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Let’s
not make a conference shift
Carlos Alvarado
Who
knows how the invitation will look. Will it be printed
in gold on paper so lavish it is used by the Trumps? Will
it have an RSVP requesting a number of guests? Will it
be received via a phone call, or an e-mail from the commissioner?
Regardless of how the Mountain West’s invitation
to join their conference should come, our answer should
be no.
The Board of Trustees should consider more than the Bowl
Championship Series when they decide the university’s
athletic future. They should also take into account all
the sports and the fans they are affecting.
Academics is the No. 1 priority of our all of our athletic
programs. In fact, we declined the Mobile Bowl invitation,
which is proof of that. That said, however, what will
the move do to the number of school days missed by our
athletes or the state they will be in when they return
from competition? The estimated increase in the travel
budget will be $220,000 but that does not include what
the budget would be if we played a chunk of our games
in Texas and surrounding states. Wouldn’t it be better
for our athletes to play a night game in Dallas and go
to class the next day than it would be for them to play
out in Utah or Colorado?
What about the fans? How can the casual fan ever make
it out to these places the Mountain West calls home? Memphis,
Houston, Dallas, Tulsa and New Orleans? All can be made
in a day’s drive. The rest of the trips aren’t
that bad if you have to do them once in a blue moon. As
a fan, I visited more road stadiums this year than in
years past because they were so close. I was even tempted
to go to Arizona or Florida because I knew it was only
once in a while that I had to make such a trip.
This decision is good for neither our fans nor our athletes,
and it can’t help recruiting any. It might help in
football, but what about our other sports? TCU’s
sports program recruits players from Texas, because our
players want to play in a program that allows their parents
and friends to watch them play without having to make
special travel plans. Golf, basketball, soccer, baseball,
tennis, track and swimming and diving, all need to be
considered when deciding to make the big jump.
Unfortunately, only one will be thought of: football.
I am a big fan of the football program, and I love the
sport of football more than any of the others mentioned
above, but it shouldn’t be the sole reason we leave
our conference.
While the football team may benefit from being in a better
football conference, is it really worth it? We should
schedule better non-conference foes, and to win our conference
every year in C-USA. Even in a bad year, we could still
be good enough to make the Liberty Bowl. The teams in
C-USA can only get better.
Houston is on the rise, SMU has a good young coach that
can only take the program up, Southern Miss is moving
up on the radar and Marshall is already on the radar.
When the Mountain West receives our invitation card, it
should have a check by ‘No, I will not be attending.’
And the reason should be it isn’t worth it. |
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Photos
by Ty Halasz/Staff Photographer
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| Junior
forward Sandora Irvin became the all-time leading
rebounder at TCU during the Cincinnati game Sunday
afternoon. |
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Photos
by Ty Halasz/Staff Photographer
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| Head
coach Jeff Mittie received a game ball for recording
his 100th TCU win after the Frogs won 73-57. |
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