SPORTS
Madison in need of baseball team
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by Derek Zetlin
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
For just about two years now, I’ve been saying that if it weren’t for the near-unbearable winters, the University of Wisconsin would be perfect. The “work hard, play hard” mentality present here in Madison is truly something special, something we may take for granted on a daily basis.
But upon further review, I was wrong.
UW has one more glaring blunder that until recently, I’ve failed to recognize. As Badger fans, we’ve been pampered with a trio of top 10-caliber men’s sports programs, something very few collegiate fans get to enjoy.
But to be quite honest, I’m greedy. This school has about 30,000 undergraduate students. This school is part of the Big Ten Conference. This school, for crying out loud, should have a baseball team.
In case you were wondering, the reason for the absence of a baseball team revolves around something called Title IX.
Sort of.
Title IX is a United States law enacted in 1972 to eliminate sex discrimination in schools. In its original form, the amendment never mentioned discrimination in collegiate athletics; that came later.
In 1979, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare instituted a three-prong test, which tested the compliance of institutions’ compliance with Title IX. According to the test, institutions must either 1) provide athletic opportunities substantially proportionate to the student enrollment, 2) demonstrate a continual expansion of athletic opportunities for the underrepresented sex or 3) provide full and effective accommodation of the interest and ability of the underrepresented sex.
Because of the ambiguity of these three prongs, Title IX provides great room for interpretation. To me, it seems like as long as any given athletic department makes significant strides to expand its women’s sports programs, it is in compliance with Title IX.
Proponents of Title IX are in favor of equity among collegiate athletics; that is clear, and I am all for it. Despite the differences in the level of play or revenue generated from sporting events, women’s teams should receive an equal amount of scholarships as men’s teams. Women’s teams should have the same practice opportunities and the same travel accommodations as men, too. But let’s be honest — as of right now, women’s sports fail to create the excitement men’s sports create.
If I sound pompous and chauvinistic, I’m sorry; I’m really not trying to be. Last year I covered the UW women’s basketball team and enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoyed going to games and watching Jolene Anderson shoot the lights out. The Badger women’s hockey team won back-to-back national championships coming into this season, too. So obviously, Wisconsin Athletics is doing something right on the women’s side of things.
Again, I’m all for the expansion of women’s sports, just as long as it’s not at the expense of the men’s, which it is currently doing.
The funny thing is, Title IX advocates frown upon the deletion of men’s sports to compensate for attention given to women’s. In no part of the amendment does it require athletic departments to eliminate men’s sports programs, if you read the three-prong test. So my question is: Why can’t UW have a baseball team, a piece that’s been absent from the athletic puzzle since 1991?
Madison is one of only six Big Ten schools to field a men’s hockey team and one of eight Big Ten schools to have a men’s soccer team. That said, in order to institute a baseball team, UW Athletics would need to get creative, economically speaking. The fact that there is no equivalent for football in women’s sports makes things tricky as well.
But it can be done. After all, Michigan pulls it off. J.J. Putz was a Wolverine.
In a world dominated by males in the early 1970s, I applaud the founders of Title IX, as equality among sexes in sports should be a desired goal for all.
In a perfect world, the slogan for the professional softball league, like Major League Baseball, would be “I live for this.”
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. Until then, UW Athletics, bring back Wisconsin baseball.
When the weather gets nice, I like to sit out at the Terrace and enjoy the company of Lake Mendota. But quite frankly, I’d rather be in the stands, enjoying web gems with a bag of peanuts in hand.
Derek is a sophomore majoring in economics. If you miss
baseball as much as he does, you can e-mail him at dzetlin@badgerherald.com.
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 10:59am):
"Im all for the expansion of womens sports, just as long as its not at the expense of the mens, which it is currently doing."
How is that the case with Wisconsin and a baseball team? Wisconsin had to eliminate its baseball team in the early 90s because the athletic department was running out of money ... sure, they could start a team up today, but would it really be profitable? It's not worth the money or the effort to appease everyone one or two sports writers who complains about it every spring.
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 12:42pm):
"To me, it seems like"
I'm sure that the Feds and Fems care little for what "it seems like" to you.
Title IX killed men's baseball, because the athletic department money soaked up by money losing women-only sports.
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 1:11pm):
Women's sports suck all the money out of an athletic department. Most people don't go to Madison to check out some girl trying to make a layup.
Baseball is America's Pasttime.
Drinking is UW's pasttime.
Why don't we welcome another one back to the University?
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 2:51pm):
Sports is riddled with statistics and I would love to know a certain statistic in particular. Has a Badger Herald columnist written about the absence of UW baseball every single season since its departure? It seems to me the answer is yes. There has GOT to be something more original to write.
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 3:39pm):
There is something wrong when the #1 College Sports Town in America (SportsIllustrated, 2003) doesn't have a baseball team. We are also the only University in the Big Ten Conference not to field a team. This needs to change.
Anonymous (April 16, 2008 @ 8:11pm):
Winter starts in Madison in October and ends in June. When exactly is the team supposed to play?
Anonymous (April 17, 2008 @ 7:19am):
Softball is so bad lets give baseball a chance.No one watches softball.If Minn can field a team our weather should be fine.
Anonymous (April 17, 2008 @ 11:09am):
Minnesota rents the homerdome for its home games until the weather is nice enough outside to play outdoors. Last time I checked there is no place like the HHH Loser dome in the Madison Area.
Anonymous (April 17, 2008 @ 2:57pm):
It isn't a problem with Title IX. We need to re-evaluate ourselves. Since when was lawn fairy a sport that American's cared about. Forget about Title IX, lets get rid of soccer. Beckham's a tool anyways.
Anonymous (April 17, 2008 @ 9:41pm):
.......what?
Bringing baseball back would cost millions of dollars for a new facility, and on top of that we would need a women's program to match it. UW doesn't have the money for that.
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