First, thank you all for the well wishes while my partner and I were going through the death of our beloved dog.

I guess it is time to try and regain some normalcy again, so... back to the sports.

Can anyone tell me why it is in any sports' best interest to join the NCAA? Especially the obscure, non televised sports like equestrian, rowing, fencing....

I have read the proposal submitted to the NCAA to accept men's rowing. As I see it, if it follows the womens format they will only be able to race a 1V and 2V eight and a four. If schools go to the NCAA, will we lose the IRA? The IRA has always been the National Championship and what made it great was that anyone with balls could go. So a school like Boston U. who may have not done well at Sprints, could still train for 2-3 more weeks and medal at the IRA. If we switch to an NCAA format, then only conference championship winners will be able to go (with a few at large berths).

Also what about the pairs? Some really small programs like Vassar, Manhattanville, only send pairs to the IRA. They get to compete with the big boys and sometimes they do very well.

I'm typically not a bleeding heart liberal, but don't you think that the way it is now (IRA) creates more opportunities for athletes?

Let me know what you think.

ps. Who is going to go to Harry Parker (Harvard) and tell him he has to limit the number of coaches he can hire?

what value would joining the ncaa bring to m rowing?

that's my question too. It's a non-revenue generating sport (except in alumni donations), so as I see it, it will only create beauracracy for the sport. The Ivies still will not give scholarships, developing programs like NC and Michigan who may want to hand out tons of dollars to attract talent will be told they have to limit their number of scholarships and still... nobody is ever going to watch it on TV.

And I am sure to be crucified on this, but... many of the men's programs (that would be classified as DI) still have club status and probably don't count toward Title IX compliance

ps. I whole heartedly support the huge growth in women's rowing due to Title IX!

I just can't see NCAA helping rowing at all. Better to leave it as is.

Well, we'll never have rowing in the south. They're afraid the crew would be run over by a bass-boat.