Alysson Felix & Ajee Wilson
Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimsom, Kaylin Whitney & Candace Hill
Drew Hunter, Christian Coleman, Divine Oduduru & Noah Lyles
Kenny Bednarek, Lynna Irby & Sha'Carri Richardson
Rai Benjamin, Donavan Brazier, Mondo Duplantis & Sydney McLaughlin
Quite the entry list for the best of meets!!
Imagine these athletes at the peak of their form going for Records and high listed Marks!!
All of the above named have something in common---
They all went Pro in High School or before graduating College, mostly after their Frosh or Soph year!!
The problem is--Was going Pro the right idea?
What did they give up to do so?
And should they have had to give up anythuing!!
Since Mary Cain's phenomenal years of 2013 & 2014, it's been apres moi le deluge!
One HS or Collegiate superstar turning Pro not long after they broke some Record or otherwise startled the world with their extraordinary talents!!
One regret--if you want to call it that--is that by going Pro early, they all lost the chance to movce the Collegiate or HS Records beyond the stratosphere!!
After McLaughlin's 52.75 in the 400H, speculation was rampant about when, not if she would smash the World Record!1
Same with Mondo's 19-10.25 as a HS'er, or after Benjamin ran that 47.02!
And when they break these WR's, they'll have to do so as Professionals--and won't also break the Collegiate Record!!
But what about those marks--the 47.02, the 52.75, the 6.05 PV, or even Cain's INdoor Mile of 4:24.11 from 2014?
The latter is listed only as a HS PRO Record!
Should these marks--and all the others--be allowed on Collegiate lists, or HS lists, or as Records?
Maybe the NCAA should insist they remain as Collegiate athletes for at least TWO years before certifying their marks as Records!
In some sense, the McLaughlin's & Mondo's are like "ringers"--meaning they're not really members of a team, but get to play anyway for just one game!!
Besides it not being ethical, it kills the pleasure of anticipation and speculation!
Fans can't predict an easy win for McLaughlin in her SOPH year, knowing she has every intention of ending her Collegiate athletic career after that first---and ONLY---season!!
We can only wonder what Cain or Efraimson would've done as Collegiate athletes!
Conference & NCAA Championships?
The exact same set of successes & failures they wound up having?
One way to live in both worlds is to compete for a Collegiate team, but be allowed to compete against Pro's during the Collegiate season!
A ruling could be made that they can go against Pro's, but can't win money!
So they DON'T turn Pro, but get to compete against them, while remaining an "amateur" Collegiate athlete!!
Or the prize money can be placed in a trust fund until they graduate!!
Europe has it right!
I don't know the details of the system in Europe or Asia or Africa or Down Under, but I do know they have NOTHING similar to the US Collegiate system!!
They have a series of clubs, which serve as the base of operations for athletes in the HS or Collegiate age brackets!!
Thus, Mondo can compete for Sweden with all the other Swedish Professionals, while maintaining his amateur status while in a US High School or College!!
Of course, now that he's turned Pro, none of that matters!
What if the NCAA finally admitted that their football players and basketball players are getting paid--in some, or every, way?
What if they allowed T&F athletes the same courtesy?
What if signing a shoe contract, or competing for DL prize money was okay with the NCAA??
What if Mondo could return to the LSU team in 2020?
Or Syd the Kid ran again next year for Kentucky?
Imagine a COLLEGIATE race between Lyles and Coleman and Oduduru??
Wow!!
The NCAA could insist they compete in a certain number of Collegiate meets, while allowing them to compete in --let's say---the Drake Relays, Payton Jordon, and the Pre Classic!
And they would have to wear their team uniform in those meets!!
What about insisting they compete against other Collegiate athletes in these Professional meets?
Some meets have HS Miles or 100's, where only HS athletes compete!
Why not do the same for Collegiates??
Maybe make it possible to break the CR only in events where only other Collegiates are entered??
Janny Simpson--then Barringer--set the still standing CR of 3:59.90 in the 1500 at the Prefontaine meet in 2009!!
If the ruling was changed to CR's being set only against other Collegiates, the new CR would be Sinclaire Johnson's 4:05.97 from this past season!!
What other changes would be made with the same ruling??
Goodbye to several current HS and Collegiate Records!!
A special note should be admitted that Age Limits should also erase some Records!!
The most onorous of these are those of Henry Rono from 1978!!
He was a Soph at Washington State that year!
At TWENTY SIX years of age!!
Not far!!i
At 26, your "normal" elite athlete is in their 3rd year of being a Professional!!
THIRD year!!!
While athletes as talented as Rono was can attend College, is it fair tio have them compete against people who are normally 19, 20, or 21 in their Soph year??
We get to see athletes compete against equals!
Peers!
Not kids against adults!
In any other system, Rono would be in a different classification!
You don't have Little Leaguers swinging the bat against Major Leaguers--or even Minor Leaguers!
You don't pit Heavyweight boxers against middle or bantam weights!!
I would suggest stopping one's Collegiate career the second they turn 24!
And let's end the allowance of sixth year Seniors!
One year of redshirting--and that's it--no matter the circumstances!!
Read again the list of athletes at the top of this post!
Were their going Pro early a cause of the weakening of Collegiate T&F?
Syd was gone, and the winning tiime for the Women's 400H at the 2019 NCAA was over two seconds slower!!
Several of those events saw new studs emerge!
In face, Mondo even lost this year!
New faces eru[t every year, every season!
Who saw Richardson going from 10.99to 10.75???
The Men's 800 saw Michael Saruni, Donavan Brazier, and Emmanuel Korir go Pro early!
So who comes along but Devin Dixon??!!
This trend--of star athletes going Pro early--will only increase in size and speed!
When will the fans get angry?
When will the NCAA see the possible dangers?
When will we join the rest of the World, creating a Club system, as in Europe and elsewhere??
I admit I get excited when an athlete turns Pro early!
Thinking how thwy'll do against athletes 5 or 10 or even 15 years older!!
Against Olympic and World Champs medalists!
Against the Usain Bolts, Genzebe Dibabas, or Daniel Stahls of this world!
I've outlined what's good or not--what's fair or not--about the NCAA Collegiate T&F system!
It will survive without these changes!
I hope!!
But let's at least think about it!
See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment