significantly discounted or offered in exchange for advertising. The NCAA should not be involved with limiting this type of expenditure (i.e., one that actually benefits the student athlete, as opposed to sky boxes for wealthy boosters).

The claim that removing the travel squad from campus for five or six nights out of entire school year is somehow keeping the players from integrating successfully into campus life is absurd. The majority of players at the majority of schools already live off campus anyway. Half the reason for putting players up in the hotel is to get them a good night sleep away from the Friday night parties. Its not that the players can't avoid the temptation of attending, but its hard to sleep when you have parties and commotion all around you into the early hours.

Some players that do live on and off campus have non-football roomates that keep to a different schedule and can also keep players from getting menatally and physically prepared for a game.

Just another example of the NCAA's misplaced priorities. There is plenty of real problems in the world of college football and plenty of real ways to contain the escalating costs associated with DI football without prohibiting a useful practice that incurs minimal cost in the grand scheme of things. Leave these type of decisions up to the individual schools or the conferences.

[MSUBear42]

If the school wants to spend the money on it, LET THEM!

[Husky Alum]

Heck, I even think NU stays in a hotel (or at least we did when Don Brown was the coach), and the nights were negotiated into a sponsorship deal with the hotels.

This is total insanity.

USC, who sells 93,000 tickets a game, is really going to save money by doing this?

First they ban athletics only dorms, now this.

What if a school owns a hotel on its campus (As NU is planning on doing)?

Man, you'd think the NCAA would have better things to worry about.

The next thing you know they'll say that you can't stay in a hotel the night before if the game is more than 2 hours from your campus.

Wait, the America East Conference is doing that already... UGH.

[gophoenix]

The WM football team stays in a differnet local hotel the night before each home game. I believe the hotel rooms are either donated, significantly discounted or offered in exchange for advertising. The NCAA should not be involved with limiting this type of expenditure (i.e., one that actually benefits the student athlete, as opposed to sky boxes for wealthy boosters).

The claim that removing the travel squad from campus for five or six nights out of entire school year is somehow keeping the players from integrating successfully into campus life is absurd. The majority of players at the majority of schools already live off campus anyway. Half the reason for putting players up in the hotel is to get them a good night sleep away from the Friday night parties. Its not that the players can't avoid the temptation of attending, but its hard to sleep when you have parties and commotion all around you into the early hours.

Some players that do live on and off campus have non-football roomates that keep to a different schedule and can also keep players from getting menatally and physically prepared for a game.

Just another example of the NCAA's misplaced priorities. There is plenty of real problems in the world of college football and plenty of real ways to contain the escalating costs associated with DI football without prohibiting a useful practice that incurs minimal cost in the grand scheme of things. Leave these type of decisions up to the individual schools or the conferences.

I think the Elon team does it the same way, in exchange for TV, Radio, Program, etc advertising space....

[NHwildEcat]

All this boils down to is power. The PAC-10 just wants to be able to pull their weight around to show the schools within the conference that they in fact control every aspect of the member schools programs...it really is a joke. If a school wants to spend the money let them...if someone within an individual school has a problem with the hotel stays then let the insitutions handle such matters...

[jstate83]

This is another dumb, un-called for move by the NCAA.
JSU stay off campus all the time for some home games.

The game weekends where they know it's going to be a madhouse on campus are already booked.

Southern, Homecomming, Alcorn, Valley.
The team would be hung over and shot if they stayed on JSU campus during those weekends.
The party's are non-stop from Thursday 12pm thru Sunday morning. xlolx

[3rd Coast Tiger]

The NCAA should not be involved with limiting this type of expenditure (i.e., one that actually benefits the student athlete, as opposed to sky boxes for wealthy boosters).

The claim that removing the travel squad from campus for five or six nights out of entire school year is somehow keeping the players from integrating successfully into campus life is absurd. The majority of players at the majority of schools already live off campus anyway. Half the reason for putting players up in the hotel is to get them a good night sleep away from the Friday night parties. Its not that the players can't avoid the temptation of attending, but its hard to sleep when you have parties and commotion all around you into the early hours.

Some players that do live on and off campus have non-football roomates that keep to a different schedule and can also keep players from getting menatally and physically prepared for a game.

Just another example of the NCAA's misplaced priorities. There is plenty of real problems in the world of college football and plenty of real ways to contain the escalating costs associated with DI football without prohibiting a useful practice that incurs minimal cost in the grand scheme of things. Leave these type of decisions up to the individual schools or the conferences.

I take it you were PISSED when the NCAA implemented no color pages in media guides a few years back.

Have you ever been at work and one co-worker just totally takes advantage of a policy (say spending personal time on the internet) to only have Human Resources or your immediate supervisor to make a company-wide or department-wide ban on everyone with personal time on the internet? What are you going to do?

[coover]

Actually, I believe that the home away from home on the day before the game can be just as bad for some members of the team as staying home and being distracted by what is happening there.

Example: A player likes his soft (or hard) bed and finds the hotel bed is hard (or soft). He awakes in the morning with a sore back and not much rest.

