The bottom line... wrote:
How about you get fast too? wrote:Why? The NCAA doesn't think they gain an unfair advantage so why punish them?
First of all, you will notice that many people have chimed in on this thread stating that they do gain an unfair advantage, including people who are LDS themselves and/or BYU advocates. Also, the NCAA imposed the age restrictions in the first place because they definitely do believe it's an advantage! Granting an exemption is simply unfair to the rest of the competitors.
You have a very interesting interpretation of the word "punishment." Running at a D-II school is not a punishment, and neither is losing two years of eligibility. If your beliefs are more important than track/cross-country, that is certainly admirable, but you shouldn't receive any special favors as a result of your non-athletic preferences.
You are so firm about what the NCAA believes regarding these age restrictions but when it comes to them not believing BYU athlete's gain too much of an advantage you just throw it out the window. NCAA believes age matter fine. NCAA also believes that LDS athletes do not gain too much of an advantage for them to compete with NCAA athletes or they would have already put a rule like that into place.
2 Years really is not that much older. When those 2 years weren't spent training then whatever arguable potential advantage reduces significantly, if there is any at all. So the reason for BYU running so fast is their coaching, talent, training regimen, and team. The 2 year age gap that SOME of the top 5 have is negligible considering they took those two years off and because 2 of their top 5 who have returned from missions are still younger than typical seniors.
In conclusion...
-The 2 year age gap is negligible especially when considering the 2 year lack of training. What athlete who wants to become a professional some day could possibly think it's helpful to take 2 years off? None.
-It is not any age gap that makes BYU that fast or they would always have an amazing team since they always have some guys with the age gap.
-They would still be a top 10 team without any age gap because their top guy Batty would still be competing right now and he would not have taken 2 years off. Their 5th man Bahr would still be competing and not have taken 2 years off. Their 2nd man Gruenewald didn't go on a mission. Their other 2 guys in the top 5 would have graduated, but they would not have taken those 2 years off. So someone else would be filling their position who may not be as fast, but Batty and Bahr would be faster without the 2 year break which would likely make up for it