OPINION & EDITORIAL
No, seriously, we want a baseball team
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
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- In a bind (December 5, 2007)
- Entitlement Town (December 4, 2007)
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- Diamondbacks exemplify American Dream (November 5, 2001)
- Brewers what's right with MLB (April 14, 2006)
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by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Friday, April 28, 2006
From Little League infield flies washed down with McDonald’s to Big League homers washed down with the Clear and the Cream, baseball is America's pastime. Days spent downing Cracker Jacks and taking in nine innings at the ballpark are as much a part of our national fabric as apple pie and fireworks.
But the University of Wisconsin doesn't have a baseball team. In fact, it is the only school in the Big Ten that doesn't put its men in the dugout every spring. And while sunbathing on Bascom Hill is certainly an enjoyable expense of time, we can't help but feel that a sizable portion of the student body might embrace an opportunity to munch on hot pretzels and bicker over the finer points of Bucky's pitching rotation.
At the root of UW's failure to field a baseball team is Title IX. While the school has at times maintained that other factors contributed to the demise of the old slugging squad, it does seem plainly apparent that the federal act is the primary barrier between the Badgers and their Big Ten colleagues at this point in time.
And in Title IX, we see an admirable act of Congress entirely appropriate in 1972 and, for the most part, still relevant and necessary today. Indeed, the base of Title IX — a requirement of gender equality in the public educational system — is wholly proper. But the reality of this act extending to athletic scholarships, while a necessary booster to the world of women's college sports in an era when Nixon was still in the White House, borders on anachronistic in today's world and serves only to hamper universities nationwide and keep Wisconsin men from shelling sunflower seeds in the dugout.
Indeed, the time has come for Title IX to be readdressed by Congress and a suitable compromise to be met. It would be a shame for the world of women's college athletics to suffer, and yet we believe that such programs will continue to thrive nearly 35 years after the passage of Title IX without some of the legislation's most restrictive safety nets.
In the interim, we believe UW ought to explore a strategic realignment of athletic scholarships and expenses so as to allow for a baseball team within the claustrophobic barriers of Title IX. The reality is that other schools do afford to host football, men's basketball, men's hockey and baseball. UW need not be the awkward Big Ten school with no right-field fence. A strategic adjustment of scholarships would likely allow for the Badger athletic department to maintain its current roster of programs and add a baseball team. Further spending on women's teams or the outright slashing of existing men's programs is not necessarily a prerequisite to having Bucky dance on the dugouts.
And for Opening Day, we propose a celebration marked by a display of fireworks and free apple pie from Bucky's kitchen.
Anonymous (April 28, 2006 @ 10:40am):
I think we definitely need a baseball team, there is no reasone not to have one.
Anonymous (April 28, 2006 @ 10:42am):
Did Darryn and Mac stay up all night together writing this one?
Anonymous (April 28, 2006 @ 1:31pm):
If you want to watch our college boys play baseball, you can attend one of the club baseball team's games. They are number one in their conference and number 13 in the nation. . . http://uwclubbaseball.rso.wisc.edu/
Anonymous (April 28, 2006 @ 3:33pm):
At the root of UW's failure to field a baseball team is a series of poor athletic directors. Wisconsin keeps hiring retired ex-jocks instead of people who actually understand the business side of collegiate athletics. Title IX had nothing to do with it other than that Pat Richter was too incompetent to manage the challenge. I don't have too much faith in our new athletic director to manage the department well.
Yeah, there is nothing like sitting out in a mostly deserted stadium listening to the ping of the bat. Other than Mississippi State, Wichita State, or Texas A&M, college baseball just has no significant fan support. I don't see what bringing a college baseball team to Madison (as opposed to the Mallards, which is a team of college players) will do, other than to satisfy the BH editorial board.
Anonymous (April 28, 2006 @ 5:00pm):
It is absurd to blame the embarrassment of not having a baseball team on Title IX. Every other school in the Big Ten has to adhere to this rule as well don't they? Why would Title IX only hurt UW if it was truly the culprit. The fact remains that this is one of the glaring holes that has failed to be addressed by any AD. It is far too lazy to blame one 30 year old act for UW failing to figure out a solution. Thank god for the Mallards and the Party Deck.
Anonymous (May 1, 2006 @ 9:58pm):
Although Title IX is irrelevant to this article, it is still a joke. Sports were made for men, end of story.
Anonymous (May 1, 2006 @ 9:59pm):
Cut women's hockey if you need to cut something. Sure, they won the national title, but a game of hockey that doesn't even allow you to body check someone isn't even hockey.