Good for the team? Of course not. Good for the player? No way!

With all of the distractions of home, a player is usually better off there.

Besides ... in a town like San Luis Obispo where it is frequently difficult getting a Hotel room on Football weekends, when the football team takes 50 rooms themselves, folks like me who have to travel to get to the game will either have to get a room out of town (last time, we stayed in Santa Maria, before that it was Atascadero) or pay a lot more for a room than should have been necessary (yes, fewer rooms available does cause the price to go up).

[Franks Tanks]

Great move, Div I - if you can pull it out. While the reason for doing so is valid, the NCAA needs to enact things that trim budgets that make sense. This makes sense, especially when schools have to pay a per diem when doing this, when the schools are already putting money in on-campus housing and food...



http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/division+i/di+proposal+would+ban+hotel+stays+before+home+foot ball+games_08_19_09_ncaa_news

This is stupid. You have any idea how hard it is to get a good night sleep the day before a game in a dorm or frat house. Millions are spent on the FB team each year, the least you can do is ensure the team was able to sleep the night before.

[chrisattsu]

I think it should be left up to the school

Last season, Texas State was 3-3 at home and 5-2 on the road. For our last home game of the season (our record at that point was 2-3 @ home, 4-1 on road), the coaches decided that to put the team in a hotel and go through the motions of a road game. I guess it worked because the next day, the Bobcats beat Nicholls and reclaimed the 'Paddle'.

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

This is another dumb, un-called for move by the NCAA.
JSU stay off campus all the time for some home games.

The game weekends where they know it's going to be a madhouse on campus are already booked.

Southern, Homecomming, Alcorn, Valley.
The team would be hung over and shot if they stayed on JSU campus during those weekends.
The party's are non-stop from Thursday 12pm thru Sunday morning. xlolx

I agree. SU stays away from campus for all home games.

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown stays on campus, and I'd guess Fordham does the same.

The inordinately high price of hotel rooms in these cities wouldn't never justify the expense. (And when other teams come to play in DC, they stay in Virginia and bus over.)

[Head Cat]

While some schools may have advertising deals, this is all about cost containment and is about leveling the playing field between the haves and have nots. I think it is a wise move to get rid of a silly, micro-managing tradition.

I don't know about anyone else, but I never seem to sleep well in hotel rooms.

[Gringer1]

While some schools may have advertising deals, this is all about cost containment and is about leveling the playing field between the haves and have nots.

Yep, gotta have a level playing field. All teams should have the exact same stadium layout and should run all the same drills at practice. Every fan in attendance at games should be breathalized to make sure an even distribution of drunkeness is maintained at every stadium. Pardon my sarcasm.

This is obviously a decision that should be left up to the schools. Every dorm will be different from college to college. Some will be tame and some will be crazed. If they're worried about leveling the playing field, then every team should be required to stay in a Holliday Inn the night before all games. That's the only way to make sure every team gets the same sleep quality and environment.

[apaladin]

Furman stays in a Greenville Hotel Friday nights before home games.

[LeopardFan04]

This is stupid. You have any idea how hard it is to get a good night sleep the day before a game in a dorm or frat house. Millions are spent on the FB team each year, the least you can do is ensure the team was able to sleep the night before.


FT, do the Leopards stay off campus for any home games? I know I've heard in the past our team stays at a hotel the night before the Lehigh game whether home or away, but how about other games?

[T-Dog]

I'm honestly not sure when App stays for home game. I'd guess the Broyhill (University owned hotel where the visiting team stays) but I could be wrong. All the non-freshmen stay off-campus and the only reason the freshmen stay on-campus is due to a University rule.

I do remember that Georgia Southern stays in Savannah the night before home games.

[MSUBear42]

It's different for a lot of you east coast schools...

At Missouri State, the closest FCS team is 200 miles away (Central Arkansas). The closest MVFC is SIU at 325 miles.

[gophoenix]

While some schools may have advertising deals, this is all about cost containment and is about leveling the playing field between the haves and have nots. I think it is a wise move to get rid of a silly, micro-managing tradition.

I don't know about anyone else, but I never seem to sleep well in hotel rooms.

All I can say to that is.... WOW.

I'm with the other guy. All stadiums should be the same size and layout, all locker rooms should be the same size and layout. All facilities should be equal. I mean, where does it frickin' end???

[Franks Tanks]

FT, do the Leopards stay off campus for any home games? I know I've heard in the past our team stays at a hotel the night before the Lehigh game whether home or away, but how about other games?

Just the Lehigh game, but I wish it was for all games. It never failed that you would be woke up at 3 am in the dorm or the frat by some drunken guys returning empty handed from a party.

I like the sponsorship idea--surely Lafayette could swing something with some of thise crappy hotels in Easton

[aceinthehole]

Georgetown stays on campus, and I'd guess Fordham does the same.

The inordinately high price of hotel rooms in these cities wouldn't never justify the expense. (And when other teams come to play in DC, they stay in Virginia and bus over.)

I can't imagine any NEC schools could afford hotels for home games, so this wouldn't affect us. But I agree that this is a stupid 'rule' for a conference.

