Um, yeah wrote:
Talk about amateur hour...
You obviously seem to think that it is the NCAA office that has the manpower, money and organizational structure to actually setup and run a championships meet instead of awarding it to a local organization that actually has the people willing and able to take on that major task.
I suppose you also believe that it was the IOC and not the local committee in Atlanta that put on the 1996 Olympics.
No, but it was the IOC that selected Atlanta. The IOC chose the location, not the local organizing committee. And if there was something that the IOC didn't like in Atlanta's proposal, they would either select another city or press the organizing committee to make changes.
In the NCAA, I agree that the most talented or innovative people are working on the high-revenue sports, not XC. And, as a result, instead of the NCAA developing some sort of vision of what the xc champs should be like, they are happy to take the path of least resistance, which is awarding the meet to whatever farm town wants to have it.
If the NCAA was motivated to change things, they certainly could. There are big meets in VCP and Franklin Park every weekend....it wouldn't be too difficult to find someone in NYC or Boston to lead the organizing. It might be more expensive to host, but there are probably some nominal incremental sponsorship opportunities also. The point is that it would take more effort on behalf of the NCAA, but they don't really have a major incentive to put in the work. Oh well.