Ryan Robbins writes:
>While the decision as to who gets to throw out the first pitch doesn't
>have to be made based on athletics, we all know it WAS made based on
>athletics. The NCAA regulates college athletics; it has nothing to do
>with regulating students who aren't athletes. The NCAA rules say thou
>shall not accept extra benefits offered on the basis of athletics.
 
I believe the applicable sections would be, from the 1994-95 NCAA Manual:
 
16.2 COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSIONS AND TICKET BENEFITS
 16.2.2 NONPERMISSIBLE PROCEDURES
  16.2.2.5 Professional Sports Tickets.  An institution or any
  representatives of its athletics interests may not purchase or
  otherwise obtain tickets to a professional sports contest and make
  these tickets available to student-athletes enrolled in an NCAA member
  institution.  Such a gift of tickets would represent an unacceptable
  extra benefit.  (See 16.7.1.1 for permissible provision of professional
  sports tickets as team entertainment related to an away-from-home
  contest.)
...
16.12 BENEFITS, GIFTS AND SERVICES
 16.12.2 NONPERMISSIBLE
  16.12.2.1 General Rule.  The student-athlete shall not receive any
  extra benefit.  The term "extra benefit" refers to any special
  arrangement by an institutional employee or representative of the
  institution's athletics interests to provide the student-athlete or
  his or her relatives or friends with a benefit not expressly
  authorized by NCAA legislation.
  ...
   16.12.2.2.3 Entertainment Services.  A student-athlete may not
   receive services (e.g., movie tickets, dinners, use of car) from
   commercial agencies (e.g., movie theaters, restaurants, car dealers)
   without charge or at reduced rates, or free or reduced-cost admission
   to professional athletics contests from professional sports
   organizations, unless such services also are available to the student
   body in general.
 
So, it seems to make sense that only the seniors could appear on the
field for BU, since the act of being on the field would have been a
"special benefit" not available to the student body in general.
Seniors are pretty much not subject to regulations any longer once
their eligibility is exhausted, as with seniors appearing in the
Shrine East-West Hockey Classic.  Tickets to the game would presumably
have to have been purchased by the players themselves.  One might be
led to ask how the other BU players could have obtained tickets to
such an event as Opening Day at Fenway without it being arranged by
someone at the school, although I do not care to ask the question.
It's not a big deal to me.
 
The question of what happened in 1989 when Harvard supposedly had
their entire team on the field to throw out the first pitch at Fenway
seems to remain unresolved, however.  I do not recall what took place,
but some folks seem to recall that Harvard's entire team was present.
 
Isn't it amazing that the offseason can lead to controversy over such
mundane topics as this. :-)
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93