Trapasso not totally sold
on college baseball switch

There are merits to the new NCAA proposal that would have college baseball teams conforming to specific dates for starting practices and games. But there are also drawbacks, according to Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso.

"If it's for the betterment of the game, I'm all for it, even if it's not in the best interests of the University of Hawaii," Trapasso said yesterday. "But I'm not convinced that it will have the effect that some coaches are hoping it will."

In a report given at yesterday's NCAA convention in Grapevine, Texas, the Division I Baseball Issues Committee said a uniform calendar would address some competitive equality issues by setting the practice start date to Feb. 1 and games starting around March 1.

Teams in warm-weather areas -- such as Hawaii, Florida and California -- are already practicing, and the Rainbows open their season Feb. 10 against Alabama.

The proposal was sponsored by the Big Ten where most schools can't even practice outdoors in February because of the extreme cold.

The maximum number of games allowed would be kept at 56 and force the NCAA tournament to start a week later. In some years, the College World Series would be pushed into July.

"The tough thing for us is that is would cut a good 3-4 weeks from the front end of the season and only add another week on the back end," said Trapasso, who returned Saturday from the American Baseball Coaches Association meeting in Nashville, Tenn. "We'll be asking for a possible exception because it's hard for us to get in 56 games in the 13-14 weeks they're proposing. With all the travel, it's hard for us to get weekday games in.

"And then there will be the added cost of keeping the kids around once school is out. (UH is out in early May). The average for a Division I baseball team is $6,600 per week and for us, it's about $7,000. This will be a cost issue for some schools."

The NCAA Management Council can't consider the proposal until next January. If approved, the earliest it could be implemented would be the 2007 season.

"And that could put a crimp in our scheduling," Trapasso said. "I've already got my '06 schedule finished and '07 is all but done. The coaches had been told the earliest it would happen is 2008, but they've now come back with '07. We'd have to revamp our schedule.

"I like '07. We have three consecutive weekends with Wichita State, Arizona and Miami. And that's after a week with San Diego State."