Columnist Ron Kantowski: Eighty-five man rosters are a joke

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. His notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

If I'm some hotshot high school wrestler reading Tuesday's Pigskin Preview 2000 special section in the Sun -- specifically, an enlightening feature story on Page 11E -- I'm looking for somebody to body slam.

And I'd begin with the NCAA's self-indulgent athletic directors and football coaches.

A story by David Nielsen of the Scripps Howard News Service questioned whether Division I-A football teams need 85 scholarships to get through a season. Actually, the story all but answered it -- no.

Yet, because the big-time A.D.s and their football coaches believe every fourth-string tight end should receive free room and board, football throws the athletic opportunity scale totally out of whack toward male athletes.

That's a no-no as far as the Title IX police are concerned. Federal law requires that schools strive to provide equal athletic opportunities for men and women. But rather than add programs for the women, the schools usually just subtract one from the men to become compliant. Basically, that's why UNLV doesn't have a wrestling team any more.

In fact, wrestling, because of the number of competitors (read: scholarships) it takes to field a team, is usually the first men's sport to go.

In reality, wrestling programs that haven't been sacrificed are limited to 9.9. scholarships by the NCAA -- the same as soccer and swimming. The only men's sports that are allowed more are baseball with 11.7 (maybe a designated hitter is considered only .7 of a player), lacrosse and track and field with 12.6 each, basketball with 13 and football with its gargantuan total of 85 -- down from the 95 that were allowed several years ago.

The coaches and A.D.s whined when the limit was first pared but they've managed to survive just fine -- probably because research shows that 85 scholarships are about 30 more than are necessary.

The Scripps story points out that Notre Dame had only 38 players who averaged five minutes or more per game. At Ohio State, it was just 37.

Most schools -- even major powers -- rarely have more than 50 or 60 players who get onto the field for more than five plays. Last year, Alabama had just 55 who did, while UCLA had 51 and N.C. State 47.

At least those schools are saving on letterman's jackets.

Coaches argue the physical nature of the game requires carrying a battalion of players in the event of injuries. Then they claim many of those players aren't physically ready to compete as freshmen, so they hold them out a year.

I would argue that the NFL is more physical than a first date with President Clinton, yet its teams manage to survive with 53-man rosters. As for the aspect of freshmen being summoned to play before they are ready, well, is there really that big a difference between an 18-year-old behemoth and a 19-year-old behemoth?

Besides, it's all relative. Assuming every team has its share of injuries, if my offensive tackle with a little baby fat around his middle is trying to block your defensive end who hasn't yet mastered the head slap, is the quality of the game going to suffer?

If you must carry 85 players, then allow walk-ons to fill out the roster. Give the hometown high school hero another reason to stay in school. And then maybe his buddy, the one who prefers wrestling over football, wouldn't have to move to Iowa for his chance to compete.