Blog post 4
West Neill
Professor Jenkins
PS 101
April 28, 2022
Blog post 4
We have talked about many Major League issues that have troubled the baseball community. But I think it is time to look at some major events that have happened at the collegiate level of baseball. Rarely do we see major political issues arise in college baseball. but, in the 2021 College World Series, we experienced one of the biggest political issues college baseball has ever seen that completely erupted the baseball community.
Political issues are far less frequent at the collegiate level compared to the Major leagues. This is because of the way college athletics are financially structured. College sports are funded through the school that generates most of its capital from tuition, ticket sales, capital campaigns, and donations from alumni. Unlike the MLB, which receives most of its revenue from corporate sponsors and license agreements.
In 2021 the Covid-19 pandemic heavily obstructed college sports over the past year. College baseball took its biggest hit on June 25, 2021, when North Carolina State was disqualified from the semi-finals of the College World Series. On the morning of the big game against Vanderbilt, NC state reported that due to Covid protocols only 13 of their 27 players were eligible to play. Missing four of their starting position players NC state struggled to fill players into the starting lineup. The game was then delayed as the NCAA board conducted an emergency meeting to discuss North Carolina’s ability to continue in the playoffs. Ultimately the NCAA announced an hour later that NC state will no longer be able to play in the College World Series. The Covid-19 protocols for the College World Series were that any player that had not received the vaccine will be tested every other day. Since NC state’s roster was almost entirely unvaccinated, when one player got sick it spread amongst the team like a wildfire. Any player that exceeds the social distancing rules was also quarantined. This took NC state’s roster from 27 players to 13 thirteen in a flash.
So why was this such a big deal in the baseball community? Like any playoff series, the College World Series is something thousands of collegiate athletes dream of competing in. When NC State was scheduled to play Vanderbilt in the semifinals. NC State only had to beat Vanderbilt one time to advance to the championship. Vanderbilt on the other hand had two-beat NC state two times consecutively to advance. Nonetheless, it was safe to say that NC State has a very good possibility to advance to the CWS championship for the first time in over 10 years. So, to have this rare opportunity stripped from NC state, infuriated the baseball community. NC State head coach, Elliot Avent, was especially furious at the NCAA’s decision. He stated that they enough players to play a game and that his players should have been given a fighting chance instead of completely crushing their opportunity to make school history.
Looking at this situation from the NCAA’s point of view, I understand they must follow set procedures about health and safety issues concerning Covid-19. If they allowed NC state to continue in the playoffs, they risk players from other teams also getting sick, possibly jeopardizing the entire World Series. And if that would have happened the NCAA would have been slammed by the media for not taking the necessary safety precautions going into the tournament and risking potentially thousands of lives. So, the NCA, representing all college sports had to show authority not only to ensure the best outcome from a political standpoint but to the teams not following the right safety measure and protocols during a pandemic.
From the North Carolina state and the baseball communities’ standpoint. They felt that they were cheated out of potentially one of the biggest moments in their school’s baseball history. The baseball community was very unpleased by the way the NCAA handled this situation. Their main argument was that both teams were dressed and ready to play and NC state had enough players to play the game. Both the fans and NC state stated that the game should have continued, which would have given the NCAA more time to consider their options.
In conclusion, I think the ultimate solution for this situation would have been for the NCAA to implement covid protocols weeks before the tournament. And when the teams arrived at the College World Series the NCAA should have created a “bubble” like the NBA used in the finals. This would have completely separated the player from other teams and fans. I believe if the NCAA would have implemented these precautions there would have been very low possibilities for something like this to happen and the College World Series would have happened flawlessly. And maybe NC state would have been national champions for the first time in school history.