Saturday, July 25, 2009
A new sport for Baylor!
At the end of this year's regents' retreat this week, Baylor announced that it will have a new varsity sport-- competitive varsity cheerleading.
It turns out that only two other big schools have competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport. I'm not sure how that will work in terms of competition, given that neither of the other two schools are in our conference, the Big 12.
If nothing else, cheerleading is both dangerous and athletic. Like other sports (figure skating, moguls skiing) that feature subjective judging, I never really trust the results, but there is no doubt that the gymnastic aspect of it is physically challenging.
Meanwhile, the NCAA is introducing women's beach volleyball as a varsity sport. Here are some other NCAA sports, with the number of schools participating in Division I:
Women's Bowling: 33 Div. I schools
Women's ice hockey: 35 Div. I schools
Women's rowing: over 50
It turns out that only two other big schools have competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport. I'm not sure how that will work in terms of competition, given that neither of the other two schools are in our conference, the Big 12.
If nothing else, cheerleading is both dangerous and athletic. Like other sports (figure skating, moguls skiing) that feature subjective judging, I never really trust the results, but there is no doubt that the gymnastic aspect of it is physically challenging.
Meanwhile, the NCAA is introducing women's beach volleyball as a varsity sport. Here are some other NCAA sports, with the number of schools participating in Division I:
Women's Bowling: 33 Div. I schools
Women's ice hockey: 35 Div. I schools
Women's rowing: over 50
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Alas, despite 20 years of dedicated service, the women's crew team at Baylor has yet to be recognized. This is a wonderful sport and with Lake Brazos so handy, more than a dozen out-of-state university crew teams train here.
Bob
Bob
# posted by 
: 10:50 AM
: 10:50 AM 
I think the regents' meeting went something like this:
"How much did we spend on men's football, basketball, and baseball this year?"
"5 bajillion dollars."
"Criminy, I can smell the Title IX lawsuit from here! What women's sport doesn't require a new facility or a huge coaching staff so it can be in place within a month, but will cost a lot in travel or something?"
"Competitive cheerleading. And only two other schools have it. Brilliant!"
"How much did we spend on men's football, basketball, and baseball this year?"
"5 bajillion dollars."
"Criminy, I can smell the Title IX lawsuit from here! What women's sport doesn't require a new facility or a huge coaching staff so it can be in place within a month, but will cost a lot in travel or something?"
"Competitive cheerleading. And only two other schools have it. Brilliant!"
And, of course, so many people will pay to go see the Women's Bowling team compete against all 30 other teams in the nation! Fun!
Based on what I know about Baylor's conference location and competition scheduling, the new team will be traveling to compete against Connecticut, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, University of Guam, University of Puerto Rico, and San Diego State University.
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