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 Baseball Coach Has It All Wrong - May 22, 2008
posted by: Josh
You would think that after 35 years at the helm of a Division I baseball program, Ron Polk would have some basic understanding of how intercollegiate athletics works. Unless he thinks he's witty, which he's not, the Mississippi State legend has gone nearly four decades with a severe lack of knowledge. Polk, who retired following the season, is notorious for his hatred for the NCAA. During a special presentation at the Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame & Museum on Monday, Polk was presented with a dartboard with NCAA President Myles Brand's face as the bull's-eye. "I've had a lot of gifts, but that's the best gift I think I've ever had," Polk said. "Myles Brand, I'll be throwing darts at your board as soon as I get home to Starkville tonight." How blatantly unprofessional. Here's hoping Polk's dart throwing is as misguided and inaccurate as his thinking. Furthermore, the Associated Press asked Polk if he would continue to fight with the NCAA. The retiring coach said the following: "Oh, yeah, that's why I take speaking engagements. I don't charge that much. I don't do it to make money. I will continue to attack, attack, attack this evil organization that's made every effort to destroy college baseball. The ones up there in Indianapolis who run this association, they don't want to be told what's right and what's wrong. They're the bosses. They're the ones that have hurt our kids, our coaches and programs so bad. It's a crime." Apparently Polk is not a fan of some of the recent changes enacted as a result of recommendations made by an academic enhancement group formed to combat the poor performance of Division I baseball teams in the classroom. That's okay. But what isn't acceptable is that Polk allows people to think that the individuals in the NCAA national office made those decisions. In fact, the group consisted of baseball coaches, athletics administrators and other stakeholders in the sport. Even Polk's own director of athletics was involved in the conversations, as were some of his esteemed coaching colleagues like Paul Manieri (LSU), Pat McMahon (Florida) and Michael Gaski (UNC Greensboro). Myles Brand wasn't involved in those decisions. The Association's member institutions are the ones that make the rules, not those of us here in the national office. Ron Polk should have gone quietly into the sunset. Instead, he has sullied his reputation by blatantly disseminating incorrect statements. Shame on him. 
CommentsJosh, Instead of making vague statements about Polk's opinions, why don't you offer up some legitimate counter-points as to how these new changes are actually going to help rather than hurt college baseball. Polk has made some valid and impassioned arguments for his position against the changes, and you simply hack out a few paragraphs which say nothing more than the title of your blog. I, for one, hope Polk has a lot of fun with his dart board. Josh, you've completely missed the point. You've just proven how clueless you really are. Josh, you couldn't be more wrong. I don't think Josh has missed the point. I admire Polk's service and passion for college baseball, but it is obvious that he doesn't know how the NCAA is structured. This is a sad state of affairs considering he's put in so many decades of hard work. His athletic director, who was on the baseball academic enhancement group, had more to do with the changes baseball is undergoing than anyone at the national office. Maybe he should sit down and talk with his boss instead of throwing darts. The NCAA continues to hurt college baseball and its athletes. You are nothing more than an enabler. Ron Polk is one of the few willing to stand up for college baseball players. I'm sorry Kendrick, that doesn't make any sense. My piece isn't even about the baseball changes as much as it points out that Polk misinforms about how the decisions were made. The academic enhancement group (which Mississippi State AD Larry Templeton served on), made those recommendations. How does that make me an enabler? I played baseball in college and worked with a Division I program at Boston College. In this case, I feel that I have a solid understanding of the baseball landscape, but more importantly, I am sure that Coach Polk is wrong about who makes decisions for this Association. Josh, should women's rowing receive twenty scholarships while baseball receives 11.7? Josh, you are way too vague on this. Ron Polk is angry at the NCAA because of the ridiculous scholarship limits that the organization has placed on baseball programs due to Title IX. The current number (11.7), nor the proposed number (14) are enough. My solution would be to disregard football when it comes to equity. The number of athletes used in each football game skews the data unfairly towards men's sports. Keep the football scholarships steady at 85 and judge each school's record on Title IX according to other sports. That way, baseball and other men's programs can provide more assistance to their athletes, and you might actually see more kids play college baseball instead of immediately going to the minors. BTW, Mississippi State's baseball team had a composite 3.23 GPA in the classroom. That doesn't sound like a poor performance to me. Sam, I won't disagree that baseball may need more scholarships - which I outlined in a post a week or two ago. But you don't seem to understand why I was frustrated with Coach Polk. It's not so much his assertions for the game of baseball that bother me as it is the fact that he's pinning it on the wrong folks. Please recognize that scholarship limits aren't set by people at the NCAA national office (Myles Brand and company). Those decisions are made by representatives in the governance structure - people from institutions like Mississippi State. The NCAA is a representative-based organization, so Polk should be throwing his criticism at colleagues across the country, not the people at the national office who just don't make those decisions. What got me the most about Polk's tirade is that people believe everything he says, and it was completely misleading. Post a Comment |
  
I have recruited kids to play basketball in college that lived in very destitute situations that had to take the Greyhound to get to college...when they got out they still had bills.
- JM
   
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