National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentMarch 30, 1998
Guest editorial -- Amateurism concept needs NCAA review
BY M. LEE PELTON Click here to view an Adobe Acrobat (PDF *) version of this editorial. Letters to the Editor -- Action needed now on II proximity ruleThe Division II Championships Committee recently recommended an important change in the "geographic-proximity" rule for hosting regional championships (see February 9 issue of The NCAA News), and it was a move the membership overwhelmingly supported at the NCAA Convention in Atlanta. However, I am dismayed by the thought that the committee did not wish to attempt implementation before the 1999-2000 season. While the effect on the budget planning process may be a viable concern, as was stated in Atlanta, the effect is highly variable, and it is possible that there actually could be little impact in relation to the entire Division II championships budget. In addition, I believe there are established criteria to ensure that championship sites have adequate facilities and could provide sufficient revenue potential. Any adjustments needed should be able to be handled quite well by sports committees before next year's championships. Let's not delay the implementation of this policy change any further. I urge both the Division II Management Council and the Presidents Council to accept the recommendation of the Championships Committee to make this change. However, make it happen in 1998-99! Any further delay only guarantees another unnecessary year of inequitable treatment for outstanding institutions based solely upon their location.
Kelly J. Higgins Travesty Regarding the travesty that took place at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa: As a college basketball coach, I continue to wonder why it is that at the end of the first half of play, the officials gather at the scorer's table to check on things and make sure everything is in order for the second half of play, but at the end of a game, they are more concerned with leaving the playing arena in a dead sprint -- often faster than they ran for the entire game. It would seem to make more sense to ensure that things are in proper order after the final buzzer has sounded and that there is no controversy. If safety is a concern for the officials, have school officials escort the members of the crew to their respective dressing areas only after everything is in proper order. One more thing: It would seem to make good sense to have the officials sign the book after the conclusion of the game. After all, that is when the game is supposed to be "officially in the books."
Kris Ruffo The writer refers to a second-round game of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship between the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Game officials made two major errors at the end of the game, which was won by Alabama. The officials were prohibited from calling any more games in the tournament.
Opinions -- Gamblers' high-fives are reserved for themselves
David Casstevens, executive sports editor "It wasn't basketball that flickered simultaneously on the 35-plus TV screens. It was the fluctuating point spreads. The raucous cheers for a basket made wasn't for the shooter or the school he represents. Forget alma maters. The celebration was self-congratulations to the bettor. For the moment, he was winning. "It's all legal. Legalized gambling is a $600 billion industry in America. Wagering is the soil and water from which this (Las Vegas) grew from nothing like a desert flower. Gamblers can wager on almost anything. On Super Bowl Sunday, Nevada gamblers could place money on whether the Super Bowl champion would score more points than Michael Jordan did that day. Want to bet on the Diamondbacks winning the 1998 World Series? The odds: 170 to 1. "It's a strange spectacle, and a sad thing to watch. Guys on the phone, taking bets, clutching smudged NCAA bracket sheets. Fistfuls of cash changing hands over the outcome of games between Spiders and Gamecocks, Seminoles and Horned Frogs. "Gambling can corrupt the integrity of the game and ruin reputations. We know this. Two former Arizona State University players admitted accepting cash payments for shaving points. They sold out their teammates and their school. "Is is too cynical to wonder whether some kids playing in this tournament have been approached with similar offers? "If anyone in the big room knows he wasn't saying. "The action. That's what the tournament is about. That's all that matters. "To the gambler, the athlete isn't the player. He is. His highfives are for himself."
Beer company sponsorship
Debra F. Erenberg and George A. Haker "A decade ago, Dick Schultz, then executive director of the NCAA, proposed a ban on beer advertising on television broadcasts of the NCAA basketball tournament. He understood that alcohol abuse is the No. 1 problem for college and high-school administrators and recognized that the NCAA was sending mixed messages 'by having drug-education spots followed by beer ads.' "Ultimately, brewers and broadcasters killed his reform efforts, but they accepted minimal restrictions on the amount of time that beer ads could run during the broadcast of tournament games. "After this year's torrent of campus alcohol tragedies, that compromise falls short. Brewers and broadcasters would do well to adopt industry-wide voluntary advertising standards that really put college kids off limits. "One way or another, their welcome by academia will come to an end. "Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert Pitofsky, whose agency has been investigating beer-industry advertising to college students, has encouraged voluntary industry restraint. He recently advised a group of trade association lawyers that industry self-regulation to eliminate alcohol advertising on college campuses probably would not violate antitrust laws. "If brewers ignore the concerns raised by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and others, Congress may step in to protect young people. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Massachusetts, has introduced 'The College Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Education Act (H.R. 1980),' which would prohibit sponsorship of any on-campus athletics event by alcoholic-beverage companies. It would also stop the distribution on campus of any promotional material that encourages alcohol consumption. "Similar legislation may soon be introduced in the Senate as part of the soon-to-be-reauthorized Higher Education Act. "Whether it's through forbearance by college administrators, beer-industry responsibility, government action, or some combination of the three, it's time for the 'madness' to end."
Wrestling safety
John Smith, wrestling coach "I think it's probably been one of the most enjoyable years for athletes as well as coaches that I've been a part of. You've got athletes enjoying the sport much more because the weight issue has really been eliminated by the new rules."
J Robinson, wrestling coach "There is always going to be some kind of dehydration. Excessive dehydration is bad; everyone agrees on that. My concern is to find the easiest, most scientific way for our guys to make weight classes because you can't get rid of them. The sport has got weight classes. It's just the way it is."
Greg Stroebel, wrestling coach "It's not just business as usual. It's survival. What can we do to keep this sport alive and viable? What rules changes do we need to ensure these tragedies never happen again?"
Ed Reese, father of Jeff Reese Jeff Reese was a University of Michigan wrestler who died last fall trying to cut weight: "I love wrestling. I've never seen a closer-knit sports community. But if we can't make the sport safe, then maybe it's time to abolish it."
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