I do know that when CCSU teams need to stay in a hotel for NY opponents in other sports (LIU, SFNY, Wagner), they always stay in Northern NJ and bus to games due to the high cost of rooms in the City.

[Native]

This is another dumb, un-called for move by the NCAA.
JSU stay off campus all the time for some home games.

The game weekends where they know it's going to be a madhouse on campus are already booked.

Southern, Homecomming, Alcorn, Valley.
The team would be hung over and shot if they stayed on JSU campus during those weekends.
The party's are non-stop from Thursday 12pm thru Sunday morning. xlolx

Exactly! Bureaucracies meddle too dang much. Why the he!! does the NCAA have to step in?

[appfan2008]

stupid just stupid... why should the ncaa or these conferences tell the schools how to spend their own money... I know at duke the football team stays at the washington duke hotel on campus... why is such a thing a problem... let them spend their money how they please...

[GannonFan]

While some schools may have advertising deals, this is all about cost containment and is about leveling the playing field between the haves and have nots. I think it is a wise move to get rid of a silly, micro-managing tradition.

I don't know about anyone else, but I never seem to sleep well in hotel rooms.

Like I said earlier, this proposal will do nothing of the kind in terms of leveling the playing field. Schools with the resources will, and have, just build hotels on campus or build "athletic support" buildings that can function as the same. Those without the financial resources will not be able to do the same. Unless you put a hard cap on what people can spend on athletics, you'll never have an even playing field, and that's even assuming an even playing field is a desireable goal, which I don't think it is. The only thing that should be even is that you are only allowed 11 guys on the field at one time. Other than that, there's nothing else to level. xthumbsupx

[catbob]

This seems pretty ridiculous. This is the school's money, not the NCAA's or the conference's, so how does it concern them? Especially if they are citing the reason for the ban as cost-containment!

I know MSU used to do this a few years ago with Kramer, I guess I don't know if that tradition is still around.

[Husky Alum]

I'm with the other guy. All stadiums should be the same size and layout, all locker rooms should be the same size and layout. All facilities should be equal. I mean, where does it frickin' end???


Parsons Field for EVERYONE. xbowxxbowxxbowx:p

[crossfire07]

TT how can you say this is a great move? it is frickin stupid. who is the NCAA to tell schools how to operate their budget? sounds like something that is equal to Obama needing to save me from the credit card people when all he done was screwed it up. I kind of liked my interest rates I HAD.how do you like those new "change of terms" in the mail? point is, they need to stay out of schools financial matters.

[blukeys]

Like I said earlier, this proposal will do nothing of the kind in terms of leveling the playing field. Schools with the resources will, and have, just build hotels on campus or build "athletic support" buildings that can function as the same. Those without the financial resources will not be able to do the same. Unless you put a hard cap on what people can spend on athletics, you'll never have an even playing field, and that's even assuming an even playing field is a desireable goal, which I don't think it is. The only thing that should be even is that you are only allowed 11 guys on the field at one time. Other than that, there's nothing else to level. xthumbsupx

This proposal is another attempt by the NCAA muckety mucks to porve they have a semblance of relevance. The NCAA can't police the important things but by God they are going to make sure there are no offensive Native American mascots.

I discussed this practice and proposal with local GM's of Hotels in the Newark and Dover areas. The facts for both areas are similar in one respect. In the off season (non-summer months) Occupancy rates are higher for the weekdays as the Hotels are catering to business travelers (who go home on weekends). Weekends are considered down time. With the exception of the summer beach season and Nascar, Dover and Newark are not end destination locations for tourism. Occupancy rates for Friday and Saturday nights are typically higher and GM's at both locations would be willing to enter into an arrangement with UD and DSU for discounted room rates. Depending on the mentions on local media, some sort of sponsorship would make sense, but obviously these guys were not willing to give me any specifics.

Obviously there would be out of pocket expenses for any program that thought about trying this but there would be venues that would be willing to discount the cost to the local schools. Every situation is different, but I tend to think that most schools could significantly mitigate the cost of this practice.

[ngineer]

Just the Lehigh game, but I wish it was for all games. It never failed that you would be woke up at 3 am in the dorm or the frat by some drunken guys returning empty handed from a party.

I like the sponsorship idea--surely Lafayette could swing something with some of thise crappy hotels in Easton

That's the problem for Lafayette. There aren't enough good hotels in Easton. There a few new ones out in Palmer (Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn) but not very big. The Comfort Inn is a known 'problem' place as is the downtown Best Western.

Lehigh's 'travel team' stays off campus for each home game. I think in one of hotels out near the ABE Airport. Practice began many years ago, but after my time. We bunked the night before a home game in the Varsity House over in the Valley (now Goodman Campus). It was the only building over there at the time. Everyone slept on cots throughout the building.
Not at all luxurious, but it did build comraderie. Furthermore, as anyone who has ever been to Lehigh's campus on a Friday night, 'tis not the place to get a good night's rest before a Saturday ball game. Too much noise and 'distractions'..;)