Originally Posted by Goosegg:
i have a few questions and observations about moving the season so that games would be played well into the summer.
First, who foots the increased costs which would fall on the families of the players? Because most players are not on a 100% scholarship, who pays the added costs of room and board? Parents?
Second, at least one conference would be forced to end baseball as a collegiate sport. Most players in the Ivy League actually use their summers doing what the NCAA proudly proclaims (going pro in a field outside of their sport) by getting internships and jobs. There is no way that any school in that conference could field a competitive team missing a significant component of their team. (On S team over half got jobs each summer.) Other schools will be similarly affected.
Third, many expensive private schools would be in a similar circumstance. Many players need to work during he summer to help their families who are straining to meet the cost of private (or public) school education. (Recognize that only a minority of d1 players actually play summer collegiate ball.) Without that contribution, families will get stretched even more. Take away summer earnings and some kids won't be able to play.
Fourth, under this scenario, players would be forced to play rather then learn which jobs they may like/not like by experimenting with a variety of summer jobs. Nothing like turning out even more graduates with no idea of where they fit in the real world.
Fifth, for the small minority of players who legitimately hope to play proball, where do scouts get to see them hit with wood bats? As it now stands, most of these type of player play wood bat collegiate summer ball - any one doubting that scouts would rather evaluate the player when he is using the tools of proball needs to see the frenzy of scouts at the Cape.
Sixth, who pays the increased costs of universities who now need to devote dorms, utilities, and dining to kids who were not supposed to be on campus during the summer?
I can can see that the NCAA and ESPN would love to kill rival baseball leagues (i.e., summer ball) and make even more money (by making families and schools subsidize even more), but this would be an example of the flea living on the tail wagging the dog (imo).
I can answer most of this in a single word: Irrelevant.
There are 60 schools, ESPN and the Conference TV Networks at the bottom of everything that is big time college sports. The CWS has probably evolved to the 3rd biggest event in College sports after the Bowls, and March Madness. I can see them tying in the CWS with the 4th of July the same way Bowls are tied to the Holidays.
By sliding College Baseball 3 weeks later so that it ends around the 4th of July instead of mid June means that the entire College Baseball tournament avoids the NBA, NHL playoffs and that there is another couple of weeks of content that will get the conference TV networks almost to Fall Football training camps.
Think of them as mini ESPN's from 1983. They can't put on Aussie Rules Football but if they can grind out programming from Sub Regional and Regionals through the majority of June. Sooner or later they will. Basketball takes them into March, Baseball to June and Football from August until December when it is back to basketball again.
The hole in their programming right now is late May to August. They can fill almost half of that up with baseball by pushing things three weeks or so. If a dope like me can see that, there has to be somebody else in those TV exec's that can too.