ripper macgoo wrote:
Not an attack against you, but an actual question - why do you feel like the Ivy League should be so much about tradition? The Ivy league already doesn't allow scholarships or redshirting which puts them at a pretty material disadvantage against other leagues such at the PAC 12 (RIP), SEC, Big 10, etc. (note that despite this several teams have still been completive on the national stage such as Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia making many XC nationals). However, sport evolves and records get broken and competition gets better. It's against the nature of sport to be overly traditional because that's how you get left behind. Many of the athletes in the Ivy League want to be All Americans or even national champions. Why should the Ivy League put themselves at an even bigger disadvantage? That's not how you win a national championship. I agree that the recent Princeton "race" was in poor taste, so this specific instance isn't a good example of the Ivy League keeping up with national competition. But the indoor track matter is probably a better example (for better or worse), because now that everyone else is doing it, the Ivy League needs to have their athletes compete on exceptionally fast tracks as well to give their athletes even the chance to compete against the nation's best at NCAA nationals.
1) There is a flat track conversion for qualifying for NCAAs which negates your entire argument.
2) Very few people qualify for NCAAs at conference in distance races anyways (and hardly anyone qualifies in the Ivy League in sprints) but #1 makes this irrelevant.
3) You have all season to qualify for NCAAs and if you are good enough to compete for an NCAA title, you aren't going to have a problem qualifying.
You should have the conference at the places where it's been historically held. (Texas should be play Texas A&M every year in football, Ok vs Ok State as well). Heps xc at VCP - so every single person who ever has run in the league can compare their times. They used to have an outdoor and indoor rotation so a track athlete would get to see all 8 Ivy League schools during their career.
4)I'm willing to admit maybe the scored HYP meet may not be necessary anymore, but then again why not? Should we get rid of Army-Navy as well? Is running 14:10 at BU in the 6th heat of the 5000 really more memorable than doubling up in a scored meet?
What percent of Ivy League track runners are going to NCAAs - 1%? Would it be more fun if they had a legit dual meet season?