The Signal » View from the Bench

View From the Bench: Conference realignment

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:49:56 +0000

Due to competition among many schools at many levels nationwide, athletic conferences are being realigned left and right.

This issue really hit home in 2008-2009 when the Southern Lakes conference removed teams including Fort Atkinson, Jefferson and Milton. Due to the disbanding, Fort Atkinson found a new home in the Badger South Conference.

Some athletic programs had a tough time adjusting to the bigger and more talented schools. In the Southern Lakes, Fort Atkinson seemed to be a bigger school in terms of students which in turn brought more athletes. Now, in the Badger South, Fort seems to be a school with a smaller enrollment and therefore less athletes.

At the college level this issue is becoming prevalent as well. Teams such as Texas-Christian University (TCU) feel they can be an athletic powerhouse in a big conference such as the Big East. TCU went on to join the Big East.

This issue doesn’t seem to be a problem if one school makes a conference change. The issue comes into play when fifteen or twenty teams want to become more competitive and ultimately win a championship.

Currently collegiate teams like University of Texas, Notre Dame and Texas A&M all have intentions of moving to a conference in the near future. This causes a problem with alignment and how many teams can be in one conference.

There are currently no restrictions on how many teams can play in a conference. Many conferences (including the Big Ten) are taking advantage of that and adding a few schools. It seems the trend is spiraling out of control.

If realignment spirals out of control, it could lead to the formation of “super conferences”. This would mean putting twenty to twenty-five schools in a single conference compared to the tradition ten or twelve. Experts seem to find one benefit to super conferences and that would be the installation of a playoff system.

Talks have been in progress over these super conferences for the past couple months and the discussions appear more serious. Imagine the Wisconsin Badgers playing teams such as the University of Kansas in sports like basketball. Although this sounds like a match made in heaven for fans and students alike; the fact is there will only be one winner in a conference that could easily host three previous conference winners.

On the high school level, realignment is currently not an issue, but the example being set by colleges and the NCAA doesn’t appear to be a good one. This could lead to high schools second guessing their current system which in turn could lead to turmoil. As the old saying goes: If it is not broke, do not fix it.

Bush’s Heisman revocation unjust

ramseystatz — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 02:59:40 +0000

On September 15th, Reggie Bush had his 2005 Heisman award wrongly vacated for receiving improper benefits while he was a running back at the University of Southern California. The improper benefits he accepted put him in violation of NCAA rules and regulations, therefore making him ineligible to play college football. He technically was not able to receive the Heisman award at the time it was given to him, but the Heisman Trust should not have vacated his award.

Reggie Bush was a fantastic college player, racking up 6,890 all-purpose yards, scoring 42 touchdowns, and helping the Trojans to the top of the AP Poll following the 2003 and 2004 seasons, with a second place finish in 2005. Yes, Bush received some especially lavish gifts and yes, he was not eligible to win the Heisman awards because technically he was not an amateur. But those things did not affect the way he deftly darted between dazed defenders, leaving them grabbing at thin air, or the electric buzz of excitement in the air when he touched the football. It’s not like they found that he was using performance enhancing drugs; the way he violated rules didn’t make him a better player. In no way is breaking the rules right, but the Heisman Trust should not have taken away college football’s most prestigious award over some improper benefits.

After the Heisman Trust vacated Bush’s award, they decided not to name a winner for the award. They should have given it to Vince Young, the Texas quarterback who led his team to a national championship win over USC, rather than leaving an ugly hole in college football record books forever.

View from the Bench

martakotz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:54:25 +0000

Elizabeth Lambert, a junior soccer player from the University of New Mexico, recently took her aggressiveness a step too far in a game on Thursday, November 5th’s game against Brigham Young University.
A back punch, a soccer ball kicked to the face, and a ponytail yank, all led to Elizabeth Lambert being a nationally hated icon.
She earned the title of being the most hated female college soccer player by blogs and Facebook sites.
Her actions were inexcusable and uncalled for.
What she did to the BYU players was not necessary, and way to overly aggressive.
When looking at this situation on the reverse side of athletics (men’s sports, that is), I don’t believe this situation would be blown out of proportion like it is now.
Aggressive behavior defines men’s sports.
An elbow to the chest and other nonchalant moves are constant, both on the collegiate level and professional level.
Lambert obviously crossed the line. If she had been a man in men’s soccer, would she receive this much media attention?
Some of the biggest fights have happened in men’s sports: Pacer/fan outburst, Yankee/ Red Sox, and others. Fights in men’s sports make ESPN weekly.
The media craze over this has set back women’s sports even further.
Playing agressively alone sets you apart from most female athletes, in the HS setting anyway.
How will women ever earn respect in athletics, if they can’t play with intensity and emotion to that of men’s sports?
When you watch the videos more closely, you will notice an apparent and unnecessary elbow to the chest by the BYU player, followed by Lambert punching her in the back.
For the girl that got the ponytail yank, it’s easy to tell that her and Lambert had previous confrontations all throughout the match.
The player was laughing at her right before Lambert pulled her to the ground via ponytail. There were apparent signs all throughout the game that the BYU soccer players had been harassing and mocking her.
In these types of situations, it’s hard not to lose control, but losing control is not an option.
Analysts wondered why Lambert’s teammates weren’t more shocked by her actions.
When examining footage shot from the game, you will see both teams dishing it out back and forth. Lambert was just the first to cross the line.
She even apologized for her actions, and stated she let her emotions get the best of her in a heated situation.
Should she be banned from soccer permanently?
No. Unfortunately, she will never play with the same intense vigor she once had, which is something, I believe, is currently a lost cause in women’s sports.

View from the Bench

adviser — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:01:43 +0000

Every year, dozens of student are suspected of attending parties with alcohol, participating in the activities. They then receive punishment for their wrongdoings, often losing the privileges of playing in upcoming sporting events.
A common occurrence of this is when the administration anonymously receives pictures of a high school student with alcohol.
These pictures are usually taken from social networking sites. The administration is forced to take action and to punish athletes by taking away privileges to play.
“I don’t think it’s fair that people can anonymously turn in pictures. The people that usually turn in pictures are ones who have personal problems with the person and just want to get them in trouble,” Senior Alex Agnew said.
A big struggle with any athletic team is to ensure that each and every person gets along and plays as a team.
Even if teammates can put differences aside for competition, they often can’t put them aside in social situations. High school athletes with grudges will search for pictures which incriminate the person they have beef with.
“I think it shows no school pride or spirit when students turn other students in. Being punished for pictures is not reasonable because a picture does not come along with an exact explanation,” Agnew said.
Often, pictures off of the Internet can be taken out of context. For example, there could be a beer can in the background of a wedding photo, while the person in the picture drinking nothing at all.
According to most administrators, this is enough to suspend the athlete for a certain number of competitions. Because there is no set system on what key evidence need to be in a picture, the administration has no choice but to approach the student athlete about the picture and to follow up proven violations with a punishment.
“Even though there’s alcohol in a picture, it doesn’t mean doesn’t mean your participating in under age drinking or anything ‘unbecoming of an athlete.’ I think in many cases, people are just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Agnew said.
If a new system was implemented, with specific guidelines on handling anonymously sent pictures, and what proof is required for suspension to occur, this problem could be solved.
Athletics isn’t the only thing facing the challenge of the social networking giant. Many feel their privacy is violated due to websites like Facebook. The truth is, if you don’t want something out in the open, it’s as simple as untagging yourself from a picture, or even simpler, not putting it on the Internet.