To the Editor:
Thank you to intern Max Baker for his astute analysis of the harms of NCAA conference realignment. Short-term greed for a conference championship football game is destroying the goose that lays the Golden Egg. Traditional rivalries make fans instead of occasional casual attendees at football and basketball games. These rivalries depend not only on tradition but also on geographic closeness or at least regional proximity.
Being grouped saves everybody travel, time and money. Rivalries thrive on competitiveness. Eight teams are enough for any conference. It’s hard enough traveling north and south; crossing time zones is rarely necessary.
Curveball: If the national television market dominates revenue that may overpower traditional rivalries. Bubba Cunningham asks for 3:30 p.m. kickoff time for UNC vs. Florida State. He doesn’t know if he’ll get it or not. That likely depends on how well both teams play between now and game time. Winners get prime time.
John R. Dykers Jr.
Siler City