Thursday, May 3, 1984
Daily Nebraskan
Pag
o21
Summer baseball vyohIcI helio UK
Kearney State's baseball team is in
Lincoln to play our beloved UNLCorn
huskers. Brother Jim Joe-Bob and his
Traveling Evangelism Show is also on
campus. . .healthily outdrawing the
Loper-Huskcr double-header at beau
tiful Buck Bcltzer Field.
Coach John Sanders and his Busker
baseball team are having a lot of trou
ble filling the stands for their home
games.
Jeff
Browne
The Nebraska weather god, who has
blessed us with rain and other assorted
niceties during the past two weeks, is
keeping the droves of fans away from
Beltzer.
Afternoon starting times, necessary
because of Beltzer's lack of lights, are
another big drag on attendance.
And finally, Kearney State doesn't
quite have the drawing power of Kan
sas State, let alone a national power
house such as Southern California or
Arizona State.
Because of these hindrances, Neb
raska's baseball program which
seemed so promising just a couple of
years ago is lapsing into a consistent
mediocrity that is frustrating to fans.
One solution to this problem is sum
mer collegiate baseball A few years
ago, the Big Eight Conference proposed
the idea of summer schedules, but the
measure was quickly and roundly cut
down.
However, now that the Nebraska
baseball team is spending April and
May playing in drizzle and rain, against
such "powerhouses" as Northwestern
(Iowa), the idea must again be consi
dered seriously.
Spring ball means UNL and almost
every other major college baseball team
must play many of their games on
weekdays. Because they play on week
days, the teams cannot travel very far
because they risk missing a day of
classes.
For teams like Nebraska's, there aren't
many opponents in the vicinity that
play the same level of ball. Thus, Neb
raska schedules games against Kear
ney State, Wayne State, Northwestern
(Iowa) and the like. These aren't the
quality opponents that fetch large
crowds to games.
If the Big Eight andor the NCAA
were to adopt a summer schedule,
Nebraska would be free to travel. Bud
get restrictions would probably cut
down on the length of the trip. But
UNL could still find its way to Iowa
City, Minneapolis, Champaign, ILL, and
Des Moines to play summer games in
these and other nearby homes of major
colleges.
With summer weekday or weeknight
games, players would not have to worry
about missing classes. UNL could play
better teams. And these high-quality
teams could travel to Lincoln as easily
as the Buskers could go there.
Currently, Nebraska's baseball team
takes one major road trip at the begin
ning of the season. The team usually
goes to California, Arizona and Hawaii
to play some of the best teams in the
nation. So UNL does see some good
competition, but it's all at the start of
the year.
In a summer schedule, the competi
tion would be spread out. When and if
Nebraska ever makes it to the College
World Series, the Huskers would be
better prepared.
Another problem with spring base
ball, whether Nebraskans like to admit
it or not, is that spring football com
mands the attention of the state in
April. Nebraska baseball comes as kind
of an afterthought. The attendance at
all Husker baseball games combined
can't equal the 23,000-plus turnout at
the spring football game Apr. 28.
Obviously, a summer schedule full of
major college teams would have no
competition for the Lincoln summer
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sport dollar. My guess is that with
the installation of lights at Beltzer
Field Nebraska baseball would draw
2,000 fans for weeknight games and up
to 6,000 for weekend series.
Nebraska's spring weather is tradi
tionally unkind. However, the state
spends much of its summer under a
hot, dry sun. A summer schedule would
cause fewer rainouts and postponed
games because of cold temperatures.
Buck Beltzer's astroturf is ideal for
saving a lot of damp games in the
spring, but most of UNL's games this
year have been played in less than
ideal conditions.
In a summer schedule, perfect wea
ther would prevail for about 95 per
cent of Nebraska's scheduled games
no tarp necessary.
Because of the perennially bad wea
ther in such places as Nebraska, Min
nesota, Michigan and other northern
' states, college baseball's powerhouse
teams are in the Sun Belt: San Diego
State, Miami (Fla.), Southern Califor
nia, Arizona State, ad nauseum.
Northern teams are consistently cha
sing the Sun Belt teams because they
lack talent. In a spring schedule, teams
like Texas and USC can play more
games because of good weather. Pros
pective college players, when recru
ited, tend to go to schools where they
will play more. Northern teams are
often left with scraps;
Conferences like the Big Eight, the
Big Ten and the Missouri Valley would
benefit from a summer schedule, ob
viously. The NCAA as a whole would
also benefit from increased interest,
but their incentive is more intangible.
The real incentive would be making
college baseball more fair by breaking
the Sun Belt monopoly on talent.
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