Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

http://texassports.com/mainpages/tk_pages/2003_04/012/061604_20.html

Obviously due to being on my Fantasy team last year.

Dan
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[Conway]

They say its all about exposure !!!
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Micah Ward]

This one isn't a sprinter but Tiffany McWilliams is going pro too. She won the 1500 national championship for Mississippi St the last two years.
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[Dan]

She looks like she could be a darkhorse for making the team this year.

Dan
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[Conway]

So gentleman ... What effect is this going to have on collegiate Track and Field ??? Looks like it is going to be a big trend ... A few more every year ... Was bad enough when Title IX took away scholarships ... But now looks like there won't be as much talent to give it to !!!!

Not sure if this is the proper forum, but isn't it time for the NCAA to relook at its archaic athletics system ??? I mean they don't have to go totally professional, BUT if the kids were allowed more than bread and water they might give more thought to staying in school !!!!
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Speed Thrills

[Micah Ward]

This is one of those real thorny issues. I used to be totally against money for college athletes until my daughter spent two years running in college without a scholarship. There is no question that a small stipend for living expenses would have been very helpful. An athlete on the college level doesn't have time to go to class, train and work a part time job. But the bigger issue is just what role athletics plays on the college campus.

Football and basketball have become defacto minor leagues for the NFL and NBA. So it is not surprising to see those athletes leave early for the pros. Baseball is not as bad but there are still quite a few baseball players who leave early to go to the minor leagues. It was just a matter of time before track and field followed suit. It won't spell the end of track and field just as it hasn't ended football or basketball. It will just mean that teams may only have their best runners for less than 4 years.

Now back to the stipend. The schools could never pay an athlete a stipend large enough to dissuade him from going into the pros early. And they shouldn't.

Ward's Worthless Opinion. The NFL and NBA should develop a minor league system like baseball for those athletes who have the athletic skills but not the academic credentials to get into college. Colleges should not admit athletes whose academics would not get them admitted if they were not athletes. That would eliminate the athletes from college rosters who are just using college as a stepping stone to the pros. After all, the purpose of a college is to educate...not field a sports team. That is why sports are extracurricular activities.

But even I realize that is a hopelessly naive dream world. And the reason is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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[Conway]

Except that sports aren't extra curricular activities ... And pro sports aren't going to set up minor leagues ... And even if they did that would address the problem for less than 50% of student athletes ... ...

Sports are a source of income ... Especially those that have pro roots (baseball, football, basketball) ... Millions of dollars are made off the efforts of the performances of the kids ...

I also think kids leaving early will hurt track and field more than the other sports ... We already know that track loses athletes to other sports ... The sprints already lose tons of kids each year to the football team and spring practice ... Now they can go pro ... Soon the sprints will be at high school level ... State meet quality ... But still high school level ... And collegiate distance running is poor enough ... What would it have been like over the past couple years without Ritz and Teg in addition to Webb ???
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[Dan]

Outside the top few big sport programs, most college athletic departments are money losers. There may be indirect areas of gain to the school, such as overall alum satisfaction (and donations), but that stuff gets pretty murky and unmeasurable.

Dan
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