Columnist Ron Kantowski: Postseason tournament not a big hit with coaches

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 9:51 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

According to a consensus of coaches, there's an ideal time to hold the Mountain West Conference tournament:

At the end of the regular basketball season.

If the conference's baseball coaches get their way, the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament and barbecue, as San Diego State's Tony Gwynn has referred to it, will cease to exist in its current form.

Outside of UNLV's Buddy Gouldsmith, who is kind of getting used to the idea of winning three or four games on his home field and becoming cannon fodder for Arizona State or Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA regionals, the baseball coaches believe the current setup doesn't serve the best interests of its membership, Wednesday's interesting day at the ballyard notwithstanding.

And for once, the guys in charge of the membership seemingly agree.

The coaches have recommended that rather than have the tournament champion receive the conference's automatic NCAA bid, they'd rather it go to the regular-season champion, the logic being that the best team over 30 or "X" amount of games during the regular season is more deserving of a tournament berth than, say, a team that catches fire and/or a few breaks during a short series or tournament.

As a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan, I can relate to that.

Of course, that would mean abolishing the postseason tournament, which, after enduring a 43-minute first inning at Wednesday's UNLV-Air Force game at Wilson Stadium, doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

But the coaches have an even better one. In that a tournament such as this one closely resembles what teams will encounter in the NCAAs (discounting the batting practice fastballs) and that it could still provide a neat experience for the student-athletes, as the guys in the MWC khaki clothing refer to shortstops and center fielders, their compromise solution is to move the tournament to the preseason.

Maybe they could even get the Guinness beer folks to sponsor it. Because as far as ideas go, this one is brilliant.

If done right, a preseason tournament, in addition to giving the shortstops and center fielders a chance to spend a few days at Sea World or roaming the Strip, could also serve as a media preview of sorts. Only it would include games, too, instead of just the usual, predictable and vapid interviews with coaches and players at some hotel meeting room near the airport.

And, even better, is that if the coaches get their way these preseason games will count in the standings.

"It's hard to gauge at this point," said MWC assistant commissioner Bob Burda, about how the MWC rules committee would receive the baseball coaches' proposal. "But this is something that has been well thought out. It makes sense.

"Traditionally, our conference hasn't been a two (NCAA) bid league. So let's protect our best team."

So how would the MWC teams pass the time usually reserved for batting practice -- er, the MWC tournament? Well, they could do something novel, something that actually might improve their chances of becoming a two-bid conference. They could try to schedule an opponent that might improve their strength of schedule.

Many of the baseball power conferences, who have seen the light of day long before this one, don't have conference tournaments, which would explain why the Long Beach Dirtbags are playing Miami this weekend in a tuneup for the NCAA tournament, where both have standing invites. In fact, the MWC is the only conference west of the Mississippi that still holds a tournament.

With Texas Christian and Jim Schlossnagle coming into the league in 2006 to provide UNLV with the rival it has been lacking, there are going to be significant changes anyway. The MWC will most likely dump its home-and-home 30-game schedule for a one-series only schedule of just 18 -- or, if the coaches succeed in moving the tournament to the preseason, 22 games.

So until then, pass the barbecue sauce, Tony.