North wants change
Gannett News Sevice

June 29, 2004

OMAHA, Neb. – It may continue to be a cold day in hell before a Big Ten Conference baseball school finally reaches college baseball’s heaven here at the College World Series, unless global warming increases drastically or the schedule is changed.

The last one to make it here was Michigan in 1984, and Big Ten commissioner James Delany and his coaches blame the weather.

They and other northern schools are pushing a proposal to the NCAA that calls for uniform, later practice and play starting dates of Feb. 1 and March 1, respectively, to if not even the playing field, at least clear the snow off of it.

The later start time would push the CWS to the Fourth of July. Limiting fall practices is also in the works.

Texas and Cal State Fullerton are squaring off this weekend in Rosenblatt Stadium for the national title, marking the 10th straight year that a southern or sun belt school is in the championship round.


Oklahoma in 1994 is the last national champion that could be called a cold weather school. The last Big Ten school to win it all was Ohio State in 1966, climaxing a run of seven Big Ten national champions since 1953. The CWS began in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1947 before moving permanently to Omaha in 1950.

“If you look at the last 25 years, 20 percent of the country has controlled what’s gone on in Omaha,

Now where have we heard this story before? Oh yes, how the "non-BCS" schools get shut out of the BCS Bowl games. Screw the BIG 10!!!