By Bill Smith
An NBA
arena just wasn't big enough to feed the greed of that organization. As a result, NFL indoor stadiums have been
used for NCAA basketball tournament sites for several years. The floor would be placed in one end-zone
where approximately 40,000 could see the action and pay dearly for that
privilege.
But even
that was not enough. In what is the most
outlandish symbol of greed since the Congress created federal income tax, the
NCAA decided it wanted to fill the entire football stadium with paying
customers in stead of a 2/3's capacity.
There was
just one little (and I use that term advisedly) problem—The action was too far
away. Football takes place on a 120 yard
long field (including end-zones).
College basketball on the other hand is played on a 94 foot court. In order to see basketball action from the
nose-bleed section of the NFL stadiums, the patrons would need binoculars which
of course the NCAA had no intention of providing. In a stroke of genius (or greed), the powers
in charge decided if Moses would not go to the mountain, they would bring the
mountain to him.
They
decided to raise the basketball court by 4 feet to make it easier for the
patrons to see the action. As a safety
measure (?), the added a couple of feet beyond the out of bounds line all
around the court. Otherwise the player
inbounding the ball from the ground level would have to stand on his tip-toes
to see the feet of the player he was throwing to.
What
happens if a player diving after a ball falls headfirst onto the cement floor 4
feet below? We don't care. The point is that we got another 20,000
paying customers to fork out the $100-$300 for the tickets. As the young man is being rushed to the
hospital, that fact should bring him much needed pain relief and comfort.
Such an
accident has not happened yet but it is just a matter of time. These young men have so much invested in
winning a national championship, they won't think twice about diving for a ball
even in these dangerous conditions.
Chances are good that they won't remember the floor is elevated until
they are experiencing what seems like a slow motion plunge to the cement floor
below.
I am told
it is not the fall from 4 feet onto concrete that is painful. What causes the pain is that sudden stop at
the bottom. Let's hope that the NCAA
stops before someone does get seriously hurt.