Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

Welcome to Dirtbags Baseball Blog! The blog is interactive. At the end of each article is a link that says "Click here to read comments posted by others or to post your comments." Please feel free to click this link and add your own comments. This link also takes you to comments that have been left by others. You need to register with Blogger to leave comments, which is free (there is a link on the comments page to do this).
RSS Feed

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Proposed NCAA Rule Changes - BAD IDEA!

The NCAA Championships/Competition Cabinet has approved recommendations to the NCAA for some very dramatic changes in the Division I baseball rules. The recommendations are in this document. In summary, here are the changes:

1. If adopted, these rule changes would go into effect for the 2006-2007 academic year.

2. Spring practice would not begin until 2-1.

3. Games could not begin until 3-1, or the previous Friday if 3-1 is a Sat, Sun, Mon or Tue.

4. The maximum number of games would remain at 56.

5. The current 132 day baseball season would remain. Days not used in the spring can be used in the fall during Sept., Oct. and Nov. The maximum number of fall days for practice and/or competition would be 45.

6. Practice and competition in December and January would be prohibited.

7. The post-season would be pushed back 1 week, while keeping the existing playoff structure.

The push for these changes has come from schools in the northern U.S., where weather currently dictates that they play on the road the first several weeks of the season.

It seems likely that if adopted there will be many weeks during the season with 2 weeknight games and/or at least 1 double header on the weekend (and 4 game series). College baseball would change in many ways, not the least would be the importance of pitching depth as the same number of games are played in 3 fewer weeks. Expenses are likely to rise, as schools have to foot the bill for room and board when games continue after the end of the academic year.

In my opinion, if adopted these rules will do substantial harm to the Dirtbags program. Fewer games will be played on the weekend, resulting is lower ticket revenue (since weeknight games are not as well attended). It's also bad for student-athletes, as they try to study while often playing 5 games per week between March and May.

I certainly hope the NCAA rejects this proposal for the bad idea it is.

posted on 9/23/2004 by Jeff Agnew

Comments: Post a Comment