Monthly Archives: February 2006

Rant: Rules I Hate

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After watching numerous games so far this season, I have been once again reminded of certain rules I would love to see the NCAA get rid of… forever. These aren’t rules we need, or change the game, these are simply rules allowed to be in the game and make me shake my head.

The first rule I want seen done away with… the “flying-out-of-bounds-timeout.”

I actually saw it TWICE in one game just last week. The player grabbed the ball while hurdling out of bounds. He didn’t have control of his body and barely held onto the ball. But, he was able to call timeout… to save his team (certainly, not himself).

Timeouts aren’t allowed inbounds unless you are in control of yourself AND the ball, why do we allow timeouts in mid-air when the player doesn’t even have control his own body?!

According to the official rulebook, which actually has a section dedicated to what they call an “Airborne Player/Timeout”, the player needs to only be in control of the ball. In Appendix III, Section 5, it reads:
“Before a timeout is granted by an official, the official shall be certain that the player making the request is in possession of the ball.”

That’s it?! Nothing about whether the player is wearing a safety helmet for the certain crash at the end? Nothing about whether or not he filed a flight plan with the FAA? Name me any other time in a game, where a player out of control is granted a timeout? Or a situation that is simply chaotic, where a timeout is allowed?

A player can’t have one hand on a loose ball and call time out. Why not?! He is actually inbounds. The only difference between this and flying out of bounds is whether the player has possession of the ball.

So, if the ball is hurdling out of bounds with a player along for the ride and that player is quick enough to yell or signal timeout, then it’s granted?! Seriously… does this sound as dumb to you as it does to me?

Unless a player is in control of the ball and himself, with part of his body actually physically in bounds, and able to call and signal a timeout, then forget granting one. In no other situation on the court is a player not all of those things. Why does taking to the air and looking for a landing zone change everything?

Just because the player has some gymnastics background shouldn’t be a good enough reason to save the player from a turnover (though the Russian judge might give him a 10 if he sticks the landing).

Speaking of airborne, I am tired of watching offensive players getting defenders into the air… then jumping into that defender in an effort to get a foul called. Talk about cheating. To physically jump into the defender as one shoots, just to get the foul call, is ridiculous. The worst part, officials call it a defensive foul!

We all know players are entitled to their own space. We also know that rules are slanted against defenders. If a defender is standing straight up and not moving his body or arms (even if they are in the air) then any contact is not his fault – at least in theory. So, why when a defender bites on a pump fake, goes straight up in the air, and would never touch the offensive player otherwise, do officials feel the need to call a defensive foul when offensive player jumps into the defender… initiating the contact?

I am reminded of former NBA star Reggie Miller. When he took a jumper with a defender near him, he would throw his leg out to get hit and draw the foul call. It took years before officials stopped falling for it and stopped calling it.

An offensive player should not be bailed out of a situation because he makes contact with the defender… period. If ever an offensive player initiates contact with the defender, it either shouldn’t be called or be an offensive foul.

Throwback weekend

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Case/Western Reserve/Mather throwback jerseysCase Western Reserve is doing something pretty interesting this weekend, celebrating its heritage by putting its players in throwback jerseys.

The men will wear jerseys from Case Institute of Technology for one of the weekend’s games and Western Reserve University for the other. The women will wear jerseys from Mather College both times out. They are playing in an old gymnasium as well.

Read more about the history of the school and the throwback weekend at their Web site.

Meanwhile, I’m really interested to know how Trenton State, Carnegie Tech, Upsala, Fredonia Teachers College, North Adams State, Western Maryland, Glassboro State, Beaver, Allentown and Penn Military do this weekend.

Disgruntled SIDs

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They’re the overworked and underpaid, talented yet unappreciated glue that holds an athletic department together.

No, they’re not assistant coaches (although they certainly qualify under every word except “glue”). They’re the Sports Information Directors.

Every school has one (almost) and almost none works as few as 40 hours per week. They’re the ones who make sure the media knows what’s going on in the athletic department. At the Division III level, it’s usually one full-time person (who works 50-70 hours per week) covering about 15 sports. They write and design media guides, issue press releases, write feature stories, update the department Web site, often traveling to away games. They’re often the department photographer, historian or technology expert.

Underpaid, overworked and disgruntled.
Such is the life of a Division III SID.

I wasn’t kidding about them working 50-70 hours per week. That is the range cited by 72.8% of Division III SIDs who responded to a salary and job responsibilities survey presented at last summer’s College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) convention.

Well, for all that extra work and responsibility, they must be getting paid well, correct? Decidedly not. The national average full-time SID salary is $34,953, with the average brutally low in some of the areas with the highest costs of living ($32,637 in the mid-atlantic, with full-time SIDs in that area making as low as $20,000). At 60 hours a week for 50 weeks a year, that’s $11.65 per hour.

When you throw in having to deal with all forms of questions from people who don’t know a person’s job responsibilities (i.e., this is not the person you call to ask when the pool is open or how to get a booster club membership), this is a group of professionals seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

That pressure has led to a decidedly early 21st-century outlet, a blog called Disgruntled SID. This is for the parents who compile their own statistics of their son or daughter and complain to the SID when the official stats don’t match. It’s for the coaches who want a flyer for their summer camp or want to know why they don’t have a media guide two weeks after submitting the information.

I don’t know who posts on this blog, but to be honest, I don’t care. This is a brutally accurate picture of the profession as it stands in Division III. Talented people leave the profession all the time to take jobs where they are appreciated, where they can spend time with their families, where they can make enough to someday pay off their student loans, let alone afford a mortgage. It’s a job prone to breakdowns — I had colleagues in the business who were forced to take medical leave because of exhaustion. As the talent drain continues, we’ll be left with the lowest common denominator at the level at which a good SID is most helpful. When the local media ignores the small schools, an SID can be the most helpful in terms of getting the word out. Unfortunately, too many schools take a short-sighted approach and nickle-and-dime the position, rather than realizing the public relations potential and exposure one can gain with a top-notch SID.

I used to be an SID myself. Thankfully, my time in the business was short, but it doesn’t take away from my appreciation for the hard work these people do seven days a week.

These people deserve more respect, not just from the fans or the coaches, but the administrators as well.

Don’t dismiss a key part of your institutional mission.