May 23 Notebook
May 24, 2005 12:11 PM | General
May 23, 2005
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| Grant Psomas is currrently ranked seventh in the South Atlantic League in batting.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Don’t be surprised if you read that former West Virginia University shortstop GRANT PSOMAS has been promoted within the New York Mets minor league system.
The Carnegie, Pa., native is having a terrific year with the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League. As of Monday, May 23, Psomas is third in the league in slugging percentage (.639), tied for third in both hits (54) and home runs (10), is seventh in batting average (.342) and ninth in runs scored (29).
Psomas is one of four Suns players hitting better than .326 and has helped Hagerstown climb to the top of the North Division standings with a 28-17 record.
Last year as a junior at WVU, Psomas batted .343 with nine home runs and 43 RBI to earn all-Big East honors. Psomas spent 2004 playing in the short-season New York-Penn League.
More Notes:
Syracuse has been criticized for its bad surface which was installed in 1993. Florida State players thought the seams on the old turf were dangerous to run on. Last week Syracuse broke ground on a new two-story football strength training complex.
At one point the committee even considered throwing out all seven-inning games that did not conform to NCAA rules, which would have affected about 300 or 400 contests this year.
West Virginia University coach GREG VAN ZANT says the practice of playing seven-inning games goes back at least 30 years and was implemented to assist with team travel and accommodate schools that don’t have lights and were pressed for time.
“What has happened is that a lot of schools, particularly earlier in the year, were going to Florida and playing games with a two-and-a-half hour time limit just to get games in,” said Van Zant. “Some Division III schools were playing three 5-inning games on the same day. Baseball is nine innings, not seven or five, and the committee is just trying to clean some of this up.”
The Big East Conference plays one seven-inning game as part of its Saturday double-headers. Next year Van Zant says the league plans on adopting the model used by Conference USA where each conference series will be comprised of three nine-inning games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with no makeup day on Monday. If Friday’s game is postponed Saturday turns into a seven and nine-inning doubleheader with a nine-inning game on Sunday. If both Friday and Saturday games are canceled, Sunday’s games become two seven-inning double-headers.
“This measure was adopted before the current controversy and has nothing to do with what is going on right now,” said Van Zant.
Fans can catch Yalonda and Indiana on ESPN2 on Sunday, Aug. 7, when the Fever play at Washington in a 6:30 pm game.
Seabol got one other major league at-bat with the New York Yankees in 2001.
The UW athletic department had to pay $2.05 million as part of its settlement awarded to Neuheisel as well as $1.5 million in legal expenses, according to the Seattle Times. In addition to that, the school also had to pay $1.3 million in football coaching salaries as part of the transition from Keith Gilbertson to Tyrone Willingham.
The school estimates it will spend $43.697 million while bringing in $39.397 million.
Last month the University of Tennessee, which plays in a 104,000-seat Neyland Stadium, announced that it will have to borrow money from the Tennessee board of trustees to pay off former men’s basketball coach Buzz Petersen.
Not surprisingly, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics on Monday addressed the issue of spiraling costs in college sports. Minus capital expenditures and staff compensation, data from the period of 2001 to 2003 showed athletic spending grew at a rate four times faster than overall institutional spending, according to the Knight Commission.
“It’s clear that all those interested in the future of intercollegiate athletics must find a way to bridle expenses,” said Wake Forest president Thomas K. Hearn, Jr., chair of the commission.
A home game at Penn State’s 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium will net the school about $3.5 million to help fund its 28-sport athletic program. Michigan makes about $4 million for each of its home football games while here in Morgantown, West Virginia University realizes about $1.5 million in total revenue from each game.
When the 12th game measure was approved, Penn State immediately signed on Temple for a 2-for-1 deal that could add as much as $7 million to Penn State’s athletic coffers over a three-year period. The Lions also have games scheduled against Central Michigan and Louisiana Tech.
Ironically, Penn State already had the blueprint in hand scheduling a school-record eight home football games in 2002 bringing the school more than $25 million in revenue.
Other Big Ten schools are hustling to lock up lower-level I-A schools and I-AA schools to give them seven home games. Ohio State is negotiating with Youngstown State to play a game at Ohio Stadium in 2006. Purdue has already locked up a game with I-AA Indiana State.
Have a great week!
