From: webel@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Subject: Re: NCCA - Let's Fix It
Date: 23 Jan 93 02:42:50 -0500
Distribution: world
Organization: Georgetown University

In article <1993Jan22.213745.25056@netcom.com>, marquis@netcom.com (Roger Marquis) writes:

> 
> There is no guarantee that NCAA membership would do anything positive
> for the collegiate scene, indeed there is every indication that NCAA
> membership would be an unmitigated disaster.  The 4 year rule alone
> would lock out a large number of older students.  Under NCAA rules if 
> you attended a semester a few years ago you would be _completely_ineligible_ 
> to compete in collegiate races _ever_again!  This is just one of many 
> reasons why collegiate cyclists have been adamant about not joining the 
> NCAA for as long as I can remember
> 
> I guess my question with regards to the combined Nationals squads would 
> be:  What good does it do to combine men's and women's teams for an overall
> title?  It has clearly caused a lot of resentments over the years,
> from both sides of the coin.  The only proponent we've heard from in
> rec.bicycles.racing, Polly, believes that the format encourages a
> closer participation and more collegial atmosphere between the 2 teams
> but I'm not sure I agree.  Other sports, whose athletes can train
> together and who have separate titles, don't seem to have problems
> with cross-participation.  The current format merely re-allocates the
> points in a less than optimal, and often less than fair manner with no
> compelling benefits (IMHO).
> 
> Roger Marquis

I agree wholeheartedly on the question of NCAA sanction, but I would 
like to stand up as a proponent for leaving collegiate racing the way 
it is in terms of combining men's and women's squads.  The way I would 
look at it is that each school is represented by one team, which is 
made up of both men and women, thus it is quite natural for both to 
count for the national title.
The biggest practical reason I can see for the current situation is 
that it provides an incentive for men to recruit women into the sport, 
and vice versa.  Cycling is a very elitist sport, with a lot of 
knowledge to be passed from experienced to inexperienced riders and I 
think one of the good things about collegiate cycling is that it gives 
a powerful incentive for this transfer to occur.
I get the feeling that some think that it is unfair, that a group of 
good male riders, or a group of good female riders, is held back from 
nationals due to their lack of more members of the opposite sex.  If 
this is one team, however, this doesn't make any sense.  In any team sport 
there are plenty of great athletes who may never get to compete for a 
championship because the rest of their team is not up to the task.  
Collegiate cycling is a team sport, so there will be good riders who 
don't make it because of the rest of the team, but I don't understand 
why the rules should be changed to accomodate this.
I welcome any further thoughts on the matter.

Baird
webel@guvax.georgetown.edu
From: khe@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Keith Erskine)
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 16:45:47 GMT
Subject: Re: SHIFTING WHILE STANDING?????
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA