Is Gonzaga doable?
Every time Gonzaga is brought into the conversation, they are dismissed as too far, outside the footprint, not possible, unthinkable.
Is that really true?
The idea is treated as though it's never been done before, as though the obstacles are insurmountable. What are these insurmountable obstacles?
1. It's a long trip. How long? 4 hours, 52 minutes from NY to Spokane. Hmm . . . Is that impossible? How long do you think it takes MAAC teams to bus from NYC to Buffalo or Niagara? Ivy League schools to bus from NYC to Hanover, NH? There are a myriad of other examples. The real issue is not the time but the cost. It's a lot more expensive to travel by plane than by bus
2. It's such a long way. 2190 air miles. That is a long way. But Hawaii travels 2550 miles to Sacramento to play UC Davis. Every trip that Hawaii makes in the Big West is in the neighborhood of 2000 miles or better for everyone of their teams. When Hawaii and Louisiana Tech were in the WAC together, that was a 4000 mile flight.
3. Hawaii is a bad example. They have no choice. They have to do it. If they had a choice, they wouldn't do it. . . Actually they do have a choice. It's very possible to run a world class university without intercollegiate athletics. But that aside, Hawaii isn't the only one. TX-Pan American and Seattle both compete in the WAC. That's a 2010 mile flight. Old Dominion flies 1700 miles from Norfolk, VA to El Paso, TX in CUSA. For years, Louisiana Teach flew 1900 miles from Monroe, LA to Seattle, WA in the WAC.
Folks, this is the 21st century. Planes fly at air speeds approaching 600 mph. The extra 260 miles for Gonzaga to Providence (2270 miles) vs UTPA to Seattle is less than half an hour. The extra distance for that same trip vs ODU to El Paso is less than an hour. And connections in and out of Big East cities are a lot easier than from places like Monroe, LA and Brownsville, TX.
Teams have been making arduous bus trips for generations that may be fewer miles but are not less time. They're more. And planes can fly over bad weather. Busses get caught in snow storms and every other kind of bad weather during basketball season as well as traffic jams and other delays.
The more I think of adding Gonzaga and BYU, the more sense it makes with the advantages of modern travel and with the increased TV revenue to defray the costs. Come on, this is the big time. If Louisiana Tech and UT Pan American and yes, Hawaii can do it in mid major sports, for small pay days, and on limited budgets, certainly the Big East can do it for big returns in big time sports.
We're not reinventing the wheel here. It's already being done.
(This post was last modified: 09-14-2013 03:23 PM by Melky Cabrera.)
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