I’m pretty sure I love baseball more than you do. I’ve played since I was four years old, and an extreme amount of my free time (hey there, subpar GPA) is spent reading, writing, watching or talking about the game.
And so, what I’m about to say might come as a bit of a shock, but it’s true: We shouldn’t be playing baseball in February. It’s too early. The UNC baseball team has had to move, cancel or postpone eight games already — we’re not even three full weeks into the season — because of this horrible weather Northerners apparently call “spring.”
According to Coach Mike Fox, his team has stepped on its own field just once in 12 days. Call me crazy, but I think Roy Williams and Larry Fedora would be pretty pissed if they couldn’t get in the court or on the field during the middle of their season.
And this isn’t just a problem in Chapel Hill. College baseball schedules across the country have been in flux because of this year’s weather, and there’s a growing national dialogue about moving the schedule back.
“Obviously this season has been a challenge, but it’s been a challenge for two-thirds of the country,” Fox said. “It’s just what happens when you’re trying to do outside things in February.”
One of Baseball America’s national college baseball writers (and former DTH sports editor), Michael Lananna, has heard similar stories from coaches all over the country.
“Pretty much every coach I’ve talked to the last few weeks, they’re all dealing with some sort of weather thing,” Lananna said. “They’re all having to cancel a game or move a series around. I know it’s very frustrating for them and it seems like this year in particular it’s been an issue more so than past years.”
In addition to the obvious benefits of having fewer games cancelled and less money spent on moving games around, pushing the schedule back could help players succeed academically.
Fewer days traveling means fewer classes missed, and under a new proposal, playing over the summer would require players to enroll in summer classes, which could help players stay on track for graduation.
