Big 10 Commish's Fight to Change Baseball, CWS

[TexasTerror]

Good read for our college baseball fans...


College baseball isn't fair to Big Ten schools, Delany says. And for 10 years, he's fought like hell to level the playing field. He gives himself an “A” for effort.

“But if I were giving myself a grade for getting on base and driving in runs, it would be a very low grade.”

Perception says the Big Ten doesn't care about baseball. But no administrator in America has pressed harder to revamp the system.

http://omaha.com/article/20110618/CWS/706189786#jim-delany-s-fight-to-change-the-cws

[PaladinFan]

I can appreciate some of that.

Still, it is about making a commitment to winning. A high school in my hometown that has won umpteen state championships sends its players to spring training in Florida before the season. This is a high school. If they can do it, I'm sure Ohio State can make arrangements.

[BucBisonAtLarge]

Gosh, I am so glad Jim Delany is thinking for all of us. We can stop having our own opinions about college sport , then just make him the czar. The Big East had multiple bids this year and one of the northernmost, UConn, was competitive with South Carolina in the SuperRegional. Mr. Delanyhas a pile of salient ponts but this is not the proper midwife for this baby. He would be the kiss of death. I am a native New Englander, as an example the shift in the season would be a non-starter-- the resulting loss of years of summer tradition like the Cape Cod League would be hard for a baseball person to endorse. That one change sticks in my craw, and I would not miss a chance to mock the Big Whatever Commish for his uninformed megalomania. He describes the lot of northern schools well but there are other solutions, short of 140 domed baseball fields. Jim Delany needs to find his alliea in these battles, ollaborate and maybe even let someone else take the lead, realizing he is a lightning rod

Once the biggest ego in college sport today can step aside,, his specific proposals need not be defended, but the goals can be advanced more creatively. The RPI can be alttered to better accomodate regional realities, for example -discounting home wins in March or boosting the value of March road wins. In the end you have 34 best, defined subtly differently. Develop an ESPN-'bracketbuste' style scheduling intervention, like a week of interregional play in warm weather. Warm weather schools would have to come north for half those gameas and it would push conference play a week earlier. Maybe warm weather coaches would see some recruiting advantage, and more ambitious AD/s and baseball coaches can be entrepreneurial in putting your midseason team alongside traditional powers. Finally, am I the only one savoring the hypocracy of Jim Delany whimpering like a have-not, looking to extend entitlement to his 12 developmental atheletic programs? His complete failure here stinks like a guy looking for some pity points after being the playground bully.

Baseball still is the national pastime but collewge baaseball is not, whatever the SEC says. As much fun it is to poke fun at Jimmy D, it will be a much more successful endeavor as a national one with viable programs northa nd south compeying in Omaha. Instead of clinging to the benefit of lots of early season hyome cooking that comes as an accident of geography, time could be spent on developing better aveniues for scdhools from all regions to develop more competitive baseball programs,

[bonarae]

Well, that commitment really depends on the region where the team is located. Some regions are weak in talent (Midwest and Northeast?), others strong (such as Southern California and other West Coast regions, that's why Oregon decided to revive its baseball program after two decades of being absent). You can really notice that most northern schools are struggling to find their way against southern and western schools.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

LoL, hypocrisy much? He wants college baseball to bend over backwards to help out the Big Televen, while doing everything in his power to prop up the illogical, untenable BCS system. Yet another reason to hate those Ivy League wannabes that are the Obese Ten. xmadx

[Seawolf97]

We play down south and have gone to California every year . We win a few along the way. This year we beat Michigan twice in South Carolina. Leave things as they are !

[NHwildEcat]

I wish we still had baseball at UNH...but the school realized the struggle it is to compete at a national level while playing this far north so why continue to throw that money out the window when times are tough and you have other programs that can contribute to the school to accomplish that goal that baseball does nothing to help? I am still surprised Maine has a program, but I assume it has something to do with their past successes.

I think there are too many northern schools playing baseball. The southern schools are right...this is a southern sport due to the time frames and parameters that the schools have in which to play. MLB plays during the summer months and because of this we have teams all over the country...if MLB was played in the same time frame it would be a failure, no doubts about it. Also a another factor I can think of is generally speaking the south supports their college programs more then the north. We are a more professionally driven society up here- fans of college sport are severely lacking outside of most alum and a few other locals.

BUT, if the south wants to get serious about baseball they would switch to wooden-bats...because this Little League crap they play now is simply boring and not real baseball. D2 will be making the switch and a couple of their conferences already have...its the only way to truly play the game.

[TheDancinMonarch]

With as much money as the Big Whatever has, why don't they just build indoor basball stadia
and practice facilities for their teams and, voilà, the playing field is leveled. :D

[citdog]

REVENGE!!!!!!!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0n4izWmWug