Zips sports news, features and notes
- Seven KSU baseball players earn All-MAC honors
- Marla Ridenour: From walk-on to champion: UA’s Alex McCune finds his niche
- KSU’s Jennifer Ha struggles to 79 in first round of NCAA Women’s Golf Championships
- Zips notebook: Quincy Diggs back in school; football player arrested
- College baseball/Kent State 4, Akron 1: Flashes top Zips, get help from Bowling Green to win MAC title, earn top seed in tournament
- On the Record — May 18
- College baseball/Kent State 4, Akron 3: Flashes muster enough energy to top Zips, stay alive for top seed in MAC Tournament
- Kent State golf in fifth after two rounds of NCAA Regional
- Kent State-Akron in-game updates: Kent State wins 4-3
- Kent State 5, Akron 4 in 17 innings: Diamond Classic turns into real gem
Source: Game not officially moved
Men's soccer
According to two official Web sites, Akron will play its third-round match against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., rather than Akron.
A source tells me that is premature.
My source tells me that the NCAA intended to move the game to Evanston if Akron officials concluded that Lee Jackson Field would not be playable. An Akron official, perhaps unaware of that, deemed the field to be unplayable prematurely. Apparently, that is cleared up, and Akron will have until Friday to work on the field. The weather is supposed to improve, so that seems likely.
NUSports.com, Northwestern's official site, says the teams will play at Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday (2 p.m. Eastern). The bracket on NCAASports.com similarly states that the higher-seeded team (Akron) will not maintain its home-pitch advantage.
What annoys me is that the NCAA would not be more open-minded. There are more than two options here (Evanston or Akron). One option is playing at St. Vincent/St. Mary's High School again. Another is going indoors to Cleveland State. A game in Chicago will be more profitable than at a high school or third-party university's complex, but isn't the NCAA's goal to achieve fairness and preserve amateurism, rather than to make a few more bucks?
The only way I could justify stripping a team of home-field advantage is to penalize them for some sort of infraction. However, there has been a historic level of snow this November. Keeping the field in tact must have been a daunting task.
On the other hand, the university does not have completely clean hands. Lee Jackson Field does not have the standard draining system that would prevent a lot of damage.
I will have more information as I hear it.