Columnist Steve Carp: Don’t just sit there, do something!

Steve Carp

Tuesday, June 2, 1998 | 11:05 a.m.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- On the bright side, if you're going to be made to wait, there are few places nicer to bide your time than on the Monterey Peninsula. After all, the WAC could have scheduled its presidents' meeting in El Paso.

But there shouldn't have to be any hours to while away. The eight WAC schools that have decided to bolt the conference were supposed to make up their minds Monday whether they were going to be the Elite Eight or the Divine Nine. It was supposed to be the first order of business.

Instead, we're going to have to wait until sometime today to find out what the Disgruntled Eight decide to do. Should they bring a ninth member into their flock? Or should they be college athletics' version of the Bradford family, and decide that eight is indeed enough?

It doesn't matter whether the renegades go eight deep or nine strong. They can even add a 10th team if their heart desires. But geez, do something! You're holding up progress, both for yourselves and for the WAC.

But as long as you're still sitting on the fence deliberating, here's one more thought.

Two weeks ago, five of the schools met at the Denver International Airport and decided they would invite three others along on their sojourn from the WAC. If they wanted a ninth member, why didn't they invite Hawaii or Fresno State when they invited UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State?

Surely one more phone call wouldn't have broke Al Yates, the Colorado State president who is the point man for this new yet-to-be-named conference.

But it's evident the notion of a ninth team wasn't that strong that day at DIA. If it was, Yates would've called John Welty in Fresno or Kenneth Mortimer in Honolulu and said, "Hey, we're leaving the WAC to form our own league. Wanna go?"

So if it wasn't a passionate matter two weeks ago and there wasn't strong enough sentiment Monday to make a decision, why would today be any different?

Given so many issues need to be discussed and decisions need to be made, why muck it up with one that may or may not benefit you either in the short or long term?

If you want a couple of reasons to maintain the status quo, here they are:

Money. You want a piece of the Super Alliance's football bowl action? You have a better shot asking for eight small pieces of pie instead of nine. And even eight may be too many for the greedy folks who call the shots at the alliance.

Travel. You wanted a nice, compact league. Right now, you've got what you want. You've got equal partners for travel. Your toughest trip is to Laramie, unless you're CSU or Air Force. Then you just have a short drive. If you add Hawaii, even with a travel subsidy, you're talking a lot more money. Your per diem doesn't go quite as far on Waikiki as it does in Albuquerque.

And if you think Fresno's a better deal, guess again. It's a tough place to get to, especially in the winter when the fog that infiltrates the San Joaquin Valley lingers night and day.

But hey, it's your league. Do what you want. But please, do something today. The suspense is killing me.