After all my years of tennis officiating, I thought that I had seen it all--but I hadn't!
Yesterday the Ohio State men were to play the Baylor men in Waco at 3:00 p.m. At 3:00 p.m. the temperature was 48 degrees so the Ohio State coach refused to play.
The rule says that if it is under 50 degrees and there are no indoor courts available and the courts are not hazardous, then the match should be played outdoors since it is an outdoor sport.
Well.... That's not what the Ohio State coach thought and took his players and went back home. Of course that left 7 officials sitting around with nothing to do so we headed to Ninfa's to eat salsa and chips--and had a great time doing it!
I just included a picture of the Baylor men's team at 3:00 p.m. to show you exactly what the courts looked like. "Hazardous" is the last word you would use to describe them. In fact, the Ohio State boys had been out earlier practicing on the courts--in t shirts!
The match was sent in as a "default pending appeal." The days ahead in the ITA world should prove quite interesting...
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this issue.
Here is a copy of the Ohio State response on their website:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 3 Ohio State men's tennis team's match vs. No. 12 Baylor was cancelled Wednesday because of unfavorable and cold weather conditions at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. A rescheduled date has not been determined.
According to Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rules, which can be found HERE,
"All matches shall be played outdoors unless weather or court conditions threaten the health and safety of student athletes or if contracted otherwise for winter month competition. In the event of inclement weather, a team match shall be continued indoors if varsity quality tennis facilities are available. (See II.C.1. for a definition of varsity quality tennis facility)."
a. Determining playable outdoor weather conditions
i. The projected weather forecast, for a minimum of two hours out of a four-hour time period from the start of the match, according to www.weather.com shall be:
- A high of at least 50°; or
- Sustained winds (not including wind gusts) of 20 miles per hour or less.
(Rules can be found on page 258 in the above link)
21 comments:
I used to have some respect for Ty Tucker and the OSU tennis team but not anymore. It's hard to say they are a top ranked team when they run away with their tails between their legs whinning about how cold it is. Give me a break. It was wonderful weather - the best we've seen in a long time. My suggestion is OSU do away with the Men's tennis program and introduce Curling. Maybe some of palyers could try that sport out, but I'm sure they would complain about it being too cold too.
What a bunch of wimps!!!
I was at the match yesterday as a Buckeye Tennis supporter (and ITA official in training) and I was stunned to see Coach Tucker pull a no-show at the match. As a tennis player, I kill for days like yesterday to play. I guess Coach Tucker better not come back to Texas to play in July/August.
I don't know if this will work. But here is the link to Ohio State's response on their athletic web site:
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87783&SPID=10415&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=204894902
Notice how they only quote the ITA rule but never state what the current conditions were in Waco at match time.
How sad . . .
Looks like Coach Tucker is trying to position himself for an SEC coaching job. He definitely is showing the right attributes to join that elite bunch of obnoxious coaches (other than Arkansas of course).
It might be that the OSU coach would be ridiculed if his team came back with sunburn before spring break. Here in South Texas, he would even have an additional problem of constant 20+ winds even at night.
I would love to see if they play ANY matches, in the future, in sub 50 degree weather - OR MAYBE they were just dodging a bullet!?!?!
I'm pretty convinced the Ohio State was afraid of losing to Baylor. Baylor has a great track record of beating ranked teams in Waco.
Yes, Tucker didn't want to play in the cold, but why didn't Baylor have a back-up plan? Tucker was well within his right, albeit a bit silly. Everyone involved knew for days the temperature was not going to get above 45 (it didn't reach 48 until 4pm, an hour after the scheduled time)... Ohio State actually hit in Ennis on Tuesday, so they knew indoor courts were available.
Also Baylor needed this match more than Ohio State. If I am Knoll, I do everything in my power to get on the court. I guess the sting of getting their butt handed to them Indoors a few weeks back prevented that.
Baylor does not have backup indoor facilities and Tucker was told that from before he came to Waco.
The rules remind us that tennis is an outdoor sport and if there are not hazardous conditions (and no backup indoor courts) then the match should be played outside.
Ennis is no longer considered a qualified back up since it cannot be heated to 51 degrees
A list of teams who have played outdoors @ UT,Baylor, and TAMU this year below 50 degrees:
Women-
Brown
Harvard
NevadaReno
Men-
California
Middle Tenn
Texas Tech
TCU
TAMU CC
Iowa
Oklahoma St
Rice
Fresno St
The Ennis facility does not qualify as an indoor facility in that it is not climate controlled. It can be used only in the event of thunderstorms (players are dry and safe) but not in the event of cold conditions as the inside temp isn't much different than outside. So Ennis doesn't apply in this situation.
Interesting because Baylor HAS played matches in Ennis in the past (at least the women have).
I also find it interesting because Knoll is always the first to recommend moving matches away from sites when on the road.
Why is only Baylor's position presented? See FAC, f., 258...lack of acceptable indoor facilities...procedure to follow shall be reached by coaches prior to match and/or via contract. Coaches did not agree, period.
The ITA rules spell out the requirements of "outdoor play", must be 50 degrees at start of match.
If it is 50 and match begins and then temp drops. play shall continue outdoors if not hazardous and no acceptable backup indoor facility exists.
This is not a new set of facts. It happened last year when Virginia came to Baylor and temp was in the 30's and no acceptable backup facility available. Virginia went home and refused to make up the match the following day because both coaches must agree to a makeup.
Ty's position is that Texas schools should spend the money and resources to have backup courts like the rest of the country does in winter weather climates or these won't come to Texas to play because the ITA makes clear there is indeed a weather rule which sets the benchmark at 50 degree outdoors..that is acceptable outdoor weather as far as ITA is concerned if not a conference match.
To interrpret rules, ones must look at the entirety of the rules and intent of the rule as well as integrating all the different subparagraphs...
Well, didn't they play 8 matches in under 40* weather during the ITA Kickoff weekend a few weeks back? Now that was a brutal weekend. Aren't there some pictures of that event? That should be enough to get Matty the default win.
Ole Ty may indeed end up at an SEC school. The rumor is the Razorback coach is on the hot seat this year.
Tucker knew there were no backup courts available before he ever left Ohio. The bottom line is that tennis is an outdoor sport and 45-48 degrees isn't too cold to play.
Just ask the ZAT players who regularly play in 30 degree temperatures.
Ty isn't going anywhere. Have you ever seen the guy? He's the posterboy for the Midwest and an Ohio State alum. Big dude too.
Plus why would he leave the Big 10 where he is in complete control now that Illinois has fallen a bit?
No way in H-E-double hockey sticks ITA gives Ol' Matty the win.
Bottom line: Both coaches were doing right for their players, but wrong for tennis. Rules fall on the side of OSU.... and it is a dumb rule.
I wonder if Carl Neufeld will pull a Ty Tucker tomorrow and not play Baylor. My money is on Carl. I know he has more integrity than cry baby Ty.
Weather report from Baylor/SMU Men's match Friday, Feb. 26 - 2 days after the Ohio State incident.
According to weather.com: match time temperature was 46* with north winds of 23mph. At the end of the match the temperature was 44* and the north winds were 23mph. Cloudy the entire time. Worse conditions than Wednesday yet the match was played.
That's cause both teams are NOT "kitties" if you know what I mean!
When Baylor women played Harvard and Brown women played Nevada Reno at the Baylor Kick-Off weekend it was 18 degrees with the wind chill.
The players handled it well. The officials almost froze to death sitting there for 3 hours plus.
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