Passing along a few items of interest to t&f-digesters, gleaned from various sources:
from The NCAA News -- July 16, 2001
Championship access/growth philosophy to be examined
The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet has decided to form a championships bracket/format subcommittee to review a number of championships access and related issues.
Among issues the subcommittee will review are bracket sizes and the philosophy of providing automatic qualification into NCAA championships for all conference champions while ensuring quality competition and highly selective events.
The issue was prompted by a request from the Division I Management Council, which had expressed concerns about the consistency in requests for bracket expansions and whether current philosophical guidelines were being followed. The Council also had philosophical concerns whether there was a point at which bracket expansions dilute the championships experience for student-athletes . . . The subcommittee also will address a number of other related issues, including site selection, issues related to bracket assignment, the establishment or revision of championships formats, seeding of teams, sizes of sports committees in relation to sports-sponsorship numbers, and championships marketing and financial issues. The subcommittee will be charged to identify a set of core principles and report back to the cabinet in September.
The cabinet also continued to work on a complicated issue in track and field involving a Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee recommendation to expand the field and establish regionals to qualify into the championships. The cabinet supported the recommendation and had proposed in April that the Division I Board of Directors allocate $363,000 to initiate regionals and increase the field size. The Board did not disagree with the intent to expand, but it took issue with the establishment of regionals that may interfere with exam schedules, devalue conference championships and possibly extend the season. Thus, the Board embargoed funds from the 2001-02 NCAA budget that would be allocated to establish or conduct regional meets or expand NCAA championships until the cabinet further reviewed the matter.
Since then, the track and field committee has recommended to the cabinet that the 2002 outdoor championships not include regionals and that the men's and women's meets end the first weekend in June. That recommendation was based on the committee's belief that the Board's action leaves the date of the 2002 championships in question. The championships would conclude either the first or second Saturday in June, depending on whether the Board approved or rejected the original proposal at its August meeting. The committee felt that waiting on that decision puts a significant burden on schools that are deep into the scheduling process for the 2002 season. Such a delay also impacts schools' budgeting process, as well as the scheduling of conference meets and preparations for hosting the nationals.
After discussion, the cabinet endorsed the track and field committee's recommendations because it felt they gave the Management Council and the Board the most comprehensive and accurate information to assist the two groups in making a fully informed decision. The cabinet also believes that logistical problems would make it extremely difficult to make significant changes to the 2002 championships format.
The track and field committee -- and the cabinet -- continued to support the concept of establishing regionals for the championships, and has asked for that to be approved for the 2003 season.
From "Draft Update," in Baseball America, July 23
Pro baseball likes Texas high schooler's track speed
The University of Texas lost two prized baseball recruits, but only one football prospect. Outfielder/wide receiver Quan Cosby, a 6th-round pick of the Angels, signed for $850,000, the largest bonus given to a player beyond the first two rounds this year. Cosby signed a baseball-only deal.
Cosby . . . has a long way to develop in baseball,his third-best sport. He quarterbacked Mart High to the Texas 2A championship game as a junior and senior, winning the state title in 1999. He was the 2A offensive player of the year and all-state quarterback/defensive back/kick returner in 2000, when he accounted for 48 touchdowns. Cosby also won the Texas 2A title in the 100m (10.46) and 200m (21.31). He was the fastest legitimate prospect in the 2001 draft, and scouts compare his speed to Deion Sanders in his prime.
Michael Walton - and now you know the rest of the story . . . .
Here's some real data I was able to dredge up from my files about the hyperbolic Michael Walton's track career as chronicled in the July 20 issue of the Washington Times. Based on my diggings, the only "fact" about his "illustrious " track career at the University of Southern California that seems to be correct is that he did actually attend USC, lettering in 1996, 1997, and 1998. All the rest - claiming PBs of 44.97 and 20.03, to have been a two-time All-American and All-Pac-10 in the 200m, and "leading" the Trojans to their first Pac-10 title in 20 years - is major doo doo!
In 1997, far from "leading the Trojans to their first Pac-10 title in 20 years" (last was in 1977), his contribution to the USC victory was a grand total of three (3) points to USC's 135. He placed sixth in the 400m with a time of 48.16. He also ran in the 200m heats, running a non-qualifying 21.94. His listed season-best marks going into the meet were 47.30 and 21.34.
As a senior in 1998 he again contributed three points to USC's 115 points in a second place finish to UCLA. He was sixth in the 200m in 21.51 after a 21.61 heat. He made the 400m final (one of four Trojans in the final) as the slowest qualifier with a 48.58, but was disqualified (apparently a lane violation) in the final, running 47.72, which would have placed seventh. He was not a member of the SC 4x400m relay team that placed second in 3:07.05. According to the USC pre-Pac-10 Meet media release dated 5-20-98, his season/career bests were listed as: 200m-21.35w, 21.44/21.23; 400m-47.67/47.30.
It makes you wonder if anything else in the story was any closer to the truth than Walton's self-glorification of his track accomplishments. And even worse is the fact that the writer, Uyo Ekadem, Jr., who probably never covered a track meet in his life (or the times that Walton claimed to have run would have immediately set off an alarm bell in his head), bought into Walton's B.S. without checking out the facts!
As the resident sports historian/"claims of fame" debunker here at the Arizona Alumni Association, I can assure you that it is not uncommon for ex-athletes (and also non-athletes) to, after a few years, grossly exaggerate their undergraduate accomplishments-i.e. squad members become lettermen, lettermen become all-conference/conference champions/school-record holders, all-conference becomes All-American/national champion, etc., etc., etc. For example, just a few years ago a locally well-known ex-athlete and coach (who was a personal friend of mine) died, and his obituary prominently noted that he had won an NCAA title in the javelin. Not even close! Although he had indeed thrown the javelin in college, and may have won a conference title or even competed in the NCAAs, he never placed even in the top six. Something that could have easily be checked out. I think Gorbachev said it best: "Trust, but verify."
JON ALQUIST
