Should the NCAA Be Abolished?

 

D3Playbook OCTOBER 30, 2020 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III   Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers.   >> Good Friday Morning!  We're taking next week off, as real life and an election take over. Please, please, please - VOTE!  You'll be glad you did. >> Today's Word Count: 984 >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please recommend us to a friend or co-worker. Or share with your staff and bring them up-to-speed on what's happening in DIII. Remember to follow us on Twitter @D3Playbook   Subscribe to d3Playbook 1.  Should the NCAA Be Abolished?   from the Wall Street Journal   When the National Collegiate Athletic Association was founded in 1906 to protect the health of college athletes, the college-sports landscape looked nothing like it does today. Athletics wasn’t generating billions of dollars in revenue, and the number of students participating in college sports was a fraction of the more than 450,000 who currently compete in three different divisions today. Just how big of a business is college sports? As the primary governing body of intercollegiate athletics in the U.S., the nonprofit NCAA in recent years has generated more than $1 billion in annual revenue from things like ticket sales, marketing rights, tournaments and championship games. Its member institutions, meanwhile, have reported annual athletics revenue of almost $19 billion in total. The NCAA says it remains focused on education, well-being and fairness, but critics question whether the organization’s policies on amateurism, compensation and educational opportunity are really in the best interests of college athletes. Critics say the NCAA no longer adheres to the tenets it was founded on, and it should be broken up and replaced with a different governance system. Its supporters, however, say the NCAA is an invaluable resource for athletes and universities, and whatever problems plague college sports can and should be fixed through reform. >> Point: "Having dozens of sports trying to live under the same recruiting, eligibility and financial-aid standards is impractical and inefficient. Football and men’s basketball, at least at the profitable Division I level, are essentially professional sports and should be governed by a separate association. Indeed, breaking up the NCAA monopoly into several nimble and efficient governing bodies by grouping together similar sports and/or schools would be a much better model for the future." - David Ridpath >> Counterpoint: "College sports cannot function at a high level without uniform national rules governing fairness and safety. The NCAA has served as the collective voice of its members for more than 100 years, and the people who draft its policies are those with the most at stake: student-athletes, university presidents, athletic directors and other college administrators of all races and genders. This governance model helps ensure that college sports reflect the interests of all parties who play and oversee the game." - Kendall Spencer >> Point: "Educationally based sports are supposed to be about sound mind-and-body development first and foremost. Yet the unfounded belief that successful athletics are needed to have a successful university has led to a shift in priorities, where education is secondary and underfunded compared with athletic budgets." - Ridpath >> Counterpoint: "The NCAA isn’t what stands in the way of improving student-athlete welfare. The problem is irresponsible campus expenditures that include elaborate stadiums, lavish facilities and faster growth in coaching salaries than in aid to athletes" - Spencer >> Join the Debate   2.  Presidents Council Recap     All Division III student-athletes are able to participate in athletics during this academic year without being charged a season of participation or semesters of eligibility. The Division III Presidents Council approved the blanket waiver recommendation from the Division III Management Council on Wednesday. The blanket waiver allows student-athletes to compete up to the established dates of competition/contest maximums without being charged a season of intercollegiate participation or a term of attendance for any term (semester/quarter) during the 2020-21 academic year in which they are eligible for competition.    The recommendation does not serve as a rationale for future reduced enrollment by student-athletes. Student-athletes benefiting from this waiver are expected to adhere to full-time enrollment requirements in current and future academic years, consistent with the Division III philosophy.  >> Hail to the Chiefs: Presidents Council members elected Fayneese Miller, president at Hamline, as the next chair of the council. Troy Hammond, president at North Central (Illinois), was selected as the next vice chair. They will begin their tenures after the Division III business session at the 2021 NCAA Convention in January. >> Hello: The Presidents Council approved the following appointments to the Presidents Council: Sean Decatur, Kenyon president; Eric Fulcomer, Rockford president; and Sue Hasseler, Muskingum president. Decatur and Hasseler will begin their terms at the close of the 2021 NCAA Convention. Fulcomer will start in June 2021. >> Read More   3. #D3Votes Intending is different than doing. Let's get it done D3!     4.  Best of the Decade We continue our "Best of the Decade" series with a look at the champions, runners-up and semifinalists in football. Champions: UW-Whitewater (4), Mount Union (3), Mary Hardin-Baylor (2), North Central. Runner-Up: Mount Union (5), St. Thomas (2), UMHB, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater. Final Four Appearances: Mount Union (9), UW-Whitewater (7), UMHB (5), St. Thomas (3), UW-Oshkosh (3), Wesley (3), Linfield (2), North Central (2), Bethel, Brockport, John Carroll, Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Saint John’s.   5. Comings and Goings   GREENSBORO - Steve Johnson named head women's golf coach LEHMAN - Martin Zwiren announced his retirement as athletic director at the end of the fall semester   6.  1 Halloween Thing from the Wall Street Journal "Halloween, like everything else in the pandemic era, won’t be the same this year. While Covid has put a damper on some plans, it’s also inspired creative workarounds: Haunt your home with offbeat skeletons, install a ghost on a zip line to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters—or trick out your living room into a cinema for scary movies. In this collection of articles published over the past weeks and months, we explain how revelers of all ages can celebrate Halloween. Prepare pumpkin quesadillas, make coconut-seasoned popcorn and keep the horror tasteful with decorating tips such as filling a punch bowl with dry ice and floating eyeballs. An added treat this year: You get an extra hour of sleep Sunday, when much of the U.S. will “fall back” to standard time from daylight savings time." >> Continue Reading  And remember to set your clocks back one hour on Sunday. We could all use an extra hour of sleep. See you November 9.     Subscribe to d3Playbook

