If any of you happened to pick up The Cardinal Tuesday, as I'm sure many of you did, you might have gotten the chance to read about the club baseball team on campus that is made up of guys that want more than anything to represent their school in the sport they love.
These guys are the epitome of baseball lovers and are without a doubt some of the hardest-working student-athletes on campus.??They go to class, work out, travel and still represent the school as they wear the name Wisconsin on their jerseys, despite the athletic department's lack of support.
Frankly, I find it embarrassing as not only a sports editor, but also a Badger fan and a baseball nut, that our beloved university had the audacity to cut the program 13 years ago and have yet to reinstate it.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all about having women's sports, especially at the Division I level, but not at the cost of a men's game like baseball, which I guarantee brings in more revenue than any women's games.
There is a reason baseball continues to dwindle in popularity on a national spectrum and that is because universities like ours are looking more toward being politically correct.
You cannot honestly tell me that if we had a baseball team here that they would not make more money than the women's sports on campus. You just can't. Attendance for men's sports will always be more than the women's and therefore much more profitable.
Wisconsin is a baseball-rich state, plain and simple. It always has been, and it always will be. Kids grow up playing Little League because it is honestly a religion preached by nearly all parents across this great dairy state.
Bob Wickman, Craig Counsell, Eric Hinske and Jarrod Washburn are just a few of the guys who were born in Wisconsin but did not get to represent the state's premier college while prepping for the majors.
??While it's hard to name young players nowadays from the state that are either at other Division I schools or in the professional leagues already, the fact is that the talent is out there. The talent will always be there, and until the university realizes the potential at stake, they will continue to miss out on a very financially promising opportunity.
And on top of that, the fan base here in this state is remarkable. People love to tailgate, watch baseball and root for their team, whether it be the Mallards, Brewers or even the Cubs for that matter.
Now, I've been to a couple of Mallards games in my four years here, and the excitement, energy and enthusiasm shown for minor-league baseball is something that could easily be duplicated for a UW baseball team.
Some don't know this, but baseball was the first intercollegiate sport at the UW, and for a school that preaches tradition and honor, this is one of the most disrespectful things in UW sports history.
To sum up, UW needs to have a baseball team. Keep the club team, but on top of that, they need a Division I team to represent the school.
If we have a women's softball team then why not a baseball team?
With baseball being a professional sport, isn't it our duty as one of the top athletic schools in the country to harness the talent and prepare players that want to play for the professional game?
And lastly, if every other school in the Big Ten has a program for baseball, why can't we?
And don't tell me it's because of Title IX.
agopalratnam@wisc.edu.
