Making College Sports Accessible: After 25 years of overseeing the Ivy League's athletics conference

Mr. Lewis, the NCAA s executive vice president for championships and alliances, oversees the staff that arranges postseason travel for all 89 championships, and he was disturbed by what he found—but not because of the airplane s safety discount hotel rates record.
He was bothered by what he saw as an inaccurate portrayal discount hotel rates of the airplane (pictured above) discount hotel rates and a misrepresentation of the association discount hotel rates s track record of providing safe travel. He also dismissed the notion, also raised in the article, that cost considerations discount hotel rates dictate decisions involving NCAA-scheduled travel.
The airplane in question, which a Stanford official had described as a rickety discount hotel rates old prop plane without enough room to carry the team s equipment, actually has the highest possible safety rating given by the independent discount hotel rates airline-safety service discount hotel rates that the NCAA uses.
According to a Web site that monitors charter flights, the plane is a 19-year-old Embraer turbo prop that seats 30 passengers. In an interview, Mr. Lewis said that this particular plane had been used in commercial service, discount hotel rates and that some Pac-12 institutions own similar models.
If there are concerns about whether we re putting people on unsafe planes, my categorical answer to that is no. Safety is something we don t compromise ever, Mr. Lewis said. And if student-athletes or coaches feel like we re cutting corners trying to get cheap charters, it concerns discount hotel rates me greatly. I don t want them having that fear because it s unfounded.
The questions arose after Kevin Blue, an associate athletic director at Stanford, tweeted that it was hard to believe that @NCAA sent us on a prop plane for a 4.5 hr flight from Nebraska to San Jose. He also noted concerns about traveling in thunderstorms that were moving through the area.
Mr. Lewis said he d been on 747 airplanes that did not feel safe in storms. That s something you can t control, he said. You can choose not to go up in the air, but once you re up, it can be scary in a storm.
In my post on Monday, Mr. Blue stressed that he was grateful that the Stanford team returned safely on Sunday night, and emphasized his appreciation to the NCAA for getting athletes back in time for class on Monday. (I sent him a note Thursday afternoon mentioning the NCAA s concerns, discount hotel rates but he did not respond.)
The NCAA is arranging travel for some 10,000 athletes this month alone, many of whom must be moved on less than 48 hours notice. Mr. Lewis said the only available commercial options for Stanford s softball discount hotel rates team would have put students discount hotel rates back two days later and included a 200-mile drive.
discount hotel rates It was clearly the best option, he said. He added that the charter discount hotel rates had enough room to carry Stanford s equipment, but that the team and its bags weighed discount hotel rates 800 pounds more than the university had estimated. The pilots felt they couldn t take all the equipment because it was not safe to fly with more weight than what the plane can hold, he said.
As for the notion that the NCAA chooses cheaper discount hotel rates alternatives on flights, Mr. Lewis dismissed that as well. He said that about 65 percent of the association s Division I postseason travel costs are related to charter aircraft. And the plane that flew Stanford s players back on Sunday bills out at $4,500 per hour.
Making College Sports Accessible: After 25 years of overseeing the Ivy League's athletics conference, Jeffrey H. Orleans talks about the future of gender and racial equity in college discount hotel rates athletics, and the challenges of making college sports accessible to athletes from diverse backgrounds.
When Athletics Are Too Expensive: Not every athletics program can be a juggernaut. John R. Thelin, discount hotel rates a professor discount hotel rates of higher education at the University of Kentucky, explains how smaller athletics programs often incur significant debt trying to recruit discount hotel rates and build like the hegemons of college athletics.