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Does NCAA Make Call on Restart?

 

D3Playbook OCTOBER 29, 2020 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III   Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers.   >> Good Thursday Morning!   >> Today's Word Count: 1,077 >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please recommend us to a friend or co-worker. Or share with your staff and bring them up-to-speed on what's happening in DIII. Remember to follow us on Twitter @D3Playbook   Subscribe to d3Playbook 1.  Does NCAA Make Call on Restart?   by Chip Scoggins, Minneapolis Star-Tribune   "Hockey practice at Minnesota State Mankato starts after lunch, but first, coach Mike Hastings and senior goalie Ryan Edquist need to make a quick trip across town. Heavy snowfall creates a snow globe as the pair climb into Hastings’ SUV for a nine-minute drive to a Mayo Clinic Health System facility located in a commercial complex that also houses a post office and brew pub. They arrive just before 1 p.m. Within minutes they are back on their way to campus after undergoing a test for the COVID-19 virus. This process — conducted at a higher frequency — will determine when the bulk of Minnesota college sports teams will be able to resume competition. COVID testing remains the fulcrum of return-to-play efforts for thousands of athletes at the 22 Minnesota colleges and universities in the Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. For each school, that balance includes the challenge of how to fund testing expenses reaching six figures with budgets already strained by the pandemic." >> Situational Awareness: "The NCAA Board of Governors met on Tuesday with no public action as of this writing on recommendations proposed in late September suggesting all athletes be tested three times per week during the season. The recommendations were specific to basketball, but realistically, they apply to all winter sports." >> The Big Picture: "If it is required, schools must figure out how to get access to thousands of tests. And then how to pay for them with budgets already stretched thin by significant revenue loss from the pandemic. If testing remains recommendations, each league will be left to decide its own standards, knowing the NCAA’s Sport Science Institute recommends testing three times." >> Worth Noting: "MIAC member Hamline counts 465 athletes in 20 varsity sports, but the athletic budget is about a 2% line item in the overall institutional budget, according to AD Jason Verdugo." >> Quotable: "If you’re looking at [testing] three times a week, that is going to be potentially a very big struggle for all of us,” said MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane, who noted that schools in his league currently are paying $70 to $120 per test. >> Continue Reading H/T to Howard Sinker   2.  Learfield Investing in eSports by Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico "Learfield IMG College, the dominant force in college sports licensing and media rights, is partnering with video game publisher Electronic Arts to launch what they say will be the largest intercollegiate esports league in the country.  