Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

[Old Timer]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

sometimes the head football coach as in the case of my dad, took a xc
>team or individual to the NCAA meet two days after football had ended. Other
>than college professors few had athletic department personnel to accompany the
>team.

Stan's and Pat's comments remind me of the 1963 championship. Leo Johnson and I took Allen Carius, U. of Illinois star runner (and Big Ten Champ) on a most ill timed trip. We left Champaign about an hour after Kennedy was assassinated, drove to Michigan State with little but the dreadful event on our minds.
On Sunday, Allen was watching TV when Oswald was killed. It devastated him.
Most Saturday football games were played as scheduled. There was some talk about delaying the cross country meet. But we held it as scheduled. Few schools could have afforded to do otherwise.
1963 was at the point that the meet was growing and people were complaining about Michigan State being the perpetual host.
Allen finished about 15th, although I believe that he was as good as any runner in the race.
That was a miserable experience.

[dukehjsteve]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

Very interesting but sad story, Phil; thanks for it.

[RMc]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

>The Stanford XC Invite used to also be held on Mondays if I am not mistaken.

That was because the golf course was/is closed on Monday. Apparently the university later decided that it was alright to keep the "big daddy" donors of the course one Saturday per year.

[RMc]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

> Army-Navy football was always played late in the year since 1890 --
>so college football was played late in NOV. I still maintain that the Monday
>will bring more press to the runners/schools like the Boston race on the
>Monday (I am aware of Patriots Day on the Monday)

Until quite recently (within the last decade), the Army-Navy game was the only one played the weekend after Thanksgiving. In fact, until about 20 years ago, there were very few games even on Thanksgiving weekend. Many schools still played 9 game schedules into the 1960s (including Notre Dame), and the 11 game schedule did not emerge until the 1970s. The football season has been lengthening, so now it spills past the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

[KevinM]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

I'm only 28, and even I can remember when the only games played on or after Thanksgiving weekend were:

Army-Navy
Texas - TAMU
Auburn - Alabama
GA - GaTech
Notre Dame - USC
Pitt - WVU

There may have been one or two more, but these are the ones that stick out. Now you have things like Rutgers - UConn on Thanksgiving Day?!?!?!?! I suppose it's a function of the larger conferences creating longer seasons, but I liked it when the weekend was reserved for certain games.

[Walt Murphy]

Re: Why have NCAA C-C on Monday???

Nothing to add to the original theme of this thread, but did want to point out that poster Stan Huntsman, the former head coach at Ohio University, Tennessee, and Texas (and an Olympic head coach), will be inducted (along with Michael Johnson, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Mike Conley, Gerry Lindgren, and Jackie Joyner Kersee, among others) into the US T&F Hall of Fame on Friday, and Al Carius, the subject of one of the posts, has coached North Central College to 17 NCAA Div.III Championships (12-XC, 4-outdoors, 1-indoors).