>Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 01:39:44 EDT
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: t-and-f: regionals won't kill the NCAA schedule
>
>Well, the USC-UCLA meet has traditionally been the first Saturday in May, and
>the weather has generally been pretty good for it. Moving it a week earlier
>would probably invite poorer weather.
Weather in LA pretty much locks into generally sunny, warm conditions by
early April. California weather, unlike the rest of the US, is remarkably
stable and predictable on a seasonal basis. It only varies with El Nino
conditions. Mt. SAC in mid April is always held in sunny weather (when
was the last time it rained at that meet). The dual meet has nothing to
worry about. BTW, USC and UCLA might have a dozen athletes of interest now
to the Mt SAC crowd. Neither of those programs are the powerhouses they
once were.
>The Pac-10 Championships have indeed
>been only 10 days before the NCAA Championships, and it has been difficult
>for teams to perform well in both the Pac-10s and the NCAAs. Adding
>regionals might make this problem worse. Even fewer athletes would have
>seasonal bests in the NCAAs.
Given that the Pac 10 schools have been the dominant teams for decades, and
only recently have been challenged by schools from one other conference,
the SEC, this statement is hard to believe. In 1981, we finished 7th at
the Pac 10 and 10th at the NCAA as the No. 5 Pac 10 school in Baton Rouge
under conditions that could not have been more foreign to West Coast
athletes. The decline of the conference at the national level is readily
apparent in the conference meet performances, not just at the NCAA. Few
athletes from ANY conference one SBs at the NCAAs because the meet is too
often held in hot, humid conditions that are not conducive to good
performances.
Richard McCann