Level Next will launch this fall with a nationwide tournament to crown the best collegiate Madden gamers. Built to accommodate more than 2,500 schools, the league will leverage EA’s gaming expertise with the intellectual property and multimedia rights amassed by Learfield IMG College, making it the first college esports league to feature official logos and mascots in a broad capacity. Financially, Level Next will provide Learfield IMG College and its schools with a new opportunity to engage corporate partners and fans, especially the coveted younger ones. That added revenue, no matter how small, will help during a time when many sports are halted due to COVID-19." >> What They're Saying: “I might be overly optimistic, but I do think this is going to be one of the biggest things to happen in college sports in quite a while,” said Cole Gahagan, who took over as CEO and president of Learfield IMG College in April. >> What's Next: "Level Next doesn’t plan to be the NCAA of collegiate esports, so it won’t do governance or oversight. The aim is to be a competition platform for pre-existing campus esports organizations. The prize pool for this inaugural season is $150,000, which is being financed by Learfield IMG College." >> Of Note: "Ultimately, the group is hoping Level Next will tap into the millions of people who root for college football or basketball teams around the country. Todd Sitrin of EA Sports grew up in Tulsa, with parents who attended the University of Oklahoma, and said he has an emotional interest whenever a Sooners team in any sport is playing. “That just hasn’t happened yet in esports,” he said. “It requires the official affiliation with the colleges, the marks, big players like Learfield IMG College and EA, it requires the right marketing, promotion and distribution, and the right game, one that hundreds of millions of people already understand.” >> Be Smart: esports is here to stay. >> Go Deeper   3.  Reactions to the Report Louise McCleary, Managing Director of NCAA Division III, recently shared her thoughts on the DIIICA's recently released "Strategic Analysis of the State of Collegiate Officiating" report with J.J. Nekoloff, Associate Commissioner of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. This is the first in a series of interviews with specific individuals from around the Division III nation who discuss how the DIIICA’s collegiate officiating report impacts them and their place within the Division. These videos are a precursor to the announcement of the pillars which will serve as the foundation of the DIIICA’s five-year collegiate officiating strategic plan. >> Watch   Subscribe to d3Playbook 4.  Best of the Decade We continue our "Best of the Decade" series with a look at the champions, runners-up and final four finishers in cross country. Champions: North Central (6), Haverford, Pomona-Pitzer, St. Olaf, UW-Eau Claire. Runner-Up: North Central (3), Calvin, Geneseo, Haverford, St. Olaf, UW-La Crosse, Washington U., Williams. Top Four Finishes: North Central (9), Washington U. (6), UW-La Crosse (5), Haverford (4), Geneseo (3), St. Olaf (3), UW-Eau Claire (2), Williams (2), Amherst, Calvin, Christopher Newport, Pomona-Pitzer, St. Lawrence, UW-Platteville. Champions: Johns Hopkins (6), Washington U. (2), Middlebury, Williams. Runner-Up: Washington U. (3), Geneseo, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, MIT, UW-Eau Claire, Wartburg, Williams. Top Four Finishes: Johns Hopkins (8), Washington U. (7), Williams (6), MIT (5), Middlebury (3), UW-Eau Claire (3), Chicago (2), Claremont-M-S (2), Geneseo (2), St. Lawrence, Wartburg.   5.  Comings and Goings   MITCHELL - Adding esports to its athletics offerings in spring 2021 WILMINGTON - Trevor M. Bates named president   6.  1 Fun Thing   "Harley-Davidson unveiled a stunning new electric bike that it says will go on sale in March 2021," reports The Verge. "The name Serial 1 is a reference to 'Serial Number One,' the nickname for Harley-Davidson’s oldest known motorcycle built in 1903." "The bike’s design, with its white tires, leather saddle and handgrips, and sleek black frame, are meant to harken back to that first prototype." - courtesy of Axios   Subscribe to d3Playbook

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Students Voicing Their Support

 

D3Playbook OCTOBER 28, 2020 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III   Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers.     >> Good Wednesday morning!  Congrats to the LA Dodgers on their World Series victory >> Today's Word Count: 952 >> @D3Playbook: Do you follow us on Twitter? 1,644 followers do. All the latest moves in Division III can be found there throughout the day. >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please recommend us to a friend or co-worker. Or share with your staff and bring them up-to-speed on what's happening in DIII.   1.  Students Voicing Their Support by Gail Dent, NCAA "NCAA student-athletes will voice their support around diversity, inclusion and social justice in athletics when they participate today through Thursday in the third annual Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign. The campaign provides a platform for NCAA student-athletes to talk about why they believe diversity, inclusion and social justice are important and how engaging in all three areas can foster inclusive environments in athletics, on their campuses and in their communities. The student-athletes represent Divisions I, II and III, and many are members of their campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees or members of the national SAACs. The athletes are working in conjunction with the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the NCAA office of inclusion on campaign activities this week. The campaign features a different theme each day for the social posts and will also include a designated hashtag #NCAAInclusion. The athletes will engage primarily on Twitter, but will have extended voices on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn social accounts. NCAA staff and the MOIC support the athletes by providing them with suggested ideas and guidance to implement the initiative, which occurs each fall. The campaign has been successful over the years, trending in the top five on Twitter activation charts." >> Wednesday's Theme: “I’ve Got Your Back,” highlights student-athletes supporting one another to foster inclusive environments. >> Thursday's Theme: “Together We Rise” outlines personal action steps to inclusive excellence and celebrating collaboration across the campus community.  >> Read More   2.  UAA Cancels Formal Competition The University Athletic Association Presidents Council has unanimously approved a resolution to cancel all formal UAA winter sport competition for the 2020-21 season. Over the last several months several UAA committees comprising athletic administrators, vice presidents and deans, faculty athletics representatives, athletic trainers, and others have met on a regular basis to consider how winter sport competition might take place as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect UAA campuses, their communities, and the nation.  In the course of those discussions, it became clear that a substantial number of issues related to the implementation of recommended NCAA testing protocols for winter sports;  current institutional travel limitations;  local and state travel quarantine guidelines;  local restrictions on the size of group gatherings;  event management;  and contingency planning to provide care for individuals who may test positive or become symptomatic while traveling present challenges that cannot be resolved in a manner that would facilitate an acceptable level of risk mitigation for student-athletes, coaches, officials, staff and others involved in the conduct of UAA winter sport competition. Accordingly, member institutions within the UAA may determine which, if any, currently scheduled UAA contests they are able to retain.  As institutions work to identify and schedule competition with institutions outside the UAA, they remain committed to working cooperatively with each other to adjust any remaining, viable dates of UAA competition in order to provide each other with as much flexibility as possible in reshaping their winter schedules.   Institutions Brandeis Carleton Swarthmore Wellesley Conferences North Coast Northeast Women's Hockey League NESCAC SUNYAC UAA   3.  Youth Sports Exodus Continues Youth sports remain in a moment of crisis, as the health and financial situations brought on by the pandemic continue wreaking havoc. >> By the numbers: The Aspen Institute's recent survey of 1,103 parents with sport-playing kids aged 6-18 paints a rather bleak picture. 29% of parents said their kids are simply not interested in sports, up from 19% when they were last asked in June. 64% cite fear of their child contracting COVID as a barrier to resuming sports. 28% say they'd spend more money on youth sports now than pre-COVID, but 27% say they'd spend less. 6.4 fewer hours: Kids are spending just 7.2 hours per week playing sports, down from 13.6 before the pandemic. Solo sports on the rise: Cycling and golf have risen in popularity during the pandemic, as their relative drops in participation are minimal compared to team sports. >> The bottom line: "This is a moment of historic crisis," says the Aspen Institute's Tom Farrey. Unfortunately, its roots are also deep enough that it's going to take more than the pandemic ending to right the ship. >> Go deeper: Coronavirus puts youth sports on pause   Subscribe to d3Playbook 4.  Preseason Hoops Rankings   Basketball Times has released its preseason Division III rankings and All-America teams. Top 20 Randolph-Macon St. Thomas, Minn. Swarthmore Yeshiva Elmhurst Emory UW-Platteville Brockport St. Joseph's, Conn. Mount Union Washington, Mo. Christopher Newport Saint John's Rensselaer UW-Oshkosh Susquehanna Johns Hopkins Hobart Virginia Wesleyan Whitworth   5. Best of the Decade   We continue our "Best of the Decade" series with a look at the champions, runners-up and final four finishers in soccer. Champions: Messiah (4), Tufts (4), Amherst, Ohio Wesleyan. Runner-Up: Calvin (3), Amherst, Loras, Lynchburg, North Park, Ohio Northern, Rutgers-Camden, Wheaton IL. Top Four Finishes: Calvin (5), Messiah (4), Tufts (4), Loras (3), Oneonta (3), Amherst (2), Brandeis (2), Chicago (2), Ohio Wesleyan (2), Williams (2), Bowdoin, Centre, Lynchburg, Montclair State, North Park, Ohio Northern, Rochester, Rutgers-Camden, St. Thomas, UW-Oshkosh, Wheaton IL.   Champions: Messiah (3), Williams (3), Hardin-Simmons, Lynchburg, Washington U., William Smith. Runner-Up: Messiah (2), Chicago, Emory, Middlebury, Trinity TX, Washington U., Wheaton IL, William Smith, Williams. Top Four Finishes: Messiah (6), William Smith (4), Williams (4), Washington U. (3), Chicago (2), Hardin-Simmons (2), Middlebury (2), Wheaton IL (2), Brandeis, Capital, Carnegie Mellon, Centre, Christopher Newport, Illinois Wesleyan, Ithaca, Johns Hopkins, Lynchburg, Misericordia, Otterbein, Pomona-Pitzer, TCNJ, Emory, Trinity TX.     6.  Comings and Goings   NVU-LYNDON - Courtney Novak named director of men's and women's lacrosse   7.  1 Logo Thing   You don't have to be of a certain age to appreciate these Major League Baseball logos from 1980. Hopefully we'll see you in the spring, baseball.   Subscribe to d3Playbook

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